Actor, former MMA fighter Shah Hussain to feature in upcoming film

Actor, former MMA fighter Shah Hussain to feature in upcoming film
Shah Hussain starring Morris Men alongside cast members. (Supplied)
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Updated 28 March 2023

Actor, former MMA fighter Shah Hussain to feature in upcoming film

Actor, former MMA fighter Shah Hussain to feature in upcoming film
  • Star was involved in choreographing the fight scenes of ‘Morris Men’

LONDON: British Pakistani actor Shah Hussain, who was formerly a professional mixed martial arts fighter, is set to star in an upcoming film, “Last Respects.”

Hussain has appeared in a number of popular productions, including Netflix’s “Red Notice,” SKY AMC’s “Gangs of London,” and Apple TV’s “Slow Horses.”

Featuring in “Morris Men,” Hussain played the role of Huss Ellis and, due to his extensive martial arts experience, he was closely involved behind the camera in choreographing the movie’s fight scenes.

In addition to being the first professional Pakistani MMA fighter in the early 2000s, he is also a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Hussain stars alongside a cast of prominent stars, including Peter Andre, Sean Cronin and Mark Pegg, in his forthcoming project “Last Respects.” The plot revolves around three gangsters who pay their respects to their ringleader, only to discover that it is a test of their loyalty.


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 02 June 2023

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

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.


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

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

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.


Face of Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamun newly reconstructed

Face of Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamun newly reconstructed
Updated 01 June 2023

Face of Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamun newly reconstructed

Face of Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamun newly reconstructed
  • ‘More like a young student than politician,’ says study co-author
  • ‘Amazingly close’ to one done by a French team a few years ago

LONDON: The face of Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamun has been newly reconstructed, The Independent reported on Thursday.

The scientists who conducted the reconstruction and study published the results in the Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology.

“Looking at him, we see more of a young student than a politician full of responsibilities, which makes the historical figure even more interesting,” co-author Cicero Moraes told MailOnline, as reported by The Independent.

“Faced with the studies we have developed with data from living people, comparing projections with actual measurements, we are confident that there is good compatibility with the real face,” Moraes added.

Egyptologist and archaeologist Michael Habicht of Australia’s Flinders University said the new reconstruction was “amazingly close” to one done by a French team a few years ago.

“It also corresponds with the ancient depictions of Tutankhamun, especially with the head on the lotus flower from his tomb treasure,” Habicht told The Independent.

Various facial reconstructions have been attempted throughout the years, with the first in 1983 by forensic artist Betty Pat Gatliff, who built a mould using a plaster skull constructed from radiographs.

During his lifetime, Tutankhamun was worshiped as a deity, ascending to the throne at the age of nine. He died when he was just 19 and is renowned for the abundance of wealth discovered inside his tomb.

To date, his tomb is the only one that has been discovered totally intact, and its discovery is regarded as one of the most significant archaeological finds in history.

New evidence in 2022 suggested that the archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb stole treasure from it.


Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee, will travel the US

Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee, will travel the US
Updated 31 May 2023

Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee, will travel the US

Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee, will travel the US
  • The puppet of the 10-year-old girl will visit the US Capitol, Boston Common, Joshua Tree National Park and the Edmund Pettus Bridge among other sites
  • Little Amal was created by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa, who made the award-winning puppets for the hit show “War Horse”

NEW YORK: Little Amal, a 12-foot (3.7-meter) puppet of a Syrian refugee, will journey across the United States this fall, visiting key places in America’s history to raise awareness about immigration and migration.
The puppet of the 10-year-old girl will visit the US Capitol, Boston Common, Joshua Tree National Park and the Edmund Pettus Bridge among other sites during a trek which starts in Boston on Sept. 7 and ends Nov. 5 along the US-Mexico border.
“There is something in the act of welcoming a stranger which redefines you,” says Amir Nizar Zuabi, the artistic director. “I think that’s part of what we’re trying to create when walking into places that have a beautiful, complicated, defining history.”
Stops are also planned for Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, the Tennessee cities of Nashville and Memphis, New Orleans, the Texas cities of Austin, Houston, San Antonio and El Paso, as well as the California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.
“Obviously there’s a lot of specific points in our American history that we felt that we needed to address and that’s the reason why we’re starting in Boston,” says Enrico Dau Yang Wey, lead puppeteer and co-associate artistic director. “The reason why we’re finishing in San Diego is that there’s just such a thin line between the United States and Mexico.”
Little Amal demands empathy, the puppet of a vulnerable, naive girl who is in a strange place after surviving a long ordeal alone.
“She’s just a symbol of millions of children,” says Zuabi. “Just having a community breathe together and walk with Amal for a stretch in the streets becomes a very, very meaningful act.”
Organizers are reaching out to community artists and leaders at each of the 35 stops — including places revered in Civil Rights Movement history like Selma, Alabama, and recent scenes of gun violence like Uvalde, Texas — to create more than 100 special events anchored by each place visited.
“We work very closely with our local partners and try and understand what is the story they’re trying to tell and try to co-create an event that resonates in this place to this community,” says Zuabi. “I think that’s part of why this project becomes so emotional for many people.”
Little Amal was created by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa, who made the award-winning puppets for the hit show “War Horse.” She requires four puppeteers at each visit, three to move her head and limbs and one to collect items people give her. A total of nine puppeteers will make the coast-to-coast trek with Little Amal.
“A lot of the ways we think about refugees, about immigrants, about migration, are formed and informed in American,” says Zuabi. “In a way, that’s a discussion we want to join and learn and listen.”
Last year, the puppet made a 17-day circuit through every corner of New York City, including joining a reading of the book “Julián Is a Mermaid” at the Brooklyn Public Library and a drum circle in Harlem. This June, she will be in Toronto.
The puppet completed a 5,000-mile (8,050-kilometer) trek across Europe in 2021, from the Syrian-Turkish border to northwest England, traveling through 12 countries — including greeting refugees from Ukraine at a Polish train station and stopping at refugee camps in Greece — and meeting with Pope Francis.
Wey describes Little Amal as a “miraculous thing that pulls people together suddenly” to create a “collective sense of empathy and a collective sense of awe.”
“Every time it’s different and every time you learn a little bit more. It’s one of those things where we learn on the job,” he adds. “I have to get a new pair of walking boots.”


Air New Zealand asks passengers to weigh in before their flights

Air New Zealand asks passengers to weigh in before their flights
Updated 31 May 2023

Air New Zealand asks passengers to weigh in before their flights

Air New Zealand asks passengers to weigh in before their flights
  • Month-long survey for pilots can better know the weight and balance of their planes before takeoff
  • Health statistics show New Zealanders are becoming heavier

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s national airline is asking passengers to step on the scales before they board international flights.
Air New Zealand says it wants to weigh 10,000 passengers during a month-long survey so pilots can better know the weight and balance of their planes before takeoff.
But the numbers from the scales won’t be flashing up for all to see. There will be no visible display anywhere, the airline promised, and the weigh-in data will remain anonymous even to airline staff.
“We weigh everything that goes on the aircraft — from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold,” said Alastair James, a load control improvement specialist for the airline, in a statement. “For customers, crew and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.”
Indeed the numbers are required by the nation’s industry watchdog, the Civil Aviation Authority.
Under the authority’s rules, airlines have various options to estimate passenger weight. One option is to periodically carry out surveys like Air New Zealand is doing to establish an average weight. Another option is to accept a standard weight set by the authority.
Currently, the authority’s designated weight for people 13 and over is 86 kilograms, which includes carry-on luggage. The authority last changed the average passenger weight in 2004, increasing it from 77 kilograms.
Health statistics show New Zealanders are becoming heavier. The latest national health survey put the adult obesity rate at 34 percent, up from 31 percent a year earlier. Childhood obesity rates increased to 13 percent, up from 10 percent a year earlier.
Customers on Air New Zealand domestic flights were asked to weigh in a couple of years ago.
James said there was nothing for passengers to fear by stepping on the scales.
“It’s simple, it’s voluntary, and by weighing in, you’ll be helping us to fly you safely and efficiently, every time,” he said.
The airline said the survey began this week and will run through July 2.