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SeaWorld Abu Dhabi to open on May 23

SeaWorld Abu Dhabi to open on May 23
The theme park was built to allow marine creatures to live in dynamic habitats alongside other fish, birds and animals as they would in nature. (WAM)
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Updated 23 March 2023
Arab News

SeaWorld Abu Dhabi to open on May 23

SeaWorld Abu Dhabi to open on May 23
  • Marine-life theme park will host 150 species
  • Spaces were built to recreate the way sea animals would live in natural habitat
Updated 23 March 2023
Arab News

DUBAI: Property developer Miral announced on Tuesday that SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, a next-generation marine-life theme park on Yas Island, is set to open on May 23, Emirates News reported. 

The marine-life theme park will feature the region’s largest multi-species aquarium, with more than 58 million liters of water and 150 species, including sharks, manta rays, sea turtles, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. It will be constructed on five indoor levels with a total area of about 183,000 sq m. 

The theme park will offer up-close animal encounters, rides, and dining and shopping opportunities across eight themed guest environments. Meanwhile, the development also includes the UAE’s first dedicated marine research, rescue, rehabilitation and return center. 

“As part of our commitment to the Year of Sustainability, the marine life park will embed Sheikh Zayed’s legacy and profound respect for nature and all its beauty, as well as play a key role in promoting environmental awareness and protecting marine life in Abu Dhabi, the UAE and the wider region,” said Miral Chairman Mohamed Khalifa Al-Mubarak. 

“Through its innovative programs and its state-of-the-art facilities, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi aims to inspire the next generation of conservationists and marine life scientists while fostering a deeper appreciation for the natural world,” Al-Mubarak said 

The theme park was built to allow marine creatures to live in dynamic habitats alongside other fish, birds and animals as they would in nature, WAM reported. Spaces have also been designed to mimic social seasonal patterns for animals and provide the health benefits of full spectrum light.

Topics: UAE SeaWorld Abu Dhabi

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A little too pink? ‘Barbie’ causes a global paint shortage

A little too pink? ‘Barbie’ causes a global paint shortage
Updated 1 min 30 sec ago
Arab News

A little too pink? ‘Barbie’ causes a global paint shortage

A little too pink? ‘Barbie’ causes a global paint shortage
  • Whimsical Barbie-world utilized so much pink paint that the globe ran out, production designer claimed
  • Company clarifies shortage was due to global supply issues, extreme weather
Updated 1 min 30 sec ago
Arab News

LONDON: Who knew a Barbie movie could cause such chaos? Greta Gerwig’s upcoming film about the iconic doll required a staggering amount of pink paint, so much so that it wiped out an entire company’s global supply.

In a recent interview with the American design magazine Architectural Digest, the director, together with production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, spoke about the construction of “Barbieland,” a whimsical world where everything, from roads to lampposts, is covered in fluorescent pink.

During the interview, Greenwood, a six-time Oscar nominee, revealed that “Barbie” caused an international pink paint shortage.

“The world ran out of pink,” she declared.

While some media outlets ran with the story, Lauren Proud, vice president of global marketing at Rosco, the paint company used by the film, offered some perspective to the Los Angeles Times.

Proud confirmed that the film “used as much paint as we had,” but explained that the “Barbie” production coincided with global supply chain issues during COVID-19 and extreme weather in Texas, which impacted the materials needed for the paint.

“There was this shortage and then we gave them everything we could — I don’t know they can claim credit,” Proud said, but admitted: “They did clean us out on paint.”

Gerwig told Architectural Digest that the eye-popping pink was key to “maintaining the ‘kid-ness’” of the film’s aesthetic.

The “Barbieland” design drew inspiration from the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, Wayne Thiebaud paintings, movie “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” and “An American in Paris.”

Gerwig said: “I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much,” emphasizing her desire to capture the essence of what made her fall in love with Barbie as a child.

“Why walk down stairs when you can slide into your pool? Why trudge up stairs when you take an elevator that matches your dress?” said Gerwig.

Thankfully, the set designers managed to secure just enough paint for production, which mostly took place at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in the UK.

The star-studded “Barbie” movie features an A-list cast including Margot Robbie as Barbie, Ryan Gosling as Ken, and an ensemble cast including Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Dua Lipa, Helen Mirren, Issa Rae, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, and Ncuti Gatwa.

After initial rumors of a possible ban in the Middle East and North Africa region, the production house confirmed that one of the most anticipated films of the year would be released in cinemas worldwide on July 21.

Topics: Barbie film Pink

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Nepali guide rescues climber from Everest death zone

Nepali guide rescues climber from Everest death zone
Updated 04 June 2023
AFP

Nepali guide rescues climber from Everest death zone

Nepali guide rescues climber from Everest death zone
Updated 04 June 2023
AFP

Katmandu: A Nepali guide abandoned his client’s Everest summit bid to rescue a Malaysian climber in a deadly mountaineering season that has seen at least twelve deaths.
Gelje Sherpa was guiding a Chinese client to the 8,849-meter (29,032-feet) peak and planned to assist him to paraglide down.
Instead, only a few hundred meters from the summit, they came across a lone man clinging to a rope and shivering in the area known as the “death zone.”
The area above 8,000 meters has earned its name because of its thin air, freezing temperatures and low oxygen levels that heighten the risk of altitude sickness. It is also notorious for its difficult terrain.
“When I found him in that state, my heart did not let me leave him there,” Sherpa told AFP.
Many other climbers had walked past the man that day, but he declined to criticize them.
“It is a place where you have to think of your survival first,” he said.
Sherpa told his client — who will have paid at least $45,000 to attempt Everest, including a permit fee of $11,000 — to return without a summit.
“When I decided to go down, my client did not agree at first. Of course, he was there after spending a lot of money, it must have been his dream for years and he had to find time to come here to climb.
“He got angry and said he wanted to go to the summit.
“I had to scold him and tell him that he has to descend because he was my responsibility and I couldn’t send him to the summit on his own. He got upset.”
He explained that he wanted to take the sick man down the mountain.
“Then he realized that by ‘rescue’ I meant that I wanted to save him. He understood and then he apologized later.”
Sherpa, 30, fitted the ailing climber with his supplemental oxygen supply, improving some of his symptoms, but he was still unable to walk.
The rocky uneven terrain meant that Sherpa, who is about 1.6 meters tall (five feet and three inches) and weighs 55 kilograms, had to carry the Malaysian in some sections.
“It is a very difficult task to carry someone and bring them down from there. But some sections are very rocky, I couldn’t drag him,” said Sherpa.
“If I did that, he could have broken his bones, he was already not doing well.”
Sherpa hauled the man down nearly 700 meters for almost six hours to Camp 4 by himself.
“I’ve been a part of many search and rescue missions, but this was very challenging,” he said.
Joined by another guide, the pair wrapped the climber in sleeping mats and secured him with ropes, dragging him on snowy slopes and carrying him on their backs when necessary.
Finally, they arrived at Camp 3 at 7,162 meters (23,500 feet) and a helicopter using a long line lifted the stricken climber down to the base camp.
Sherpa was not able to meet the Malaysian climber again but received a message thanking him.
“He wrote me ‘You saved my life, you are god to me’,” Sherpa said.
Nepali guides, usually ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest, are considered the backbone of the climbing industry and bear huge risks to carry equipment and food, fix ropes and repair ladders.
Sherpa’s video of the rescue two weeks ago has been liked on his Instagram more than 35,000 times and shared widely over social media, many applauding his selfless decision.
“As a guide you feel a sense of responsibility for others on the mountain and you have to make tough decisions,” said Ang Norbu Sherpa, president of Nepal National Mountain Guide Association.
“What he has done is commendable.”
Nepal issued a record 478 permits for Everest to foreign climbers this season and about 600 climbers and guides reached the top.
Twelve climbers have been confirmed dead, and five more are still missing.
Gelje Sherpa has reached the world’s highest point six times and did not regret his decision to turn back that day.
“People just focus on the summit, but everyone can do that,” he said. “To bring someone from higher than 8,000 meters is a lot more difficult than to summit.”

Topics: nepal Mount Everest

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Cairo mega sandstorm topples billboard, killing 1

Cairo mega sandstorm topples billboard, killing 1
Updated 03 June 2023
Arab News

Cairo mega sandstorm topples billboard, killing 1

Cairo mega sandstorm topples billboard, killing 1
  • Falling debris injures 5 others 
  • Authorities close several Red Sea ports, suspend maritime activities
Updated 03 June 2023
Arab News

LONDON: A severe sandstorm that engulfed Egypt’s capital Cairo on Thursday toppled a billboard on to traffic, killing one person and injuring five others.

Local traffic authorities rushed to remove the debris and restore traffic movement as the cloud of orange sand made it difficult for drivers to see, Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

Egyptian authorities also closed the ports of Suez, Sokhna and Adabiya on the Red Sea, citing bad weather conditions, while the Red Sea Ports Authority suspended all maritime navigation as waves rose to over four meters in height.

The country’s Meteorological Authority said that extreme weather conditions are expected to continue, urging the public to wear face masks and avoid sunlight when outdoors for the next two days as temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

Sandstorms, known as khamsin, are an annual occurrence in Egypt, but rarely reach the size and speed of Thursday’s weather event in Cairo.

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Break in case of emergency: Japanese vending machine to offer free food if earthquake hits

Break in case of emergency: Japanese vending machine to offer free food if earthquake hits
Updated 03 June 2023
Arab News

Break in case of emergency: Japanese vending machine to offer free food if earthquake hits

Break in case of emergency: Japanese vending machine to offer free food if earthquake hits
  • Coastal city launches trial of lifesaving devices that will distribute essential supplies in case of disaster
Updated 03 June 2023
Arab News

LONDON: Imagine a city with vending machines that unlock during earthquakes and other natural disasters, providing free food and supplies.

That is exactly what is happening in the Japanese coastal city of Ako, in Hyogo prefecture, as the country steps up its natural disaster preparations.

On Friday, Japanese news outlet The Mainichi reported that the city had launched a trial run with two emergency vending machines.

The machines usually sell snacks and drinks, but will also distribute items for free during major earthquakes or typhoons.

As well as 300 bottles of soda and 150 emergency food items, the lifesaving machines contain lockers filled with essential sanitary items, such as portable toilets and masks, the news outlet said.

The vending machines unlock when an evacuation order is issued after a quake or other natural disasters.

The “hygiene supply disaster prevention stockpiling vending machines” have been installed near buildings designated as evacuation shelters.

Ako is located in an area that is vulnerable to severe earthquakes. 

The emergency vending machine project is a collaboration between the municipality and Tokyo-based pharmaceutical firm Earth Corp., which has research and production facilities in Ako.

The company has signed agreements with 17 municipalities across Japan since 2020 to help solve local issues, with the machines in Ako said to be the first of their type in the country.

A company representative said: “We would like to spread this throughout the country as a socially oriented project.”

Vending machines can be found on almost every street in Japanese cities and sell a wide variety of items —  some as unique as bear or whale meat.

In a similar initiative, a vending machine with a radio that automatically broadcasts emergency information was installed in a Tokyo park earlier this year.

The radio will be activated by severe earthquakes, and transmit evacuation and other vital information from a local community station.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. On May 26, a 6.2 magnitude quake struck east of Tokyo.

Topics: vending machine earthquake Japan

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Lebanese crowned No.1 ‘puff-daddies’ as world’s biggest spenders on cigars

Lebanese crowned No.1 ‘puff-daddies’ as world’s biggest spenders on cigars
Updated 02 June 2023
Arab News

Lebanese crowned No.1 ‘puff-daddies’ as world’s biggest spenders on cigars

Lebanese crowned No.1 ‘puff-daddies’ as world’s biggest spenders on cigars
  • Fellow Arabs in Qatar were third-biggest spenders at $27.40
Updated 02 June 2023
Arab News

LONDON: Their country’s economy may be collapsing around them, but the Lebanese are still the people most likely to treat themselves to a cigar or two, according to recently released statistics.

A report from Statista Consumer Insights on 2022 spending habits found that Lebanese spent the most on cigars per capita in the world at $36.70, over a dollar more than those living in the US.

Their fellow Arabs in Qatar were the third-biggest spenders at $27.40, while Bahrainis came in eighth with a $12.40 spend per capita.

European nations Luxembourg, Iceland, Switzerland, UK, Netherlands and Finland rounded out the rest of the top 10.

According to Tobacco Atlas figures, Lebanon has the highest rate of smoking in the Middle East.

In 2022, the Lebanese smoked 1,955 cigarettes per person, according to its report. This was compared with 1,849 in Kuwait and 1,764 in Libya.

At the other end of the scale, in Saudi Arabia the figure was 485, in the UAE 438, and in Yemen 214.

In a bid to tackle rampant tobacco use, the Lebanese parliament passed a law in August 2011 banning smoking in all enclosed public spaces.

This included government buildings, airports, schools, modes of public transport, shopping malls, restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

It also made health warnings on tobacco product packages mandatory, and banned all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.

Topics: smoking Lebanon cigars

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