PRISTINA: Amid a sea of denim shorts, selfies, sequins and thumping bass lines, the setting could easily be mistaken for Coachella or Glastonbury.
But the Sunny Hill festival in Pristina is helping turn Kosovo into a go-to destination during Europe’s summer festival season, thanks in large part to its founder: Dua Lipa.
For years, Kosovo was associated with its bloody war against Serbia that pitted ethnic Albania insurgents against Serb forces in the late 1990s, leaving thousands dead and triggering a refugee crisis.
But the arrival of Lipa on the international pop scene has helped showcase Kosovo’s other side — young, talented and full of ambition.
With more than 87 million followers on Instagram and more than 25 million albums sold, the British-born singer of Kosovo descent is one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
Alongside an endless tour schedule, film roles and hosting a popular podcast, Lipa remains one of the most vocal promoters of all things Kosovo.
Launched in 2018 with her father, the Sunny Hill festival she created has brought some of the biggest names to perform in this tiny corner of the Balkan.
Late Thursday afternoon, as the first notes echoed from the main stage, a young crowd passed through the festival entrance, ever grateful to Lipa for bringing another star-studded line up to the capital Pristina.
“I’m very happy that she’s promoting our country with these big, big artists and bringing them to our country,” said Rita Ramadani, 19.
For its fifth edition, Sunny Hill boasts a roster of performers that rivals more established festivals.
Headliners this year include British rap sensation Stormzy and the king of afrobeat, Burna Boy.
Bebe Rexha — who is also of ethnic Albanian origin — electrified the crowd as she sang her global hit “Me, Myself and I,” while speaking Albanian with the audience in between songs.
Albania and Kosovo flags dotted the stages and were scattered across the audience during performances, where festival goers regularly hold two crossed hands in the sign of the Albanian eagle aloft.
This is a festival in Kosovo, afterall.
“We are all very happy that this is happening right now and people from all the world got to hear about Kosovo, and about Sunny Hill. Thanks to Dua Lipa,” said festival attendee Nita Krasniqii.
And while the festival attracts thousands of locals, music lovers from abroad are also making their way to Pristina.
“We’re here because it’s amazing music,” said Michael Maguire, who traveled to the festival from Brussels with friends.
“Kosovo’s an amazing country, full of young people, and very vibrant.”
But hosting a concert in Kosovo has not always been easy.
“In the first years it was more difficult to invite artists as their managers would look online for information about Kosovo and see it might be risky,” Lipa’s father and festival co-founder Dukagjin Lipa told local media.
“Now we don’t have that problem because we have built a name!“
According to organizers, around 45 percent of the festival’s tickets this year were sold abroad.
Priced at 200 euros a ticket — which is nearly half the average monthly salary in Kosovo — few local youngsters are able to afford entry to the four-day festival.
To help control costs, Pristina’s municipal government provided the land, security, transportation and garbage collection for free.
“It is miraculous that it happens in Pristina,” mayor Perparim Rama told AFP.
“It provides us with the fantastic opportunity to showcase our people, our culture, our heritage.”
And even though Lipa is not officially scheduled to perform this year as she manages the festival from the sidelines and watches performances from the VIP section, the spotlight remains fixated on her.
“In the United States, we say God save America,” rapper Mozzik shouted to the audience during his set.
“I say ‘God Save Dua Lipa’.”
’God save Dua Lipa’: festival puts Kosovo on music map
https://arab.news/pzagg
’God save Dua Lipa’: festival puts Kosovo on music map
A river otter attacks a child at a Seattle-area marina
- River otters can be territorial and “like any wildlife, are inherently unpredictable,” officials said
BREMERTON, Washington: A river otter attacked a child at a Seattle-area marina, dragging the youngster from a dock and into the water before the mother rescued her child, wildlife officials said.
The child was pulled underwater and resurfaced after a few moments during the encounter Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the Bremerton Marina in Kitsap County, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers said in a press release.
The otter continued to bite and scratch as the mother pulled the child out of the water. The animal chased them as they left the dock, wildlife officials said. The child was treated at a hospital.
“We are grateful the victim only sustained minor injuries, due to the mother’s quick actions and child’s resiliency,” said Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Ken Balazs. “We would also like to thank the Port of Bremerton for their quick coordination and communication to their marina tenants.”
Officers trapped the otter and took it to a disease diagnostic lab for testing, including for rabies, the release said. The agency did not respond to questions Saturday about test results.
River otters are common throughout Washington and can be found in fresh and saltwater habitats, officials said. Encounters with humans are rare, with six occurring in the past decade, they said. River otters can be territorial and “like any wildlife, are inherently unpredictable,” officials said.
Vessel rescued in English Channel after emergency call to Dover, Delaware, instead of Dover, England
Vessel rescued in English Channel after emergency call to Dover, Delaware, instead of Dover, England
- Dispatchers for the city of Dover found themselves at the center of an international rescue effort last month after receiving a call from an Albanian man
- “The caller had conducted an Internet search for the ‘Dover Police Department’ and the first search result on the screen proved to be the Dover, Delaware Police Department,” police said
DELAWARE, USA: Police dispatchers in Delaware’s capital city are being lauded for helping direct rescuers to a boat foundering in the English Channel thousands of miles away.
Dispatchers for the city of Dover found themselves at the center of an international rescue effort last month after receiving a call from an Albanian man who thought he was calling emergency personnel in Dover, England.
The mix-up happened Aug. 27, when the man learned that his brother’s boat was sinking in the English Channel, according to Delaware authorities.
“The caller had conducted an Internet search for the ‘Dover Police Department’ and the first search result on the screen proved to be the Dover, Delaware Police Department,” police officials said in a news release Thursday. “The family member thought they were calling Dover, England but was connected with our agency here in the United States.”
Recognizing that trying to refer the frantic caller to authorities in England could cost valuable time, Communications Operator MacKenzie Atkinson kept the man on the line and began collecting critical information. The caller provided the coordinates of the vessel, and Atkinson, who had recently acquired certification from the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, followed protocols for a vessel in distress, officials said.
Meanwhile, Communications Officer Connor Logan began making international notifications. Within four minutes, he established contact with the several agencies, including the US Coast Guard, French Coast Guard, His Majesty’s Coast Guard in England, the United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coast Guard Agency’s Coordination Center, and police stations in Dover, England, officials said.
Dover police said that 15 minutes and 48 seconds after the initial call, the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency confirmed that rescuers were on their way to the vessel. Dover police said they received confirmation on Sept. 5 that the vessel and everyone on board were safely returned to the Port of Dover, England.
Dover police officials have nominated Atkinson, Logan and two other communications officers on duty during the emergency for a Distinguished Unit Commendation.
Hearts, tails and blubber at Japan fin whale tasting
- Tokoro’s firm Kyodo Senpaku hopes the taste of fin whale will revive demand and help it recoup the costs of its new 9,300-tonne ‘mothership’
- With three-quarters of Japan mountainous and ill-suited to agriculture, Japan has long relied on the sea – including whales – as a vital source of food
TOKYO: Bite-size portions of fin whale were available to sniff and taste Friday as Japan’s whaling industry seeks to rekindle appetite for a traditional protein source that has fallen out of favor.
“Once young people eat it and they realize it’s good, they will eat it more and more,” Hideki Tokoro, the head of Japan’s main whaling firm, said at the event at Tokyo’s main wholesale fish market.
“People are excited about the fin whale... It’s just delicious,” he said in his trademark whale-themed hat and jacket.
Since 2019, Japan has caught whales in its own waters after abandoning under international pressure hunting for “scientific purposes” in the Antarctic Ocean and the North Pacific.
The catch list was limited to sei, minke, and Bryde’s whales, but this year fin whales — the planet’s second-largest animal — were added and on August 1 the first killed.
Tokoro’s firm Kyodo Senpaku hopes the taste of fin whale will revive demand and help it recoup the costs of its new 9,300-tonne “mothership.”
Almost every part of the whale was on display, including slabs of heart, slices of tail and chunks of blubber.
With three-quarters of Japan mountainous and ill-suited to agriculture, Japan has long relied on the sea — including whales — as a vital source of food.
As imports of other meats have grown, consumption of whale has slumped to around 1,000 to 2,000 tons per year compared to around 200 times that in the 1960s.
Kyodo Senpaku this week released footage showing its first fin whale catch. The animal was almost 20 meters (65 feet) long and weighed at least 55 tonnes.
Fin whales are deemed “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Japan’s decision to catch them has alarmed conservationists.
Japan’s industry has come under additional scrutiny since the arrest of US-Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, 73, in Greenland in July on a Japanese warrant.
Watson co-founded Sea Shepherd, whose members played a high-seas game of cat-and-mouse with Japanese whaling ships in the 2000s and 2010s.
Anna Okada, a visitor to Friday’s event who runs a cafe in the Yamanashi region, said that she is on a mission to jazz up whale meat to appeal to younger people.
“Sashimi and deep-fried whale meat have an old-fashioned image of having a bad smell,” Okada said.
“The popularity can spread quickly when people try and find it delicious,” she said.
“If it’s sold from younger people’s perspective, for example like casual, stylish and tasty tacos, I think it will be popular quickly.”
Some schools are starting to serve it again in their canteens, she said, while products where the whale content isn’t obvious — such as in dumplings — can increase demand.
Keita Ishii, another visitor to the tasting event who works for an “izakaya” pub in Tokyo — famous for their meat skewers — was impressed.
“We’re using Bryde’s whale (for our restaurant). I came here to look for other whale meat today,” he said.
“The fin whale tasted different. It was delicious.”
Two men charged with stealing a famous Banksy image from a London art gallery
- Larry Fraser and James Love are alleged to have taken ‘Girl with Balloon’ from the Grove Gallery on Sunday night
- Police say they have recovered the work, which is valued in court documents at $355,000
LONDON: Two men have been charged with burglary over the theft of an artwork by street artist Banksy from a London gallery, police said Friday.
The Metropolitan Police force said Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, are alleged to have taken “Girl with Balloon” from the Grove Gallery on Sunday night.
The suspects appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and were ordered detained until their next hearing on Oct. 9.
Police say they have recovered the work, which is valued in court documents at 270,000 pounds ($355,000).
The stolen work is one of several versions of “Girl with Balloon,” a stenciled image of a child reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon. Originally stenciled on a wall in east London, the picture has been endlessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy’s best-known images.
Another version partially self-destructed during a 2018 auction, passing through a shredder hidden in its frame just after it was purchased for 1.1 million pounds ($1.4 million) at Sotheby’s.
The self-shredded work, retitled “Love is in the Bin,” sold for 18.6 million pounds ($25.4 million at the time) in 2021.
Bansky, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two policemen kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words, “Laugh now, but one day I’ll be in charge.”
His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction and have drawn thieves and vandals.
This summer a series of animal-themed stencils showed up around London. One of them, a howling wolf on a satellite dish, was removed by a masked man less than an hour after it was confirmed as authentic. An image of a gorilla at London Zoo and piranhas in a police sentry box in London’s financial district were both removed by the authorities for safekeeping.
Justin Timberlake expected in New York court to plead guilty in drunken driving case
- Details of the agreement with prosecutors weren’t disclosed, but a person with knowledge of the deal says Timberlake has agreed to admit guilt to a less serious offense
- Sag Harbor police say the former NSYNC singer ran a stop sign, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol in the village center in the Hamptons
SAG HARBOR: Justin Timberlake is expected to plead guilty Friday following his June arrest in the Hamptons for drunken driving.
The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor will appear in Sag Harbor Village Court on Friday to formally enter a new plea, prosecutors said.
Details of the agreement with prosecutors weren’t disclosed, but a person with knowledge of the deal said Timberlake has agreed to admit guilt to a lesser offense of ” driving while ability impaired,” a traffic violation that carries a $300 to $500 fine and a 90-day license suspension.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the deal until it was approved by a judge Friday.
The pop star originally pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated and had his driver’s license suspended during a hearing last month.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment ahead of the hearing, as did Timberlake’s attorney, Edward Burke.
Timberlake was arrested in Sag Harbor, New York, a little after midnight on June 18 after police said he ran a stop sign in the village center, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol.
Police in court filings also said the 43-year-old Tennessee native’s eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” and that he had “slowed speech,” was unsteady on his feet and performed poorly on all sobriety tests.
Timberlake told the officer he had had one martini and was following some friends home, police said.
Sag Harbor is a one-time whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby-Dick” that is nestled amid the Hamptons, an area of seaside communities around 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.
Timberlake’s license suspension in New York likely impacts his ability to drive in other states, a legal expert said this week.
Refusing a Breathalyzer test, as Timberlake did during his arrest, triggers an automatic suspension of one’s license under New York state law, which should then be enforced in other states, according to Kenneth Gober, a managing partner at the law firm Lee, Gober & Reyna in Austin, Texas.
“Most states participate in the interstate Driver’s License Compact, an agreement to share information about license suspensions and traffic violations,” he explained in an email. “If a license is suspended in one state it should be suspended in all states.”
In practice, though, it can take a long time for such changes to be reflected across state lines, Gober acknowledged. The pop star also has the resources to easily arrange for a driver and doesn’t need a car to drive to do his job, he added.
Timberlake’s agent and other representatives didn’t respond to emails seeking comment this week.
The 10-time Grammy winner hasn’t publicly addressed the arrest but seemed to acknowledge it during a performance in Chicago just days later.
“It’s been a tough week,” he told the audience during the June 21 show at the United Center. “But you’re here, and I’m here. Nothing can change this moment right now.”
Timberlake has been on tour for months in support of his latest album. He returns to the New York City area in the coming weeks with concerts in Newark, New Jersey and Brooklyn.
