BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel Saturday criticised Ivanka Trump's role as an adviser to her father in the White House, describing it as a form of "nepotism."
"For me there are things that remain strange, like for example the visit of his daughter to Germany which was treated almost like a world event, while the mix of politics with family and business reminds us instead of nepotism and would be unimaginable here," he said.
Gabriel was referring to the visit to Berlin of Ivanka Trump this week to take part in a women's empowerment summit at the invitation of conservative German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"It always bothers me when members of a family, who have never been elected, show up suddenly as official state representatives and are treated almost as if they were members of a royal family," the Social Democrat said in an interview published Saturday with the German regional media group Funke.
Ivanka Trump, a former model who started her own fashion line, has worked for her billionaire-father Donald Trump's company and now has an office in the White House. She has been accused in the United States of benefiting from nepotism.
Commenting on the US president's first 100 days in office, Gabriel said the situation has "improved" but was "still not good."
Merkel, in an interview with the Madsack media group published Saturday, said she had "developed a good working relationship" with Trump, "which clearly does not exclude different points of view."
The two leaders have notably clashed over military spending for NATO and on trade.
German minister refers to 'nepotism' regarding Ivanka Trump's role
German minister refers to 'nepotism' regarding Ivanka Trump's role
World Cup cricket ‘square’ arrives in New York after trip from Florida
- Ten cricket pitches prepared in Florida are being installed in a new stadium built for next month’s T20 World Cup
- New York winter conditions mean grass needed to be grown in warmer Florida before being transported and installed
MIAMI: Ten cricket pitches have completed their journey up the East Coast of the United States from Florida to New York state and are being installed in a new stadium built for next month’s T20 World Cup.
The “drop in pitches” have been prepared in Florida since December and were recently transported by 20 trailer trucks up the I-95 highway to the venue in Long Island.
The surfaces, which will soon be used for games including the highly-anticipated clash between cricket giants India and Pakistan, were developed by Australian Damian Hough, curator of the Adelaide Oval.
Winter conditions in New York meant that the grass needed to be grown in the warmer climate of Florida before being transported and installed.
Hough said the journey from the base in Boynton Beach, Florida, to Nassau County in New York state, took over 24 hours, with regular stops for checks and hydration of the grass.
“From a turf perspective, we made sure that there was no weather or elements getting on them with regards to wind or rain. They’ve come through, the ones we’ve received so far, we couldn’t be happier, they’ve come through in flying colors,” Hough said.
The condition of a cricket pitch, also known as a wicket or track, has a crucial bearing on the game, impacting the speed and bounce of the ball and the degrees of spin or movement off the seam of the ball that can be utilized by bowlers.
Chris Tetley, head of events for the International Cricket Council — organizers of the World Cup that will be co-hosted by the United States and several Caribbean nations — said the pitch production had been a huge logistical challenge for the companies involved.
“It’s been an impressive piece of logistics that has gone into moving 10 pitches, on 20 trucks, plus backup trucks, with the route planning, the timing through, I can’t remember how many different states,” Tetley said.
“The permissions to take out agricultural materials through different states, traffic considerations, timing over bridges and we wanted to make sure the trays are out of the ground for as short a time as possible — extremely, extremely impressive,” he added.
The temporary 34,000 capacity stadium at Eisenhower Park has already been built with stands and hospitality areas already in place and the outfield has been put in place.
Hough said the surface is likely to be a typical of the kind used for T20 matches, where fans expect to see big shots from the batsmen.
“Our ambition is to produce pitches along the lines where they’re good quality pitches, minimal spin, minimal seam and ball coming onto the bat and let the players play the shot,” he said.
The first World Cup game at the venue will feature Sri Lanka v South Africa on June 3 but organizers are planning some test events before then.
Amid global media spotlight, Omoda and Jaecoo to launch new energy series at Beijing auto show
Representatives from major media organizations of Saudi Arabia have traveled with Omoda and Jaecoo to the global A-grade auto show, the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, which is currently underway at the China International Exhibition Center. The globally distinct brands Omoda and Jaecoo are poised to make their debut in Beijing with a series of heavyweight new energy products. In addition, Omoda’s first pure electric model — the Omoda E5, and Jaecoo’s new energy masterpieces — the J7 PHEV and the J8 PHEV, will also make their global debut, comprehensively reshaping the product ecosystem and global landscape of the new energy off-road domain.
Omoda and Jaecoo are set to launch in the Saudi market by the start of the third quarter of 2024, by establishing their international subsidiary in the Kingdom — a big step as this business model is new in Saudi Arabia, yet the most awaited one.
With a brand-new stance of “new products + new technology + new ecosystem,” Omoda and Jaecoo are also set to welcome at the Beijing exhibition, the largest group of international guests in history, including senior government officials from various countries, industry trailblazers, and partners. They will collectively witness the brand’s multidimensional breakthroughs in the new energy field, especially the value revolution in the new energy off-road domain.
Local Deep Cultivation, Actively Facilitating the Leap in the Global Off-Road Market
In recent years, with the emergence of new energy technologies, the global off-road market has encountered strategic opportunities for in-depth development. Adhering to the philosophy of “From Classic, Beyond Classic,” Jaecoo has seized the global off-road market opportunities, breaking through traditional value concepts of the off-road market. With comprehensive advancements in new energy off-road technology, it has resolutely positioned itself at the center of this era’s stage.
The appearance of such an elite group of guests at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition precisely illustrates Jaecoo’s global strategic layout, localized system construction, and the technical elevation in the new energy off-road field, resonating with the global new energy automotive industry’s upgrade trends. It can be said that every step Jaecoo takes in the global market is an attempt at mutual benefit and collaborative development. It is under this development mode that Jaecoo’s “international circle of friends” continues to expand.
Since its global debut in April last year, relying on star off-road models J7 and J8, Jaecoo has already established a comprehensive localized sales and service system in multiple global markets.
In February this year, Jaecoo officially entered the Mexican market, quickly establishing a network of over 40 dealerships across all 32 states.
Jaecoo’s practice of localized development strategies, while building its own system capabilities, also assists the local automotive industry’s upgrade to varying degrees. With the release of the new energy off-road product matrix, such as the J7 PHEV and J8 PHEV, Jaecoo will accelerate the global new energy industry layout. With a systematic new energy strength and personalized new ecosystem, it aims to jointly advance the new energy automotive industry’s rapid progression across countries worldwide, contributing its strength to the high-quality development of the global new energy sector.
Increasing Investment in New Energy Off-Road, Empowering Global Sustainable Development with Green Technology
Against the backdrop of deepening global sustainable development, major enterprises worldwide are shifting gears and speeding up in the new energy era, each expressing their views and searching for the key to the next era.
Why, then, have so many international guests chosen Jaecoo? The core reason lies in Jaecoo’s trustworthiness. After 27 years of technological accumulation, Jaecoo’s parent company has built a research and development team of over 20,000 people, established eight major R&D centers globally, and achieved certain technological breakthroughs in the fields of hybrid and pure electric new energy technologies.
Backed by the mature and substantial research and development manufacturing capabilities and strong industrial chain integration abilities of its parent company, Jaecoo has constructed an effective off-road product technology ecosystem. Always driven by technological innovation and focusing on the “new energy off-road + intelligent” direction, it deeply concentrates on global user needs. With global standards and quality, it comprehensively breaks through the traditional value perception of the off-road market.
At the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, Jaecoo will highlight its exhibition theme of “New Energy, New Eco, New Era” by showcasing its off-road new energy capabilities. The introduction of the heavyweight hybrid new vehicles, J7 PHEV and J8 PHEV, is intended to provide global users with a smarter, more efficient, and safer off-road travel experience, marking the prologue of Jaecoo’s journey in off-road new energy.
Notably, the exhibition will also feature a “mysterious guest,” who will take the stage alongside the Jaecoo off-road new energy family, joining the ensemble of international guests to witness the dawn of a new era in off-road travel.
New film captures Afghan women’s courage in failed peace talks with Taliban
- Directed by Roya Sadat, the 95-minute “The Sharp Edge of Peace” is a testament to the courage of Afghan women leaders
- Fawzia Koofi and other leaders continue advocating for change since Taliban seized power in 2021 and curtailed women’s rights
TORONTO: The new documentary “The Sharp Edge of Peace” begins with a harrowing scene: Fawzia Koofi, a former member of Afghanistan’s parliament and a women’s rights activist, recovering in a hospital bed after surviving an assassination attempt in August 2020.
While traveling to Kabul with her daughter, Koofi was ambushed by unidentified gunmen who opened fire on her vehicle.
“They thought I was shot in the head and died,” Koofi says in the documentary, which has its world premiere on Saturday at the Canadian documentary festival Hot Docs that runs through May 5.
Directed by Roya Sadat, the 95-minute film is a testament to the courage of Afghan women leaders who continue advocating for change since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, and have drastically curtailed women’s freedoms and rights.
“This is a tragedy, but at the same time, you can see the power of women and see the beauty of this country when women participate,” Sadat told Reuters.
Koofi’s resolve remained unshaken even after the attack, which was not the first she’s faced.
She was a key figure among women negotiators, including Fatima Gailani, Habiba Sarabi, and Sharifa Zurmati, involved in the intra-Afghan talks in Doha, Qatar aimed at striking a peace deal with the Taliban.
The documentary covers the failed negotiations from the perspective of the women on Afghanistan’s negotiating team.
Once at the negotiating table, Koofi realized the Taliban already saw themselves as victorious.
“When President Biden came to power, he announced that he would withdraw his troops from Afghanistan regardless, with no conditions, and that was a boost to the Taliban’s morale,” she said in an interview.
The Biden administration has previously blamed the chaotic US withdrawal on the Trump administration, which struck the agreement with the Taliban.
‘WE ARE BEING ERASED’
Koofi, now in exile, continues to work from the UK by engaging with international bodies like the United Nations and the European Union, pushing policymakers to recognize the plight of Afghan women under Taliban rule.
“It’s painful that most of these countries think that we should influence and change the perspectives of the Taliban,” Koofi said, adding that since regaining power, they have not changed at all.
“We are being erased,” Koofi said of the steady decline in women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Undeterred, Koofi founded the Afghan Women Coalition for Change with a goal of establishing gender apartheid as an internationally recognized crime against humanity.
Gailani, chair of Afghanistan Future Thought Forum, told Reuters the negotiating team never wanted US soldiers or NATO to stay in the country forever, but expected a smoother withdrawal and a political settlement.
“Some Westerners believe that they alone gave freedom to the Afghan woman, that she couldn’t do anything herself, which is not the case,” says fellow negotiator Sarabi at the close of the film. “Afghan women didn’t get here easily, they endured a lot of struggles.”
Sci-fi franchise ‘Planet of the Apes’ gets new instalment
- Wes Ball directs as dystopic series jumps centuries ahead
DUBAI: Wes Ball, known for directing dystopic flicks including “Maze Runner” and “Ruin,” wasn’t fully on board when he was first approached to helm “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”, the latest instalment in the sci-fi franchise that has spawned 10 films.
“I was skeptical,” Ball told Arab News. “I’m a big fan of this franchise. I grew up on the original (1968) one. I love the previous three movies (the reboot series that began in 2011). What Andy Serkis did and what Matt Reeves did in those movies, they're distinct; they're incredible movies. And I was questioning whether there was a need for a follow up.
“I wasn't really into the idea until we figured out this concept that allowed us to be brave enough to go our own direction and not feel the need to be so tied to the previous movies,” he continued. “Of course, there's a lot of love and respect (for) the previous movies, but we wanted to do something new and fresh and original — have a reason to exist, and not just to do another one for the sake of it. So we tried really hard to come up with a story and a group of characters that felt new and different and would be a worthy addition to what's now been 10 movies over 35 years.”
“Kingdom” is intended as a sequel to 2017’s “War of the Planet of the Apes” — the third film in the rebooted series — but is set nearly 300 years after its events.
Over those three centuries, ape civilizations have grown and they have become the dominant species on Earth. Humans, meanwhile, have faded and become an “echo” of their ancestors, regressing into a more feral, primitive form.
Against this backdrop, “Kingdom” tells the coming-of-age story of a young ape called Noa (Owen Teague) as he goes up against the tyrannical ape leader Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), aided by a young woman named Mae (Freya Allan).
Before filming commenced, the cast attended six weeks of ape school, spearheaded by movement coach Alain Gauthier. Teague also spent some time observing chimpanzees.
“I learned how much like an ape I am. I might be more ape than human,” Teague said. “One of the most fascinating things to me was how political they are, and how complicated their social hierarchy is; it's not entirely vertical, there's this kind of intermingling. Two apes will form a coalition and try to take down another, and the one who's in power will go and campaign. There's all these strategies they use to get where they want to be socially. And I had no idea that they could lie or deceive or backstab the way they do. It makes a lot of sense that we come from them.”
“Witcher” star Allan — who plays the only significant human role in the film — says her time on the sets of the fantasy Netflix show helped with some of the stunts for this movie.
“I have gained confidence from doing so much on ‘Witcher.’ And I've done dance in the past. I enjoy doing that physical stuff. I find it really exhilarating to do a stunt well. But there was stuff I did in this film that I haven't done in other things. There was some water stuff that was really fun to do. And just a lot of falling over. I was always bruised,” she said.
A film set centuries after the fall of human civilization is familiar territory for Ball, who directed all the “Maze Runner” films.
“I just kind of fall into these worlds for whatever reason,” he said. “But I didn’t come up with the world for ‘Maze Runner,’ it was in the books. I just had to implement and execute it. But that’s a world you don't want to go into: It's dirty. It's dangerous. Whereas this ‘Apes’ world… it's beautiful. It's nature reclaiming the Earth and it's becoming a new Eden in a way. I hope people don't use the word dystopian for this movie. I hope they use words like, ‘a lost world.’
“So much time has passed that all signs of humanity have almost been wiped away. I love the idea that it becomes a lovely world that you would like to explore,” he continued. “And the cool thing about it is, underneath all that beauty and tranquility, there's this haunting idea of the mistakes that mankind made.”
Death toll from south China road collapse rises to 36
- The death toll was up from 24 people on Wednesday afternoon
- Vehicles careened into the nearly 18-meter-long gash in the tarmac and plummeted down the steep slope below
Beijing, China: The death toll from a highway collapse in southern China’s Guangdong province has risen to 36, state media said Thursday, as rescue work continued.
Heavy rains caused a stretch of road running from Meizhou city toward Dabu county to cave in at around 2:10 am on Wednesday (1810 GMT Tuesday), according to state news agency Xinhua.
Vehicles careened into the nearly 18-meter-long (59-foot) gash in the tarmac and plummeted down the steep slope below.
Guangdong, a densely populated industrial powerhouse, has been hit by a string of disasters attributed to extreme weather events in recent weeks.
The storms have been much heavier than expected this time of year and have been linked to climate change.
China is the biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change but has pledged to reduce emissions to net zero by 2060.
“As of 5:30 am on (Thursday)... 36 people have died, and 30 people have been injured,” Xinhua said, adding that the injuries were not life-threatening.
The death toll was up from 24 people on Wednesday afternoon.
Footage by state broadcaster CCTV showed excavators digging through the muddy hillside below the collapsed road.
Nearby, a crane lifted charred, wrecked vehicles onto a lorry as people watched from behind a cordon.
State media called the road collapse a “natural geological disaster” caused by the “impact of persistent heavy rain.”
President Xi Jinping ordered officials to “go all-out in on-site rescue work and treatment of the injured, and arrange for the management of risks and hidden dangers in a timely manner,” CCTV said on Thursday.
Around 500 people have been dispatched to help with the rescue operation, it added.
The provincial government has “mobilized elite specialized forces and gone all out to carry out... search and rescue,” according to Xinhua.
An official notice on Wednesday advised that part of the S12 highway was closed in both directions, requiring detours.
Parts of central and eastern Guangdong have received up to 600 millimeters of rain in the last 10 days, three times the amount normally expected at this time of year, the national weather office said Thursday.
Up to 120 millimeters more rain was forecast for the province’s southwestern areas on Thursday, alongside further downpours across southern China until Sunday.
The conditions “raise the risk of disasters, especially geological disasters, which have a certain lag time,” the weather office said.
The emergency management ministry also warned that persistent rain would make such disasters more likely.
Officials have warned people to plan journeys carefully during the May public holiday, which runs until Sunday.
Massive downpours in Guangdong last month sparked floods that claimed four lives and forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people.
And last week, a tornado killed five people when it ripped through the megacity of Guangzhou.
