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  • Lebanese artist turns blast debris into symbol of hope

    Lebanese artist turns blast debris into symbol of hope

    Lebanese artist Hayat Nazer created a symbol of hope from the Beirut blast debris which shocked the world in August 2020.

    The woman statue stands nearly three meters tall with her arm raised, the wind whipping the hair away from her scarred face, and a broken clock at her feet with the hands showing 6.08, the time that a blast ripped through Beirut port on the evening of August 4.

    The statue is made of broken glass and twisted materials that belonged to people’s homes before the explosion that killed 200 and injured 6,000 and symbolizes the city’s hopes of rising from the rubble.

    “If you look at the statue, one half has a leg standing, the hand looks surrendered, there is a scar on the face with the flying hair and the clock on this side, as if the explosion is still happening,” Nazer told Reuters.

    “But the other hand and the other leg is leaning as if it is starting to walk and the hand is raised, it wants to continue, it wants to keep going and rise from the rubble. And this is the truth, this is our truth,” the 33-year-old said.

    She says those affected by the blast who saw the 2.6-metre statue, temporarily exhibited in front of the damaged port, drew strength and hope to carry on.

    Nazer had already started on a female sculpture before the blast, but volunteered to help clean up destroyed houses and streets. At night, she would return to the sculpture, using the glass and metal pieces she had collected.

    “I felt like Beirut was a woman who despite what she suffered is very strong,” she said.

  • VIDEO: Egypt unearths new mummies dating back 2,500 years

    Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed more than 100 delicately painted wooden coffins, some with mummies inside, and 40 funeral statues in the ancient burial ground of Saqqara.

    Egyptian antiquities authorities has declared the discovery the largest find at the site this year.

    The sealed wooden coffins, some containing mummies, date as far back as 2,500 years and are “in perfect condition of preservation,” Khaled el-Enany, Egyptian Minister for Tourism and Antiquities, told reporters in Saqqara.

    The fine quality of the coffins meant that they were probably the final resting places for the wealthiest citizens, officials said.

    Other artifacts discovered include funeral masks, canopic jars and amulets.

    The artifacts and coffins will ultimately be displayed at several museums in Egypt.

    In a dramatic display, experts opened a coffin and X-rayed a mummy, determining it was most likely a man around the age of 40.

    The latest discovery comes as Egypt is trying to draw visitors back to the country, which depends heavily on tourism. Political problems, including a 2011 uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, coupled with terrorist attacks and other instability have deterred tourists, and the coronavirus dealt another blow.

    According to a Times database, Egypt has reported 110,547 total virus cases. The country reopened its borders to visitors in July.

  • Meet this Pakistani caregiver of visually impaired, paralysed Indian friend

    Meet this Pakistani caregiver of visually impaired, paralysed Indian friend

    United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Pakistani Muhammad Asad has been playing the role of a caregiver to an Indian, namely Tomichan Puthuparambil Thomas, who is visually impaired and partially paralysed.

    According to Khaleej Times, Thomas has been in the UAE for the past eight years and the two have been roommates for almost four years now.

    After facing heavy losses in his small scale business and getting entangled in a civil case, Thomas, who is from Kerala, suffered two strokes that left him not only partially paralysed but visually impaired too.

    “I came to Dubai eight years ago, after working for thirty years in Saudi Arabia where I had some small businesses,” Thomas told the media outlet.

    “Initially, I took up a job in a company but since they were not paying salary on time, I started some business which also didn’t do well and since I was unable to pay the rent for my shop, I got entangled in some legal case and even went to jail for six months.”

    “This was the most stressful time for me and I suffered two strokes and was completely bed-ridden. I could not even go to the toilet on my own. And this is when Asad came to my rescue as my guardian angel,” he added.

    In the beginning, Thomas would not share his pain or problems with Asad but the latter started helping him with his bathroom trips besides offering him food.

    Asad addresses Thomas as “uncle”.

    “While others in the room would be busy chatting on phone or cracking jokes, I would notice uncle sitting silently on his bunk bed and crying at times. I tried asking him his issues but he wouldn’t open up so I started helping him with his daily chores,” Asad said.

    “Also, uncle somehow reminds me of my father, who passed away a few years back, and my heart ached to see him suffer. It is basic humanity to help people around you and my parents always taught me to help anyone and everyone.”

    Asad works as a crane operator and has night shifts. But he takes care of all the arrangements to make sure that Thomas is comfortable even in his absence.

  • Girl climbs atop advertisement board to protest against arranged marriage

    An Indian girl frorm Madhya Pradesh climbed atop an advertisement board, demanding to marry a boy against her mother’s wishes.

    The pictures shared on social media, showed her sitting atop the advertisement board and speaking on the phone.

    Later, crowds began to gather below her to see her actions.

    According to local media reports, the police also reached the spot and tried to convince the girl to come down. However, she refused.

    The police personnel then contacted the boy she wanted to marry. Pardesipura Sub-Inspector (SI) Ashok Patidar said the girl decided to come down after the boy insisted that she come down.

    The girl had climbed the advertisement board after her mother forced her to marry a boy of the family’s choice.

  • Police arrest murderer of eight-year-old child via ‘spelling mistake’

    Police arrest murderer of eight-year-old child via ‘spelling mistake’

    Indian police identified an alleged murderer, who kidnapped and murdered his eight-year-old distant cousin, through a spelling test.

    According to details, the 22-year-old accused identified as Ram Pratap Singh, allegedly kidnapped the eight-year-old boy, from his grandmother’s house. He then used a stolen phone to send a ransom note to the family demanding Rs 200,000 for the release of the child.

    In the message, he wrote: “Do lakh rupay Seeta-Pur lekar pahuchiye. Pulish ko nahi batana nahi to haatya kar denge (Reach Sitapur with Rs 2 lakh. Don’t inform the police or your son will be killed).”

    The family approached police after more than a week and registered a missing complaint after which an investigation was initiated.

    “We swiftly formed teams to trace the kidnapped boy and called back on the same number but it was switched off. The cyber-surveillance cell was roped in and we detained the subscriber, who seemed illiterate and unable to write an SMS,” the local police said.

    The investigators detained 10 suspects, including the accused, from the area on the basis of clues gathered through the area’s CCTV footage and tip-offs.

    All of them were asked by the cops to write a sentence: “Main police main bharti hona chahta hoon. Main Hardoi se Sitapur daud kar ja sakta hoon (I want a police job. I can run from Hardoi to Sitapur).”

    Singh, who made spelling mistakes in his ransom note once again repeated them by writing ‘pulish’ for police and ‘Seeta-pur’ for Sitapur, resulting in his arrest.

  • Indian town sends garbage as ‘return gifts’ to those littering irresponsibly on streets

    Indian town sends garbage as ‘return gifts’ to those littering irresponsibly on streets

    Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar, the municipal commissioner of Kakinada city, India has come up with a unique way of teaching the residents who irresponsibly dump garbage on the streets.

    He sends ‘return gifts’ of domestic waste to residents who throw the garbage on the road instead of handing it over to garbage collectors.

    Swapnil asks his staff members to collect garbage that has been thrown on the roads. He then gets them to ‘home deliver’ it to people to teach them a lesson about properly dumping waste as it is one of the biggest factors that lead to urban flooding. 

    The municipal commissioner had to adopt this method to change the residents’ habits and to create an awareness about responsible waste management.

    In fact sometimes, he also goes door-to-door to conduct inspections in homes where citizens reportedly refuse to ‘cooperate.’

    People on social media have been praising Swapnil for his unique approach to teach social responsibility to the residents.

  • Teenager’s favourite dish wakes him up from 62-day coma

    A teenager from Taiwan, who fell into a coma for 62 days after a road accident, regained consciousness when his brother called his favourite dish name ‘chicken fillet’.

    According to details, the 18-year-old boy had met an accident while riding his scooter, suffering severe injuries to multiple organs. Chiu underwent six operations during his hospitalization period.

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    His pulse began to accelerate on the 62nd day when his elder brother joked: “Brother, I’m going to eat your favourite chicken fillet.” The nurse said that he miraculously began to regain consciousness and his vital signs began to stabilize.

    Chiu was later discharged from the hospital after he gained full recovery. He thanked the medical team with a cake.

  • Young Muslim heroes praised for helping victims during Vienna attack

    Young Muslim heroes praised for helping victims during Vienna attack

    Two young Austrians of Turkish origin have been praised for their courage following Monday’s gun attack in the capital of Vienna. Footage of them rescuing the wounded people, including a policeman, has gone viral on social media.

    Despite gunshots echoing down the street, the video footage shows the pair running to a metro station exit and helping panicked people escape.

    On Tuesday, the interior ministry confirmed, without naming the two friends, that they had helped during the attack late Monday by a radicalised young man from North Macedonia.

    The assailant killed four people before being shot dead by police.

    A young Palestinian man was also praised as a hero for assisting an injured police officer.

    Mikail Ozen and Recep Tayyip Gultekin, both Austrian citizens from Turkish backgrounds, had planned to “drink a last coffee” together at bustling Schwedenplatz before the country’s coronavirus lockdown came into effect, they said in a video posted online immediately after the attack.

    The first shots could be heard even as they arrived at the busy square by the river to find “people lying on the ground covered in blood”, Ozen recalled.

    They went to help a panicked older woman who was looking for a place to hide only to see a wounded policeman lying on the ground.

    “We couldn’t act as if we hadn’t seen him,” Ozen said. “We ran and carried him to the ambulance” by supporting him under his shoulders as the gunfire continued.

    Turkish media reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had called the pair to congratulate them.

    The two young men were also invited to the Turkish embassy in Vienna where Turkey’s ambassador to Austria Ozan Ceyhun praised their conduct, according to BBC.

  • Meghan breaks Royal Family tradition by taking part in US election

    Meghan breaks Royal Family tradition by taking part in US election

    Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle has become the first member of the British Royal Family to exercise her right to vote, in the United States (US) Presidential Election 2020.

    According to reports, she cast her vote by mail and is “eagerly awaiting the results at home”.

    Her husband, Prince Harry, had previously announced that he will not be voting in the election, not only because he does not have voting rights in America, but also because it’s a long-standing tradition for the members of the Royal Family to abstain from participating in any election.

    “I look at my husband for example; he’s never been able to vote, and I think it’s such an interesting thing to say the right to vote is not a privilege, it is a right in of itself,” Markle said while highlighting the importance of voting.

    Since the Royal Family has to remain politically neutral, stepping down from the Royal Office has allowed Markle to exercise a certain amount of freedom. After returning to the US, Markle has been vocal about the election and has used her platform to encourage citizens to vote.

    While Markle didn’t explicitly endorse a candidate, her comments that she was “excited” to see Kamala Harris becoming a black vice-president have attracted the attention of candidate Donald Trump. In September, when a reporter told Trump about the duchess’ support for Harris, he replied, “I’m not a fan of hers.”

  • School provides relief to students by accepting tuition fees in coconuts

    School provides relief to students by accepting tuition fees in coconuts

    An Indonesian hospitality college has planned to provide relief to the students having financial slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic by offering them to pay their tuition fee in coconuts and other natural materials like moringa and Gotu kola leaves.

    According to details, the students of Venus One Tourism Academy in Gianyar – Bali have been allowed to pay their tuition and other fees in coconuts. The school has aimed to use it for harvesting virgin coconut oil.

    They were also permitted to pay fees with moringa and Gotu kola leaves that could be used to produce products like herbal soap.

    The school officials told local media that the products made from the natural materials will be sold on campus to raise funds.

    They added that many precautionary measures have been made functional at the school amid the coronavirus pandemic to remain open including face masks, reduced class sizes and temperature checks.