Monday, May 31, 2021

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/

China easing birth limits further to cope with aging society

Posted: 31 May 2021 01:18 AM PDT

BEIJING -- China's ruling Communist Party will ease birth limits to allow all couples to have three children instead of two in response to the population's rising age, a state news agency said Monday, May 31, 2021.

The announcement follows census data that showed China's working-age population shrank over the past decade while the number of people older than 65 rose, adding to strain on the economy and society.

The ruling party has enforced birth limits since 1980 to restrain population growth but worries the number of working-age people is falling too fast.

A meeting Monday of the ruling party's Politburo decided "China will introduce major policies and measures to actively deal with the aging population," the Xinhua News Agency said.

Party leaders "pointed out that further optimizing the fertility policy, implementing the policy of one couple can have three children and supporting measures are conducive to improving China's population structure," the report said.

Restrictions that limited most couples to one child were eased in 2015 to allow all to have two. But after a brief rise the following year, the number of births has declined. (AP)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Suns beat Lakers 100-92 in Game 4 to tie series

Posted: 30 May 2021 11:26 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul had 18 points and nine assists, Devin Booker and Jae Crowder added 17 points apiece and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 on Sunday in Game 4 to even the first-round series.

Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 17 rebounds, and the second-seeded Suns took advantage of Anthony Davis' absence from the second half with a groin injury to reclaim home-court advantage after two straight losses.

LeBron James had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers. Before a last-minute surge, Los Angeles struggled in the absence of starters Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who injured his knee in Game 3.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Phoenix.

Davis scored six points on 2-for-9 shooting in the first half, then didn't return after halftime. The superstar big man scored 34 points in each of the Lakers' two victories in the series, but he hyperextended his leg in Game 3 and appeared to aggravate his accumulated injury woes in the second quarter of Game 4, falling awkwardly and grabbing his leg after a layup attempt defended by Crowder.

CLIPPERS 106, MAVERICKS 81

DALLAS — Kawhi Leonard had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Paul George scored 20 points and Los Angeles manhandled Dallas in Game 4 to tie the series.

Reggie Jackson added 15 points, and the Clippers are headed home for Game 5 on Wednesday night much more sure of themselves than when they left LA in a two-game hole.

Luka Doncic started slowly after being listed as questionable because of cervical strain, the diagnosis for the Dallas sensation after he said following Game 3 that he felt pain in his neck and down his left arm.

Playing with medical strips on his left shoulder, and wearing a large pad in that area when he wasn't playing, Doncic scored 19 points after averaging 38 in the first three games. He was 9 of 24 with series lows in rebounds and assists with six apiece.

NETS 141, CELTICS 126

BOSTON — Kyrie Irving Irving had 39 points and 11 rebounds to quiet the first post-pandemic full house at the TD Garden, Kevin Durant scored 42 points and Brooklyn beat Boston to take a 3-1 series lead.

Afterward, as Irving walked off the court he was nearly hit by a bottle thrown from the stands. Irving and Nets guard Tyler Johnson turned to the stands and pointed; police surrounded a man in a Kevin Garnett jersey before leading him out in handcuffs. A spokeswoman for the TD Garden said Boston Police arrested one person Sunday night "for throwing an object" and that the fans was "subject to a lifetime ban from TD Garden."

James Harden added 23 points and a career postseason-high 18 assists for Brooklyn. Game 5 is in New York on Tuesday night, when the Nets will try to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2014.

Jayson Tatum scored 40 points for the Celtics, following up his 50-point effort in a Game 3 victory. But with Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker out with injuries, Tatum couldn't save the season on his own.

HAWKS 113, KNICKS 96

ATLANTA — Trae Young scored 27 points, John Collins added 22 despite a smack to the lip and Atlanta frustrated Julius Randle and New York once again, pulling away in the second half for a 3-1 series lead.

The Hawks will look to wrap up their first playoff series victory since 2016 when they travel to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Randle was serenaded again by chants of "Overrated! Overrated! Overrated!" every time he put one up. The roars were deafening after a sequence in the third when Randle missed on a drive and had a put-back rim out before the Knicks knocked the ball out of bounds.

Randle's frustration boiled over less than a minute later when he slammed Collins to the court on another drive. Nothing was called initially, but Randle was assessed an offensive foul after a video review prompted by a challenge from Hawks coach Nate McMillan.

Randle did have his highest-scoring game of the series with 23 points, but he was just 7 of 19 from the field. (AP)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Hundreds evacuated, some by chopper, from New Zealand floods

Posted: 30 May 2021 11:20 PM PDT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Several hundred people in New Zealand were evacuated from their homes Monday with some recounting dramatic helicopter rescues as heavy rain caused widespread flooding in the Canterbury region.

Authorities declared a state of emergency after some places received as much as 40 centimeters (16 inches) of rain over the weekend and into Monday. Forecasters warned of possible heavy rain through Monday evening before conditions improved.

The military helped evacuate more than 50 people including several overnight in an NH-90 military helicopter.

One man was clinging to a tree near the town of Darfield when he jumped into floodwaters and tried to swim to safety but was swept away, the military said.

Helicopter crews scoured the water for 30 minutes before finding the man and plucking him to safety. The military helicopter also rescued an elderly couple from the roof of their car.

"Seeing the community overnight pull together and support the displaced residents who were evacuated from their homes has been heartening," said Army Liaison Officer Cpt. Jake Faber.

Another man was rescued by a civilian helicopter pilot Sunday after he was swept from his farm as he tried to move his stock to safety.

Paul Adams told news organization Stuff he thinks he got hit by a wall of water he didn't see coming. He was swept down the raging Ashburton River before managing to drag himself onto a fence and then into a tree. Another farmer spotted his headlamp and organized a rescue mission.

"The rescuers are fantastic," Adams told Stuff, adding that he was now back on his farm and "good as gold." He said that so far he'd only found about 100 of his herd of 250 animals alive.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was visiting New Zealand, told reporters that he was thinking of those caught up in the floods.

"Australia is no stranger to floods," Morrison said. "Or fires, or cyclones, or, indeed, even mouse plagues. We have, both countries, endured a large amount of challenge over the course, particularly, of these last few years."

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern planned to travel to Christchurch later Monday to be briefed on the situation firsthand. (AP)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Canada lowers flags after discovery of bodies at school site

Posted: 30 May 2021 06:32 PM PDT

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Sunday that flags at all federal buildings be flown at half-staff to honor more than 200 children whose remains have been found buried at what was once Canada's largest Indigenous residential school — one of the institutions that held children taken from families across the nation.

The Peace Tower flag on Parliament Hill in the nation's capital of Ottawa was among those lowered to half-staff.

"To honor the 215 children whose lives were taken at the former Kamloops residential school and all Indigenous children who never made it home, the survivors, and their families, I have asked that the Peace Tower and all federal buildings be flown at half-mast," Trudeau tweeted.

Mayors of communities across Ontario, including Toronto, Ottawa, Mississauga and Brampton, also ordered flags lowered to honor the children.

Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia said the remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, were confirmed last weekend with the help of ground-penetrating radar.

She described the discovery as "an unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.″

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 First Nations children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society. They were forced to convert to Christianity and not allowed to speak their native languages. Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 are said to have died.

The Canadian government apologized in Parliament in 2008 and admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the schools was rampant. Many students recalled being beaten for speaking their native languages. They also lost touch with their parents and customs.

Indigenous leaders have cited that legacy of abuse and isolation as the root cause of epidemic rates of alcoholism and drug addiction on reservations.

Plans are underway to bring in forensics experts to identify and repatriate the remains of the children found buried on the site.

The Kamloops school operated between 1890 and 1969, when the federal government took over operations from the Catholic Church and operated it as a day school until it closed in 1978.

The National Truth and Reconciliation Commission has records of at least 51 children dying at the school between 1915 and 1963.

Perry Bellegarde, chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said while it is not new to find graves at former residential schools, it's always crushing to have that chapter's wounds exposed.

The chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, R. Stacey LaForme, wrote Trudeau on Saturday to ask the government to lower the flags and declare a national day of mourning.

"There is a lot more to be done but first and foremost, we need to do this to show love and respect to the 215 children, all of the children, and their families," LaForme said in a statement. "This should be a moment that the country never forgets."

Sol Mamakwa, an Indigenous opposition legislator who represents the Ontario riding of Kiiwetinoong, called on the province and Canadian government to work with all First Nations to look for remains at other defunct residential schools.

"It is a great open secret that our children lie on the properties of the former schools — an open secret that Canadians can no longer look away from," Mamakwa said. "In keeping with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Missing Children Projects, every school site must be searched for the graves of our ancestors."

Toronto Mayor John Tory said city flags would stay lowered for nine days — 215 hours — to represent each life.

"This sad story is shocking but not surprising to students of history, I don't think we know yet when these deaths occurred," said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto.

"Canada of yesteryear is not the Canada of today,'' he said. (AP)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Ex-'Tarzan' actor among 7 plane crash victims in Tennessee

Posted: 30 May 2021 06:13 PM PDT

SMYRNA, Tennessee — Investigators on Sunday continued searching for the bodies of seven people believed killed in the crash a day earlier of a small jet into a Tennessee lake, including an actor who portrayed Tarzan in a 1990s television series.

Rutherford County Fire Rescue Capt. John Ingle said in a statement Sunday that recovery efforts were ongoing at Percy Priest Lake near Smyrna. He said efforts also were focused on examining a half mile-wide debris field in the lake.

County officials identified the victims in a news release late Saturday as Brandon Hannah, Gwen S. Lara, William J. Lara, David L. Martin, Jennifer J. Martin, Jessica Walters and Jonathan Walters, all of Brentwood, Tennessee. Their names were released after family members had been notified.

Gwen Shamblin Lara founded the Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood in 1999 and wrote a faith-based weight loss book. Her husband of nearly three years, known as Joe Lara, was an actor featured in the TV series "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures."

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Cessna C501 plane was heading from nearby Smyrna Rutherford County Airport to Palm Beach International Airport when it crashed Saturday morning. Authorities did not release registration information for the plane.

Smyrna is located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of Nashville. Percy Priest Lake is a reservoir created by the J. Percy Priest Dam. It is a popular spot for boating and fishing.

"With dive teams in the water, we are strongly urging civilian boaters to stay away from the public safety boats," Ingle said.

The National Transportation Safety Board had a lead investigator at the site. (AP)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

End of Summer Sale ☀️😎

20% OFF Inside!🤯 ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏...