INDIA: Hundreds of students and fishermen were working Friday to clean up an oil spill on India’s southern coast that campaigners say threatens the turtles that nest there every year.
The Indian Coast Guard said around 35 kilometers (21 miles) of coastline off the southern city of Chennai had been affected by the spill which occurred when two ships carrying fuel collided last week.
Campaigners and fishermen have accused the government of being slow to contain the damage from the spill, the scale of which has only emerged in recent days.
“What ought to have been a localized incident has now become a regional one because of the culture of denial,” said Nityanand Jayaraman, a Chennai-based environmental activist.
Jayaraman told AFP it was the peak nesting season for Olive Ridley turtles, which swim to the beaches of South India to lay eggs after mating at sea.
“The key thing is not technology but honesty. You need to reveal the true extent of the damage otherwise it leads to a false sense of complacency. With oil spills long-term effects are certain,” he said.
Olive Ridleys are most abundant of all sea turtles around the world, according to WWF India, but their numbers have been declining and the species is recognized as vulnerable by the IUCN Red list.
Their unique mass nesting, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs, is a major tourist attraction.
It is not known how many turtles have been affected, but AFP pictures showed workers in safety suits removing a dead turtle from the shore this week.
Local fishermen also criticized the speed of the official response to the spill.
“They (authorities) didn’t remove it immediately, and so now it has spread across all beaches, including Marina (beach),” K. Bharati of the Fishermen’s Welfare Association in South India said, referring to a popular local beach.
Volunteers wearing gloves could be seen scooping up the thick tar with shovels off Kamarajar Port in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.
“We have tried all kind of technology and found that only manual cleaning is possible. So we have deployed more than 500 people, they are working really hard,” M.A. Bhaskaran, chairman of Kamrajar Port, told reporters.
Oil spills are not uncommon in peninsular India, which saw one of the worst leakages in 2013 when a gas pipeline off the western Mumbai coast spewed at least 1,000 liters of crude oil into the sea.
In 2010, two merchant ships collided off the Mumbai coast again, spilling over 800 tons of oil and damaging mangroves along the coastline.
Oil spill threatens India’s nesting turtles
Oil spill threatens India’s nesting turtles
‘Between Sacred Cities’: Pakistan’s Imran Qureshi unveils largest installation at Islamic Arts Biennale
- Installation reimagines historic route that stretched from Kufa in Iraq to holy city of Makkah
- Qureshi, a Pakistani visual artist, has featured artworks in local and international exhibitions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi on Saturday unveiled “Between Sacred Cities,” the largest installation at the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025 in Jeddah, his art reimagining a historic route that once stretched from Kufa in Iraq to the holy city of Makkah.
The Islamic Arts Biennale 2025 provides a platform for new discourse about Islamic arts, featuring contemporary and newly commissioned artworks with historical objects from Islamic cultures. It offers artists a platform to explore themes of spirituality, identity, and the intersection of past and present. This year’s biennale will run from Jan. 25-May 25.
According to Lotus, a public relations agency, the installation is situated between the iconic Makkah and Madina pavilions at the Western Hajj Terminal.
“The installation reimagines a historic route that once stretched from Kufa, Iraq, to Makkah,” Lotus said.
“Designed to aid pilgrims on their Hajj journey, this route served as a network of resting stations and water sources, inspiring Qureshi’s interpretation of an oasis as a sanctuary of rest, reflection, and unity.”
The statement said that the concept of an oasis in the installation is transformed into an interactive and contemplative garden-like structure, central to which is an octagonal design.
“Drawing on the spiritual essence of the journey between Makkah and Madina, the installation incorporates the holy water of Zamzam and lush greenery reminiscent of Madina’s tranquillity,” it added.
Qureshi has used vibrant woven strips to symbolize flowing water while the surrounding greenery evokes a sense of life, Lotus said.
The installation has been commissioned by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and curated by acclaimed artist Muhannad Shono.
“Between Sacred Cities will be on display from January 25, 2025, to May 25, 2025, offering visitors an unparalleled opportunity to explore the universal themes of travel, spirituality, and interconnectedness,” Lotus said.
Qureshi is a visual artist from Pakistan’s southern Sindh province. With a career spanning twenty-nine years, encompassing local and international exhibitions, he has emerged as a prominent Pakistani artist.
In 2013, he created a large-scale, site-specific work for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Roof Garden Commission in New York. The same year he was awarded the Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year and exhibited solo for the first time in Europe at the Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle in Berlin.
Qureshi’s work has since been shown in numerous solo exhibitions, including the Barbican Center, London (2016), Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark (2016), along with executing site-specific projects at the Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. (2018) and Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2018), to name a few.
In 2021 he was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) by Pakistan’s government.
Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer wows fans in Riyadh
RIYADH: Renowned composer Hans Zimmer performed on Friday at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Saudi Arabia as part of the Riyadh Season events.
The Oscar-winning composer performed a selection of compositions from films such as “Dune,” “Wonder Woman,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Interstellar,” “The Lion King” and “No Time to Die.”
The music was accompanied by interactive visual projections and stage effects that complemented the performance and highlighted its theme.
The concert, which sold out immediately on ticket release, concluded with enthusiastic applause, marking a memorable highlight of the Riyadh Season.
Zimmer expressed his gratitude to the Riyadh Season audience in a recorded message at the end of the concert, thanking them for their enthusiasm and energy.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, revealed this week that the composer is working on a new interpretation of Saudi Arabia’s national anthem.
The post continued that the German composer was also offered the chance to create the soundtrack for the upcoming Saudi Arabia film, “The Battle of Yarmouk.”
Zimmer attended the Kingdom’s Joy Awards on Jan. 18, which honors the achievements of artists in the Arab world.
Gwen Stefani to perform in the UAE in February
DUBAI: US pop star Gwen Stefani is set to perform in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 21 as part of the city’s Saadiyat Nights, marking her first-ever performance in the UAE capital.
The triple Grammy Award winner will take the stage just 24 hours before legendary US singer Lionel Richie closes the event on Feb. 22.
The three-month open-air music series will also feature performances by Egyptian composer Omar Khairat on Feb. 1, British musician Sting on Feb. 3, Lebanese music icon Magida El-Roumi on Feb. 10 and US pop star Christina Aguilera on Feb. 15.
Artists who have already performed include Grammy-winning Michael Buble, Russian band Leningrad, US R&B group Boyz II Men, British singer Robbie Williams and Iranian singer Ebi.
Stefani has achieved global recognition as a songwriter, performer, and frontwoman of the US rock band No Doubt, and as a multi-platinum solo artist. Over the course of her career, she has received numerous awards, including four MTV Video Music Awards, two Billboard Awards, an American Music Award and a Brit Award.
Stefani has sold over 60 million records worldwide, combining her success with No Doubt and her solo career. Her 2004 debut solo album, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.,” achieved multi-platinum status and included chart-topping hits like “Hollaback Girl,” which became the first digital download to sell over 1 million copies in the US.
Stefani is no stranger to Emirati culture. In 2019, she performed in Dubai at the Dubai World Cup. During her visit, the singer immersed herself in Emirati culture, embracing the quintessential tourist experience by taking a desert safari, dining in a desert tent, watching a falcon show, riding a camel, covering her face and hair with a headscarf, shopping at the perfume souk, and visiting the iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
Saadiyat Nights is part of the Abu Dhabi Calendar’s year-round schedule of events, which includes music, sports, comedy, family-friendly shows, cultural festivals and art exhibitions.
Held on Saadiyat Island, the concert series is set against the backdrop of the Saadiyat Cultural District, pristine beaches, and luxurious resorts.
The inaugural edition of Saadiyat Nights, which ran from January to March 2024, featured a lineup of artists, including American stars Mariah Carey, John Legend, and Alicia Keys, Iranian singer Googoosh, and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
Princess Iman of Jordan is expecting her first child
DUBAI: Jordan’s Princess Iman bint Abdullah II and her husband, Jameel Alexander Thermiotis, are expecting their first child.
Queen Rania, the princess’s mother, shared the news on Instagram with a photo of the couple at sunset by the beach, highlighting the mother-to-be’s baby bump. “Two is a couple, three is a blessing,” the Queen captioned the image.
This will be the second grandchild for Queen Rania and King Abdullah II. Their first grandchild, born in August, is the daughter of Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah and Princess Rajwa Al-Hussein. She was named Iman in honor of her aunt.
Oscar nomination for Palestinian documentary ‘No Other Land’
DUBAI: The Palestinian documentary “No Other Land” has been nominated for the Best Documentary at this year’s Oscars.
The film was directed by a collective of four Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers — activists Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — and marks their directorial debut.
“No Other Land” follows the story of Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, as he fights against the mass expulsion of his community by Israeli forces. Since childhood, Adra has documented the demolition of homes and displacement of residents in his region under military occupation.
The film also explores his unlikely partnership with Abraham, an Israeli journalist who supports his efforts. However, their alliance is tested by the stark inequality between them — Adra lives under constant occupation, while Abraham enjoys freedom and security.
The film has dominated the pre-Oscar awards circuit, winning major accolades such as the top honor at the Cinema Eye Honors, Best Documentary and Best Director at the IDA Awards, Best European Documentary at the European Film Awards, and Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival, where it premiered last February.
This year’s Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 3.
