Petting dog relieves stress

People watch a game on court 2 on the first day of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 27, 2022. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said Monday she was relieved the world’s top stars had showed up at the Grand Slam even though no ranking points will be on offer. Both the ATP and WTA, which control the men’s and women’s tours, removed the points after the All England Club banned Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine. It means players such as US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka cannot play in London. Bolton, who said the decision to ban the players had been “incredibly difficult”, reiterated that Wimbledon organizers were disappointed with the decision taken by ATP and WTA. “We thought it was a disproportionate decision in the context of the situation we found ourselves in and in the context … [Read more...] about Wimbledon ‘relieved’ to host top stars despite loss of ranking points

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Costlier crude oil along with a stronger US dollar will erode Spritzer's Bhd profit margin, the bottled water producer admitted. "Costlier oil will translate into costlier PET resin, which is the main raw material used in making the [plastic] bottles. "PET resin is normally quoted in US dollar so a stronger US dollar would mean we will have to pay more for our PET resin," a company representative said in a brief email reply to theedgemarkets.com recently, when asked about the impact of surging oil prices on its manufacturing costs. According to the US-based PET Resin Association, PET — which is short for polyethylene terephthalate, the chemical name for polyester — is a clear, strong, and lightweight plastic made from crude oil and ethane extracted from natural gas that is widely used for packaging food and beverages, especially convenience-sized soft drinks, juices and water. Following Russia's incursion into Ukraine, oil prices … [Read more...] about Spritzer admits costlier crude oil, stronger US dollar will erode its profit margin

- A + A MUMBAI/BUENOS AIRES/LONDON (June 27): It only took 24 hours last month for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in India — the world's second-largest producer of wheat — to shelve its plans to "feed the world". In April, Modi had said publicly that the world's most populous democracy was ready to fill part of the gap left by Ukraine in global grains markets by increasing its wheat exports, following five consecutive record harvests. India traditionally exports only a modest amount of wheat, retaining most of its crop for domestic consumption. On May 12, India's Ministry of Commerce & Industry said it was preparing to send delegations to nine countries to export a record 10 million tonnes of wheat this fiscal year — sharply up the previous season. But a barrage of alarming data changed all that. First came a downward revision to India's wheat crop in early May as a sudden heatwave hammered yields. Then data on May 12 showed inflation in the nation … [Read more...] about Food export bans, from India to Argentina, risk fueling inflation

What makes A24 a cultural powerhouse is not that it released a film last spring in which an inter-dimensional assassin impales himself on an Auditor of the Month trophy, inexplicably shaped like a certain sex toy, although it most certainly did. It’s not that most cinephiles would immediately guess A24 as the company who put out that film, Everything Everywhere All at Once , even if its logo didn’t appear before the credits, although they probably would. No, what makes A24 a steady, sturdy phenomenon is that it started selling $60 designer candle replicas of that unlikely trophy just after the movie’s early-June digital release. advertisement advertisement Whether enough fans purchase the item—a collaboration with Brooklyn-based design studio, Joya —to justify its overhead cost is incidental. Everything Everywhere is now A24’s biggest hit ever , its $89 million box-office haul rendering the digital release a victory lap. The very existence … [Read more...] about I spent six weeks living in A24-world. Here’s what happened

FILE PHOTO: A smoke rises over remains of a building destroyed by a military strike, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday urged Western leaders to supply anti-aircraft defense systems to his embattled nation as Russian forces assaulted Lysychansk, the last big city still held by Ukrainian troops in eastern Luhansk province. Addressing the Group of Seven summit in the Bavarian Alps via video link, Zelensky also asked for help to export grain from Ukraine and for more sanctions on Russia, a European official said. As the leaders met, Russian forces were bombarding Lysychansk, the Kremlin’s immediate battlefield target following the fall of neighboring Severodonetsk over the weekend. Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said the city was suffering “catastrophic” damage from the shelling and he urged civilians to urgently evacuate. “The … [Read more...] about Ukraine pleads for air defense as Russia turns sights on Lysychansk

Beatles founder member, British singer-songwriter Paul McCartney plays the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury festival near the village of Pilton in Somerset, Southwest England, on June 25, 2022. Image: AFP/Andy Buchanan United States rapper Kendrick Lamar will bring the curtain down on Britain’s Glastonbury Festival on Sunday (Monday in Philippine time), after Paul McCartney ran through a set of Beatles classics, helped out by Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl. McCartney, who turned 80 last week, on Saturday became the oldest main stage headliner of all time, and was joined by Springsteen for “I Wanna Be Your Man,” while former Nirvana man Grohl came on for “I Saw Her Standing There.” The 100,000 strong crowd at the dairy farm in south west England serenaded McCartney onto the stage with “Happy Birthday,” and were treated to timeless classics including “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Love Me Do,” “Blackbird,” “Helter Skelter,” “Let It Be” and “Hey Jude.” The Sunday Telegraph called it … [Read more...] about Paul McCartney rolls back years as Glastonbury enters final day

Court 2 is covered by ground staff personnel to protect it from the rain on the first day of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 27, 2022. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) Rain brought a halt to play after just 30 minutes on the first day of Wimbledon on Monday. Action on the outside courts was suspended at 1140 local time (1040 GMT), with officials saying there would be no resumption before 1300. However, Novak Djokovic will be able to start his title defense on time later Monday, with his clash against Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea taking place beneath the Centre Court roof. RELATED STORIES Wimbledon ‘relieved’ to host top stars despite loss of ranking points Novak Djokovic brings curtain up on Wimbledon Get the hottest sports news straight into your inbox … [Read more...] about Rain stops play on Wimbledon opening day

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios returns a ball to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz during their men’s singles semi-final tennis match at the ATP 500 Halle Open tennis tournament in Halle, western Germany, on June 18, 2022. (Photo by Carmen JASPERSEN / AFP) Nick Kyrgios would rather wear all black when competing at Wimbledon instead of adhering to the all-white dress code, with the Australian saying on Sunday that the Championships were out of tune with what looks ‘cool’ on court. The grasscourt major is famous for its strict dress code and does not even allow players to wear off-white or cream, while the measuring tape comes out to ensure the trim of color on necklines or sleeves is no wider than a centimeter. “I always want to wear all black, obviously,” Kyrgios said with a smile at a news conference ahead of his first round match with British wildcard Paul Jubb. “But I don’t think it’s something that’s going to change, I don’t know. “I think it would be cool to allow, like, a black … [Read more...] about Wimbledon doesn’t care what looks cool says Kyrgios on strict dress code

Ground staff members cover the court 4 as the rain started to fall on the first day of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 27, 2022. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP) LONDON – The world’s most famous queue began streaming into the All England Club on Monday as the gates opened at the start of the 135th edition of the Wimbledon championships. The quintessential English sight of thousands of tennis fans waiting patiently, often having camped overnight, to gain entry to the grounds has been missing since 2019. COVID-19 put paid to Wimbledon in 2020 and last year the queue was scrapped on safety grounds as the tournament returned to semi-normality, albeit with restricted attendances and players based in secure hotel bubbles. Although all that makes Wimbledon such a spectacle has returned, it is not quite business as usual despite the buzz around the grounds as the gates swung open at 0900GMT on a breezy morning in … [Read more...] about Wimbledon open for business, not quite as usual

This story is part of a series of articles featuring past Star Golden Hearts Award winners and the award’s newly introduced categories of causes which include community empowerment, education, environment and wildlife, social welfare, and disaster and crisis relief. Two years ago, if you had taken a stroll along Sungai Kayu Ara near PPR (People’s Housing Project) Lembah Subang in Petaling Jaya, you would have had the delight of meeting a family of five wild otters residing there. Today, thanks to Fuze Ecoteer, a social enterprise focused on conservation founded in 2011, there are 15 wild otters happily frolicking in the river. Fuze Ecoteer, which is also a registered tour operator with conservation and research experience, has been organising volunteer clean-up activities every Wednesday at wildlife-rich Sungai Kayu Ara since Aug 2020 to help reduce the amount of waste. Littering and illegal dumpsites contribute to the waste that pollutes the river, endangering both the … [Read more...] about Malaysian social enterprise banks on people when it comes to conservation work