Category: Fashion & Lifestyle

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has canceled his visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland to deal with a crippling energy crisis and other pressing issues in his country.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Vincent Magwenya, the presidential spokesman, said Ramaphosa was convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in parliament, the National Energy Crisis Committee and power utility Eskom’s board.

South Africa is currently facing its worst electricity crisis in decades with rolling blackouts of up to six hours a day.

Eskom, which generates over 90% of the country’s electricity, has been struggling to meet demand and has been implementing different stages of outages for weeks.

Most of the output from the utility’s aging power plant array is coal-fired, with the facilities in need of maintenance.

The 53rd annual meeting of the WEF starts Monday and will bring together more than 2,700 leaders from 130 countries including 50 heads of state or government. It will be held under the theme “Cooperation in a Fragmented World.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

An exhibition featuring Turkish modern art opened in the Netherlands on Dec. 3 and will run until Jan. 1.

The Pulchri Studio Art Center in The Hague is hosting the exhibition, Aura/Contemporary Turkish Art, which was organized by the Independent Art Foundation.

Pinar Gulun Kayseri, undersecretary of the Turkish embassy in The Hague, and Adil Akaltun, director of the Yunus Emre Institute in Amsterdam, were among those attending the event.

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, of which Anadolu Agency is a Global Communication Partner, Kayseri said she was proud to be present at the exhibition, which showcases the works by Turkish artists, describing artists as cultural ambassadors of Türkiye.

She emphasized that the exhibition is very special, adding: “You will see the works of 18 contemporary Turkish artists at the exhibition, which give the Dutch audience an idea of modern art in our country.”

“The Netherlands and Türkiye share a culture of diversity,” she said.

“As friends and allies, Türkiye and the Netherlands have developed a multidimensional partnership over the past four centuries.

“We believe that such events and visits strengthen and improve relations between the two countries,” she underscored.

“We believe that such exchanges between artists, academics or scientists increase mutual understanding and form fruitful partnerships.”

Hulya Yazici, president of the Independent Art Foundation, said: “There is a very rich common language between artists, whose words consist of color and form. Through this language, we have the opportunity to understand each other wherever we are in the world.”

“The artist creates strong invisible connections between the people with the original language he/she has, and this communication makes us become members of humanity as a family,” she underlined.

“This is the primary purpose of this exhibition, which we have been working on for three years, and I hope it will achieve its goal,” she added.

The curator of the exhibition, painter Ahmet Ozel, said the exhibition was delayed for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that 80 works by Turkish artists with different techniques will be on display.

Noting that they attended the opening of the exhibition with 11 artists, Ozel said “the concept title of this exhibition, which aims to give an impetus to art and cultural relations between the Netherlands and Türkiye, is ‘Aura.’”

“Aura expresses their aspirations for a world where borders between countries disappear, where there is no other decoupling of people, where they will live in peace and equality.

“We believe that only art and the atmosphere of breathing art can make this longing a reality,” he pointed out.

Organized with the support of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry as well as the Yunus Emre Institute, the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, Istanbul Gelisim University and various companies, the exhibition will run until Jan. 1.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Bangladesh along with China is among the leading producers of fast fashion.

The consumption of clothes is 60% up from 2000 and every clothing item is on average worn only seven times before it ends up at a landfill site, according to the in-depth piece published in Aftonbladet

Nearly 100 billion new garments are produced every year.

Bangladesh in addition to low wages has yet another competitive advantage: cheap water.

Sharif Jamil, one of Bangladesh’s best-known environmental activists and leader of the organization Bapa, said only 30 inspectors in the crowded capital of Dhaka inspect thousands of factories for compliance.

They have neither the knowledge, the equipment nor the capacity, he said.

And the penalties for flouting rules are low and the corruption extreme, he added.

– Deep pockets

Several government ministers and dozens of parliamentarians and mayors own factories themselves.

The investigation reviewed eleven of the factories that manufacture clothes for H&M.

It confirmed that four of these discharged contaminated water.

The reporters involved in the investigation spoke to a large number of stakeholders, such as residents, factory employees, environmental activists, and government officials.

They also tracked down secret sewers and confirmed the emissions visually. In Bangladesh, the discharges have led to entire rivers being declared biologically dead.

H&M says that they have 35 employees working on sustainability in Bangladesh. None of these have been seen by locals.

The four factories associated with pollution are Sterling Denim and Mascotex near Dhaka; Taqwa Fabrics and Aswad Composite Mills located in Sreepur.

During the week, Aftonbladet contacted H&M for a response.

In a written reply, Shariful Hoque, water impact lead, said the clothing chain was taking the information seriously and has launched an internal investigation on the issue.

The company is producing clothes at three of the four factories named in the report.

“Although we are one of the few brands that share data and are approaching fully functional sewage treatment at our suppliers’ factories, we have not yet achieved 100 percent compliance,” Hoque added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Five Italian films compete at the 79th Venice Film Festival which opens Tuesday and runs until Sept. 10, with the participation of great international names and some interesting debuts.

“Festivals are not a bubble closed off to contemporary reality,” artistic director Alberto Barbera said last month unveiling the program of the new edition, which this year includes initiatives in support of Ukraine and filmmakers persecuted around the world.

The annual film festival – the only major international event that did not cancel its physical edition due to the coronavirus pandemic – has also removed after two years the barriers it set up to shield its world-famous catwalk from the crowd of excited fans, ready to welcome again a flurry of celebrities.

Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise kicks off the festival’s competition, starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, and marking Baumbach’s return to Venice after 2019’s Marriage Story.

Twenty-three films are vying for the top prize, the Golden Lion, which will be assigned by a jury led by US actress Julianne Moore at the festival’s close.

Five Italian titles are running in the competition, including Lord of the Ants, by Gianni Amelio, a movie about the controversial Braibanti case which sparked a controversy in Italy in the 60s, with the conviction of an intellectual for plagiarism.

Italian filmmaker Emanuele Crialese also returns to the festival with L’immensità, a story about motherhood starring Penelope Cruz. Internationally-acclaimed Italian director Luca Guadagnino presents his Bones and All, a portrait of the victims of the American dream, shot in the US with his favorite star Timothee Chalamet.

The other two Italian movies in competition are Monica, by Andrea Pallaoro, starring trans actress Trace Lysette, and Chiara by Susanna Nicchiarelli, which shines a light on the story of Santa Chiara.

Among the highly-anticipated titles, Ana de Armas debuts as Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik’s Blonde ; Brendan Fraser stars in Darren Aronofsky’s new film The Whale, while Cate Blanchett plays an orchestra conductor in Tár, by director Todd Field.

The only debut in competition is Saint Omer, directed by Alice Diop, who comes from the world of documentaries.

As part of the initiatives dedicated to Ukraine, a Ukrainian Day will be held on Sept. 8 to show solidarity with the war-torn country and support its artists, with special focus on the condition of the film industry.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Fourteen people have been killed in a mass shooting at a bar in Soweto township near Johannesburg, police said Sunday.

Elias Mawela, the Gauteng police commissioner, said nine people were also being treated at hospitals for gun wounds.

Mawela said the incident happened shortly after midnight, when gunmen opened fire on revelers who were enjoying themselves at a club in the Nomzamo informal settlement in Orlando.

“For now, we don’t have details on the motive of the attack but as investigations progress, we are hoping we will get more information,” he told local reporters at the scene.

He said the attackers used high-caliber fire and were apparently shooting randomly.

The incident comes two weeks after tragic deaths of 22 young people at a nightclub in the city of East London in the Eastern Cape province.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Türkiye’s benchmark stock index opened at 2,545.35 points on Tuesday, increasing 0.64%, or 16.1 points, from the previous close.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index fell by 0.97% to close at 2,529.26 points on Monday, with a daily trading volume of 30.7 billion Turkish liras ($1.8 billion).

The US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate rose to 16.6194 as of 10.30 a.m. local time (0730GMT), from 16.5400 at the previous close.

The euro/lira exchange rate increased to 17.5970 from 17.5310, while a British pound traded for 20.3840 Turkish liras, down from 20.4060 at the previous close.

Brent crude oil was sold for around $112.7 per barrel, while the price of an ounce of gold was $1,828.05.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US and the EU on Monday agreed to step up cooperation on energy security with the end-goal of further reducing Russia’s revenues from oil and gas.

“We work hand in hand to diversify Europe’s supply and stay the course on our joint climate neutrality goal. We will also explore ways to further cut Russia’s revenues from energy, used to fund its war on Ukraine,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

US President Joe Biden and von der Leyen issued a joint statement on the second day of the G7 summit in Germany.

Both leaders said they will encourage G7 countries and European and US companies to reach an initial goal of deploying at least 1.5 million energy saving smart thermostats in European households this year.

“We are also partnering to diversify energy supplies to Europe,” the statement said, noting Russia has cut supplies of natural gas to several EU countries, but the US and other producers have stepped up.

“Since March, global LNG exports to Europe have risen by 75% compared to 2021, while US LNG exports to Europe have nearly tripled,” the leaders said.

Biden and von der Leyen further said they will continue to work together on the reduction of methane emissions globally.

G7 countries agreed to work together to accelerate the “clean and fair” energy transition and ensure energy security in the fight against climate change.

The leaders of South Africa, Senegal, India, Indonesia and Argentina also made a joint statement on climate change and clean energy, pledging to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in energy, and to explore new options for rapidly expanding renewable energy sources.

At the G7 Leaders’ Summit, leaders are discussing the rising energy and food prices and their security under the pressure of being able to stick to climate commitments in the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine war.

While Russia’s natural gas shipments to Europe have dwindled as capacity reductions in Nord Stream have been reduced, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria announced this month that coal plants would be reactivated to reduce gas consumption with the goal of filling gas storage facilities.

Environmental organizations have demanded industrialized countries such as the UK and Germany to focus on climate change targets despite the war.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A working group comprising Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan was established Monday on the Trans-Caspian East-West Corridor.

Also called the Middle Corridor, the network of railways and roads starts in Türkiye and covers Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia and reaches China, making it an important effort to revive the ancient Silk Road.

Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu attended the trilateral meeting of the foreign and transport ministers of Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, according to a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.

At the meeting held in Baku, the working group was established at the suggestion of Türkiye with a protocol signed for increasing the capacity and efficiency of the corridor.

During his speech, Karaismailoglu said the Middle Corridor is a strong alternative to other transportation corridors in terms of distance and time.

“If a freight train departing from China to Europe chooses the Middle Corridor and Türkiye, it covers 7,000 kilometers (4,349 miles) in 12 days,” he said, adding if the same train prefers the Russian north trade route, it will take at least 15 days and 45-60 days by preferring the Suez Canal.

Even these figures reveal how advantageous and secure the Middle Corridor is in global trade between Asia and Europe, he added.

Karaismailoglu recalled that the container ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal in March last year, creating problems for the global supply chain.

“As a result of this accident, the channel was closed for six days, and the waiting of hundreds of food, oil and LNG ships put the global supply chain in jeopardy. Considering all these issues, the effective functioning of the Middle Corridor is important for the integration of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the Caspian Region into global trade. Taking into account the fact that we are at the center of the Asian-European foreign trade networks in our region, we aim to be a regional base in logistics,” he said.

Stressing that the countries on the route have serious responsibilities to develop trade and increase the efficiency of the line, he said they should boost the volume of freight transported by rail to strengthen its competitiveness.

Karaismailoglu said they must also solve the problem of tolls and transit pass documents in transportation to increase trade among the three countries.

“I believe that we should all do the necessary work on these issues by preparing the legal ground befitting our brotherhood. The elimination of these problems in the short term will please us all and will contribute positively to our trade,” he added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

US stocks ended sharply lower Monday amid rising fears of a recession that would be led by the Federal Reserve’s rate decision to be announced this week.

James Gorman, the CEO of Morgan Stanley, one of the largest investment banks in the US, said there is an even chance of the US economy entering a recession.

Referring to concerns over a recession, Gorman said: “It is possible for us to enter a recession. Frankly, this probability is now 50-50.”

US consumer expectations for inflation over the coming year rose to 6.6% in May, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The figure ties with the highest reading of the series since the inception of the survey in June 2013.

?Annual inflation in the US hit 8.6% in May, the highest since December 1981, which strengthened the view that the Fed could increase interest rates further.

Stocks entered a bear market as the S&P 500 fell 151.23 points, or 3.88%, to 3,749.63, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 530.80 points, or 4.68%, to 10,809.23.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 876.05 points, or 2.79%, to 30,516.754.

The MSCI World index declined 3.7%.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 22 basis points to 3.38%.

Global benchmark Brent crude was trading at $122.37 a barrel, up 0.10%, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $120.92 a barrel.

Gold futures fell 2.7% to $1,824.60 an ounce, while silver dropped 4% to $21.09.

Source: Anadolu Agency