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Actress Angelina Jolie (center), speaks alongside US Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)  (right), US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (left), US Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) (second left), and US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (third left), as they announce a bipartisan modernized Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. — AFP
Angelina Jolie, at US Capitol, presses for domestic violence law
Film star Angelina Jolie was back on Capitol Hill Wednesday pleading with US lawmakers to immediately pass measures to combat domestic violence. At a press briefing in the US Capitol, Jolie expressed support for renewing legislation that would provide victims of such abuse with medical and legal assistance, as well as support to children who have been exposed to violence in the home.“The ugly truth is that violence in homes is normalized in our...
In this file photo a pair of Louis Vuitton-Nike sneakers is displayed at Sotheby’s in New York.
Sotheby’s sale of 200 pairs of Virgil Abloh shoe fetches $25 million
Sotheby’s announced Wednesday that an auction of 200 pairs of the Louis Vuitton and Nike “Air Force 1” sneaker created by late US designer Virgil Abloh had fetched a total of $25 million. A spokesman for the auction house told AFP that the most paid for one of the pairs was more than $350,000 during the online sale that ran from January 26 to February 8. The sums greatly exceed the initial estimates of Sotheby’s, which had started the...
Saudi Farah Al-Malki, 90 (left), his son Ahmed, 42, and his grandson Mansour, 11, harvest Khawlani coffee beans at a coffee farm in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern region of Jizan. — AFP photos
Saudi coffee legacy percolates through the generations
For Farah Al-Malki, growing coffee plants in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern region of Jizan is more than just a profession. It is a family tradition passed down from generation to generation. The 90-year-old patriarch has a long history with coffee, which spread from Ethiopia to Yemen and then to the rest of the Middle East around the 15th century. “My father inherited it from his grandfathers, and I took over and passed it down to my sons and...
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Panda ‘phenomenon’ surprises Beijing Olympics mascot designer
The man behind the Beijing Winter Olympics mascot jokes that he wished he had kept a few more of his cuddly panda creations after they became highly sought after collectables in China. Bing Dwen Dwen, the official mascot of the Games, has become the latest must-have item for keen fans with long queues at Olympic souvenir shops, and many willing to pay well over the official price to get their hands on one.  Cao Xue, who led the design team, said...
(From left to right) Berlinale 2022 International Jury Member and Japanese director and screenwriter Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Berlinale 2022 International Jury Member and Zimbabwean filmmaker and writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, Berlinale 2022 International Jury President and US filmmaker M Night Shyamalan, Berlinale 2022 International Jury Member and French producer Said Ben Said, Berlinale 2022 International Jury Member and German director and screenwriter Anne Zohra Berrached, Berlinale 2022 International Jury Member and Danish actress Connie Nielsen and Berlinale 2022 International Jury Member and Brazilian director Karim Ainouz pose during a photo call for the juryís presentation on the day of the festivalís opening in Berlin yesterday. — AFP photos
Berlin filmfest goes live as virus wave peaks
The Berlinale, Europe’s first major international film festival of the year, kicked off as a live event yesterday with Germany facing record daily coronavirus infections. Organizers of the event, which started in 1951 as a Cold War culture showcase for the divided German capital, say a raft of precautions will keep audiences safe as they take in the latest movies from around the globe. Artistic director Carlo Chatrian defended the decision...
KUWAIT: Waleed Al-Khashti poses for a photo with Ahmad Marafi, Hashem Bahbahani and the program sponsors during the conference.
Zain strategic partner of ‘Kuwait Codes’
KUWAIT: Zain, the leading digital service provider in Kuwait, announced its strategic partnership of ‘Kuwait Codes’, an educational coding program for high school students in Kuwait. The initiative, considered the first-of-its-kind in the nation, is launched by CODED Academy for the second time with the aim of empowering the next generation of young Kuwaiti programmers.The announcement was made during the press conference held at CODED...
ANKARA: A man carries bags of fruits he bought from an open market in Ankara. —AFP
High energy prices put more pressure on Turkish people
ANKARA: When temperatures plunged well below freezing in Ankara and energy prices soared, Dondu Isler had to make a tough choice to both stay warm and keep her soaring utility bills down. She turned off the heating in two bedrooms of her apartment. “Only the living room and the kitchen were heated, but at a minimum. We try to keep warm with blankets,” the 61-year-old woman said.Energy prices in Turkey and other countries have soared in the...
BERLIN: Germany’s gas stocks have fallen to a ‘worrying’ level, an economy ministry spokeswoman said yesterday.
Germany gas storage stocks drop to a ‘worrying’ level
BERLIN: Germany’s gas stocks have fallen to a “worrying” level, an economy ministry spokeswoman said yesterday, as fears over a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia put further pressure on energy supplies. “Of course we are monitoring the situation of the storage levels and that is certainly worrying,” said the spokeswoman during a regular government press conference.Stocks were now at 35-36 percent, under the “critical level” of...
BAISE, China: a resident undergoing a nucleic acid test for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Baise in China’s southern Guangxi region. — AFP
Why has a lockdown in Chinese city sent aluminum prices surging?
BEIJING: The COVID lockdown this week of a relatively unknown Chinese city sent global prices of aluminum rocketing to a 14-year high. Why did the outbreak in Baise spark fears around the world about the key metal? Where is Baise?Located near the border with Vietnam, Baise is nicknamed the “aluminum capital of southern China”. Home to around 3.5 million people, Baise is a hub for aluminum mining and production. It produces about 2.2 million...
An Iraqi youth sits at a stall for books and school supplies in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul.
In Iraq’s Mosul, library rises from ashes of IS reign
The storied library of Iraq’s Mosul University boasted a million titles before Islamic State group jihadists rampaged through it, toppling book shelves and burning ancient texts. Now, almost five years after their defeat, the war-battered northern metropolis is trying to rebuild the pride of the city long known as a literature hub boasting countless booksellers and archives guarding rare manuscripts. Mohamed Younes, technical director of the...
A photograph shows popcorn in the laboratory of the Natais popcorn factory.
Pandemic sets sales of microwavable popcorn a-pinging
While the closure of cinemas during the pandemic has eaten into popcorn sales, demand for the microwavable form of the popular snack has reached new records, according to Europe’s biggest producer. Natais is a small family-run company nestled in the rolling hills of southwest France, with the snow-capped Pyrenees visible in the distance. Set up by its current chief executive Michael Ehmann in 1994, the popcorn maker employs a workforce of 140...
British singer Adele Laurie Blue Adkins aka Adele celebrates after receiving the artist of the year award during the BRIT Awards 2022 ceremony and live show, in London.
Three wins for Adele at non-binary Brit Awards
British superstar Adele won three awards, including the coveted Album of the Year, at the Brit awards on Tuesday, during a ceremony that did away with gender specific categories for the first time. Adele won best album for “30”, as well as song of the year for her hit single “Easy On Me” and artist of the year, no longer female or male, after which she acknowledged the changing times. “I understand why they changed the name of this...