Intrigued by how certain sea creatures breathe through their intestines in emergencies, researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University were able to prove the same was true under experimental circumstances for mice, rats and pigs, publishing their findings in the journal Med on Friday.

They say the finding might also apply to humans who are in respiratory distress when ventilators are not available or inadequate.

For higher order animals, respiration involves breathing in oxygen and excreting carbon dioxide using lungs or gills.

Some species however have evolved alternate ventilatory mechanisms. Loaches, catfish, sea cucumbers and orb-weaving spiders can also use their hindgut to oxygenate to survive in emergencies.

This is called enteral ventilation via anus, or EVA.

“The rectum has a mesh of fine blood vessels just beneath the surface of its lining, which means that drugs administered through the anus are readily absorbed into the bloodstream,” lead author Ryo Okabe said.

This made the team wonder whether oxygen could be delivered into the bloodstream in the same way.

To answer the question, they decided to carry out experiments on oxygen-deprived mice, pigs and rats using two methods: delivering the oxygen into the rectum in gas form, and infusing an oxygen-rich enema via the same route.

The researchers prepared the lining of the rectum by rubbing it to cause inflammation and increase blood flow, which improved the effectiveness of oxygen delivery.

However, since such a preparation would likely be unacceptable for humans, they also tried using oxygenated perfluorodecalin, a liquid that has already been shown to be safe and is in selective clinical use.

Delivery of oxygen both as gas and in liquid form increased oxygenation, normalized the animals’ behaviour and prolonged their survival.

The team also confirmed the improvement in oxygenation at the cellular level, by a technique called immunochemical staining.

They added that the small amount of liquid that was absorbed along with the oxygen caused no harm and did not disrupt the gut bacteria, indicating the method was safe.

“Patients in respiratory distress can have their oxygen supply supported by this method to reduce the negative effects of oxygen deprivation while the underlying condition is being treated,” added co-author Takanori Takebe.

Eventually the team hopes to establish the technique’s effectiveness in humans in a clinical setting.

Writing an accompanying commentary, Caleb Kelly of the Yale School of Medicine, said EVA should be taken seriously.

“This is a provocative idea and those first encountering it will express astonishment,” he said.

“Yet, as the potential clinical role is considered and the data presented by Okabe et al is examined, EVA emerges as a promising therapy deserving of scientific and medical interest.”

The technique could play a role when there is a shortage of ventilators, as seen in the current coronavirus pandemic, he added. — ETX Studio

After months of lockdown restrictions, Greece also opened its museums this week, including the Acropolis museum, home to renowned sculptures from Greek antiquity.

“I feel really alive and good because it has been such a hard and long year because of Covid,” said Victoria Sanchez, a 22-year-old student on holiday from the Czech Republic.

“I feel again alive,” she said, as she strolled near the Roman Agora in downtown Athens.

As of Saturday, foreign tourists will be allowed in Greece if they have been vaccinated or can show negative Covid-19 test results. Travel between regions, including to the islands, will also be allowed for those with negative tests or vaccinations.

“Greece is offering what people need,” Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis tweeted. “Calm and care-free moments on the road towards normality.”

Tourists in Athens were elated.

“I’m finally here,” said Rebecca, a tourist in Athens from Florida, who declined to give her last name. “I’ve been waiting two years - two years with the Covid.”

Greece has been rolling out vaccines to its islands and hopes to vaccinate most of them by the end of June. The government says vaccines and rapid testing, as well as warmer weather allowing outdoor activities, mean visitors can travel safely.

As the pandemic brought international travel to a halt in 2020, Greece suffered its worst year for tourism on record, with 7 million visitors compared with a record 33 million in 2019. Tourist revenues tumbled to €4 billion (RM20.2 billion) from €18 billion.

This year, it is aiming for 40 per cent of 2019 levels.

On the island of Mykonos, one flight was given a water salute upon landing. Four islands in the south Aegean, including Mykonos, received 32 international flights on Saturday from countries including Sweden, Germany and Qatar.

Corfu, in the Ionian sea, welcomed visitors from Germany and France.

“We are so happy. I’m happy to be here,” said Pierre-Olivier Garcia, soon after arriving on the island.

Greeks also welcomed the lifting of lockdown measures, with scores of people leaving for the islands or holiday homes on the mainland on Saturday.

“The first weekend of freedom,” Alpha TV proclaimed during a broadcast from the busy port of Piraeus.

Greece fared better than much of Europe during the first wave of the pandemic, but rising infections later in 2020 forced it to impose several lockdowns to protect its struggling health system.

A country of 11 million, it has recorded 373,881 infections and 11,322 deaths. — Reuters

These are just some of the food innovations that researchers say will be crucial to combat malnutrition in the face of climate change and other system shocks.

With traditional food systems facing severe threats — including extreme heat, unpredictable rainfall, pests and soil degradation — researchers at the University of Cambridge say that it is time to totally reimagine the field.

Pressure is also mounting to sharply curb consumption of meat and especially beef, a major source of greenhouse gases.

In order to improve diets and secure food supplies sufficiently to end malnutrition, they say high-tech farming methods — some pioneered for space travel — should be incorporated into food systems globally.

And while some of the food they suggest growing may be familiar to customers of health food shops — single-celled algae spirulina or chlorella as well as mycoproteins derived from fungi — others may seem even more exotic, like insect larvae.

These include “houseflies, black soldier flies, and mealworm beetles”, said Asaf Tzachor, a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge, who led the research.

“Admittedly these are non-conventional items,” he told AFP.

But as nutritious food becomes scarcer, researchers say, these types of food will likely become essential parts of our diets.

‘Perfect substitutes’

Rich in essential nutrients — including proteins, fats, calcium, iron, zinc and vitamins — they could be “perfect substitutes” for meat, milk, eggs and traditional crops, Tzachor said.

“You can eat them within your pasta or burgers or energy bars, for example. And these items can contain ground insect larva, or processed microalgae or macroalgae.”

The paper, published in Nature Food, said that these “future foods” can be grown at scale in compact, environmentally controlled systems suitable both for urban settings and in isolated communities, such as on remote islands.

The authors analysed around 500 published scientific papers on different future food production systems. They concluded that the most promising include microalgae photo-bioreactors, which use a light source to grow microorganisms, and insect-breeding greenhouses.

These closed, controlled environments reduce exposure to the hazards outside, they said.

“We’re now at this historic moment, when what we refer to as state-of-the-art food systems can be deployed anywhere to mitigate malnutrition everywhere,” said Tzachor, adding the global food system needs “radical alterations”.

The United Nations estimates that almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019, even before coronavirus shutdowns disrupted food supply chains.

With healthy diets of fruits, vegetables and protein-rich foods unaffordable to some 3 billion people, malnutrition can take the form of both undernutrition and obesity.

‘Future food’?

Tzachor imagines a world where local communities design their own cultivation techniques, and of collaborations between engineers and chefs, although he concedes that this would require significant funding and training.

Is it just too far-fetched to imagine that algae grown in a photo-bioreactor can solve malnutrition and change the global food system?

“I’m not sure we have much choice there,” said Tzachor. Increasing environmental pressures on traditional farming will likely make this an “inevitable gradual process”, he added.

Having tried all the foods covered in the research, he told AFP he recommended micro algae in milkshakes.

“They get this nice greeny colour. And then I also know that I’ve got my dose of omega three and omega six and proteins. That’s probably my go to ‘future food’,” he said. — AFP

“I hope to forget this damn Covid,” said Jil Wirries, a 28-year old student from Hanover, Germany, as he collected his luggage at the island’s Heraklion airport.

“Everything is terrible in Germany. Aside from the weather, everything is closed and people are depressed, including me. I’m so happy to be here,” he said.

Greece and Europe’s other tourism hotspots are vying to woo back visitors after the pandemic wrecked last year’s holiday season as countries imposed travel bans and quarantines.

France and Spain launched tourism campaigns this week while Italy said yesterday it was scrapping a quarantine requirement for visitors from the EU, Britain and Israel who test negative for the coronavirus.

Portugal said it would allow British tourists visit the country again from Monday after London placed the country on its safe list — just in time for fans heading to the May 29 Champions League final in Porto.

Tourism is crucial to the Greek economy, as it accounts for 20 per cent of GDP.

“We are raising anchor,” Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis declared as he launched the holiday season Thursday evening from the ancient Greek temple of Poseidon near Athens.

The new holiday season couldn’t come soon enough for restaurateurs and cafe owners eagerly preparing for patrons to come back after suffering so long under coronavirus lockdown measures.

“We hope this will be a good season because the winter was difficult for all of us, employers, employees and the tourist sector,” said Alexandros Koukourakis as he set up tables and chairs at his restaurant near the old town of Chania in Crete.

Spontaneous trip

According to government regulations announced on Wednesday, anyone travelling to Greek islands by sea or air must show a vaccination certificate or a negative Covid-19 test result.

Europe’s leading tour operator TUI has scheduled 120 flights to Greece until the end of May.

More than 100 flights are expected at Greek airports yesterday and today, according to civil aviation officials.

At the western tip of Crete, three other German tourists could not believe their luck as they gazed upon the breathtaking beauty of Balos lagoon.

“We searched for a location to go for our first holiday post-Covid and we ... spontaneously decided to come here,” said Anne Marie Buhrer, 25, from Munich. “We can’t believe how beautiful it is here.”

Nationwide, over four million vaccinations have already been carried out in the country of 10.8 million, and the government has made its idyllic islands a priority for jabs.

With several restrictions still in place for travellers throughout Europe, Greek hoteliers expect the tourism sector to pick up from late June or early July, alongside stronger vaccination figures.

In an early setback, the UK put Greece on its amber travel list, meaning that returning Britons face at least five days in quarantine.

Hotel business slow

“We have no reservations at the moment and only 15 to 20 per cent of the hotels will be operating this Friday, while the rest will open gradually until the end of June,” said Grigoris Tasios, president of the Greek federation of hoteliers.

The opening of the tourism sector comes as Greeks will also be allowed to go about freely within the country for the first time since November.

“Last year everything was a blur, now we are entering a different tourist season,” said George Segredos, a beach bar owner on Kos island.

“We are aiming to get around half of 2019 revenues,” he told AFP.

Greece’s tourism revenue plunged to 4.28 billion euros (US$5.0 billion) in 2020 from 18 billion euros in 2019, while tourist arrivals fell 76.5 per cent to just 7.4 million, according to the Greek Tourism Confederation Institute.

Tourism is far from being back to normal.

The Greek island of Kalymnos remains in strict lockdown owing to scores of recent infections, highlighting how fragile and fluid the situation remains.

“We were preparing to open in early May, getting supplies and hiring personnel and suddenly we are in deep red,” said Michalis Petridis, owner of a beach and night bar in Kalymnos.

“This constant change of rules is damaging us.” — AFP

Across the globe, more than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk due to some mixture of life-shortening pollution, dwindling water supplies, deadly heat waves, natural disasters and climate change, the report found.

The sinking megalopolis of Jakarta — plagued by pollution, flooding and heat waves, with worse to come — topped the ranking, while two other Indonesian cities are in the top 10: Surabaya (fourth) and Bandung (eighth).

Pakistan’s two biggest urban agglomerations, Karachi (12th) and Lahore (15th), are not far behind.

But India, home to 13 of the world’s 20 most risk-laden cities, may face the most daunting future of any country.

Delhi ranks second on the global index of 576 cities compiled by business risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft, followed within India by Chennai (third), Agra (sixth), Kanpur (10th), Jaipur (22nd) and Lucknow (24th).

Mumbai and its 12.5 million people is ranked 27th.

Looking only at air pollution — which causes more than seven million premature deaths worldwide each year, including a million in India alone — the 20 cities with the worst air quality in the world among urban areas of at least a million people are all in India. Delhi is in pole position.

“Together, China and India account for 286 million of the 336 million people living in cities at extreme risk for pollution,” the report found.

The air pollution assessment was weighted towards the impact of microscopic, health-wrecking particles known as PM2.5, cast off in large measure by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels.

China’s middle class

Outside Asia, the Middle East and North Africa have the largest proportion of “high risk” cities across all threat categories combined, but Lima is the only non-Asian city to crack the top 100.   

“Home to more than half the world’s population and a key driver of wealth, cities are already coming under serious strain from dire air quality, water scarcity and natural hazards,” the report’s lead author Will Nichols told AFP.

“In many Asian countries these hubs are going to become less hospitable as population pressures grow and climate change amplifies threats from pollution and extreme weather, threatening their role as wealth generators for national economies.”

While richer than India, China faces formidable environmental challenges as well.

Thirty-five of the 50 cities worldwide most beset by water pollution are in China, as are all but two of the top 15 facing water stress, according to the report.

But different political systems and levels of development may ultimately play in China’s favour, Nichols said.

“For China, an emerging middle class is increasingly demanding cleaner air and water, which is being reflected in government targets,” he told AFP.

Africa hit hardest

“China’s top-down governance structure — and willingness to take abrupt measures, such as shutting down factories to meet emissions goals — gives it more of a chance of mitigating these risks.”

India’s weaker governance, coupled with the size and scale of its informal economy, makes it far harder to address environmental and climate issues at the city level, he added.

When it comes to global warming and its impacts, the focus shifts sharply to sub-Saharan Africa, home to 40 of the 45 most climate-vulnerable cities on the planet.

The continent least responsible for rising global temperatures will get hit the hardest not only because of worse droughts, heat waves, storms and flooding, but also because it is so ill-equipped to cope.

“Africa’s two most populous cities, Lagos and Kinshasa, are among those at highest risk,” the report noted.

Other especially vulnerable cities include Monrovia, Brazzaville, Freetown, Kigali, Abidjan and Mombasa.

The climate index combined the threat of extreme events, human vulnerability, and the ability of countries to adapt. — Bernama

PARIS, May 15 ­— Like fashion and cosmetics, watchmaking is also trying to reduce its impact on the planet.

Some of the approaches being used to achieve this include the use of vegan or less polluting leathers and recycling.

Millow Paris, the latest brand to launch its own recycling programme for bracelets and watches, is an example.

While watch strap recycling programmes have become commonplace, it’s more rare for watches and their components to be put through such a process, at least for the moment.

But it’s probably just a matter of time, as the watch industry is also facing the perilous challenge of ecology.

Panerai recently presented its first 98.6 per cent recycled watch, the Submersible eLAB-ID, a daring and unprecedented challenge, but only available in a limited edition of 30 pieces, and not accessible to a large number of consumers. This initiative, however, demonstrates the sector’s growing interest in sustainability.

And now French children’s watchmaker Millow Paris has announced the launch of its own recycling programme, which concerns both bracelets and watches.

Called Millow360, the programme invites parents to recycle the Millow strap of their offspring’s watches in exchange for a promo code to use for the purchase of a new strap, but also their old watches, regardless of the brand, in exchange for a discount on an order.

What happens to the watches when they’re recycled? 

Millow Paris explains that the collection of unused bracelets will be used to recover nylon, a recyclable material, and steel buckles, to “replenish the stock from existing materials in partnership with factories.”

It’s a bit more complex for watch recycling, but the brand is proving that it’s not insurmountable.

The old watches will all be dismantled one by one, then sorted, and sent to a specific recycling channel.

“Eighty per cent of the weight of a watch can be recycled. The metals are sorted, melted down and reused,” explains the watch brand.

This new initiative shows how the watch industry, which is often criticised for its lack of commitment to sustainable development, is determined to change shake things up. — ETX Studio

The lander carrying Zhurong completed the treacherous descent through the Martian atmosphere using a parachute to navigate the “seven minutes of terror” as it is known, aiming for a vast northern lava plain known as the Utopia Planitia.

The mission “successfully landed in the pre-selected area”, state broadcaster CCTV said, while the official Xinhua news agency cited the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in confirming the touchdown.

It makes China the first country to carry out an orbiting, landing and roving operation during its first mission to Mars — a feat unmatched by the only other two nations to reach the Red Planet, the US and Russia.

Zhurong, named after a Chinese mythical fire god, arrives a few months behind America’s latest probe to Mars — Perseverance — as the show of technological might between the two superpowers plays out beyond the bounds of Earth.

Six-wheeled, solar-powered and roughly 240 kilograms, the Chinese rover is on a quest to collect and analyse rock samples from Mars’ surface.

It is expected to spend around three months there.

The launch of China’s Tianwen-1 Mars probe which carried the rover last July marked a major milestone in China’s space programme.

The spacecraft entered Mars’ orbit in February and after days of silence state media announced it had reached the “crucial touchdown stage” yesterday.

The complicated landing process has been called the “seven minutes of terror” because it happens faster than radio signals can reach Earth from Mars, meaning communications are limited.

Several US, Russian and European attempts to land rovers on Mars have failed in the past, most recently in 2016 with the crash-landing of the Schiaparelli joint Russian-European spacecraft.

The latest successful arrival came in February, when US space agency Nasa landed its rover Perseverance, which has since been exploring the planet.

The US rover launched a small robotic helicopter on Mars which was the first ever powered flight on another planet.

The country has come a long way in its race to catch up with the United States and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have decades of experience in space exploration.

China successfully launched the first module of its new space station last month with hopes of having it crewed by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the Moon.

Last week a segment of the Chinese Long March 5B rocket disintegrated over the Indian Ocean in an uncontrolled landing back to Earth.

That drew criticism from the United States and other nations for a breach of etiquette governing the return of space debris to earth, with officials saying the remnants had the potential to endanger life and property. — AFP

HONG KONG, May 15 ­— After a Pablo Picasso painting sells for US$103.4 million (RM 426.5 million) in New York, we look at the Spanish artist’s five most expensive works ever sold at auction, according to an AFP database.

This ranking does not include private sales, the amounts of which are rarely revealed.

‘The Women of Algiers’

Sold for US$179.4 million at Christie’s in New York in 2015 this painting held the world record for the highest ever price at auction before being dethroned by “Salvator Mundi”, which is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly paid US$450.3 million for the Renaissance masterpiece in 2017.

The Women of Algiers (Version O) was painted in 1955. It had already gone under the hammer in 1997 for US$31.9 million.

‘Young Girl With a Flower Basket’

This 1905 painting was one of the stars of the 2018 auction of the works collected by the late US banker David Rockefeller and his wife Peggy. It represents a young girl nude holding a basket of flowers.

‘Nude, Green Leaves and Bust’

The world record holder until Women of Algiers went under the hammer, this canvas of Picasso’s young reclining lover Marie-Therese Walter — whose French title is the more evocative Nude on the Sculptor’s Tray — was painted in 1932. It went for US$106.5 million and is currently on loan at the Tate Modern art gallery in London.

‘Boy with a Pipe’

Another from Picasso’s “Rose Period” in 1905, he painted it shortly after he had moved to Paris and had settled in Montmartre. Another world record holder when it sold for US$104.2 million in New York in 2004, owner John Hay Whitney — whose family endowed Manhattan’s Whitney Museum — had bought it in 1950 for US$30.000.

‘Woman Sitting Near a Window’

Another painting of his lover Marie-Therese, it sold Thursday for US$103.4 million at Christie’s in New York, more than twice the £28.6 million (US$45 million) it made when it was sold in London eight years ago. — ETX Studio

Activists feel that time is running out to save what they call Europe’s last major “wild river” — one whose course is unaltered by industry, cities or dams — recruiting A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio to their cause.

The immediate concern is a plan to build a 50-metre (165-foot) high hydroelectric dam.

A Turkish-Albanian firm has the rights to the project, which would be the first development to change the course of the roughly 200 kilometre (125 mile) Albanian stretch of a river that rises in the Pindus mountains across the border in Greece.

The dam would flood areas replete with rare animal and plant life, wiping out farmland, damaging the livelihoods of fishermen and forcing thousands from their homes.

“Vjosa is my greatest love. My life is here, my childhood is here, my youth is here,” says local restaurateur Arjan Zeqaj.

His roadside restaurant in the village of Qesarat enjoys spectacular views of undulating grassland tumbling down to an expanse of chaotic channels on a grey, gravelly plain.

If the reservoir comes, all that will be gone. The water will lap against the edge of the road just metres from his terrace.

“I would have to emigrate,” says Zeqaj. “I see no other way to survive here.”

Legal rows over the dam have been hanging over the residents for two decades. And for years, activists have been pushing the same solution.

‘A bit too much’

“The Vjosa Valley must be declared a national park,” Besjana Guri of the EcoAlbania NGO told AFP. “This will not only protect its unique ecosystem but also allow stable development and promote tourism and local ecotourism.”

EcoAlbania is working with international NGOs to raise awareness, with Ulrich Eichelmann of Austria-based RiverWatch describing it as the “only chance in Europe” to save such a river system.

The activists point out that 1,175 animal and plant species have been recorded along the Vjosa, including 119 protected under Albanian law and 39 that are listed internationally as threatened.

And they also argue that Albania does not need any more hydroelectric power and should concentrate on other renewable energy sources.

On the face of it, the Albanian government agrees.

Officials say they are opposed to major development along the Vjosa and are developing projects involving solar power and liquid natural gas.

Last year, activists won a major victory when the environment ministry refused to allow Turkish-Albanian venture Ayen-ALB to start work on the dam, a decision the company is challenging in the courts.

Yet the government is resisting the national park designation, opting instead for a less strict “protected area” categorisation.

“A national park is a bit too much,” Prime Minister Edi Rama told AFP, claiming that the designation would stop tens of thousands of people from going about their daily lives and stop activities from agriculture to ecotourism.

‘Vjosa is vital’

Activists and locals are unconvinced.

While designating it a national park would give legal protection against hydroelectric projects, airports and other developments, the protected area designation would not.

And Rama’s claim about ecotourism is also disputed.

“Industrialisation of this region with the construction of dams will make foreign tourists lose all interest in exploring Vjosa and wilder areas of Albanian more generally,” says tourism expert Albiona Mucoimaj.

However, while she talks of rafting in the rapids and small excursions into unspoilt mountains, the government dreams of package tourists, thousands of them.

Officials are banking on a slew of new airports to fuel mass tourism and economic development along the coast, with one airport planned for wetlands near the Vjosa delta, which activists say is in a protected zone.

The battle over the Vjosa encapsulates the global debate over humanity’s future: development at any price, or environmental protection above all else. Similar arguments have raged everywhere from China to Chile.

And activists are determined for Vjosa to be seen as a global issue.

“This is an unparalleled opportunity to set an example within Europe and the world,” says Annette Spangenberg of EuroNatur, an NGO involved in the protection effort.

The river and all its tributaries are still untamed, and preserving the system would set “a new standard for what is possible in nature protection”, she added.

At its heart, though, the battle against the dam is about preserving and improving the day-to-day lives of villagers.

“Vjosa is vital for us, for our land, for our food, it is part of our life,” says 60-year-old local Idajet Zotaj, worrying that a dam would destroy the livelihoods of thousands.

“I miss my children,” says 86-year-old Mezin Zaim Zotaj, whose seven children have all left the region, four having emigrated.

“I am sure if Vjosa becomes a national park they will all come back to build their future here, at home,” he adds as he patiently tends his gaggle of unruly sheep, just metres from the rumbling river. — AFP

The project’s main backer was inspired to recreate the world’s most infamous cruise liner by the 1997 box office hit of the same name — once the world’s top-grossing film and wildly popular in China.

The original luxury vessel, the largest of its time and branded “unsinkable” by its owners, has become a byword for hubris ever since it plunged into the depths of the Atlantic in 1912 after striking an iceberg, leaving more than 1,500 people dead.

Investor Su Shaojun says he was motivated to finance the audacious, 260-metre-long (850-foot-long) duplicate to keep memories of the Titanic alive. 

“I hope this ship will be here in 100 or 200 years,” Su said.

“We are building a museum for the Titanic.” 

It has taken six years — longer than the construction of the original Titanic — plus 23,000 tons of steel, more than a hundred workers and a hefty one billion yuan (RM633.2 million) price tag.

Everything from the dining room to the luxury cabins and even the door handles are styled on the original Titanic. 

It forms the centrepiece of a Sichuan province theme park more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the sea. 

The site features a replica of Southampton Port seen in James Cameron’s 1997 disaster epic, where Leonardo DiCaprio’s fictional character Jack swings on board after winning his ticket in a bet.

Tour buses play the film’s theme tune, Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, on repeat.

It costs up to 2,000 yuan (around $150) to spend one night on the ship for the “five-star cruise service”, Su says, adding that with a functioning steam engine guests will feel that they are really at sea.

He was so excited by the challenge that he sold his energy industry assets, including a stake in several hydropower projects, to invest in the Titanic.

‘Inherit the great spirit’

But even before opening, the replica has drawn plenty of controversy.

Online users have questioned whether the famous ship would attract tourists given the disaster that struck its real-life inspiration. 

Others feared it would join other ambitious Chinese building projects that turned into white elephants — including a 2008 replica of the USS Enterprise, an American aircraft carrier, which cost over US$18 million and was abandoned shortly after it opened.

But Su hopes as many as five million annual visitors will come to see his Titanic.

“This tourist volume should guarantee the return of our investment,” he added.

Project manager Xu Junnian said he felt it was important to preserve the vessel’s memory.

“The greatest significance of building this ship is to carry forward and inherit the great spirit of Titanic,” he said.

Aside from the enduring appeal of the Hollywood blockbuster, the Titanic has stolen headlines in China in recent weeks with the release of a new documentary called The Six.

The film tells the story of a group of Chinese travellers on board when the ship sinks, of whom six survived.

But the developers are hoping to rope in some bigger names to help draw visitors. 

“We’d like to invite Jack, Rose and James Cameron to the inauguration ceremony,” Su said. — AFP

Nearly half of these kids aged four months and up required surgery to remove the magnets, often followed by complications, they reported in a research letter published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, a medical journal.

From 2016 through 2020, four major hospitals in southeastern England admitted 251 children who had swallowed a foreign object.

Coins accounted for 37 per cent of the items ingested, ahead of magnets (21 per cent) and button batteries (17 per cent).

Across all categories, the number of cases increased by more than half over this period.

But those involving magnets ― mostly brightly coloured, matchstick-like pieces found in building sets ― jumped five fold, they reported.

More than 40 per cent of these incidents required surgery for removal.

“This was either laparoscopy ― also known as 'key-hole' surgery ― or open abdominal surgery to retrieve the magnets from the intestine,” Hemanshoo Thakkar, a paediatric surgeon at Evelina London Children's Hospital, told AFP.

In half of the cases, there were complications.

“As the children suffer from a perforation, their abdomen becomes contaminated and this can result in ongoing infections,” Thakkar explained.

Digital influencers

“Some children have lost some of their bowel, which has to be removed if unhealthy.”

The most serious case involved a youngster who underwent several operations, stayed in intensive care for a month, and in hospital for nearly five months.

No deaths were reported. “But left untreated, the injuries caused can be life-threatening,” Thakkar said.

In Britain, regulations require that all magnetic toys be accompanied by a warning notice, but most manufacturers do not display them prominently enough, the authors wrote.

In a case reported earlier this year in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, a three-year old boy in the United States swallowed six magnetised pieces one after the other. Two of them stuck together in his throat, and the rest settled in his abdomen.

Bryan Rudolph, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City, estimated in a commentary last year that there have been nearly 20,000 magnet injuries in the US since magnetised toys entered the market more than a decade ago.

The suitable age for use of such construction or desk toys is often 14 and older, but the average age of children who swallowed them in England was seven. Ages ranged from four months to 16 years old.

Thakkar speculated that the sharp uptick in magnet-related incidents had to do with marketing.

“The most common magnets we have seen are sold as a shape-changer that can be molded,” he explained, noting that the objects are small, brightly coloured and attractive to children.

“There has been a surge of digital influencers online, with children promoting toys and a lack of robust regulation, leading to the popularisation of these toys,” he added.

The doctors recommended an aggressive public health campaign to educate parents and daycare professionals on the danger of small, powerful magnets integrated into toys. Manufacturers, they added, should be required to provide clear warnings on packages.

Aside from magnets, most foreign objects swallowed by children pass through and exit the digestive tract without harm, the study said. ― ETX Studio

Two years ago she joined the “Fashion Grandmas”, whose one-minute clips and livestreams of them turning Beijing's streets into a catwalk are devoured by millions of fans.

They mix elegance with epithets of wisdom ― on marriage, love and life ― from a generation who are now increasingly integral to both the economy and online culture of China.

“Our young fans say they are not afraid of ageing after seeing grannies like us living fashionable and happy lives,” said Sang.

China is getting old fast and Beijing is faced with the monumental challenge of how to provide for tens of millions of retirees.

But this has also opened opportunities for those who are financially comfortable in their dotage and able to harness the commercial possibilities of technology.

It is an economy worth hundreds of billions of dollars, craving longevity, entertainment and consumer goods, and hooked like everybody else to their smartphones.

The “Fashion Grandmas” collective has 23 main members, with dozens more fringe contributors across the country, all aged between their late 50s and their mid-70s.

They make money from pop-up ads in their videos and livestreaming product sales.

“They can sell 200 units of a product within a minute of starting a stream,” says their agent He Daling.

Their videos also carry messages of inspiration, such as “beauty is not only for the young,” or “even the elderly can live a wonderful life!” as well as serious messages such as call-outs of domestic violence.

One of their videos shows a man raise a hand to hit his girlfriend in a store, before a furious older woman grabs his arm and waves for him to be dragged away by security guards.

“Domestic violence is illegal” reads the text on the screen, adding that it is “shameful” to hit women.

Another shows a pregnant woman being threatened by her husband before an elegant granny has him pinned back in his chair by bodyguards and gives the woman a hug.

“The elderly should live how they want and be optimistic,” Sang told AFP. “Age is just a number.”

'Actually we know everything'

A generation of Chinese born in the 1960s are reaching their mandatory retirement age of 60 for men and 55 for women.

These new retirees are the first group to receive higher education after the Mao-era Cultural Revolution, which scorned the “bourgeois” pursuit of learning and left a generation without social mobility.

“They are richer and highly educated,” said Bian Changyong, chief executive of the Beijing Dama Technology Company, which helps run the elderly influencers' social media.

“That improves the 'cashability' and quality of China's elderly internet industry.”

The value of China's “grey-haired” economy is estimated to reach 5.7 trillion yuan (nearly RM3.7 trillion) this year, according to iiMedia Research.

Bian said the Covid-19 pandemic had also pushed the elderly deeper online, hunting for shopping and entertainment.

To reach this vast untapped pool of older consumers, Bian's company also provides online courses for senior citizens to learn singing, dancing or kung fu through livestreaming channels.

“China's mobile internet industry has earned money from every group... men, women, youngsters, parents, but not the elderly,” said Bian.

“This could be the last structural opportunity of the industry.”

Granny Ruan Yaqing, 58, has her own video channel and uses an iPhone to reach over six million fans as she tours Beijing's history and culture.

She fell into the world of video-streaming to avoid becoming a “nagging” presence stuck at home, she jokes.

But she also carries a message on the virtues of age from a golden generation refusing to be pushed into the background of modern China.

“Young people assume the elderly know nothing,” she says. “Actually we know everything.” ― ETX Studio

A year on, business is good for the 33-year-old, the latest attraction and only hairdresser in Manhattan's green lung, renowned for its musicians, roller discos and birds.

“I love it, being a trendsetter and having a monopoly,” says James at his new “shop” ― a foldable chair under a leaf-covered pergola near the Strawberry Fields John Lennon memorial.

After a 45-minute subway ride from his Brooklyn home, James opens his wheelie suitcase, removes scissors, mirror and comb and hangs them on hooks in the wooden pergola that overlooks the boating lake.

He lines up hair products on the ground and drapes a gown over the chair. There's no red, white and blue-striped pole but he unfurls a banner that reads “Central Park Barber: Complimentary Haircuts!”

James started offering free haircuts in the park in May 2020 after pandemic restrictions temporarily closed all non-essential businesses in New York, including the shop where he was working.

He hoped the cuts would give New Yorkers a lift during a difficult time and was confident locals would show their appreciation through donations.

Clients customarily pay him the typical price of a barber's cut in the Big Apple: US$20 (RM82.52) or US$30. He has received as little as US$1 and as much as US$200 though.

“I decided to pretty much just take the initiative,” says James, recalling his venture outdoors.

“I grabbed my chair, my tools, and I put them on display. I just laid it out to see how people would respond. About ten minutes in a guy came over and sat down.

“Once people saw he was getting a haircut, everybody pretty much gravitated over. It was 90 days into the pandemic and everyone was in dire need!”

James' foray initially caused some confusion among park authorities, but they have allowed him to stay.

“This was the first time they ever had to do with something like this before. There were no permits or application. They didn't know quite what to do with me,” he remembers.

'Very cool'

Demand, coupled with local news coverage, has seen James, a barber since 2010, become a permanent fixture.

At the height of lockdown, he did around 20-25 cuts a day. Today he does 10-15 on average.

“It's very cool. I would do this all the time if I had enough hair,” said 72-year-old Joel Linchitz, receiving a trim last Thursday.

Customers can book via the Schedulicity app; walkers and runners regularly just drop in. James cuts women's hair provided they don't want anything complicated “like layers.”

“To be outside amongst nature and have people passing by taking pictures, it's a brand new experience that people really enjoy,” he says.

“Also, it's much safer. It's less of a risk than being indoors. There's fresh air that can circulate.”

Another perk: no overhead costs, which James describes as “a real blessing.”

Cons include rain: the forecast dictates his schedule and he doesn't work during winter.

Since his chair doesn't move up and down, snipping children's hair puts some stress on his back.

James also can't plug in a hair dryer but says sun and the park's pleasant breeze does a “good job.”

What does he do with the cut hair?

“One of my clients gave me a dustpan and a small broom. I sweep it up and just dump it right in the trash,” he explains.

Hair salons reopened last summer but James has no plans to return indoors.

“The demand is still alive. And I'm the first in history. To go from that back to building someone else's brand is not something I'm interested in doing,” he says. ― ETX Studio

In late April, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, two ethnic Uyghur women sat behind a tiny mesh grate, underneath a surveillance camera, inside the compound of what had long been the city’s largest place of worship.

Reuters could not establish if the place was currently functioning as a mosque.

Within minutes of reporters arriving, four men in plain clothes showed up and took up positions around the site, locking gates to nearby residential buildings.

The men told the reporters it was illegal to take photos and to leave.

“There’s no mosque here... there has never been a mosque at this site,” said one of the men in response to a question from Reuters if there was a mosque inside. He declined to identify himself.

Minarets on the building’s four corners, visible in publicly available satellite images in 2019, have gone. A large blue metal box stood where the mosque’s central dome had once been. It was not clear if it was a place of worship at that time the satellite images were taken.

In recent months, China has stepped up a campaign on state media and with government-arranged tours to counter the criticism of researchers, rights groups and former Xinjiang residents who say thousands of mosques have been targeted in a crackdown on the region’s mostly Muslim Uyghur people.

Officials from Xinjiang and Beijing told reporters in Beijing that no religious sites had been forcibly destroyed or restricted and invited them to visit and report.

“Instead, we have taken a series of measures to protect them,” Elijan Anayat, a spokesman for the Xinjiang government, said of mosques late last year.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said yesterday some mosques had been demolished, while others had been upgraded and expanded as part of rural revitalisation but Muslims could practise their religion openly at home and in mosques.

Asked about restrictions authorities put on journalists visiting the area, Hua said reporters had to try harder to “win the trust of the Chinese people” and report objectively.

Reuters visited more than two dozen mosques across seven counties in southwest and central Xinjiang on a 12-day visit during Ramadan, which ends today.

There is a contrast between Beijing’s campaign to protect mosques and free religious freedom and the reality on the ground. Most of the mosques that Reuters visited had been partially or completely demolished.

‘Life is beautiful’

China repeatedly says that Xinjiang faces a serious threat from “separatists, terrorists and religious extremists” who plot attacks and stir up tension between Uyghurs who call the region home and the ethnic Han, China’s majority community.

A mass crackdown that includes a campaign of restrictions on religious practice and what rights groups call the “forced political indoctrination” of more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims began in earnest in 2017.

Beijing denies detaining people in detention camps, calling them vocational training centres.

The government says there are more than 20,000 mosques in Xinjiang but no detailed data on their status is available.

Some functioning mosques have signs saying congregants must register while citizens from outside the area, foreigners and anyone under the age of 18 are banned from going in.

Functioning mosques feature surveillance cameras and include Chinese flags and propaganda displays declaring loyalty to the ruling Communist Party.

Visiting reporters were almost always followed by plainclothes personnel and warned not to take photographs.

A Han woman, who said she had moved to the city of Hotan six years ago from central China, said Muslims who wanted to pray could do so at home.

“There are no Muslims like that here anymore,” the woman, said, referring to those who used to pray at the mosque. She added: “Life in Xinjiang is beautiful.”

‘Ethnic unity’

Some state-sanctioned mosques are shown off to visiting journalists and diplomats, like the Jiaman Mosque in Hotan.

“Everything is paid for by the party,” said a Hotan official at the mosque on a visit arranged for Reuters by the city propaganda department.

The official, who went by the nickname “Ade” but declined to give his full name, said men were free to pray at the mosque five times a day, according to Islamic custom.

While reporters were there, several dozen men, most of them elderly, came to pray as dusk fell. Afterwards, they broke their fast with food provided by the local government.

The mosque, more than 170 years old, is one of four in the region earmarked as cultural relics, with funds for renovation from the central government, the Xinjiang government said.

As the mosque’s leader or imam removed his shoes, Ade demonstrated a machine given by the government that shrink-wraps shoes in plastic.

“Now you don’t even need to take your shoes off in the mosque, it’s very convenient,” he said.

In Changji, about 40km west of the regional capital, Urumqi, green and red minarets of the city’s Xinqu Mosque lay broken below a Chinese flag flying over the deserted building’s courtyard.

Reuters analysed satellite imagery of 10 mosques in Changji city and visited six of them.

A total of 31 minarets and 12 green or gold domes had been removed within a period of two months after April 2018, according to dated images.

At several mosques, Islamic architecture was replaced with Chinese-style roofing. These included Changji’s Tianchi road mosque, whose gold dome and minarets were removed in 2018, according to publicly available satellite images.

Reuters was unable to reach local officials or authorities in Xinjiang for comment on how the mosque was being used.

Researchers at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimated in 2020, after a survey of 900 Xinjiang locations, that 16,000 mosques had been partially or completely destroyed over the previous three years.

Signs outside the Xinqu Mosque said a housing development would soon be built on the site.

“For ethnic unity, build a beautiful Xinjiang,” a sign read. — Reuters

But rancher Jorge Barragan has declared a unilateral truce with the carnivorous cats.

He has taken a liking to the largest feline of the Americas, and says he does not mind sacrificing a few head of cattle to do his part to conserve the deadly hunters that have captured his imagination.

About ten years ago, Barragan decided to sacrifice part of his family farm, La Aurora, to the savanna that provides shelter and food for jaguars he says are “worth more alive than dead.”

The family has long banned hunting of wild animals — jaguar food — on the property.

Now 61, Barragan seeks the cats out rather than dreading a sighting.

He spends a large part of his day combing through footage on hidden cameras dotted across the farm, which has also become a nature reserve, in Colombia’s eastern Casanare department.

In the pictures, he encounters old feline friends and discovers new ones.

But it is not always a happy coexistence.

Doing the opposite

The cats, which can weigh 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and measure some two meters (six feet) in length, frequently cross Barragan’s property.

And sometimes the cattle fall victim — as many as 100 per year at a loss of some US$300 per head.

Barragan says he makes up the losses, at least partly, through visits by scientists and tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the majestic spotted cats.

In 2018, the farm drew some 160 visitors per month, at US$30 per person per night, but this revenue stream has all but run dry during the coronavirus pandemic.

The jaguar is listed as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Population numbers are decreasing, with farming, residential and commercial development among the main threats.

“Jaguar-livestock conflict is a serious threat to jaguar survival,” states the IUCN. “There are few areas within Jaguar range that can be considered safe” for the cats.

For Barragan, “a culture was created of killing the feline to stop the problem” of livestock losses.

“But we are doing the opposite,” he told AFP, proudly.

The rancher said he inherited a deep respect for Nature from his father.

But his love affair with the jaguar began when he saw a photo of one of the majestic predators in 2009, taken on a hidden camera a student had left on the farm.

“We knew that we had (jaguars) in the savanna, but I was very moved when I saw that first photo.”

Range has halved

Twelve years later, Barragan has given names to many of the animals that visit the farm, each sporting their own unique coat pattern.

“He has managed to identify 54 individual jaguars,” said Samantha Rincon, of the Panthera foundation dedicated to feline conservation.

According to Panthera, about 55 other Colombian farms are now following in La Aurora’s footsteps, seeking to better coexist with the jaguars they used to regard as the enemy.

Measures include introducing more spirited steers to defend the rest of the herd in the event of an attack, halting deforestation and putting a stop to hunting jaguar prey such as capybaras.

“By taking away the jaguar’s habitat, by eliminating its prey, obviously it will go in search of domestic animals” for food, Rincon told AFP.

Outside the confines of La Aurora, the picture is very different, with vast plantations of rice and oil palm competing with jaguars for territory.

Panthera says there are some 15,000 of the cats left in Colombia, and about 170,000 in the Americas as a whole.

The species once stretched from the southern United States to northern Argentina, but its range has since been halved, and it is extinct in several countries.

Climate change is taking its toll, too.

In 2016, a strong drought killed off large numbers of capybara, giant rodents that form a large part of the jaguar diet.

Barragan said he would love to see more farmers commit to protecting the felines.

“Finding a cat on a cattle farm always produces a certain fear... but our experience shows that we can coexist with the jaguar,” he said. — AFP

His dancing skills run in the family ― his dervish dancer father Muayad is whirling next to him, in front of a spellbound audience.

“Anas learnt to whirl before he learnt to talk,” his father said, speaking inside a Damascus restaurant. “He is the youngest dervish dancer in Syria”.

Whirling ― a sort of moving meditation through which Sufis seek to commune with the divine ― sees performers twirl to the hypnotic rhythm of prayer, until they reach a trance-like state.

Popular in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey, the dance emerged alongside Sufism ― a spiritually focused approach to Islam, founded by followers of 13th-century Persian mystic and poet Jalal al-Din Rumi.

The Kharrat family is one of the most reputed in Damascus, and boasts 20 dervish dancers who often perform during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Muayad started twirling as a child, taught first by his grandfather, then his uncle and finally his father.

At 28, he now owns a fragrance shop in a popular Damascus market, but his real passion lies in Sufi spiritual practise.

“Sufism in general is a means to worship and exaltation,” he said.

“Whirling is just one way of reaching God.”

'Humility'

Muayad said he can twirl dozens of times per minute “without moving an inch away from the axis”.

In war-wracked Syria, whirling offers relief from the woes of a conflict that has been exacerbated by a dire economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

“Whenever I feel distressed... I confine myself to my room, and turn and turn until I feel at peace.”

In the living room of their Damascus home, Muayad pulled a long white robe over Anas's head before helping him with a matching jacket and a tall burgundy felt cap.

Around them stood relatives in matching outfits and similar “sikke” caps, which can be brown or black and are designed to emulate the stick shape of the first letter of the word God in Arabic (“Allah”).

They then descend a long staircase towards a courtyard, to practice whirling to the rhythm of prayer with Muayad's brother Mahmoud.

The 34-year-old is teaching the children how to hold their arms while twirling.

“By raising our arms we are begging for mercy from God and sending a prayer to the heavens,” Mahmoud said, gesturing toward the sky.

“Placing our hands against our chest is a sign of submissiveness and humility before God.”

Ramadan special

Before the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Mahmoud performed in several European countries, and even toured the United States.

“We spent more time outside Syria than inside,” he said.

Travel restrictions imposed on Syrians due to the conflict brought the family's performances abroad to a halt, forcing them to keep up the tradition by performing at local events.

“We have performed in restaurants and weddings,” Mahmoud said.

Evening performances during Ramadan “are one of our last hopes” to make a living, he added.

The holy month is a busy time of year for whirling dervishes, who perform for audiences sipping coffee or smoking shisha in cafes and restaurants after a day of fasting.

Almost every popular spot in the capital offers some form of dervish performance to attract customers.

“We eagerly await the month of Ramadan to share this ritual with people,” said Mahmoud.

“Whirling is for every time and place, but it is even more spiritual during Ramadan”. ― ETX Studio

Perhaps the last flowers of the season are fuji, as wisteria is known in Japanese. These delicate flowers are late bloomers, appearing at the end of April and finishing their glorious parade in the month of May. Right before summer.

And what a way to go, to ring out the season!

A flowering climbing plant native to Japan, fuji is grown with an ornamental purpose in mind. Sure, there are wisteria bushes here and there where you least expect them, but by and large they are grown in gardens.

The better to display their elegant, pendulum-like flowers, you see. The slightly puckish way their determined vines will snake and clamber up both man-made pergolas and host trees in the wild. The flowers flourish, whether guided by human hand or by Nature’s art.

Fuji blossoms are the very definition of flower power as they do not come in a single shade. Some are pretty in pink; others promise a fuchsia fantasy.

Lighter than lavender, some beguile with their violets and purples. There are white showers of snowy wisteria blooms. All the colours hint at a mystery, a floral melody we can only ascertain if we linger a little longer.

If this were England, we might fear being lured to Faerie and be substituted; a changeling (or a Skrull, if you’re a Captain Marvel fan) in our place. Certainly the wisteria’s fragrance is potent and vinous, as sweet as fairy brew.

But this is Japan, so it is only kitsune or fox fairies we have to watch out for. That and the occasional tengu or forest spirit. Never tangle with a tengu (or so I learned from a children’s story years and years ago); we are sure to be worse for the encounter.

There is no danger. There are no traps.

The only creatures lured to these incandescent blooms are our insect friends. Like bees to honey (quite literally!), you may observe many tiny creatures flitting this way and that, but always towards nectar-rich wisteria blossoms.

The busy bees among the flowers are a sign that it is time to shake off the slowness and slumber and to warm up, to get ready to get cracking. There is work to do.

Change is in the air.

More than cherry blossoms earlier in the season – isn’t it strange that we always associate springtime in Japan with sakura when the Land of the Rising Sun has so many other awe-inspiring flowers? – or fiery-hued falling leaves later during autumn, wisteria is a signal of change.

Fuji’s fleeting flowers are the very last flowers of spring. Once they are gone, it is a matter of weeks before summer officially begins. The temperatures go up, there is more green in the world. Even what the Japanese eat shifts, every so slightly at first, then more dramatically as seasonal produce in the market changes.

Soon the flavours of spring will give way to the taste of summer. White strawberries with their intensely sweet fragrance will be replaced by thirst-quenching triangles of cut watermelon, perfect for the hot, sultry days.

There will be no more platters of grilled tai (sea bream) and mountains of tiny sakura ebi shrimp fritters. Instead, lovers of seafood will turn their gaze away from the deep waters of the ocean and look closer inland. The bounty of Japanese rivers offer freshwater eels or unagi, perfect for grilling over charcoal and dressed with a sweet and savoury sauce to whet heat-worn appetites.

Thick jackets and scarves will no longer be needed; there won’t be cold winds to ward off. Return those to the closet. As early as next month, thin T-shirts can be dug out of the wardrobe and after that, even less as the beaches beckon.

Yes, summer will arrive soon enough. That is the very promise of fuji. That the seasons change and that life – or at least Nature – goes on.

So we continue to wander among the wisteria. The dreamy clouds of buds and blossoms above our heads – not unlike puffs of cotton, not unlike cotton candy – take our breath away.

It’s curtain call. The last blossoms of spring herald a new summer. The whispering wisteria reminds us to slow down and to contemplate: how seasons will still come and go, whatever goes on in the human world.

Goodbye to spring and hello to summer.

But know that the seasons will repeat and soon we will admire the surreal glamour of fuji again, in pink and fuchsia, in violet and white. As fragile and as beautiful as our own brief spans on this blessed earth.

For more slice-of-life stories, visit lifeforbeginners.com.

But the spry great-grandfather is five years younger than the oldest member of the community in Rugao, an eastern city home to more than 500 centenarians and which celebrates its elderly with pride, statues and subsidies.

Calligraphy is one of the many hobbies practised by Gu, who was already in his nineties when he taught himself to use the internet.

“I write poetry, read books and newspapers, and watch the news every day,” says Gu, who was born in 1918, in the tumultuous early years of China's republican era.

Decades of a one-child policy has built in a demographic challenge for China, with a low birth rate and the world's largest population of elderly to provide for, while the pressure of urban life is ripping up traditions of filial responsibility for aged parents.

By 2050, the government predicts retirees will constitute a third of China's population and caring for them will cost a quarter of annual GDP.

This week's census data showed China's population over 60 had reached more than 264 million ― a five percent increase over the last decade ― making Rugao a testing ground for the country's future.

It is dubbed China's “longevity city” for its impressive number of super seniors, with 78,000 people aged between 80 and 99 among its 1.4 million residents ― and another 525 over 100.

Temples and parks are replete with the elderly praying with longs sticks of incense, dancing or practising the slow strokes of tai chi.

Older residents gather to chat on cobbled riverside streets, or sit in public squares to sing songs in a city which celebrates its pensioners with a 50-metre tall statue of Shouxing, the God of Longevity.

“Our ethos here is to respect the elderly,” Rugao Longevity Research Centre director She Minggao ― who is nearly 70 years old himself ― told AFP.

“We believe that to have an elderly person in a family is like having a treasure.”

That pride reflects onto the residents. Gu shows off a heavy medal for city centenarians who complete a hundred-metre walk, as well a certificate dated 1951 for fighting in China's People's Liberation Army.

Bundled up in padded trousers, coat and hat, the former accountant mostly stays home after a fall a few years ago.

But he maintains his sharp wit and keeps connected with the outside world through the internet.

“Biden is just too old to be president,” Gu quips, pointing to a news item about the 78-year-old US leader.

“He's not as old as me, but he's also not as smart.”

Work ethic

Rugao ― around 200 kilometres from Shanghai ― is surrounded by fields of green and yellow crops and decorated with stately canals. Locals believe the natural environment has a part to play in their longevity.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences speculated in one report that high levels of the mineral selenium in the city's soil could be a factor extending the life expectancy of its citizens.

But after over a century living through China's tumultuous history, others have a more straightforward explanation.

“I still work,” says great-grandfather Yu Fuxi, aged 103, who zips around town on his motor scooter.

“I sweep the floor every day and like everything clean and tidy. I go to the market on my scooter and buy what I want,” he adds, from a room with a neatly rolled up bedspread and picture of Chinese president Xi Jinping on the wall.

Yu regularly makes meals for his grandchildren, darting around the kitchen in white cooking overalls.

Across town, Qian Zuhua ― two years his junior ― is equally motivated helping at his son's screw production factory, matching metal nuts and bolts with his still nimble fingers.

“I'm 101 and my health is good,” he told AFP from an apartment shared with his son, grandson and great-granddaughter.

“I am happy when I think about it.”

Empty nesters

The elderly in China are traditionally cared for at home by younger relatives.

But the one-child policy created a fast-ageing population and a shrinking workforce, putting pressure on working children to care for two sets of parents.

Urbanisation, long working hours and high property prices ― plus changing mindsets among many younger, cosmopolitan Chinese ― makes pairing tradition with modernity a challenge.

Rugao authorities introduced subsidised or free door-to-door services ― health checks, hair cuts and massage ― for the elderly.

Residents also get a pension top-up that increases with age, and a subsidy towards elderly care costs.

But in other parts of China, elderly care is less expansive.

“Government-run institutions are in high demand and typically have long waiting lists,” said Kyle Freeman, partner at consultant Dezan Shira and Associates.

In contrast, he says, expensive private facilities are mostly below capacity.

With many families now made up of one child, two adult parents, and four elderly grandparents, Chinese children are being squeezed as they try to care for relatives.

“My son is working in Beijing, so we are the empty nesters,” said Wang Yingmei, 85, from the tidy room she shares with her husband in one Rugao elderly care home.

“It's actually more cosy than our home, because there is nobody else at home but us.”

Price of getting old

Residents pay around 4,000 yuan (RM2,475)) a month for their room at the centre.

That is roughly the average monthly income of a city resident in China ― but more than double the income of a rural worker.

Freeman says elderly care could overtake real estate as China's largest industry within the next fifteen years, with health officials projecting total elderly care costs could go from about seven percent of GDP to more than a quarter by 2050.

Chinese policy aims for 90 per cent of the country's elderly to be cared for at home, but to achieve that authorities will need to stir a change in mindset.

“The implication is a return to filial piety in China which took a break, particularly in cities, over the last 30 years,” said Sofya Bakhta, a China market analyst at Daxue Consulting.

Gu Bin is quite content at home in his leafy apartment where he knows his neighbours, lives with his daughter and son-in-law, and can indulge his flurry of newly-found hobbies.

“In the past China was poor, we owned nothing. Now I have a place to live, food to eat and my clothes are warm.

“Life is good.” ― ETX Studio

Researchers from Glasgow University in Scotland studied the diets of 177,723 British residents between the ages of 37 and 73 for five years. Among them, 4,111 were vegetarians (consuming a diet without red meat, poultry and fish).

According to their findings, vegetarians appear to be in better health than meat eaters, regardless of age, weight, smoking and alcohol intake. These results were presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO).

By analysing blood and urine samples from the candidates, the researchers examined the relationship of each diet on 19 biomarkers related to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, liver, bone and joint health and kidney function. They concluded that vegetarians had “significantly lower levels of 13 biomarkers, including total cholesterol,” based on what they observed.

Vegetables, fruits and nuts: A winning combo for health

“As well as not eating red and processed meat which have been linked to heart diseases and some cancers, people who follow a vegetarian diet tend to consume more vegetables, fruits, and nuts which contain more nutrients, fibre, and other potentially beneficial compounds,” said Dr. Carlos Celis-Morales of the University of Glasgow. “These nutritional differences may help explain why vegetarians appear to have lower levels of disease biomarkers that can lead to cell damage and chronic disease.”

However, vegetarians were found to have lower levels of some health-promoting biomarkers such as “good cholesterol” and vitamin D. In addition, the scientists noted “significantly higher levels of fat (triglycerides) in the blood and cystatin-C,” suggesting poor kidney condition.

The researchers remain cautious, pointing out that their study was observational and that they tested the samples only once per participant. ― ETX Studio

A silk scarf he wore around his head on the windswept British outpost is also on show, along with a walking stick made from a narwhal tooth, a rare and precious object from the exiled former French emperor’s daily life on Saint Helena.

The exhibition at the Battle of Waterloo memorial museum, near Brussels, is part of commemorations of the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death aged 51 on May 5, 1821.

The letter is one of only a few texts written by Napoleon in English that have survived. It does not have an address and is believed to have been dictated to him by his secretary as part of exercises to improve his English.

“Napoleon, before arriving on the island of Saint Helena, could not write or speak in the language of Shakespeare,” said Antoine Charpagne, co-curator of the Waterloo exhibition.

“His secretary, Emmanuel de Las Cases, knew how to speak English, as he had already lived in England for a few years, and so he taught him,” he told Reuters.

The letter is expected to fetch the highest price out of all the items that will be sold at auction at Bonhams in London on October 27.

“When you hear that in the past, several million pounds have been paid for at least one significant item of Napoleonic memorabilia, it puts it into perspective,” said Simon Cottle of Bonhams.

The Waterloo curators and auctioneers in London say the objects shed light on Napoleon’s latter days in exile, a time when he was writing his memoirs to try and enshrine a legacy as a military genius and visionary leader.

Today, Napoleon is the subject of heated debate in France and beyond.

Some say his achievements, especially the laying out of legal and institutional foundations that still underpin parts of the modern French state, make him worthy of commemoration. Others answer that his record of military aggression, his despotic instincts and his decision to reinstate slavery after it had been abolished mean that he should not be honoured. — Reuters

The 1983 painting, which depicts a skull on a red background, sold for US$81 million, but with fees and commissions the final price came to US$93.1 million, well above the estimate of US$50 million.

It was another skull, Untitled, that set the record for the most expensive by Basquiat (1960-1988), which went for US$110.5 million in May 2017 at Sotheby’s in New York.

In This Case reprises two dominant themes in Basquiat’s work, anatomy and representation of African-American characters.

In a sign of Basquiat’s growing status in the art world, the same canvas was sold in November 2002 for just US$999,500, barely more than a hundredth of the price paid on Tuesday.

With the exception of New York-based Basquiat, African American painters have long been undervalued by collectors and underrepresented in museums.

In recent years, the market has started a process of re-evaluating many of them. Yesterday, Christie’s had presented several Black artists as part of its big spring sale.

A Nina Chanel Abney work sold for US$990,000, a Jordan Casteel went for US$687,500 and a Rashid Johnson fetched US$1.95 million.

A work by British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye was sold for US$1.95 million and a piece by Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui went under the hammer for US$1.95 million, all of them setting new records. — ETX Studio

Troy Littleton took to Twitter to share a picture of the mobile crib that allowed his graduate student to work on her thesis while having her nine-month-old infant with her at work.

My favorite new equipment purchase for the lab – a travel crib to go in my office so my graduate student can bring her 9-month old little girl to work when necessary and I get to play with her while her mom gets some work done. Win-win!! pic.twitter.com/1R7QKprOLr

— Troy Littleton (@JTroyLittleton) May 7, 2021

“My favourite new equipment purchase for the lab — a travel crib in my office so my graduate student can bring her little girl to work.

“And I get to play with her while her mum gets some work done.”

Littleton said in another post saying how he admired the workload his student had to do and how she still managed to keep up with her thesis project.

“I wish people would be able to spot the real hero which is the graduate student mum, not me,” he said.

A search on MIT’s website showed that Litteton is a neuroscience professor at the institution’s biology department.

The post has been liked by over 100 people with many drawing similarities with their own lecturers letting them bring their infants over to university.

Others praised the professor for being thoughtful of his student and her child.

Some Twitter users commented saying that day care centres should be set-up at work places.

“I want this in every single work environment. Enough with daycare and preschool.

“I want to bring my future children to work with me. Let them learn what I do. Let them interact with older generations and let us all be a community,” wrote Missi.

I want this in every single work environment. Enough with daycare and pre-school. I WANT TO BRING MY FUTURE CHILDREN TO WORK WITH ME. Let them learn what I do. Let them interact with older generations. Let us all be a community.

— Missi 😴 مليسا (@HoneyBeeRock) May 8, 2021

Laudiane Fernandes, 42, from Alagoas, was born with haemangiomas, a collection of small blood vessels that form lumps under the skin in her nose, scalp and around her eyes, reported the Daily Mail.

The condition led to Fernandes to suffer from severe nose bleeds and seizures during childhood.

Following her diagnosis when she was 16, Fernandes underwent eight surgeries including one to remove a haemangioma from her nose that involved cutting into the skin and reshaping the nose. 

The procedure however caused her nose to get infected and partially collapse.

To repair the damage, doctors had to perform a skin graft using part of the inside of Fernandes’s cheek.

While this helped her to breathe better, it also left Fernandes with a nose that was twice as big.

Although Fernandes underwent the procedure years ago, the beauty therapist continues to be taunted by mean people today.

“Sometimes I get comments from people online such as you look like Fiona from Shrek and only bulls have noses like that.”

Despite that, Fernandes thanked God that she still lives on to tell her story.

“I am not ashamed or feel inferior to anybody else due to the way I look and I believe that my condition has actually made me stronger and it will not deter me from living out my dreams.”

So imagine his surprise when the former prime minister put in a second order for the sweet and buttery Hari Raya staple recently.

In a video posted to Oh Mak Kita’s Instagram page, Nazim shared how he was invited to Dr Mahathir’s office to deliver the pineapple tarts to him in person.

The clip, which was filmed last week before the third movement control order, shows Nazim preparing a Hari Raya greeting card for Dr Mahathir and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali while travelling to Putrajaya.

Nazim, 28, included a caption saying he was “so nervous” about meeting the Langkawi MP in person.

“Alhamdulillah in 2021, we were blessed to be able to hand over pineapple tarts and other kuih raya (Raya cookies) from Oh Mak Kita to Tun M.

“It’s not easy to get a rare chance like this. (Tun M is) a world-renowned leader who is willing to support small businesses like us,” he wrote.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by TART NANAS & TART CADBURRY (@ohmakkita)

He ended the video with a photo of him and Dr Mahathir posing with the cookies which were homemade by Nazim’s mother Mira Kassim.

Nazim told mStar that he never imagined he would get a repeat order from the 95-year-old politician.

“This is the second time Tun has ordered kuih from me. The first time was in 2019.

“Back then, I could only pass it to his officials. This time, his officials said I could hand it to him in person if I wanted to.

“The meeting was brief, I just handed it over and took a photo with him. At the time, Tun was rushing because he had just finished a meeting,” said Nazim.

The young entrepreneur was humbled that his mum’s homemade cookies managed to catch the attention of a Malaysian icon like Dr Mahathir.

He started the Oh Mak Kita business as a side hustle in 2019 and said that all of the treats are handmade by his mum and siblings.

His mother’s pineapple tarts started to gain popularity after fashion designer Datuk Rizalman Ibrahim invited Nazim to set up a stall during his garage sales.

Since then, several celebrities have put in orders, including actress Mira Filzah, singer Fazura, and fashion designer Rico Rinaldi.

Nazim clarified that he does not send free products to influencers and that all his famous customers, including Dr Mahathir, have bought the treats with their own money.

He added that Oh Mak Kita saw a surge in orders after his video with the ex-premier went viral.

Now, Misheck Nyandoro, 66, is fighting a different “war” - helping to replenish the country's population with his 16 wives who have given him a total of 151 children with two more on the way.

Nyandoro said he would be marrying wife number 17 this year-end and his target is to marry 100 wives and have 1,000 children before he dies.

Speaking to Zimbabwean publication The Herald, Nyandoro said he follows a strict four-times-a-night sex schedule to help keep his family growing.

Nyandoro, from Mbire District, Mashonaland Central Province, said he would go to the bedrooms on his schedule every night.

“I then satisfy them before moving onto the next room.”

Nyandoro, who does not work, said his job was to satisfy his wives, who cook, clean, and cater to his every desire. 

The family mainly relies on farming and was recently allocated 93 hectares of land near the Mvurwi mountains.

While it was unclear of his wives’ ages, Nyandoro said he keeps marrying younger women because older brides cannot keep up with his insatiable sex drive.

“I alter my behaviour in the bedroom to suit the age of each of my wives.

“I don't act the same with the young ones as I do with the older ones,” said the self-professed polygamist who started marrying in 1983.

Fifty of his children are in school, six are working with the Zimbabwe National Army, two with police, 11 others in different professions, and 13 of his daughters are married. 

If you are wondering if any of his sons are following in their father's footsteps, one of them actually has, with four wives.

Quoting the hospital spokeswoman Daniella Gianelli, CNN reported that the woman was administered the vaccine at the Noa hospital in Italy’s central region of Tuscany on Sunday.

The woman, an intern in the hospital’s psychology department, was kept under strict observation for 24 hours for any possible adverse reactions.

She, however, was discharged on Monday in good health with no underlying conditions.

The incident occurred after a health worker accidentally filled a syringe with an entire bottle of the vaccine, containing six doses and jabbed the vaccine taker.

Gianelli said the nurse realised her mistake after she saw five empty syringes.

“Doctors will continue to monitor the patient's immune response to the massive dose of vaccine.”

Gianelli noted that an internal investigation has been opened, but added that they believe the mishap could possibly be just human error and not on purpose.

PETALING JAYA, May 12 — With the third movement control order (MCO 3.0) forcing bazaar vendors nationwide to cease operations, cosmetics tycoon Datuk Seri Vida is helping small traders stay afloat amid the economic disruption.

The Malaysian multimillionaire whose real name is Hasmiza Othman went on a shopping spree at a Hari Raya bazaar in Ipoh, Perak ahead of the Muslim festival to lend her support.

“Today I’d like to browse the Aidilfitri bazaar before the MCO starts, I’m here to support bazaar sellers who have to shut their businesses due to the MCO 3.0, poor things.

“I’ll buy items for a simple Raya celebration, a lot of things haven’t been sold here so I’ll help with that — they are still full of energy, their stalls are still open despite being last minute,” Vida wrote on Monday.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Dato' Seri Dr. Hajah Vida (@datoserivida)

She added that she felt bad for small traders whose livelihoods are affected especially during the Hari Raya season which they relied on to earn more profits.

“What can they do, we have to follow the orders,” Vida said.

The animated entrepreneur also shared a five-minute video of her selecting various items at the bazaar to complete her Hari Raya checklist.

Vida was seen buying tubs of biscuits from a female vendor, Hari Raya outfits and carpets.

While bargaining with the carpet seller, the beauty empire founder hilariously asked if the rugs were from Nilai, seemingly inferring to Neelofa’s recent shopping trip that reportedly violated the interstate travel ban.

“From Nilai, you can get them here,” Vida said in jest. 

The flamboyant personality then moved on to a traditional snack vendor where she picked up tubs of kuih ros, love letters and bags of banana chips.

Vida’s kind gesture to support small traders was praised by fans and followers for her generosity amid tough economic circumstances.

She told business owners to be strong and patient, saying that everything happens for a reason.

“No matter how many MCOs, something good will come out of this.

“We will be celebrating in a few days, keep your spirits up at the end of Ramadan, may we be merry despite the MCO,” said Vida.

She also reminded Malaysians to be generous during tough times.

“Giving doesn’t make us rich nor does it make us poor, giving bestows blessings on our providence,” Vida said.

Vida’s Instagram clip has been viewed more than 200,000 times. 

In a TikTok video posted by Putri Yunita six days ago, Tatan was seen sleeping on its owner’s bed and even sitting next to her grave.

Putri Yunita, the sister-in-law of the cat’s former owner who uploaded the video told Tribunnews  that Tatan had been crying since the day its owner passed away.

“My sister-in-law looked after Tatan for seven years and they both had a very close bond.

“And when she passed away, the cat had been crying as seen by its tears.

“But when I brought Tatan to her grave, it just sat there and stopped crying,” she said.

Putri Yunita added that Tatan never had any eye problems nor sensitive eyes, and that it has always been healthy.

The video on TikTok has been watched by over a million people, liked by over 200,000 people with many saying how they were touched by the bond between the cat and its former owner.

One user also commented and hoped that Tatan would be looked after by other family members.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12  —  They are usually the first response team to be called in for action in case of emergencies especially in secluded areas.

However, these local volunteer firefighters, also known as Pasukan Bomba Sukarela (PBS), are sometimes overlooked by society.

The PBS was formed to assist the local fire department in handling emergencies, and they’re often formed in community areas that are quite far from the nearest fire department.

During pre-Covid years, Hari Raya would usually mean a busy month for these unsung heroes but even though there are fewer cases these past few years, that doesn’t mean there are no cases at all.

Pasukan Bomba Sukarela Kepong (PBSK) chief Kelvin Tung said for every Hari Raya month before the pandemic, they would usually send a team to assist the local bomba with their Ops Raya.

A team of volunteers would usually be dispatched along with a firetruck near the Rawang toll plaza at the Utara-Selatan expressway to assist firemen with road emergencies or accidents.

“Every year and almost every night we would work together with bomba for Ops Raya.

“But since the movement control order last year, there’s no Ops Raya and we would just have to standby at our own station for Hari Raya,” Tung told Malay Mail.

PBSK has over 35 registered members and they are amongst the most well-equipped stations in Selangor.

“We have equipment for road accidents such as cutters, we’ve got search and rescue equipment.

“We even have equipment for bush or wildfires, and all of this is from our own pocket as we’re a voluntary team.

“Besides that, we also have an ambulance service that is on standby during emergencies as they can straight away attend to medical needs of the victims,” Tung said.

He added that they would often do collections amongst themselves for the equipment and maintenance.

According to Tung, they normally get five to six emergency calls per week and during the last few weeks leading to Hari Raya, most of the calls were regarding road accidents.

During Hari Raya, most of the calls they get is either fire from factories or houses which were caused by fireworks and short circuits.

PBSK would usually get emergency calls assigned to them from the Selayang Fire Department as they’re under their supervision and it is required for them to report every incident back to the fire department.

“Kepong stands in the middle.

“We would usually cover areas nearby the borders such as Jinjang, Kepong, Sri Hartamas, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Manjalara,” he said adding that, they’re also working together with other volunteer firefighters such as Gombak, Bangi and Saujana Utama.

Meanwhile, Pasukan Bomba Sukarela Saujana Utama (PBSSU)station chief Azman Razak said they usually covered cases in rural areas such as Bukit Darah, Ladang Tuan Mee, Desa Coalfield, Puncak Alam and Alam jaya.

Most of the cases they handle usually involve wild animals such as capturing snakes and lizards in people’s housing areas.

“For us, during Hari Raya, there have not been any huge cases so far.

“The most common cases we’ve received involve snakes, saving people from locked rooms and locked cars, things like that.

“But we will still have a team ready at the station,” Azman said.

However, as most of the PBSSU members are Muslims, it’s been a tradition for them to come together at the station every year during Hari Raya to cook lemang and rendang which will be shared amongst their members.

“Since the MCO, there are more members available during Hari Raya and last year we’ve made over 100 pieces of lemang for Hari Raya.

“As for this year, we’re planning to sell our lemang to the public by opening up a booth outside our station.

“It’s a fun way to keep the Hari Raya spirit alive and at the same time, the earnings can be used for our maintenance since we’re still a voluntary body,” Azman said.

PBSSU was formed back in 2014 and back then, Azman and his team were volunteering for the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) and they were summoned to assist the local fire department with a bushfire in Alam Jaya.

“We were there for days.

“What inspired me to form our own PBS team is while we were handling the bushfire with the fire department, suddenly they were called in to handle another emergency somewhere else and they’ve no choice but to leave us there.

“So, from there, we decided to form our own PBS team to assist the local fire department.

“This is also because the nearest fire department is in Sungai Buloh which is about 30 minutes from here while the other nearest fire department is in Bestari jaya and they would need 45 minutes to get here during peak hours,” Azman said.

Since the inception of PBSSU in 2014, they now have 35 registered members and have been the first response team in the area for any emergencies. 

TVB deputy general manager Eric Tsang said they would leave it to the contestants to decide whether they wanted to be vaccinated, 163.com reported.

On the number of contestants for this year’s pageant, Tsang said it would depend on the quality of participants.

He also said the organisers were considering Singapore for location shoot if the travel bubble goes ahead.

The Straits Times reported that the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble, which allows quarantine-free travel between the two cities, is slated to start on May 26.

It may be suspended if the average daily number of unlinked Covid-19 community cases in either city exceeds a certain threshold.

Meanwhile, Liberty Times Net quoted Tsang as saying that although the organiser did not force contestants to be vaccinated, it encouraged them to do so. 

“It is safer to be vaccinated. It will also be easier for them when they travel.”

He also urged would-be contestants to register early to give them time to be quarantined.

The pageant is scheduled to be held in September, with applications for contestants now open to both Hong Kong and overseas residents till June 6.