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Star Wars' Producer Calls for New Voice that 'Brings World Back to its Senses'

Star Wars: The Force Awakens' writer, director and producer J J Abrams, left and producer Kathleen Kennedy appear at the kick-off event of the Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, California, April 16, 2015. Photo: Reuters
Star Wars: The Force Awakens' writer, director and producer J J Abrams, left and producer Kathleen Kennedy appear at the kick-off event of the Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, California, April 16, 2015. Photo: Reuters
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Star Wars' Producer Calls for New Voice that 'Brings World Back to its Senses'

Star Wars: The Force Awakens' writer, director and producer J J Abrams, left and producer Kathleen Kennedy appear at the kick-off event of the Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, California, April 16, 2015. Photo: Reuters
Star Wars: The Force Awakens' writer, director and producer J J Abrams, left and producer Kathleen Kennedy appear at the kick-off event of the Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, California, April 16, 2015. Photo: Reuters

Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy has accepted a lifetime achievement award from the organizers of the Oscars.

She said she hoped it would open the door for new voices in the movie industry that “might bring the world back to its senses."

Honored with her producer husband Frank Marshall, Kennedy was the first woman to receive the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual Irving. G. Thalberg award.

According to Reuters, in 2012, Kennedy became president of LucasFilm, reviving the sci-fi saga and producing multi-billion dollar movies "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" that have made her one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood.

"I am very proud to be the first woman to accept this award. But I am also not the first to deserve it and I am 100 percent sure I am not the last," Kennedy said to wild applause at a gala dinner attended by studio executives and many of Hollywood’s biggest actors and directors.

Kennedy and Marshall co-founded Amblin Entertainment with director Steven Spielberg in 1981 and produced of blockbusters including "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Jurassic Park" and "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial."

Kennedy said recent efforts to improve diversity in Hollywood and give women better roles in front of and behind the camera must be embraced. “It is my hope that with the inclusion of these powerful new voices, we might just bring the world back to its senses and maybe, just maybe, shatter a few glass ceilings along the way,” Kennedy said.

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Study Points to Likely Route for Hannibal’s Legendary Alpine Crossing

The successful crossing of the Alps allowed Hannibal to bypass Roman defenses and pull off a string of stunning victories on the Italian peninsula during the Second Punic War. (AFP)
The successful crossing of the Alps allowed Hannibal to bypass Roman defenses and pull off a string of stunning victories on the Italian peninsula during the Second Punic War. (AFP)
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Study Points to Likely Route for Hannibal’s Legendary Alpine Crossing

The successful crossing of the Alps allowed Hannibal to bypass Roman defenses and pull off a string of stunning victories on the Italian peninsula during the Second Punic War. (AFP)
The successful crossing of the Alps allowed Hannibal to bypass Roman defenses and pull off a string of stunning victories on the Italian peninsula during the Second Punic War. (AFP)

Just how Hannibal managed to lead war elephants and a full army over the Alps to attack the Romans remains a mystery, but a new modern biology study points to a potential route.

The bold and legendary crossing in 218 BC, which allowed the ancient Carthaginian leader to strike Rome from the north, has long remained one of the most astounding and celebrated achievements in warfare.

Calculations about the energy requirements of Hannibal's force -- especially the elephants -- points to the Col de la Traversette as the most likely route, according to a study released on Monday by a group of German and British researchers.

The Col de la Traversette is a high-altitude mountain pass in the Cottian Alps at 2,947 meters (9,669 feet) on the border between modern-day France and Italy.

Researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the University of Jena and the University of Oxford used route models and elevation data to weigh the physical demands on Hannibal's army of roughly 40,000 men, thousands of horses and a reported 37 war elephants, using body mass data from modern African elephants.

"The new analysis does not eliminate all ambiguity, but it does strengthen the case for the Traversette route by demonstrating that it would better accommodate the demands of moving a large army that included elephants through extremely difficult alpine terrain," said co-author Emilio Berti of iDiv and the University of Jena.

Other routes considered -- such as the Col de Montgenevre, the Col du Clapier, and the Col du Mont Cenis -- would have required 11 percent, 16 percent, and 19 percent more energy, respectively, for the army to traverse.

The study also highlighted the immense physical strain the march through the Alps almost certainly imposed on Hannibal's army.

According to the models, the soldiers on the Traversette route would have lost around 19 percent of their body fat reserves, which could explain the high death toll.

In contrast, calculations for the war elephants indicated a loss of only about four percent of their energy reserves.

Many of the animals reportedly survived the mountain crossing.

The successful crossing of the Alps allowed Hannibal to bypass Roman defenses and pull off a string of stunning victories on the Italian peninsula during the Second Punic War.

Rome, however, managed to weather the setbacks and defeat Carthage in the conflict as well as the subsequent Third Punic War.

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King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Records First Sighting of Red Phalarope

The red phalarope is a migratory seabird that spends most of its life cycle on the open ocean and breeds in Arctic regions. - SPA
The red phalarope is a migratory seabird that spends most of its life cycle on the open ocean and breeds in Arctic regions. - SPA
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King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Records First Sighting of Red Phalarope

The red phalarope is a migratory seabird that spends most of its life cycle on the open ocean and breeds in Arctic regions. - SPA
The red phalarope is a migratory seabird that spends most of its life cycle on the open ocean and breeds in Arctic regions. - SPA

The King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority announced that a specialized research team has documented the first confirmed sighting of a red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) within the reserve, marking one of the rarest bird records ever documented in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula, SPA reported.

Authority spokesperson Abdulaziz Al-Furaih said the bird was documented in February 2026 at the Sudair Artificial Wetland within the reserve.

The red phalarope is a migratory seabird that spends most of its life cycle on the open ocean and breeds in Arctic regions. Its appearance in an inland wetland in the Kingdom is considered an exceptional event, reflecting the reserve's growing environmental significance and its ability to attract rare species that migrate over long distances.

The discovery builds on a series of scientific achievements recorded in the reserve in recent years, including the documentation of rare species and the first confirmed breeding records of other species.

These accomplishments reinforce the reserve's position as a national platform for environmental research and monitoring and underscore its pivotal role in supporting the Kingdom's wildlife conservation and ecosystem sustainability objectives.

Varieties

‘Pokemon Airport’ Opens to Help Japanese Quake-Hit Region

A "Pikachu" balloon is displayed at the Noto Airport in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture on July 7, 2026. (JIJI / AFP)
A "Pikachu" balloon is displayed at the Noto Airport in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture on July 7, 2026. (JIJI / AFP)
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‘Pokemon Airport’ Opens to Help Japanese Quake-Hit Region

A "Pikachu" balloon is displayed at the Noto Airport in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture on July 7, 2026. (JIJI / AFP)
A "Pikachu" balloon is displayed at the Noto Airport in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture on July 7, 2026. (JIJI / AFP)

An airport in a remote Japanese region hit by a deadly earthquake in 2024 was given a new look on Tuesday, temporarily nicknamed after the Pokemon universe, and its lobby adorned with a floating Pikachu on a plane-shaped balloon.

The Noto Peninsula has faced a decline in tourists since the powerful 7.5-magnitude quake on New Year's Day two years ago that claimed over 700 lives.

On Tuesday, a life-size Pikachu mascot dressed as a pilot joined officials for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially nickname the local facility "Noto Satoyama Pokemon With You Airport" and welcome visitors.

More than 100 Pokemon characters are displayed across the airport, including the lobby wall.

The name will be used for three years, according to the Pokemon With You Foundation.

Public broadcaster NHK reported in February that the number of visitors who stay overnight in the region remains at just over 30 percent of pre-quake levels.