QAMISHLI, Syria: In a shimmering dress, Efin Hissu strides confidently down a runway to the beat of Kurdish music at a fashion show in northeast Syria showcasing a revival of the minority’s traditional clothing.
Her outfit is a riot of contrasting patterns, starting with her full-length gown, a sienna shade overlaid with a delicate leaf-like pattern in dark brown and gold thread.
Over the dress is a black jacket, heavily embroidered in gold, and over her head and shoulders is a black, white and yellow headscarf held in place by a gold headpiece with dangling coins.
Such an outfit would not have been seen in public in Syria’s Kurdish regions in years past, under restrictions on the minority that also banned their language and denied them Syrian nationality.
But after Syria’s uprising began in March 2011, the government first relaxed some restrictions and then in 2012 withdrew most of its forces from Kurdish-majority areas in the country’s north.
In the wake of the withdrawal, the Kurdish community, who made up around 15 percent of Syria’s pre-war population, has worked to revive its language and culture, including its sartorial traditions.
“This show is the first of its kind,” said Medea Akko, 25, who helped supervise the fashion show held in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli.
“Our goal is to counter the marginalization of Kurdish clothing and to introduce it to society and the world,” she added.
“Before the Syrian revolution, we couldn’t even say that we were Kurds, but now the situation is different — I can wear my clothes and speak Kurdish in our streets and our cities.”
“Some people think that Kurdish clothing enhances beauty,” Akko told AFP.
“And I feel like I’m a queen when I wear Kurdish clothing.”
The show was sponsored by a local political party and featured 15 women and seven men modelling a range of traditional attire.
It culminated with the arrival of a model in a traditional bridal outfit: a red robe with a heavy gold necklace and a diaphanous red veil.
Syrian Kurds rock the runway, revive traditions
Syrian Kurds rock the runway, revive traditions
Some Warren Buffett wisdom on his last day leading Berkshire Hathaway
OMAHA, Nebraska: The advice that legendary investor Warren Buffett offered on investing and life over the years helped earn him legions of followers who eagerly read his annual letters and filled an arena in Omaha every year to listen to him at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings.
Buffett’s last day as CEO is Wednesday after six decades of building up the Berkshire conglomerate. He’ll remain chairman, but Greg Abel will take over leadership.
Here’s a collection of some of Buffett’s most famous quotes from over the years:
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“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
That’s how Buffett summed up his investing approach of buying out-of-favor stocks and companies when they were selling for less than he estimated they were worth.
He also urged investors to stick with industries they understand that fall within their “circle of competence” and offered this classic maxim: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.”
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“After they first obey all rules, I then want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper to be read by their spouses, children and friends with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.
“If they follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them: Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm and I will be ruthless.”
That’s the ethical standard Buffett explained to a Congressional committee in 1991 that he would apply as he cleaned up the Wall Street investment firm Salomon Brothers. He has reiterated the newspaper test many times since over the years.
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“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
Many companies might do well when times are good and the economy is growing, but Buffett told investors that a crisis always reveals whether businesses are making sound decisions.
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“Who you associate with is just enormously important. Don’t expect that you’ll make every decision right on that. But you are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people you work with, that you admire, that become your friends.”
Buffett always told young people that they should try to hang out with people who they feel are better than them because that will help improve their lives. He said that’s especially true when choosing a spouse, which might be the most important decision in life.
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“Our unwavering conclusion: never bet against America.”
Buffett has always remained steadfast in his belief in the American capitalist system. He wrote in 2021 that “there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America. Despite some severe interruptions, our country’s economic progress has been breathtaking.”
