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The Star
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
East African fashion life show opens in Kenya to boost textiles, apparels trade
NAIROBI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The second edition of East Africa (Kenya) Fashion Life Show was officially opened on Friday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, drawing over 70 exhibitors from Kenya and China. Chinese enterprises are exhibiting textiles, packaging material, baby toys, personal care products and wigs, home decor, and gift wrappers during the expo that runs from Thursday to Saturday. Yin Maolin, Party chief of Mudan District in Heze City, east China's Shandong Province, led a high-level Chinese delegation to attend the expo that will highlight the potential of East Africa as a hub for the fashion, sustainable textile, and apparel sector. According to Yin, the fashion show offers a platform for deepening economic partnership between China and Kenya, focusing on trade in high-quality manufactured products and jointly establishing seamless supply chains. Pius Rotich, general manager for investment promotion and business development services at Kenya Investment Authority, said the government has created a conducive policy and regulatory environment to spur the growth of the textile and apparel sector. Kenya is committed to a partnership with Chinese investors in a bid to manufacture high-quality leather products for export in the African market and beyond, boosting foreign exchange earnings and job creation, said Rotich. Gao Wei, managing director of Afripeak Expo Kenya Ltd., co-organizer of the 2025 East African Fashion Show, said this year's edition had grown bigger in terms of the number of visitors and exhibitors, reaffirming dynamism in the region's textile and apparel sectors. The fashion expo, according to Gao, will run under the theme of "Inspire Friendship, Connect World," bringing together Chinese and Kenyan enterprises dealing with household accessories, cosmetics, and electronics under one roof. Gao said the expo will also create a platform for Chinese business executives to network with their Kenyan counterparts, explore two-way trade in leather products. Hundreds of Kenyan visitors thronged to the East Africa Fashion expo, with the majority acknowledging their appreciation of Chinese-made products, including wigs, cosmetics and fabrics. Waceke Mwaura, a female entrepreneur, said that she was impressed by the wig showcased by Chinese exhibitors, adding that its high quality has made it popular among local clients. Mwaura said she has been importing hair from China to supply to local retailers and beauty parlors, even as she scouts for distributorship arrangements with Chinese manufacturers. Paul Munyua, a middle-aged pedicurist, said that he visited the expo to gain insight into new beauty products in the local market imported from China that are affordable to his clients.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Award-winning comedy becomes latest hit show to be slapped with woke trigger warnings in crackdown by the BBC
HIT mockumentary sitcom The Office has been slapped with 'discriminatory language' trigger warnings by BBC bosses. Five episodes of Ricky Gervais's award-winning show on iPlayer have been flagged. 1 The Office has been slapped with 'discriminatory language' trigger warnings by BBC bosses Credit: Handout All 14 episodes are available on the streaming service. Its two series, with Gervais as paper company branch boss But some episodes also carry the additional warning. In the first series, debut episode Downsize — first aired in July 2001 — and the sixth episode Judgement are hit with the alert. read more on bbc And from series two, the first, third and fifth — Merger, Party and Charity — also carry the warnings. The Office won a clutch of awards in its time — most notably scooping a Golden Globe in 2004 for Best Television Series, the first British comedy to win. It was co-written and co-created by Gervais and The Office's alerts come after the BBC also Most read in News TV In February, Channel 4 was branded 'humourless' for flagging a series of Broadcasters also hit Bafta-winning C4 sitcom Terry and June to get woke warning - 80s comedy show ITV slapped 1970s comedy Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
'The Inequities Aren't Closing' - Māori Still A Long Way From Smokefree 2025 Goal
The Smokefree 2025 goal is only months away, but Māori smokefree advocates are concerned that Māori smoking rates have remained more than double that of the general population. The advocates say a 'business as usual' approach from the government - which shifts the responsibility to quit smoking onto individuals - is not going to get the country there. The annual New Zealand Health Survey showed that in 2023/24 about 300,000 adults - 6.9 percent - were daily smokers. The aim of the Smokefree 2025 is to have less than 5 percent of the population smoking by December. That is already a tough ask, but for Māori daily smoking rates were two times higher at 14.7 percent - although that had declined from 30.4 percent over the past five years. Anaru Waa, the interim chair of Te Roopu Tupeka Kore, the Māori Tobacco Control network, said Māori smoking rates were still trending down. But he was worried they will plateau, with the latest Health Survey suggesting this is happening across the board. "I'm not optimistic, I think we're no closer than we were a few years ago, I'm hugely concerned about how the reductions in smoking have seemed to have stopped... and I'm hugely concerned about the vaping," he said. Waa said the country was not on track to achieve the Smokefree 2025 goal. The goal was to get everybody below the 5 percent mark - not some people ahead of everyone else, he said. "The trends are going in the wrong direction and... the inequities aren't closing like we wanted." Longtime tobacco control campaigner Shane Bradbrook said Māori people were not to blame - it was the tobacco industry's fault. "The industry is back in alignment again politically, so it sets the kaupapa back, but I think we still have that energy and passion to make sure that we reach a goal of being tupeka kore (smokefree)." Bradbrook - along with then-Māori Party MPs Hone Harawira and Tariana Turia - led the charge towards the Smokefree 2025 goal at the 2010 Māori Affairs Select Committee Inquiry. Following the inquiry in 2011, the government agreed to the goal for New Zealand to be smokefree by 2025. Other countries are currently adopting the same measures and policies that Māori wanted and thought they had already won, Bradbrook said. "Absolutely we are going backwards, I mean it's 2025. We led the fight to the Māori Affairs Select Committee, we got the report done, we got the recommendations sorted, but largely its been undone by successive governments that have terrible in terms of continuing on that policy legacy for our people," he said. Waa said the goal of tupeka kore (smokefree) led by Turia and Harawira shifted away from what he described as the 'business as usual' approach to tobacco control which had operated previously, which had only perpetuated inequities in smoking rates. This shifted the problem from one of individuals to a societal one, which required structural change to address, he said. That was what the legislation brought in by the last Labour government was aimed at, he said. "It was a game changer, it wasn't business as usual, it was making tobacco non-addictive, it was hugely reducing its access and creating a smokefree generation, that's totally different to what we've had. "So we would have got our goal maybe not this year, but certainly next year, but this government saw otherwise and repealed it, now we're back to square one, in fact we're still fighting that plus the vaping epidemic." Waa said vaping had not done much to reduce smoking rates among rangatahi (young people), in fact he said the majority of rangatahi who vape now have never smoked cigarettes. "I really resist that idea that people take up vapes because they would have otherwise smoked, I think that's wrong they would have quit anyway and it's called a false base rate fallacy. Vapes themselves have been around since 2010, but we've really seen their impacts since 2015 and particularly since 2018." About 480,000 adults (11.1 percent) were daily vapers in 2023/24, up slightly from 9.7 percent the previous year. The highest daily vaping rates were in Māori (28.8 percent), Pacific peoples (21.5 percent), and young people aged 18-24 years (26.5 percent). Waa said while he was pessimistic about Smokefree 2025, he remained very optimistic about Māori and the fact that there were still people out in the communities and willing to do the work which had carried Māori tobacco control through all these years. Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon said the challenge was now on her and her colleagues in Parliament to decide on the next legislative steps to take on tobacco. "I'm a mother of the Smokefree generation lost and thinking of my baby born in 2009. I was excited for what the future might bring, but with the repeal of the legislation I was gutted." Lyndon said she was looking forward to the discussion around what Smokefree 2026 2.0 could be. Government 'committed to the Smokefree targets' Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the number of Māori smokers and Māori smoking rates have decreased dramatically in the past few years. "Historically, Māori smoking rates were very high and the gains are from that higher starting point, but in the last five years, for example, 95,000 Māori have stopped smoking and the smoking rate has dropped by 52 percent." Māori and wahine Māori in particular have benefited from using vapes, which are a much safer product, to stop smoking, she said. "Clearly, we want to do more - the government is committed to the Smokefree targets and has an action plan in place that among other things, specifically targets those populations where there are higher smoking rates. Our stop smoking providers are also very attuned to working with Māori and what approaches work for getting Māori whanau and communities to think about quitting. I'm meeting with providers again next week to talk through these issues. "There's a misconception about what our problem is, however - most smokers are older and have been smoking for some time, so they need help to quit and that's what we're focused on. "When the Health Survey, which is what we use to measure smoking rates, started in 2012 there were 119,000 young - as in 18- to 24-year-old - smokers. Last year there were 19,000. For under 18s, the smoking rate is 0.6 percent - that's hugely different from when I was a teenager. Our young people aren't smoking and don't want to smoke and that's great news."
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Zuma's tirade against Shivambu indicates he is ‘no longer useful to him'
Zuma said the MK party will not 'beg' any member to stay in the party. uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader Jacob Zuma launched a scathing but veiled attack against the party's former secretary-general Floyd Shivambu. On Monday, during the party's Youth Day commemorations in Durban, Zuma told supporters that the party would not tolerate indiscipline from its high-ranking members. He said no leader in the party is infallible. 'We have had seven people now who have been secretary generals in this party, because we do not play. 'Even if you think you are a big person, and you are loved. And even if you think you are everything, we do not care,' he said. MK party divided by personalities Zuma said he had learnt that there are people in the party who are planning to protest over a decision to remove a particular leader. 'There are people who want to protest because we have made a certain decision. This means this party is not as strong as we want it to be. 'Even those who left, we did not chase them away; they left on their own. Many of them had erred in a big way. So now you guys want to get into things you know nothing about,' he said. He appealed to party members to respect the decisions of the national leaders. 'It is the high command that decides who is right and who is wrong, who causes problems and who does not cause problems. I am telling the adults at the party because I heard they want to protest. 'We should be fighting for freedom, but instead we are fighting each other without even knowing what the other person did,' he said. Zuma 'will not beg' Zuma said the MK party will not 'beg' any member to stay in the party. 'We are not going to beg anyone, no, no, no. No matter how good, important, or educated you are, that is not our problem. It is not everyone who is here who is educated,' he said. ALSO READ: Leadership purges in MK could harm the party Zuma no longer needs Shivambu Meanwhile, political analyst Sanet Solomon said it is clear that Zuma no longer needs Shivambu. 'Floyd Shivambu's recent character assassination is indicative of the end of his usefulness to Jacob Zuma and the MK party. 'It further signals the unlikelihood that he would be added to the parliamentary list,' Solomon said. Shivambu was removed from his secretary-general position because he had gone on an unauthorised trip to Malawi, where he met controversial pastor Shepherd Bushiri. However, Solomon said this could simply be an excuse to remove Shivambu from his position. '[Shivambu] 'misbehaving' and not toeing the party line is a convenient excuse for his imminent exodus from the party. It is worth noting that this was always bound to happen once he fulfilled whatever 'objectives' were outlined for him,' she said. Solomon said Zuma's continuous reference to discipline gives us insight into his leadership style and suggests that MK party leaders must always follow his directive. 'While this could be problematic, it signals a homogeneous personality type.' Solomon said that while Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has been involved in a number of skirmishes in the party, she still enjoys her father's protection. 'Duduzile is an influential figure in the party and will most probably be taking the reins once her dad leaves politics – if ever. She is certainly her father's prodigy,' she said. NOW READ: Zuma and Thales back in court for judgment on corruption charges
USA Today
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Kelley Wolf hospitalized by officers 'against my will' days after revealing divorce
Kelley Wolf hospitalized by officers 'against my will' days after revealing divorce "The Real World" alumna Kelley Wolf has been transported by sheriff's deputies to a Utah hospital in a move that she described as "against my will." Days after Kelley Wolf announced her separation from her husband of 21 years, "Party of Five" star Scott Wolf, the 48-year-old author and "certified life coach" on June 13 posted an Instagram Story in which she wrote, "This is horrible. I have been taken against my will. Please check on my kids." "Also… I am happy!! Happier than I have ever been," the message continued. "I have NO idea why or how this is happening in AMERICA. I am compliant, calm and respectful, and hopefully this is all sorted very quickly. In the meantime, be kind to each other. This is one of the darkest things I've ever experienced." The Utah County Sheriff's Office shared a press release on the matter, explaining, "Deputies responded to the Sundance Resort for a report of a female that needed some help." "Upon speaking with the female, our Deputies learned that she had made concerning comments to a family member, and she also made similar comments to our Deputies," the statement alleged. "For that reason, our Deputies transported the female to a local hospital." USA TODAY has reached out to a contact for Wolf, as well as Scott Wolf's representative and the Utah County Sheriff's Office, for comment. Kelley Wolf posts interaction with officers Wolf, who was reportedly livestreaming on Instagram, later posted a clip in which she appears to be speaking to law enforcement officers. The majority of the video only has audio, until Wolf and an officer are briefly seen at the end. "Don't! Oh my god, this is not happening. Fine, I'll go," Wolf says. As what sounds like handcuffs clicking shut rings out, she says, "Please, I'll go on my own. Wow. Wow. This is shameful, gentlemen. ... Be ashamed of yourselves, gentlemen." "You've made some comments to your dad and comments to people that are concerning," an officer is heard saying. She then asks them to "please" stop the phone's recording. Wolf – who lives in Park City, Utah, with Scott Wolf and their three children – had previously posted on her Instagram Story about dining at the Sundance Resort with 11-year-old daughter Lucy Marie. What Kelley Wolf, Scott Wolf said about their divorce Nearly two weeks after the estranged couple's 21st wedding anniversary on May 29, Kelley wrote in a June 10 Instagram caption, "It is with a heavy heart that Scott and I are moving forward with the dissolution of our marriage." She added, "While I will not speak publicly about the details, I feel peace knowing that I've done everything I can to walk this path with integrity and compassion." In a statement to USA TODAY on June 10, Scott Wolf said he'd filed for divorce in what he called "the most difficult decision of my life." "Our children have always been, and continue to be, the loves of our lives and our every priority," Wolf added. "So, I kindly ask for privacy at this time as we help guide them through this new chapter." Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY
