Love is (still) in the air: How Hong Kong celebs and others are spending Valentine's Day - CNA Luxury

Back before you-know-what, romantic Hong Kong residents would think nothing of whisking away their paramour for a weekend escape in a luxurious, sun-kissed resort in Thailand, Bali or The Philippines.

Fast forward two-and-a-bit years, however, for a completely different St Valentine's Day. While for some the thought of two weeks holed up in a hotel room with your lover is the idea of bliss, when it's an enforced quarantine stay, then the romance factor understandably plummets.

That grim reality has faced all travellers returning to Hong Kong for more than a year now, meaning that exotic escapes are off the cards. Instead, it's all about making the most of the city with rose-filled staycation suites, private yacht charters and plenty of aphrodisiacs in decadent dining.

Here are some of the ways that love is still in the air in Hong Kong – even if dinners out past 6pm are still currently banned – as well as insights from local stars as to how they're spending the day dedicated to love.

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2022-02-11 06:40:53Z
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UK's Prince Charles tests positive for COVID-19 for a second time - CNA

LONDON: Prince Charles has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said on Thursday (Feb 10), the second time that the heir to the British throne has contracted the disease.

Charles, 73, had been due to attend an event in Winchester, in southwestern England, to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of his mother Queen Elizabeth and was "deeply disappointed" he could no longer attend, his office, Clarence House, said.

"This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating," it said in a statement on Twitter.

There was no immediate comment on his condition or when he last saw his 95-year-old mother.

On Wednesday, the prince attended a reception for the British Asian Trust where pictures showed him chatting to other guests including British finance minister Rishi Sunak. Health minister Sajid Javid and interior minister Priti Patel were also among those who were due to attend.

Charles, who said in December both he and his wife Camilla had received their COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, previously tested positive for the virus in March 2020 when he said he had been "lucky" to have suffered only mild symptoms.

He spent seven days in self-isolation at his Birkhall home in Scotland before resuming his duties. Charles's son Prince William also contracted COVID-19 shortly after his father in 2020.

Camilla was still performing engagements in London on Thursday. She said she was "very, very honoured" and "very touched" by Elizabeth publicly stating her desire that Charles's second wife should become Queen Consort when he becomes king.

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2022-02-10 13:07:08Z
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How did a Hong Kong start-up get FDA nod for its rapid test kit? - South China Morning Post

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1. How did a Hong Kong start-up get FDA nod for its rapid test kit?  South China Morning Post
2. New World to donate 200,000 Covid-19 test kits to Hong Kong’s poor families  South China Morning Post
3. Indicaid test kit output to rise fivefold in Hong Kong’s ‘fifth wave’  South China Morning Post
4. ‘Beijing to send support teams, millions of test kits’ to help Hong Kong Covid fight  South China Morning Post
5. View Full coverage on Google News

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2022-02-10 00:00:29Z
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Winter Olympics: Russian media say teen figure-skating star tested positive for banned drug - The Straits Times

BEIJING (REUTERS) - Russian media on Wednesday (Feb 9) reported that 15-year-old figure skater Kamila Valieva had tested positive for a banned drug, after the ceremony to present her and her teammates with their Olympic gold medals was postponed for unexplained legal reasons.

Newspapers RBC and Kommersant named the drug as Trimetazidine, which is typically used to treat chest pain, or angina.

The news broke late at night in Beijing, where Valieva was part of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) ensemble that won the figure skating team event on Monday ahead of the United States and Japan.

Reuters attempted to reach the ROC chef de mission for comment but he did not answer his phone. The ROC earlier declined to comment on reports that Valieva had returned a positive test.

The teenager delivered one of the highlights of the Beijing Games so far when she landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman in Olympic competition. She was one of four ROC skaters who did not appear at their practice sessions on Wednesday.

Figure skating is a prestigious sport in Russia, which has an outstanding record at Olympic and world championships.

Any move to penalise Valieva or strip the team of their medals would likely cause a national outcry.

Prominent journalist Vasily Konov, deputy general producer at Russian sports channel Match-TV, said without citing sources that the sample in question had been taken two months ago.

"The drug trimetazidine does not help an athlete in any way. At all. It was found in one single sample in December. A minuscule amount. Nothing in her samples before or since," he wrote on social media.

"There is no doping in the conventional sense. No! This cardiac drug has no impact on... performance. Now leave Kamila in peace."

Former Russian pairs skater Tatiana Volosozhar, who won two gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, showed solidarity with Valieva on social media, calling for the use of the Russian hashtag #Iwillneverbelieve to send the teenager support.

Her post was "liked" on Instagram by Valieva herself.

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2022-02-09 19:27:42Z
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China tech worker's death reignites industry overtime debate - CNA

The hashtag "Bilibili worker suddenly died after working overtime during Lunar New Year" went viral on the Twitter-like Weibo platform on Monday when a workplace blogger reported the man's death, citing anonymous colleagues claiming that he was forced to work overtime.

The same day, a Weibo user claiming to be the man's sister wrote a long post thanking the blogger and alleging that Bilibili tried to suppress news of his death internally.

"Is it that hard to give a sincere apology? Does my brother's 20something-year-old life not count?" she wrote, in a post that gained more than 870,000 likes.

Some Weibo users claiming to be Bilibili employees accused the firm of forcing content moderators to work 12-hour shifts without breaks during the Spring Festival holiday.

The firm said that the employee died of a brain haemorrhage last Friday evening, having sought medical treatment after he did not show up to work that afternoon.

However, Bilibili denied overtime allegations, saying that the employee "was assigned to work eight hours per day with two days off after five days of work, as part of the Spring Festival shift rota".

Several Chinese tech firms have pledged to cut working hours after complaints and activism among employees, including a crowd-sourced spreadsheet of different firms' working hours compiled last year which mysteriously got deleted.

Since last year, Beijing authorities have pushed to improve labour conditions for gig economy workers serving giant tech platforms, as part of a regulatory crackdown on the industry.

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2022-02-09 12:02:08Z
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Singapore researchers to launch new 'sustainable' microsatellite to explore space - CNA

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In addition, NTU will develop a "predictive aerodynamic model" to optimise the satellite design for reduced drag.

Researchers will evaluate different materials that can protect against atomic oxygen corrosion, and measure the plasma concentration, velocity and temperature in the ionosphere to enhance the understanding of spacecraft charging. 

"Spacecraft charging is a phenomenon where a negative charge starts to build on a satellite's surface due to hot electrons found in space, which can cause damage to electronic systems onboard the satellites," explained the organisations.

The new microsatellite is also designed to be sustainable. At the end of its operational life, its engine can be turned off and the satellite will "de-orbit" and descend to Earth within a few days.

It will eventually burn up in the atmosphere during re-entry, leaving no debris in space. 

This "passive clean-up" will help to minimise the risk of collisions in future for other VLEO spacecraft, as compared to operating at Low Earth Orbits where it is "increasingly getting overcrowded", added the news release.

Professor Lam Khin Yong, senior vice president of research at NTU, said the new microsatellite will be another milestone for Singapore and the university.

"Satellite technologies are always multidisciplinary and complex, requiring the best minds in various fields, from power systems engineering to aerodynamics and software design, to work together as a team to develop new solutions that do not exist today," he said.

Dr David Tan, executive director of the Office for Space Technology and Industry, said: "The establishment of a new consortium to develop solutions that will enable satellites to operate at very low earth orbit is testament to the diverse capabilities of Singapore’s industry and academia in developing disruptive technologies for space."

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2022-02-09 06:00:00Z
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Malaysia economy likely returned to growth in Q4, Omicron a threat: Poll - CNA

BENGALURU: Malaysia's economy likely bounced back to growth in the final quarter of 2021, propelled by strong exports and private investments, but the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant poses a threat to the outlook, a Reuters poll found.

Growth in Southeast Asia's third-largest economy rebounded last quarter to 3.3 per cent year-on-year after shrinking 4.5 per cent in the July to September period, according to the median forecast of 20 economists polled from Feb 3 to Feb 8.

Forecasts for the change in gross domestic product (GDP), due to be released on Friday (Feb 11), ranged from 1.5 per cent to 6.3 per cent, highlighting uncertainty over the pandemic's impact on output and activity.

"Q4 2021's economic recovery reflected relaxation of virus containment measures as Malaysia made further progress towards economic normalization," noted Chua Han Teng, an economist at DBS Group Research.

"Looser virus curbs not only benefited private consumption and services activity, but also aided manufacturing activity and exports, which played catch-up in fulfilling order backlogs caused by the lockdowns in Q3 2021."

Malaysia's exports and industrial production rose strongly in December from a year earlier, suggesting a sharp recovery in economic activity.

The economy benefited from higher commodity prices and robust demand for semiconductors amid a global shortage of chips, which power everything from cars to remote work equipment.

However, a significant economic slowdown in China, Malaysia's largest trading partner, posed a major challenge to the resource-rich country.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) at its Jan 20 meeting warned that risks to the outlook were tilted to the downside.

A Reuters poll on the longer-term outlook for Malaysia taken in mid-January was relatively upbeat, predicting 4.3 per cent growth this quarter - with a 0.7 per cent to 6.6 per cent forecast range - and 5.8 per cent overall expansion in 2022.

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2022-02-09 00:08:00Z
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