Latest news with #BTO
Straits Times
5 minutes ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Germans face race to recover after emotional Women's Euro win over France
Germany's players face a race to mentally recover for Wednesday's Euro 2025 semi-final against Spain after they were left drained following their epic 6-5 win on penalties against France on Saturday, when they had to fight back from a goal and a player down. With defender Kathrin Hendrich sent off in the 13th minute, Christian Wueck's side had to put in a Herculean effort to pull off a 1-1 draw after extra time. It set the stage for goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger's stellar shootout performance as she scored from the spot and saved two of France's penalties to send the Germans through. "We just have to shake this pain off, look at who we have as resources. We need to take action, the doctors, physical therapists and our staff have to intervene, and I hope we can recover the players within three days," German coach Wueck told reporters. "Of course, this game was very emotional because of our progression but in football, half of the worth is due to emotions and I think that's what decided for this game. Everybody who has enjoyed our win knows that." After suffering a blow by losing 4-1 to Sweden in their final group game, the enormous physical effort required to defeat the French left several players in Wueck's squad carrying knocks, bumps and bruises, and the 52-year-old coach said it was their mental strength that carried them into the last four. "We had enough time to be mentally fresh and recover, it was okay to have one day without football (after the Sweden game). The reaction that our team has shown is a performance level we have been able to maintain for more than 120 minutes," he said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Priority for singles, higher quota for second-timer families to kick in from HDB's July BTO exercise Singapore 1 in 3 vapes here laced with etomidate; MOH working with MHA to list it as illegal drug: Ong Ye Kung Singapore 2-in-1 airport police robot on trial can patrol and serve as PMD with ride-hailing feature Asia Rains from Typhoon Wipha batter Hong Kong as it heads for mainland China Business Crypto exchange Tokenize to shut down Singapore operations Asia Tearful relatives await news of victims in Vietnam boat capsize Singapore ComfortDelDro to discipline driver who flung relative's wheelchair out of taxi Singapore Minor Issues: Why I didn't send my daughters to my brand-name primary school "I always promised this to the team that mentality beats the rest, and this is what we have proven today." Germany take on Spain in their semi-final in Zurich on Wednesday, with reigning champions England facing Italy the day before in Geneva. REUTERS
Straits Times
36 minutes ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Priority for singles, higher quota for second-timer families to kick in from HDB's July BTO exercise
Find out what's new on ST website and app. The July exercise will also see enhancements to the Deferred Income Assessment scheme and the Fresh Start Housing Grant take effect. SINGAPORE – A slew of policy changes will kick in, starting with the upcoming HDB's Build-To-Order (BTO) flat sales exercise in July, benefiting singles as well as families looking to upgrade or right-size their homes. Laying out the changes in a statement on July 20, the Housing Board said the one benefiting singles involves a previously announced new F amily C are S cheme , meant to also provide singles with priority access to BTO flats when they buy one near or with their parents. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had announced the scheme in his first National Day Rally speech in 2024 as a means to bolster intergenerational support among families. Without the update, priority access would remain reserved only for married couples and their parents. HDB on July 20 said first-time single buyers currently have up to 65 per cent of two-room flexi BTO flats and up to 5 per cent of Sale of Balance Flats (SBFs) set aside for them after such flats are allocated to seniors. Within these quotas, up to 30 per cent of two-room flexi BTO flats and up to 2 per cent of SBFs will be set aside for first-timer singles applying under the new scheme. The remaining quotas will be for other first-timer singles, HDB said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 1 in 3 vapes here laced with etomidate; MOH working with MHA to list it as illegal drug: Ong Ye Kung Singapore HSA extends hotline hours, launches new platform to report vaping offences Singapore 2-in-1 airport police robot on trial can patrol and serve as PMD with ride-hailing feature Asia Tearful relatives await news of victims in Vietnam boat capsize Singapore ComfortDelDro to discipline driver who flung relative's wheelchair out of taxi Multimedia How to make the most out of small homes in Singapore Asia Over 380,000 people affected by autogate glitch at JB checkpoint over 2 days Singapore Minor Issues: Why I didn't send my daughters to my brand-name primary school HDB, meanwhile, specified that there will be no change to the existing priority access for married couples and seniors. The new scheme has a second component which grants singles priority if they jointly apply for two units in the same BTO project with their parents. But this would kick in only from the October sales exercise, HDB said. The change pertaining to families is for those applying for a BTO for the second time. HDB said it will increase the allocation quota of three-room and larger flats for this group by 5 percentage points from the July exercise . This is to support these families' 'upgrading aspirations and right-sizing plans', it stated. With the change, up to 20 per cent of three-room Standard flats and up to 10 per cent of three-room Plus and Prime flats and four-room and larger flats would be set aside for second-timer families. First-timer families would, however, still have at least 80 to 90 per cent of three-room and larger flats set aside for them, HDB noted. The July exercise would also see enhancements to the Deferred Income Assessment (DIA) scheme and the Fresh Start Housing Grant take effect, HDB said. The DIA scheme lets couples defer their income assessment until nearer the key collection date, so they can qualify for a bigger loan as their incomes are likely to be more stable and higher by then, without deferring their flat application. Under the enhanced DIA scheme, only one of the two parties needs to be a recent or current full-time student or national serviceman before a couple can apply for a new flat with its help. Previously, both parties needed to meet this requirement. The increase of the Fresh Start Housing Grant from $50,000 to $75,000 for second-timer public rental households with children was announced at the Ministry of National Development's Committee of Supply debate earlier this year. HDB said this change, also to kick in from the July exercise, will help eligible second-timer families use the increased grant to buy a new two-room flexi or three-room standard BTO, or SBF flat, on a shorter lease. About 5,500 BTO flats in Bukit Merah, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Sembawang, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Woodlands will be launched in the July exercise, HDB said. Some 5,030 flats were launched in the last BTO exercise on Feb 10 . More than 4,600 SBF units will also be up for picks in the concurrent SBF exercise to take place in July, it added. 'We will continue to refine our public housing policies to keep public housing affordable, accessible and inclusive for Singaporeans,' HDB said.
AsiaOne
6 hours ago
- Business
- AsiaOne
Children living with or near parents to get priority in HDB sales exercises, regardless of marital status, from July , Singapore News
Singles applying for new flats can join married couples in getting priority access when they buy a home near or with their parents, beginning with the Housing Board's July 2025 sales exercise. That is when the new Family Care Scheme will kick in, said the HDB in a statement on Sunday (July 20). The launch date for the July BTO sales exercise has not been announced. News that singles can get priority during the BTO application process was first announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the National Day Rally last year. He had said that the Government will extend priority access to new flats to all parents and their children, regardless of marital status. Priority access was previously reserved only for married couples and their parents. HDB said in its statement last November that the new FCS — which has two components — streamlines three priority schemes for married couples, parents and seniors, and will also include singles. The two components are FCS (Proximity) — which will be rolled out with the July BTO sales exercise — and FCS (Joint Balloting), which will be implemented end-2025. For FCS (Proximity), both parents and children will have priority access if they are applying for a new flat to live with or near each other, regardless of marital status. This replaces the current replaces the Married Child Priority Scheme and Senior Priority Scheme. The FCS (Joint Balloting) is where parents and their children, regardless of marital status, will be able to jointly apply for two units in the same BTO project, where there are 2-room Flexi or 3-room flats in the BTO project. This will replace the current Multi-Generation Priority Scheme, which prioritises married couples and parents who live near each other in the same BTO project. More flats for second-tier families In their statement on Sunday, HDB also provided more details on the additional allocation of BTO flats for second-timer families, as earlier announced in March. Second-timer families will have an increased allocation quota of 3-room and larger BTO flats by five percentage points, said HDB. This is to support their upgrading aspirations or "right-sizing plans", they said. The proportion of BTO flats set aside for second-timer families will now be: • Up to 20 per cent (from up to 15 per cent currently) of 3-room Standard flats; • Up to 10 per cent (from up to 5 per cent currently) of 3-room Plus and Prime flats, and 4-room and larger Standard, Plus and Prime flats HDB added that at least 80 to 90 per cent of 3-room and larger flats will continue to be set aside for first-timer families. Increase in Fresh Start Housing Grant Other enhancements that will take effect from the July 2025 sales exercises include the Deferred Income Assessment (DIA) scheme and the Fresh Start Housing Grant for eligible second-timer families The DIA scheme allows eligible couples to apply for a new flat first and defer their income assessment for the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) and an HDB housing loan until nearer to key collection. The enhanced scheme will mean that only one of the two parties will have to be studying or serving National Service where previously both parties have to meet this requirement. In addition, the Fresh Start Housing Grant will be increased from $50,000 to $75,000 to support more second-timer public rental households with children to own a flat. Eligible ST families can use the increased grant to buy a new 2-room Flexi or 3-room Standard BTO, or SBF flat, on a shorter lease, said HDB. HDB will offer over 10,000 new flats in the July sales exercise. Over half of these, or 5,500 flats, will be Build-To-Order (BTO) units, elaborated Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat in a Facebook post on July 16. [[nid:719872]] candicecai@
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
How this summer's heatwaves are affecting breeding birds
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, while one heatwave looks like chance, two – in one month – suggests something more serious is going on. This summer's heatwaves across southern Britain and much of continental Europe have had a mixed effect on breeding birds. Warm, sunny days allow them plenty of time to feed and reduce the risk of their chicks dying in the nest because of spells of cold, wet and windy weather. Yet long periods of very hot and dry weather can be equally harmful: baby birds can overheat, and some insect food can be scarce or hard to reach, especially when the ground bakes hard and dry. In the longer term, if summer droughts become the norm, then some species will suffer, while others will benefit by shifting their ranges further north. A seminal 2021 report from the BTO, Climate Change and the UK's Birds, noted that certain groups of birds – notably seabirds and upland specialists – are already being affected negatively by the climate crisis. And while roughly half of our breeding species don't appear to be affected, we need to continue regular surveys of their populations so ensure that we can try to mitigate any harm. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion In the short term, the RSPB has reminded us to regularly refill our bird baths with clean water, as birds need to drink and bathe during hot weather to keep themselves healthy.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Barn owl found at farm is 'Britain's oldest ever'
Bird experts say they have found the oldest barn owl ever recorded in Britain and British Trust for Ornithololgy (BTO) said the owl, originally ringed as a chick in Nottinghamshire in 2007, was discovered at a farm in Lincolnshire during the organisation's annual barn owl only was the female owl found to be the oldest - beating the previous record of 15 years and seven months - but she was also breeding a six-week-old chick.A spokesperson for the Barn Owl Trust said the discovery was "incredibly rare" and "great news" for the future of the species. Alan Ball has been ringing barn owls for the past 40 years on behalf of the BTO in Lincolnshire and parts of told the BBC he paid a visit to Eastfield farm in Hough on Hill in June to monitor the barn owls as usual before he realised something "slightly peculiar" about one of the female adult birds."I recognised the first few letters on its ring, and remembered that I had recorded this owl some time ago," said the 68-year-old."We found out this bird had been recorded in Nottinghamshire on 23 June 2007. The date we'd found it was the 25 June 2025, making it 18 years old."Immediately, I knew it was one of the oldest, if not the oldest. I was amazed by the discovery."For a barn owl to be alive and breeding at that age is spectacular, and a brilliant sign for their future." Ben Lord looks after the owls on Eastfield farm after his grandfather retired 15 years ago, and said the discovery "means a lot" to them."My grandfather devoted lots of time on the farm to monitoring the owls and maintaining the boxes they stayed in - he actually built them himself," he said."To think that our little farm in Lincolnshire was the place for something like this is great - it puts us on the map."Barn owls have an average life expectancy of four years according to the Barn Owl owls die in the winter time due to food shortages and harsh weather conditions, but conservationists at the trust believe milder winters are causing more of them to Whitelegg, an assistant conservationist at the trust, said the owls increased survival was also down to the work of volunteers."These birds have gone from being relatively rare in the country to more common because of volunteers and farms like these checking up on them."Only 40% of these owls make it to breeding age, so the fact this one has survived this long and is breeding is exceptional."The work of volunteers is so important, and we would love to see more barn owls making it to this age - we are hopeful for the future."
