Eligible seniors can walk in for second Covid-19 booster shot from April 8 - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - From Friday (April 8), any eligible senior aged 80 and up may walk in to any vaccination centre, or participating polyclinic or clinic, to get a second Covid-19 booster dose.

Announcing this on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that an SMS with a personalised booking link will be sent to the registered mobile number of such seniors as well, to allow them to book an appointment online if they prefer.

Seniors may walk in to vaccination centres on any day of the week before 7pm. The full list of vaccination centres and participating polyclinics and clinics can be found on this website.

Earlier on March 24, the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 here had accepted the recommendations by the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination (EC19V) that anyone aged 80 and up, as well as those living in aged care facilities and medically vulnerable people, should receive a second booster dose from about five months after receiving their first booster dose.

The ministry added that the recommendation will not result in a change in the vaccination status when it comes to vaccination-differentiated safe management measures for those who are eligible but choose not to receive the second booster dose.

Nevertheless, they are strongly encouraged to go for the second booster to protect themselves, said MOH.

"Persons living in aged care facilities such as nursing homes tend to have comorbidities and should receive a second booster dose even if they have not reached 80 years of age," said MOH on Wednesday, adding that for this group, the second booster dose will be organised through the respective aged care facilities and rolled out progressively.

Others who are aged 12 and above who are medically vulnerable and at increased risk of severe disease due to significant medical risk factors will need to bring along a referral memo from their treating doctors in order to get their second booster dose.

This includes those with chronic diseases of the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and other organ systems.

MOH reiterated the EC19V's recommendation that people with a compromised immune system should receive three doses as part of their primary enhanced series, and get their first booster dose around five months after the third dose of their enhanced primary series.

There is currently no recommendation for a second booster dose for this group, it said.

The ministry also added that there are currently no recommendations for healthy people in younger age groups to receive a second booster dose, as they have better immune responses to vaccination and are at a lower risk of severe disease.

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2022-04-06 09:42:50Z
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SIA Engineering signs MoU for hangar facilities at Subang - The Sun Daily

PETALING JAYA: Aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provider SIA Engineering Co Ltd (SIAEC) has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Khazanah Nasional Bhd wholly owned subsidiary, Impeccable Vintage Properties Sdn Bhd (IVP) to potentially lease two hangars at Complex A, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Selangor.

Through this MOU, the parties will now work on the next phase of hangar technical assessment to ensure that the refurbished hangars will be future-ready to support the MRO of current and next-generation aircraft.

SIAEC CEO Ng Chin Hwee said these hangars will strengthen its network of base maintenance facilities in the region, enabling it to cater to the varying needs and capabilities required by its customers.

“Along with our recently announced plans to acquire SR Technics Malaysia and POS Aviation Engineering Services, our growth in Malaysia will complement the capabilities of our Singapore hub.”

IVP general manager Fuad Sharuji said with a proven track record in MRO, SIAEC’s potential establishment in Subang, is well-positioned to bolster the thriving aerospace industry in support of the Malaysian government’s aspirations.

“The potential lease by SIAEC will be a significant milestone in the growth and progress of the MRO sector in Malaysia, and will serve as an avenue which would benefit the local MRO industry,” said Fuad.

Malaysian Investment Development Authority CEO Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman welcomed the MoU collaboration, stating that the formalisation of this MoU between SIAEC and IVP represents a positive step towards facilitating the expansion of a renowned aerospace company like SIAEC.

“This will boost the growth of Malaysia’s cost competitive aerospace ecosystem, as it has been identified as a new economic growth area within our National Investment Aspirations which focuses on high-impact and

technological investments. Malaysia will undoubtedly continue to be an ideal investment hub for aerospace companies looking to expand their presence in Asean and beyond, owing to our strategic location, business-friendly policies, and skilled workforce capable of meeting the industry’s growing demand as we enter the endemic phase of Covid-19.”

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2022-04-05 12:08:00Z
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Hit by sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Lada factory town braces for tough times - CNA

SECOND JOBS

Many employees have already been forced to take up second jobs, like Leonid Emchanov, 31, a mechanic now moonlighting as a security guard to feed his family.

"I am the only one in the family who works. I have two children, my wife ... is on maternity leave. I have to work two jobs, but even this is not enough," he said.

If Avtovaz is unable to survive this crisis, its demise would mark the end of an industrial era for Russia, and for its many Lada enthusiasts.

In an underground garage in Tolyatti, two men in vintage overalls were busy at work on a 1980s Lada Niva, a legendary four-wheel drive vehicle, that was shining with a fresh coat of red paint.

"Since childhood, my whole life has been linked to the factory," said one of the mechanics, Sergei Diogrik.

"All our relatives in Tolyatti worked at the factory and I myself worked there. I had no choice, everything is related to the company," he added.

The 43-year-old founded and runs the Lada History Club, bringing together fans of the Soviet car from all over the world.

"It was a powerful producer. The record in the early 1980s was 720,000 cars per year," he said, compared to nearly 300,000 cars produced in 2021.

"It was fashionable to come here. Now the fashion is for young people to go to Moscow or somewhere else," Diogrik added.

He said that he is trying to remain hopeful, pointing out that the factory and its workers already survived the economic hardships of the 1990s.

"A Russian person who survived the 90s, especially in Tolyatti, will cope now. Everything will be fine," he said.

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2022-04-05 11:48:01Z
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says she will not seek a second term - Reuters

HONG KONG, April 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam, who has governed the global financial hub through the unprecedented upheaval of anti-government protests and COVID-19, said on Monday she will not seek a second five-year term of office.

Lam's announcement came as media said Chief Secretary John Lee, Hong Kong's second most senior official, was set to resign to join the race to replace Lam in May as the Chinese-ruled city's next leader.

"There’s only one consideration and that is family. I have told everyone before that family is my first priority," Lam told a regular press briefing.

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"They think it’s time for me to go home."

She declined to comment on possible candidates to replace her and said she had not decided on her future plans.

Lam, born in British-ruled Hong Kong in 1957 and a life-long civil servant who describes herself as a devout Catholic, took office in 2017 with a pledge to unite a city that was growing increasingly resentful of Beijing's tightening grip.

Two years later, millions of democracy supporters took to the streets in sometimes violent anti-government protests. The unrest led to Beijing imposing a sweeping national security law in June 2020, giving it more power than ever to shape life in Hong Kong.

An exasperated Lam said at the height of the unrest in 2019 that if she had the choice she would quit, adding in remarks to a group of business people that the chief executive "has to serve two masters by constitution, that is the central people's government and the people of Hong Kong".

"Political room for manoeuvring is very, very, very limited," she added, according to an audio recording of her comments obtained by Reuters.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a news conference after the Legislative Council election in Hong Kong, China, December 20, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Lam said on Monday she had proposed a government restructuring to mainland authorities that would include new policy departments but it would be up to the city's next leader to decide whether to go ahead with the plan.

City leaders are selected by a small election committee stacked with Beijing loyalists so whoever becomes the next leader of the former British colony will do so with Beijing's tacit approval.

Lee, 64, a security official during the prolonged and often violent 2019 pro-democracy protests, was promoted in 2021 in a move some analysts said signalled Beijing's renewed focus on security rather than the economy.

Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other possible contenders mentioned in media include the city's financial secretary, Paul Chan, as well as former leader Leung Chun-ying. None has yet to announce a bid.

Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of wide-ranging freedoms, including an independent judiciary and right to public assembly, for at least 50 years.

The United States sanctioned both Lam and Lee, among other officials, in 2020, saying they had undermined Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy from Beijing and curtailed political freedoms with the national security law that punishes offences like subversion and secession with up to life imprisonment.

Chinese and Hong Kong authorities deny individual rights are being eroded and say the security law was needed to restore the stability necessary for economic success after the prolonged unrest.

The leadership election was pushed back from March to May 8 to give the government time to battle a COVID outbreak that has infected more than a million of the 7.4 million people in the city. Lam's term ends on June 30.

Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule it has had four chief executives, who all struggled to balance the democratic and liberal aspirations of many residents with the vision of China's Communist Party leadership.

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Reporting by Jessie Pang, James Pomfret, Twinnie Siu; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2022-04-04 07:45:00Z
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Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko praises Germany for support - CNA

BERLIN: Wladimir Klitschko, a Ukrainian former boxing champion whose brother is the mayor of Kyiv, heaped praise on Germany for its help after meeting officials in Berlin in an effort to drum up more support for his country.

Klitschko and his brother Vitali, also a former boxing star, have strong ties to Germany, having spent most of their professional careers there. But they have previously accused Berlin of failing to do enough to help Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.

In a video shot outside the Bundestag and posted on his Twitter feed, Wladimir Klitschko said he had been able to see for himself during his two-day visit that the two nations were "truly brothers and sisters figuratively now" and he would never forget Germany's support.

The German government has made several policy U-turns in the last six weeks, agreeing to send Ukraine weapons, suspending a gas pipeline project with Russia that bypassed the former Soviet state, and vowing to boost defence spending.

During the visit by Wladimir Klitschko, who enlisted in the Ukrainian reserve army shortly before war broke out, German media showed pictures of him meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the foreign, finance and economy ministers.

"Klitschko and his delegation brought the Ukrainian fighting spirit that reaches us in countless images every day into the foreign ministry," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on Instagram. "For the government and me it is clear: we will continue to support Ukraine with all our force."

Klitschko's praise contrasted with ongoing criticism of Germany from the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin Andrij Melnyk, who on Saturday criticised it for resisting a European embargo on Russian energy imports.

"When will the cruel actions against Ukrainian civilians be bad enough for Germany to finally turn off war criminal (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's money tap and impose an embargo for oil, gas, coal and metal? How long will you still hesitate?" he said in a tweet he addressed to the federal government.

Moscow has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour.

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2022-04-02 16:45:20Z
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Pope says he is considering trip to Kyiv - CNA

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE: Pope Francis said on Saturday (Apr 2) that he was considering a trip to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Asked by a reporter on the plane taking him from Rome to Malta if he was considering an invitation made by Ukrainian political and religious authorities, Francis answered: "Yes, it is on the table". He gave no further details.

Francis has been invited by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Ukraine's Byzantine-rite Catholic Church and Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican, Andriy Yurash.

He has spoken on the phone with Zelenskiy and Shevchuk.

Since the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation" to demilitarise Ukraine, the pope has strongly condemned what he has called an "unjustified aggression" and denounced "atrocities."

But he has only referred to Russia directly in prayers, such as during a special global event for peace on Mar 25.

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2022-04-02 09:54:00Z
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Biden says 30 countries joining US release of oil reserves - CNA

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said on Friday (Apr 1) that more than 30 countries have joined the United States in tapping national oil reserves to try and settle global energy markets spooked by fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"This morning, over 30 countries from across the world convened in an extraordinary meeting and agreed to the release of tens of millions of additional barrels of oil onto the market," Biden said in an address from the White House.

The member countries of the International Energy Agency, however, did not agree on volumes or timing for the release at their emergency meeting, said Hidechika Koizumi, director of the international affairs division at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

"In light of the current situation ... the participants in the IEA meeting agreed on the additional release itself, but they could not agree on the total volume and the allocation of each country," Koizumi told reporters.

"The details will be discussed between the IEA secretariat and the member countries," he said, adding that details could be agreed "within the next week or so".

The 31-member IEA representing industrialised nations but not Russia last presided over the largest coordinated oil release in its history on Mar 1 of nearly 62 million barrels, about half of which was contributed by the United States.

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2022-04-01 15:57:00Z
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