Biggest underdog wins

A mother and son who split winnings from their weekly lottery tickets and scratchards have scooped £100,000-a-month for a whole year Sue Rees, 48, and her son Connor, 24, buy two Scratchcards every time they go shopping together. Until recently, their biggest win had been £150 - but their luck changed when they bought a scratchcard that landed them the epic jackpot prize. Connor, a warehouse worker, and Sue, a dinner lady who has helped prepare meals for needy children during the pandemic, said they couldn't believe their eyes when they looked at the card - before heading right back to the shop to check it with the cashier. Connor said: “Mum has always been convinced she’d win the lottery one day but I’m a bit more sceptical and never thought it would happen. "We took the Scratchcard straight back into the shop and the shopkeeper confirmed we’d won big, we just couldn’t believe it. I still can’t really!" Following their tradition, the pair will split their winnings … [Read more...] about Mum and son who split winnings on weekly lotto tickets scoop £100k-a-month for a year

YANGON: Myanmar's anti-coup protesters returned to the streets in force on Wednesday (Feb 17), staging the biggest demonstrations since troops fanned out around the country to quell opposition to the new military government. Much of the country has been in open revolt since the army deposed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's government at the start of the month and charged her under an obscure import law. Tens of thousands rallied in Yangon, some blockading roads with vehicles to stop security forces from moving around the nation's biggest city. "We have to fight until the end," Nilar, a 21-year-old student who asked not to use her real name, told AFP. "We need to show our unity and strength to end military rule. People need to come out on the streets." In the second biggest city Mandalay, police and soldiers broke up a protest that had blocked the railway, two sources told AFP. Yan Naing, a member of a local emergency rescue service, said security forces opened … [Read more...] about Myanmar protesters stage biggest rallies since troop deployments

SINGAPORE: It has been said that cybersecurity is like an arms race, with both sides constantly evolving their weapons and defences. On one side are the keepers of data and information, and on the other are the cyber criminals who want to steal and profit from that information. WHAT’S THE COST? In one of the largest data heists in history, it came to light in November that the data of 500 million customers of the Marriott hotel group had been stolen . Earlier last year, cyber criminals took the records of some 145 million customers of credit-reporting agency Equifax. In Singapore, the information of 1.5 million healthcare patients, including those of the Prime Minister, were stolen . Separately, the records of 14,200 HIV-positive people in Singapore were also leaked online . READ: Mikhy Brochez admits threatening Singapore Government over HIV data leak in FBI affidavit In Bangladesh, rogue hackers in 2016 robbed the country’s central bank of US$100 million, … [Read more...] about Commentary: Here’s how to win the cybersecurity arms race

SINGAPORE: For months, Beijing has described Hong Kong’s protesters as “behaving like terrorists” manipulated by foreign forces against the will of a suffering population. On Sunday (Nov 24), the people of Hong Kong gave their verdict in the first vote since the demonstrations erupted in June. In one of the biggest voter turnouts in Hong Kong history, the pro-democracy camp won 17 of 18 districts — compared with zero in the last poll four years ago. Some of the most prominent pro-Beijing figures lost their seats while hardline democracy activists won theirs. A PEACEFUL VOTE Despite concerns of violence, the vote was peaceful. There were no clashes between police and black-clad protesters, just candidates and their supporters waving to passersby. The elections followed one of the most disruptive fortnights in the protests. Police laid siege to universities and protesters snarled up transport forcing schools to close. One of the sieges, at Hong Kong Polytechnic … [Read more...] about Commentary: Hong Kong poll win will embolden protesters

AUCKLAND: Three years ago everything felt so different. Our borders were open, no one knew what PPE stood for, and social distancing was something people did when they felt awkward at parties. Jacinda Ardern had not long taken over leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. Amid breathless talk of “stardust”, “Jacindamania” and “transformation”, she was busy hauling the party out of the polling doldrums towards 36.9 per cent of the vote at the 2017 election – and the prime ministership. Then a lot of things happened. A white supremacist murdered 51 people at two Christchurch mosques. Whakaari/White Island erupted, killing 21 and injuring more. And a global pandemic spread, leading to two extended periods of lockdown in New Zealand and a decision by Ardern to postpone the election from Sep 19 to Oct 17. READ: Commentary: How Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand's most popular political influencer READ: New Zealand PM Ardern launches 'COVID election' campaign promising … [Read more...] about Commentary: The transformation of Jacinda Ardern is almost complete