Month: November 2022

Hong Kong emigres seek milk tea in craving for taste of home

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

The menu shows Hong Kong-style milk tea as an item served at the HOKO Cafe, a pop-up cafe in the trendy London neighborhood of Shoreditch that’s attracting Londoners and tourists as well as Hong Kong emigres on Nov. 18, 2022. As tens of thousands leave Hong Kong for new lives abroad, many are craving a flavor from childhood that’s become a symbol of the city’s culture: the sweet, heavy tea with evaporated milk that’s served both hot and cold at diner-like restaurants called cha chaan tengs. Workshops are popping up to teach professionals to brew tea like short-order cooks, and milk tea businesses are expanding beyond Chinatowns in Britain. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — In London, Wong Wai-yi misses the taste of home.

A year ago, the 31-year-old musician was in Hong Kong, earning a good living composing for TV and movies and teaching piano. Today, she makes about half as much in London working part-time as a server alongside her musical pursuits. She chose the job in part because staff meals allow her to save money on food.

It’s a difficult adjustment. And Wong, who left Hong Kong with her boyfriend in January, has turned to a beloved hometown staple to keep her grounded: milk tea. She brings the beverage to parties with Hong Kong friends and gives bottles to co-workers as gifts.

“It’s like reminding myself I am a Hong Konger. It will be fine as long as we are willing to endure the hardships and work hard,” said Wong, who left as part of an exodus that began after Beijing passed a law in 2020 that curtailed civil liberties. Continue reading

New Zealand to decide on lowering voting age from 18 to 16

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

A vote is cast in Auckland, New Zealand, during a general election on Sept. 3, 2014. A lobby group seeking to lower New Zealand’s voting age from 18 to 16 won a milestone victory Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, when the nation’s Supreme Court found in its favor, ruling that the current law amounts to age discrimination against 16 and 17 year olds. (Chris Gorman/New Zealand Herald via AP)

By NICK PERRY Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand lawmakers will take a vote on whether to lower the national voting age from 18 to 16, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.

Her announcement came hours after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that not allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote amounted to age discrimination.

But while Ardern said she personally favors lowering the age, such a change would require a 75% supermajority of lawmakers to agree. And even proponents acknowledge they don’t currently have the numbers.

A number of countries are debating whether to lower their voting age. Some that allow people to vote at 16 include Austria, Malta, Brazil, Cuba and Ecuador. Continue reading

FIFA threat makes World Cup teams nix ‘One Love’ armbands

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

England’s Harry Kane gestures wearing a black armband with a sign “No discrimination” during World Cup group B soccer match between England and Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — FIFA’s threat of on-field punishment for players pushed World Cup teams to back down Monday and abandon a plan for their captains to wear armbands that were seen as a rebuke to host nation Qatar’s human rights record.

Just hours before the first players with the armbands in support of the “One Love” campaign were to take the field, soccer’s governing body warned they would immediately be shown yellow cards — two of which lead to a player’s expulsion from that game and also the next.

That changed the calculus for the seven European teams, which may have expected merely to be fined. The displays are a violation of FIFA rules.

No player had the “One Love” armbands Monday, although England’s Harry Kane wore the FIFA-approved “No Discrimination” armband that was offered as a compromise in the match with Iran. Continue reading

Paris 2024 Olympics, Paralympics mascot is a smiling hat

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

Mascots of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, right, and Paralympics Games, a Phrygian cap, jump during a preview in Saint Denis, outside Paris, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The soft bright red cap, also known as a liberty cap, is an updated version of a conical hat worn in antiquity in places such as Persia, the Balkans, Thrace, Dacia and Phrygia, where the name originates, in modern day Turkey. It later became a symbol of the pursuit of liberty in the French Revolution and is still worn by the figure of Marianne, the national personification of France since that time. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

By MASHA MACPHERSON and THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The mascots for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics have been revealed — a Phrygian cap.

The soft red cap, also known as a liberty cap, is an updated version of a conical hat worn in antiquity in places such as Persia, the Balkans, Thrace, Dacia and Phrygia, a place in modern day Turkey where the name originates. It later became a symbol of the pursuit of liberty in the French Revolution — and is still worn by the figure of Marianne, the national personification of France since that time.

The Olympic cap is triangular in shape, and comes complete with friendly smile, blue eyes, tricolor ribbon and big colored sneakers.

The Paralympic version features a prosthetic leg that goes to the knee — the first time such a mascot sports a visible disability, organizers said. Continue reading

Sam Bankman-Fried’s downfall sends shockwaves through crypto

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Read time : 5 mins

Level : Advanced

Signage for the FTX Arena, where the Miami Heat basketball team plays, is visible Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Miami. Sam Bankman-Fried received numerous plaudits as he rapidly achieved superstar status as the head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX: the savior of crypto, the newest force in Democratic politics and potentially the world’s first trillionaire. Now the comments about the 30-year-old aren’t so kind after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, Nov. 11 leaving his investors and customers feeling duped and many others in the crypto world fearing the repercussions. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried received numerous plaudits as he rapidly achieved superstar status as the head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX: the savior of crypto, the newest force in Democratic politics and potentially the world’s first trillionaire.

Now the comments about the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried range from bemused to hostile after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, leaving his investors and customers feeling duped and many others in the crypto world fearing the repercussions. Bankman-Fried himself could face civil or criminal charges.

“I’ve known him for a number of years and what just happened is just shocking,” said Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency company Circle. Continue reading