Kanye West puts hijab-wearing model on catwalk

Author: 

AFP

Thu, 2017-02-16

ID: 

1487232444021387200

NEW York: Rap superstar turned designer Kanye West broke boundaries by putting a hijab-wearing Somali-American model on the New York catwalk Wednesday, unveiling a new, more adult Yeezy Season 5 collection.
Halima Aden, 19, made her runway debut on day seven of New York fashion week at one of the hottest and most exclusive tickets in town — West’s at times experimental collaboration with Adidas.
She walked in front of West’s reality star wife Kim Kardashian and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour not long after West was slammed by fans for meeting then president-elect Donald Trump in December.
Born in a Kenyan refugee camp and now a US citizen, her appearance in such a high-profile show will propel her into a much bigger league than did the headlines she first made last year — when she became the first woman to compete in a Miss Minnesota beauty pageant in a hijab.
Style bible Vogue said her appearance made her the show’s “most talked-about new face” and credited her with starting a “meaningful conversation” by proudly representing Muslim women at fashion week.
While finding looks that meet her required modesty can be challenging, Aden told Vogue that so far her experiences had been positive.
“My goal is to send a message to Muslim women and young women everywhere that it’s okay to break stereotypes and be yourself,” the magazine’s website quoted her as saying.
“I haven’t received any pressure to be anything other than myself,” she told Vogue, “and for that, I am so grateful.”
The Season 5 show saw West apparently bounce back from a reported mental breakdown as his family was still recuperating after Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris in October.
And after a fiasco last season, which saw one model collapse due to extreme heat, West bucked the trend and refused to broadcast it live.
It was a radical departure for the 39-year-old whose shows have been over the top — presenting at locales from Madison Square Garden to New York’s Roosevelt Island — since he started his fashion line two years ago.
But on Wednesday his latest collaboration with Adidas was shown in a more traditional, stripped-down industrial space in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, in an area along the Hudson River used by other designers.
Guests were warned not to use phones, take pictures or videos, and not to post anything on social media — but of course, those warnings appeared on social media anyway, as did a few photos.
The clothes departed a bit from his usual sportswear, though that influence was still present.
Denim hit the Yeezy catwalk for the first time, in the form of high-waisted jeans, shirts and jackets.
Coats in leather or fur put the label into another sphere, as did an anthracite gray blouse with a decidedly feminine cut.

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Fashion

http://ift.tt/2lUdNaD February 16, 2017 at 09:07AM

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Syrian films bring tears and smiles to Berlinale

Author: 

REUTERS

Thu, 2017-02-16

ID: 

1487189800325641700

BERLIN: One drops you, trapped and powerless, in the middle of a civil war, while the other uses humor to depict what is it like to start a new life in Europe after escaping the same conflict.
“Insyriated” and “The Other Side of Hope” are two films about Syria, and they brought tears and smiles to the Berlin Film Festival.
The former is shot almost entirely inside the walls of an apartment that becomes like a prison for Oum Yazan, a mother determined to survive a war whose brutality is conveyed mostly through the sounds of bombs and sniper gunfire.
“It shocked people in a very smart way. Westerners saw enough images of destruction on their television screens. But few of them know what Syrians are going through or how they feel being trapped in there,” Iraqi film critic Kais Kasim said.
The film forces viewers to ask themselves how they would act in the same situation.
Belgian director Philippe Van Leeuw said the silence that followed the screening as well as seeing some of his actors and members of the audience in tears at the end made him think: “Mission accomplished.”
“It is hard for me to say I was happy when I saw the film for the first time with the audience,” said actress Hiam Abbass, who plays Oum Yazan.
“It brought people close to the Syrian people,” she said, adding that she had no idea the film would leave people speechless.
“The Other Side of Hope” by Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki uses humor to depicts the experiences in Helsinki of stowaway Syrian asylum seeker Khaled, who decides to remain in the country illegally after his application is rejected.
“It uses comedy to convey tragedy,” said film critic Kasim. “It blends the critical with the caricature, leaving people with the question: do we laugh or do we cry?”

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Offbeat

http://ift.tt/2l9QEln February 16, 2017 at 12:12AM

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Tunisian designers look to past for inspiration

Author: 

AFP

Thu, 2017-02-16

ID: 

1487189800255641400

TUNIS: Traditional embroidery on modern dresses, men’s robes turned into women’s jackets — Tunisian designers are making their mark with outfits inspired by their country’s heritage.
Drawing on a diverse range of regional styles, designers like Zeineb Chiboub are adding modern touches to the North African country’s traditional garb.
Wearing a hooded coat inspired by the kachabiya, a winter robe usually worn by men, Chiboub says the idea of reworking generations-old designs is catching on.
“Tunisians, especially young people, are increasingly fond of Tunisian heritage. They want to show their identity,” she says.
Every week, Chiboub, a pharmacist by training, heads to a different region in search of old clothes.
She cuts them up and transforms them into “stylized” models in order to sell them at her shop in an upmarket suburb of Tunis.
Tunisia boasts a wide variety of clothes inspired by past rulers, with Carthaginian, Roman, Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian and Ottoman styles all leaving an imprint.
Veteran designer Frad says her designs combine traditional embroidery with “more sophisticated, more tailored dresses, adapted to the tastes of the modern woman.”
She says the concept is increasingly popular. Stylist Ilyes Ben Amor agrees.
“The ethnic trend is in vogue at haute couture houses and on international podiums,” he says.
Some designers see taking inspiration from the country’s past as a statement against religious extremism. Tunisia has experienced an ongoing insurgency since a 2011 revolution toppled long-time ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
“Our only weapon against fundamentalism is our identity, our culture, our craftsmanship,” says Fatma Ben Abdallah, head of the jury of the annual Khomsa d’Or fashion show.
The show, set for May 18, will host both amateur and professional artisans and designers. Organized by the National Crafts Board, it aims to revive the traditional dress in Tunisia, with the dream of crossing borders.

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Offbeat

http://ift.tt/2ljzKn6 February 16, 2017 at 12:13AM

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Study of footballers’ brains highlights dementia concerns

Author: 

ROB HARRIS | AP

Wed, 2017-02-15

ID: 

1487140957751443200

LONDON: The degenerative damage potentially caused by repeated blows to the head in soccer has been highlighted by a rare study of brains of a small number of retired players who developed dementia.
Fourteen former players were part of the research that began around 40 years ago and six brains, which underwent post-mortem examinations, had signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
Four brains were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) pathology, a possible consequence of repeated impacts to the brain, including heading the ball. A previous study of 268 brains from the general population in Britain found a far lower CTE detection rate of 12 percent.
The small sample size of former footballers prevented researchers from University College London and Britain’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery from drawing any conclusions about the dangers posed by playing soccer as they released their research.
But researchers hope the findings provide the impetus for more substantial studies in conjunction with soccer authorities. The researchers require current or retired players to be willing to take part of investigations that could take decades to produce conclusions.
“Our findings show there is a potential link between repetitive head impacts from playing football and the later development of CTE,” lead author Dr. Helen Ling of the UCL Institute of Neurology told The Associated Press.
“This will support the need for larger scale studies of a larger number of footballers who need to be followed long term, looking at various aspects in terms of their mental functions, imaging of the brain and also markers that might identify neurological damage.”
England’s Football Association said it is committed to “independent, robust and thorough” research, which it is jointly funding with the players’ union. The Alzheimer’s Society maintained that the latest “results do not provide proof that heading a football, or sustaining a head injury by any other means during the sport, is linked to developing dementia.”
“Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of dementia and it’s important to ensure that people playing any kind of sport are able to do so safely,” Dr. James Pickett, research head at the Alzheimer’s Society, said.
Concerns have grown in Britain about the impact of head injuries after campaigning by the family of former England striker Jeff Astle, whose death at age 59 in 2002 was attributed to repeatedly heading heavy, leather balls.
Astle’s daughter, Dawn, is urging “current footballers or families of footballers to pledge the brain” for medical research.
“If we hadn’t donated dad’s brain, we wouldn’t know what we know now — we wouldn’t know what had killed him,” Dawn Astle said. “It’s too late for dad. The research is so important for current players and for future players. That’s why we need it.
“I think that’s what is so very frustrating — the fact that it’s nearly 15 years since my dad died. And the fact that nothing from any footballing authorities has been done. It is really indefensible and disgraceful.”
At least four members of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad have developed dementia or memory loss.
In the United States, there has been a $1 billion settlement between the NFL and thousands of its former American football players who have been diagnosed with brain injuries linked to repeated concussions.
The British soccer research was instigated by consultant psychiatrist Dr. Don Williams, who started to monitor former players who were diagnosed with dementia from 1980. From Swansea in south Wales, Williams monitored the retired players and collected data on their playing and concussion history.
“In 1980 the son of a man with advanced dementia asked me if his father’s condition had been caused by heading the ball for many years as a powerful center half,” Williams said. “As the brain is a very fragile organ, well protected within the skull, this was a constructive suggestion. As a result I looked out for men with dementia and a significant history of playing soccer, followed them up and where possible arranged for post-mortem studies to be carried out.
“The results suggest that heading the ball over many years, a form of repetitive sub-concussive head injury, can result in the development of CTE and dementia. Thus the original suggestion has been shown to be of merit and worthy of further investigation.”

Main category: 

Sports

http://ift.tt/2lOIwXF February 15, 2017 at 07:43AM

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'Apple-shaped' body could raise risk of diabetes

Author: 

Agence France Presse

Wed, 2017-02-15

ID: 

1487095490635345000

MIAMI, USA: People who are genetically predisposed to storing belly fat, or having an apple-shaped body type, could face a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, researchers said Tuesday.
The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests a person’s genetic makeup may cause health problems down the road.
“People vary in their distribution of body fat — some put fat in their belly, which we call abdominal adiposity, and some in their hips and thighs,” said senior author Sekar Kathiresan, associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“We tested whether genetic predisposition to abdominal adiposity was associated with the risk for type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease and found that the answer was a firm ‘yes’.”
Previous observational studies have uncovered a link between belly fat and type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but fell short of proving cause and effect.
To investigate further, researchers examined six studies conducted from 2007 to 2015, including some 400,000 participants whose genomes were analyzed.
Previous research had identified 48 gene variants associated with waist-to-hip ratio, resulting in a genetic risk score.
They found that people with certain genes that predisposed them to higher waist-to-hip ratio also had higher lipids, insulin, glucose and systolic blood pressure, as well as a higher risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
“These results illustrate the power of using genetics as a method of determining the effects of a characteristic like abdominal adiposity on cardiometabolic outcomes,” said lead author Connor Emdin, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Since researchers did not find any links between body type, genetic risk score and confounding factors such as diet and smoking, that “provides strong evidence that abdominal adiposity itself contributes to causing type 2 diabetes and heart disease,” he added.
Emdin said the findings could one day lead to the development of drugs designed to target belly fat, and perhaps lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Main category: 

Food & Health

http://ift.tt/2lN0OZ8 February 14, 2017 at 07:28PM

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Dubai aims to launch hover-taxi by July

Author: 

JON GAMBRELL | AP

Tue, 2017-02-14

ID: 

1487006027076121100

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Up, up and away: Dubai hopes to have a passenger-carrying drone regularly buzzing through the skyline of this futuristic city-state in July.
The arrival of the Chinese-made EHang 184 — which already has had its flying debut over Dubai’s iconic, sail-shaped Burj Al-Arab skyscraper hotel — comes as the Emirati city also has partnered with other cutting-edge technology companies, including Hyperloop One.
The question is whether the egg-shaped, four-legged craft will really take off as a transportation alternative in this car-clogged city already home to the world’s longest driverless metro line.
Mattar Al-Tayer, the head of Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency, announced plans to have the craft regularly flying at the World Government Summit. Before his remarks on Monday, most treated the four-legged, eight-propeller craft as just another curiosity at an event that views itself as a desert Davos.
“This is not only a model,” Al-Tayer said. “We have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai’s skies.”
The craft can carry a passenger weighing up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and a small suitcase. After buckling into its race-car-style seat, the craft’s sole passenger selects a destination on a touch-screen pad in front of the seat and the drone flies there automatically.
The drone, which has a battery allowing for a half-hour flight time and a range of up to 50 kilometers (31 miles), will be monitored remotely by a control room on the ground. It has a top speed of 160 kph (100 mph), but authorities say it will be operated typically at 100 kph (62 mph).
Al-Tayer said the drone would begin regular operations in July. He did not elaborate.
The Road and Transportation Agency later issued a statement saying the drone had been examined by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and was controlled through 4G mobile Internet. The agency did not immediately respond to further questions from The Associated Press.
The United Arab Emirates already requires drone hobbyists to register their aircraft. However, drone intrusions at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, has seen it shut down for hours at a time in recent months.
EHang did not respond to a request for comment. In May, authorities in Nevada announced they would partner with EHang to test the 184 to possibly be cleared by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The drone may be a techno curiosity for now but Dubai — the commercial capital of the oil-rich UAE and home to the long-haul carrier Emirates — has bold visions for the future and the 184 fits right into its plans.
Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced in April he wanted 25 percent of all passenger trips in the city to be done by driverless vehicles in 2030. To that end, Dubai already has had the box-shaped driverless EZ10, built by France’s EasyMile, cruise nearby the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
In October, Dubai signed a deal with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to study the potential for building a hyperloop line between it and Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital.
A hyperloop has levitating pods powered by electricity and magnetism that hurtle through low-friction pipes at a top speed of 1,220 kph (760 mph). Elon Musk, the co-founder of Tesla who appeared on Monday at the Dubai conference, first proposed the idea of a hyperloop in 2013.
Musk, who took no questions from reporters on Monday, later launched his Tesla car brand in Dubai at an event organizers said was not open to international media. Musk has come under criticism for serving on a business council advising US President Donald Trump.
___
Online:
Dubai Road and Transportation Agency’s promotional drone video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5Q2W0r5e-s

Main category: 

Motoring

http://ift.tt/2kMS5aT February 13, 2017 at 08:37PM

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Paris set for unique Arabic concert

Author: 

ARAB NEWS

Mon, 2017-02-13

ID: 

1486925724717440100

PARIS: Arabic music lovers in the city of love rejoice. Two Arab pop singers are coming to Paris for a unique concert on Feb. 18 at the Palais des Congrès.
Lebanese music icons Wael Jassar and Nawal Al-Zoghbi are set to perform in the historic venue for an audience of around 3,000 people.
The event is organized by 2U2C, the first Lebanese company specializing in international events, in partnership with Radio Orient and Beur FM.
Al-Zoghbi has enjoyed great success in the music industry for several years now, and her last hit was “Am Behki Maa Hali” (I speak to myself), which was released in October. It has been viewed more than 3,700,000 times on YouTube.
Jassar, is, on the other hand, one of the most adulated singers of his generation. Often compared to the much celebrated Arabic singer, George Wassouf, he has given many concerts around the world, and each of his albums has been a chart-topper.
The two singers invited their French fans to the concert in a video published by 2U2C, in which they expressed themselves in Arabic.
With highly talented stars such as Al-Zoghbi and Jassar set to take the stage, the concert in Paris promises to be a memorable evening.

Main category: 

Offbeat

http://ift.tt/2kHOStm February 12, 2017 at 07:56PM

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