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Alina Serban (left) poses during a photo session for the poster of her show in Bucharest.—AFP photos

‘Let the light in’: Romanian Roma actress smashes stigma with new play

As a child, Roma actress and playwright Alina Serban didn’t see herself represented on television, in movies or books, her stigmatized community shunned from the cultural mainstream. She has dedicated her career to changing that, and last month became the first Roma to stage her work at Bucharest’s National Theatre. “I grew up in this country, but I’ve never been able to recognize myself in the stories,” the 34-year-old told AFP....

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The NFT artist who sold a trashcan image for $252,000

Marcel Duchamp scandalized the art world in 1917 by submitting a urinal as his entry to a prestigious competition. A century later, an American artist known as Robness sparked his own controversy by selling an NFT of a rubbish bin for $252,000. “I can’t even remember where the image came from, I think it was a Google image search,” the 38-year-old Los Angeles native tells AFP. NFTs are unique pieces of computer code stored on a longer chain...

In this photograph a dog looks on in front of a dilapidated mansion in Kanadukathan town in India’s Tamil Nadu state. — AFP photos

Curtains down on Morocco’s ‘ ramshackle cinemas

They won’t be playing it again at this Casablanca cinema. Rabi Derraj gazed despondently at the ramshackle 1940s movie house, its doors blocked by discarded mannequins from the nearby market. “There’s no hope any more. This cinema is dead,” said its longtime security guard. Al-Malaki once seated more than 1,000 moviegoers, but like theatres across Morocco, it lies closed and derelict. Enthusiasts are calling for better protection for the...

Dr Mohammad Y Al-Hashel

CBK governor issues guidelines for digital banks

KUWAIT: As tech-based business models are becoming increasingly vital within the banking and finance sector to support and enhance services offered to customers and contributing to overall economic growth, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) said yesterday as it issued guidelines specifying requirements for establishing digital banks. This falls within CBK’s overall effort to utilize the latest advancements to bolster financial stability,...

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Eurozone inflation soared to new record high in January

BRUSSELS: Inflation in the eurozone soared to a new record high in January, official data showed yesterday, adding pressure on the European Central Bank ahead of a monetary policy meeting this week. The figure hit 5.1 percent last month, a first since the official Eurostat agency started to compile the data in 1997. The European Central Bank, in charge of euro monetary policy, has a medium-term inflation target of two percent. Its board meets...

BRUSSELS: European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness (right) holds a press conference on EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities in Brussels yesterday. — AFP

Brussels labels gas, nuclear as sustainable investments

BRUSSELS: The European Commission defied protests from green campaigners and dissent in its own ranks yesterday to give a sustainable finance label to investments in both gas and nuclear power. Opponents of gas want to discourage investment in a fossil fuel technology they say only fuels the climate change crisis, while critics of nuclear energy point to the threat posed by accidents and nuclear waste. But the EU executive, under pressure from...

In this file photo Britainís Queen Elizabeth II sits on the Sovereignís throne in the House of Lords as she delivers the Queenís Speech at the State Opening of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament in London.

Queen Elizabeth II to mark 70 years on the throne

Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday becomes the first British monarch to reign for 70 years, heralding the start of her Platinum Jubilee year despite her retreat from public view. But the landmark date this weekend will see little fanfare, as the 95-year-old monarch traditionally spends the anniversary of the death of her father in private. The sovereign’s record-breaking reign as head of state began when she was aged 25 and watching wildlife in a...

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Women’s clothing store bans men in Brazil

Sick and tired of men harassing her clients and employees, the owner of a women’s clothing store in Brazil decided to take matters into her own hands and ban them from her shop. “No men allowed,” reads the sign that entrepreneur and model Andrea Costa hung in the window of her store in a shopping mall in Sao Jose dos Campos, a city of 700,000 people in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo. “Your pet is welcome,” it adds. Another sign...

In this file photo Cypriot mouflons (Ovis orientalis ophion) are seen. — AFP

Wildlife rebounds in divided Cyprus ‘dead zone’

In a long-abandoned village in the UN buffer zone that divides Cyprus, an endangered curly-horned wild sheep offers hope not only for wildlife but that bitter ethnic divisions might slowly be healed. The mouflon, a majestic breed endemic to the Mediterranean island, is one of many species flourishing in the no-man’s-land created when inter-communal strife sliced Cyprus in two in the 1960s. “Without human influence, the wildlife and plant life...

Art sleuth returns statue to France almost 50 years after heist

A Dutch art detective has returned a rare Roman statue that was considered one of France’s most important treasures to the museum from which it was stolen nearly 50 years ago. Arthur Brand, dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the Art World” for his exploits, handed back the 1st century bronze sculpture statue of the god Bacchus to the director of the Musee du Pays Chatillonnais in eastern France. It was from there on a cold evening in December...

This file photo taken on May 7, 1966 shows Italian actress Monica Vitti arriving at the Carlton hotel during the 19th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.

Italian film icon Monica Vitti dies aged 90

Italian actress Monica Vitti, an icon best known for her starring roles in films by Michelangelo Antonioni, has died aged 90, the culture ministry said yesterday. “Goodbye Monica Vitti, goodbye queen of Italian cinema. Today is a truly sad day, we have lost a great artist and a great Italian,” Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said in a statement. Vitti shot to international fame with the 1960 drama “L’Avventura” (“The Adventure”)...

STUTTGART: The letters Mercedes-Benz are displayed in front of the former Daimler AG headquarters in Stuttgart, southern Germany. —AFP

Daimler completes Mercedes-Benz rename after truck split

FRANKFURT: German auto manufacturer Daimler officially changed its name to Mercedes-Benz yesterday after splitting with its truck subsidiary in a major corporate shakeup. Re-branding under the name of the well-known luxury make reflects the group’s new “strategic focus”, chief executive Ola Kallenius said in a statement. “We want to make clear where we see the core of our company-building the most desirable cars in the world,”...

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ADDIS ABABA: Pedestrians walk past old Lada cars parked and ready to carry goods in the vicinity of a busy market in Addis Ababa. – AFP photos

The last of Ethiopia’s Soviet-era Lada cars

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KUWAIT: Kuwait’s new Amir HH Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah salutes as he swears in before lawmakers as the country’s 17th Amir, at the Kuwaiti parliament, on December 20, 2023 in Kuwait City. - Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Amir’s first year leading Kuwait drives development and unity

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KUWAIT: Cabinet ministers convene for their weekly meeting on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 at at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. — KUNA

Cabinet approves MoU with China to accelerate Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port

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Floating diwaniya on a yacht trip.

Kuwait’s hidden appeal

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A design of a bridge with the sea stretching on both sides.

Vision for a sustainable Kuwait