European Report Finds Waning of Democracy in Poland, Hungary

World

September 30th, 6:16pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki (L) speaks with Hungary's PM Viktor Orban prior to a meeting with European Commission president and the Visegrad Group at EU headquarters in Brussels, Sept. 24, 2020. (AP)

Democratic standards are facing “important challenges” in some European Union countries, particularly in Hungary and Poland, where the judicial systems are under threat, the EU's executive commission said Wednesday in its first report on adherence to the rule of law. The European Commission depicted a bleak situation in the two countries. Its wide-ranging audit found that prosecution of high-level corruption in Hungary “remains very limited,” and deemed Poland deficient in the four main areas reviewed: national justice systems, anti-corruption frameworks, media freedom and checks and balances. “It is relevant to have an overview of these issues, and see the links between them. Not least because deficiencies often merge into an undrinkable cocktail," EU Values Commissioner Vera Jourova told journalists. The report, published a day before the leaders of the EU’s 27 nations meet in Brussels for a two-day summit, could have repercussions for discussions on the bloc’s long-term budget. While EU leaders have agreed in principle on a 1.8 trillion-euro economic recovery package for the 2021-2027 budget period, they have yet to find common ground on how to distribute the money because many countries insist that allocations should be linked to respecting the EU's rule of law standards. Poland and Hungary, which believe they are being unfairly targeted, are opposed to the idea. The EU has accused the two countries of violating rule-of-law standards for years and is pursuing sanction procedures against them. Hungary immediately dismissed the report as irrelevant and biased. “The Commission’s Rule of Law Report is not only fallacious, but absurd,” the Hungarian government said in a statement. “The concept and methodology of the Commission’s Rule of Law Report are unfit for purpose, its sources are unbalanced and its content is unfounded.” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made no reference to the report while presenting his new cabinet on Wednesday, while Poland's liberal opposition, the Civic Coalition, stressed that the report was critical of the right-wing government, but not of the country itself. “It is the current ruling team that is rated so low in the report and it’s Law and Justice (party) that is responsible for all the problems that the European Commission is referring to now," said Civic Coalition lawmaker Kamila Gasiuk-Pichowicz. The EU report also called out Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and Spain for threats against journalists, and threats, attacks and smear campaigns against journalists were also reported in Hungary. Bulgaria also was cited for a lack of judicial independence and an inability to tackle corruption cases properly. Bulgarian officials reacted along party lines. While government officials called the report an appreciation of Cabinet efforts to stem corruption, opposition lawmakers said the EU's conclusions demonstrated that the government lacks the political will to implement needed reforms. “The report is positive, objective and clearly outlines the results of cooperation with the EU,” Minister of Justice Desislava Ahladova said. The left-leaning country’s president, Rumen Radev, who has been a vocal critic of the government and supports the three-months long anti-corruption protests in Bulgaria, had a different perception. “They should have come earlier,” he said of the report's findings. The sticking points in Poland are the right-wing government’s moves to take control of the justice system, especially the judiciary. The report says “the double role where the minister of justice is also the prosecutor general has raised particular concerns, as it increases the vulnerability to political influence.” In Hungary, government-sponsored laws targeting media freedoms, minority rights, the electoral system and academic and religious freedoms drew the commission's notice. The EU report also criticized a “consistent lack of determined action to start criminal investigations and prosecute corruption cases involving high-level officials or their immediate circle." In an interview last week with Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, Jourova said the report highlighted an “alarming” picture, and she accused Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of “building a sick democracy.” The story triggered Orban’s anger. He said Monday that Jourova’s statements humiliated Hungary and asked for her resignation, but EU officials have offered their overwhelming support to the commissioner. “As I grew up in communist Czechoslovakia, I know how it feels to live in country without the rule of law,” Jourova said. “The European Union was created also as an antidote to those authoritarian tendencies." The commission also looked into government measures that have limited personal freedoms during the coronavirus pandemic and noted that “reactions to the crisis showed overall strong resilience of the national systems." The commission will next debate the report with the European Parliament and EU nations.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2538721/european-report-finds-waning-democracy-poland-hungary

Ball-Maker Hoping Nadal Wins in Paris to Prove Himself Wrong

Sports

September 30th, 6:12pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

Rafael Nadal prepares to serve against Mackenzie McDonald in the second round match of the French Open at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Sept. 30, 2020. (AP)

Less than half a gram, or half the weight of a dollar bill. That, according to their manufacturer, is the almost infinitesimal weight difference between the old French Open ball that Rafael Nadal happily bashed in winning his 12th title last year and the new one riling him in his chase for No. 13 at Roland Garros. In cool, damp autumnal Paris, weather alien to the native of a sun-kissed Mediterranean isle, the balls play “like a stone,” Nadal grumbled even before he had hit his first one in anger on the clay courts, aiming to tie Roger Federer's record for men of 20 Grand Slam titles overall. But the ball manufacturer who oversaw their development and testing is so convinced that Nadal is wrong that he’s quietly crossing fingers that Spain's “King of Clay” triumphs again, despite the fact that he is sponsored by a rival equipment maker, simply to prove that the balls are just fine. “Part of me is like, ‘Gosh, I hope Nadal wins, just so it makes this a really moot point,’” Jason Collins, the global product director for racket sports at Wilson Sporting Goods Co., said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m very confident that when the dust settles on this event, the ball is not going to be what Roland Garros 2020 is going to be remembered for." When the tournament announced the selection last November of the Chicago-based manufacturer, replacing French firm Babolat that sponsors Nadal, the coronavirus was unheard of. Wilson was, by then, already at work tailoring a bespoke ball for the often warm, occasionally rainy conditions expected in May and June of 2020, when the tennis world was due to jet into Paris for the second major tournament of the year. The pandemic nixed all that. The French Open got pushed to September, becoming the last of only three Grand Slams this year, after Wimbledon canceled for the first time since World War II. Instead of Paris in springtime, players got rain, cold, leaden skies and a wan sun that sets two hours earlier than it did in May. Either confined to a sanitary bubble in their hotels or laboring in wet-weather gear and leggings on clay courts rendered sticky and inhospitable, there has been considerable grumbling from some players, and the new ball has taken some of the brunt. “Some of those balls we were using you wouldn’t give to a dog to chew,” British player Dan Evans said after losing a five-set, 3 hour, 49-minute slog on the particularly sodden opening day. “It’s brutal. It’s so cold. I think the balls are the biggest thing. Maybe they got it a little wrong with the balls. It’s tough to get that ball to go anywhere.” Plugged into the tournament from Chicago, with TV coverage always on, Collins says that while “I don’t mean to defend Dan Evans for his comments," the feedback he got was that the problem lay in the way the balls were handled, not the balls themselves. Some rolled into tarpaulin covers that are folded at court-side when not deployed to shield them from a soaking, and where rain had puddled. “The damage is done but the reality is that, yes, some of those balls were literally in a puddle," Collins told the AP. "They should have been taken out of play.” The language of tennis, where players use the word “heavy" or, in Nadal's case, “super heavy," to describe what they perceive to be a lack of bounce and kick off the surface that is topped with the ochre dust of crushed bricks, has also fed into perceptions that the ball is unresponsive, perhaps even unsuited or somehow flawed. But Collins says the ball's specifications, finely measured and also tested by the governing body of tennis, tell a different story and that they're only very slightly different from the previous Babolat balls that also got mixed reviews when they replaced Dunlop at the French Open from 2011. In development, unbranded Wilson balls were blinded-tested by players and repeatedly tweaked — through some 10 iterations, “it was very micro," Collins says — until the final production of what tournament director Guy Forget insists is “a very good ball.” “From a pure spec perspective, the balls are virtually identical," Collins said. "From a weight, from a rebound, from a size, from a deformation perspective, they are very, very close. “From a weight perspective, it would be less than half a gram,” he added. “Any time there is a change, these guys and girls are super-sensitive and unfortunately sometimes perception takes over from common sense. This is just one of those times.” American player Jack Sock is among those who haven't noticed. “In general, if you gave me two different balls, I couldn’t tell you which was lighter, heavier. I just go out and play,” he said after a straight-sets win in his opening match. “I’m not sure about the crazy difference that guys are talking about.” And while No.2-ranked Nadal said it's “not a good ball to play on clay, honestly," and then added in Spanish that “with the cold, you can imagine, it’s like a stone," on the other end of the spectrum is No. 7-ranked Alexander Zverev. Like Nadal, the German isn't a Wilson player; his racket sponsor is Head. Yet Zverev has rejoiced at the change. “For me, the Babolats were the worst balls of all time. Because of that, for me, any other ball is just progress," he said in German. "We’re playing at 10 degrees, with drizzle. I think you can’t say so much good or bad about the balls now.” Collins says early indications from Nadal's first match, a straight-sets win, were that the balls' speed off his topspin forehand, a favored shot, was faster than last year. “Tennis is a mental sport, he may be making comments just to take pressure off himself," he said. "A stone definitely wouldn’t be good for his game but the good news is: This is not a stone.”

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2538711/ball-maker-hoping-nadal-wins-paris-prove-himself-wrong

Director Schele Williams is Writing Book on Enslavement

Book Reviews

September 30th, 6:06pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

Broadway director Schele Williams. (Brent Dundore)

Broadway director Schele Williams is working on a book for young people about the history of enslavement. Abrams Children’s Books announced Wednesday that Williams' “Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History” will come out in October 2021. The publisher is calling “Your Legacy” an “uplifting introduction to African American history that celebrates and honors enslaved ancestors, their accomplishments and sacrifices, and defines how they are remembered.” Williams said in a statement that the book, which will include illustrations by Tonya Engel, was inspired in part by her childhood education. “I remember learning about slavery in elementary school. My teacher read out loud about the Civil War and slavery as I sat transfixed by the accompanying illustrations,” she said. “I felt shame, isolated and othered seeing my ancestors in rags and shackles. I had so many questions but didn’t know where to begin. When my children came of age, I wanted them to hear about their history from me. So I searched for a children’s book about our enslaved ancestors but couldn’t find one … so I wrote it.” Williams is directing the upcoming revival of “Aida,” the Elton John-Tim Rice musical, and previously served as associate director of “Motown: The Musical.” She is also a founding member of Black Theater United, an advocacy organization which also includes Anna Deavere Smith, Audra McDonald and Wendell Pierce.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2538701/director-schele-williams-writing-book-enslavement

Barkley Loaned to Villa as Chelsea Starts Trimming Squad

Sports

September 30th, 6:02pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

Ross Barkley. (AFP)

Chelsea began the process of trimming its squad after a record spending spree by loaning England midfielder Ross Barkley to Aston Villa for the rest of the season on Wednesday. Barkley was facing limited playing time at Chelsea after the arrival of attacking midfielders Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech, with Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek also providing competition. The 26-year-old Barkley has started just 28 Premier League games since arriving from Everton in 2018 and sees a move to Villa helping his chances of remaining in the plans of England coach Gareth Southgate ahead of next year’s European Championship. “The last couple of years, I’ve been stop-start — performing well and then being out of the team,” Barkley said. “To come here and have the chance to play and perform regularly is a big thing for me. With the Euros at the end of the season, it’s a big target for me and hopefully I can be there.” Chelsea has spent around $300 million on new players for this season.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2538696/barkley-loaned-villa-chelsea-starts-trimming-squad

Study: Neanderthal Genes May Be Liability for COVID Patients

Varieties

September 30th, 5:59pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

Scientists say genes that some people have inherited from their Neanderthal ancestors may increase their likelihood of suffering severe forms of COVID-19. (AFP)

Scientists say genes that some people have inherited from their Neanderthal ancestors may increase their likelihood of suffering severe forms of COVID-19. A study by European scientists published Wednesday by the journal Nature examined a cluster of genes that have been linked to a higher risk of hospitalization and respiratory failure in patients who are infected with the new coronavirus. Researchers Hugo Zeberg and Svante Paabo determined that the genes belong to a group, or haplotype, which likely came from Neanderthals. The haplotype is found in about 16% of the population in Europe and half the population in South Asia, while in Africa and East Asia it is nonexistent. Modern humans and Neanderthals are known to have interbred at various points in history, resulting in an exchange of genes than can still be found today. The genes are one of several risk factors for COVID-19, including age, sex and pre-existing conditions like obesity, diabetes and heart problems. Zeberg and Paabo, who work at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, noted that the prevalence of the particular Neanderthal gene group is highest in people from Bangladesh, where 63% are estimated to carry a copy of the haplotype. They cited studies from the UK showing that people of Bangladeshi descent have about two times higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than the general population. “It is striking that the genetic heritage from the Neanderthals has such tragic consequences during the current pandemic," Paabo said in a statement. “Why this is must now be investigated as quickly as possible.” But Andre Franke, director of the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology at the University of Kiel, Germany, said the findings have no immediate impact on the treatment of COVID-19. In a comment ahead of the study’s final publication, Franke said one interesting question arising from the study is why that haploytpe — unlike most Neanderthal genes — survived until today. “Perhaps it’s good for a very active immune system if one doesn’t have other risk factors,” he suggested.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2538691/study-neanderthal-genes-may-be-liability-covid-patients

Rihanna Wants to Cheer up a Troubled World with Fashion Show

Fashion

September 30th, 5:56pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

Rihanna. (AP)

With help from Lizzo, Travis Scott, Rosalia and some of the biggest names in modeling, Rihanna said she decided to forge ahead with a new digital-only Savage X Fenty lingerie show to bring something good into a troubled world. Insofar as well-priced intimates in a broad range of sizes can achieve that goal. “There's a lot going on in the world right now and I relate to all of it,” the superstar and fashion icon told The Associated Press during a recent round of interviews. “People need a little bit of hope, they need a little bit of happiness, and if we can bring a smile to their face and a little bit of fun while they're stuck at home, it's a desire and an honor to be a part of that.” The Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2, with musical performances and dancers along with models, was filmed in September in Los Angeles and will drop Friday exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories. It’s the line’s second turn on the streaming platform. Rihanna has quickly made a name for the company, launching Savage X Fenty in 2018 with splashy, performance-based shows before large (very excited) live crowds. For the first time, there's something for men, thanks to Christian Combs' appearance in last year's show with chunky bling around his neck, a bare chest and some ultra-tight skivvies as a disembodied voice purred: “Dirty. Nasty. Dirty. Nasty.” Combs designed some boxers worthy of all gender expressions to debut with pajamas and trunks in knits and satin for the Fall 2020 collection, all of which will be available for purchase Friday on Amazon Fashion and SavageX.com. Rihanna has proven her commitment to inclusive representation when presenting Savage X Fenty in her use of models in a range of sizes and shapes and across a broad spectrum of skin tones. Since the beginning, the line has been available from 32A to 42H in bras and XS to 3X in undies and sleepwear. In addition to Combs' contributions, new looks for her third Savage X Fenty show include her own doodles embroidered into some pieces, along with lacy lingerie with oversize floral designs and high-voltage color in silhouettes and styles intended for day-to-night wear. Other performers include Bad Bunny, with Combs, Rihanna pal Cara Delevingne, Bella Hadid, Big Sean, Normani and Irina Shayk among her models. Willow Smith, Paris Hilton and Demi Moore will model as newcomers this year. Like Savage X Fenty, Rihanna's embrace of diversity was expressed in 2017, when she launched Fenty Beauty with 40 shades of matte foundation, from the palest of pale to deep, deep brown with cool undertones. The company has been wildly successful, and her offerings have expanded, including a skin care line, Fenty Skin. She's also been busy regularly rolling out luxury wear for Fenty at LVMH. Savage X Fenty, Rihanna said, is “one of those spaces” where “inclusivity is part of the brand, always." As the Black Lives Matter movement and fight for social justice continue to play out throughout the US and the world, she said she'll continue to build on her commitment. “We don't believe in division. We do not believe in excluding anyone," she said. “That's been our message from day one and it's not going to change now because everyone is having that realization." Rihanna added: “We started this company on a Black woman's back.”

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2538681/rihanna-wants-cheer-troubled-world-fashion-show

Kenzo Gets the Buzz at Bee-Themed Paris Fashion Week Show

Fashion

September 30th, 5:52pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

A model wears a creation for the Kenzo Spring-Summer 2021 fashion collection, Sept. 30, 2020, during Paris fashion week. (AP)

A hybrid Paris Fashion Week continued Wednesday featuring a stand out live runway show from socially-distanced Kenzo, but no sign of any A-list celebrities. Here are some highlights: Kenzo gets all the buzz Kenzo’s show was a fairy story in nature. Guests smiled as they breathed in the fresh air of the inner-city garden amid the sounds of the frothing fountain. Large umbrellas placed among the rose bushes marked out the show “seating,” little wooden stools, that ensured a safe distance between them. Many traipsed in bleary-eyed to this morning show, and were happy to discover a pot of honey on each stool. The “Honey of Montmartre,” which guests read off the honey pot label as the show got off to a tardy start, is the stuff produced near the Sacre Coeur church as part of a city-wide initiative to revive the dwindling bee population. For Felipe Oliveira Baptista, the bees were more than a show gimmick, and the sweetness not just in the pots -- it was to be found also in the creative, bee-themed designs. The designer used the Kenzo touchstone of the safari or the trek, and reinterpreted the sand dust visor as a netted beekeeper’s mask. On one of the first looks, the sheer fabric of the headwear was held with a large floppy hat. In clever creative play, Oliveira Baptista evoked a camouflage effect using printed vermilion flowers. Colors were eye-popping, either prime or acid and the silhouette was tight and sporty, or flowing and diaphanous. The collection was also defined by shape. One look featured a netted visor in peach yellow that fell straight down from the round hat in a column tube shape, and shoes were geometric sandals with soles made of the bubbles shapes that evoked the inner lining of a beehive. The eco-invite It took perhaps a deadly global pandemic for the fashion industry to change its wasteful and un-ecological system of invitations. Usually, houses compete to produce the most eye-catching, inventive and flamboyant show invitations delivered often by gas-guzzling courier to each guest’s personal or professional address with little thought to ecology. This season, owing to the virus threat and also the uncertainty surrounding the fashion show schedule, many top houses such as Balmain opted to invite guests via email. Some that did send physical invitations, such as Kenzo, were made of eco-papers. Anrealage pops with color Highly famous in native Japan, award-winning designer Kunihiko Morinaga is known for his daring concepts that merge art and fashion — such as a square box that becomes a trench coat when the box ribbing is taken out. The fashion-forward house has also built up a huge fan base in Paris since it landed here in 2014 for its intellectual designs and original use of techno-fabrics. For spring-summer 2021, the brand was as original as ever as it touched on one of this season’s already-big trends: Eye-popping color. Acid ochre was the hue of one floor-length dress-cape hybrid, on a sapphire blue gown with layered frills at the hem. Colored headpieces resembled origami works of art, against starkly contrasting bright shades of lipstick. One large voluminous coat-dress sported frills all the way down that made it look part Marie Antoinette, part jellyfish.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2538671/kenzo-gets-buzz-bee-themed-paris-fashion-week-show