Latest news with #Ain
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar poised to seal fourth title as Groves wins penultimate stage
Kaden Groves of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team won the penultimate stage of the Tour de France, from Nantua to Pontarlier, as Tadej Pogacar safely negotiated what is expected to be the final meaningful stage of this year's race. With the closing stage in Paris on Sunday potentially subject to neutralisation, due to the threat of rain, the Slovenian is now on the threshold of achieving a fourth win in six years. With many teams still desperately seeking a stage win, the competition to make the day's breakaway was ferocious, with risky attacks and last-ditch moves characterising the final kilometres of racing. On a rolling route, through the Ain, Jura and Doubs, the last hour of which was covered in a torrential downpour, a crash 21km from the finish changed the outcome of the race. The decisive action came on the descent of the final climb, the Côte de Longeville, 24km from Pontarlier. After a lone attack from Harry Sweeny of EF Education EasyPost was reeled in, the local rider, Romain Grégoire, of Groupama-FDJ took the initiative. But on a tight left-hand bend, made slick by the rain, Iván Romeo, of Movistar, and Grégoire came down at speed and slid into a concrete kerb. The French rider was able to remount and chase, but Romeo was left nursing his wounds. In the aftermath, a group of three, including Groves, moved clear, with the Australian then opting to attack alone 16km from the finish. The 26-year-old increased his advantage in the final kilometres to win by almost a minute and add his first Tour stage win to past successes in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. This report will be updated.
The Star
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Weekend for the arts: 'Me, Then Blue' exhibition, YSDAF visits Subang Jaya
EXHIBITION: ALICE CHANG'S 'ME, THEN BLUE' Venue: Lai Lai Art Gallery, Ampang, Selangor Date: ends July 29 In her fifth solo exhibition, Me, Then Blue, artist-sculptor Alice Chang shows us that there's beauty even in the broken, taking viewers into "the deep sea" by immersing the gallery in a mesmerising blue light. The exhibition was inspired by the Wanli shipwreck, discovered by fishermen off the coast of Terengganu in the 1990s. After learning about it in 2019 and acquiring several bags of broken porcelain salvaged from the wreck, Chang decided to breathe new life into the fragments by transforming them into new sculptures. The exhibition features these sculptures, alongside a series of expressive blue-and-white paintings that reflect Chang's personal interpretation of these centuries-old artefacts and their enduring journey through time. More info here. Two new works by Ain from her 'Atas Pagar' exhibition- 'Melangkaui Pagar 03' (Past The Fence), left, and 'Melangkaui Pagar 02' - both crafted with ash and pigment on paper. Photo: The Back Room EXHIBITION: AIN'S 'ATAS PAGAR' Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, Kuala Lumpur Date: ends July 20 Newcomer artist Ain takes the spotlight at The Back Room gallery with her second solo exhibition, Atas Pagar. Quiet and contemplative, the show is filled with the ashes of memories, comprising a series of new works in Ain's ash painting series, which sees her creating small paintings out of ceramic ash and pigments. The fragile nature of the paintings and their vulnerability to disintegration are part of the artist's ongoing concerns with memory and family history. The exhibition takes its cue from an incident not too long ago when her grandmother's house in Kuantan, Pahang, was broken into. The way the burglar had cleanly cut through the metal grille over the kitchen window to enter the house stuck in Ain's imagination, which is why she also included said grille as part of the show. Born in Bangkok and raised across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan, Ain draws on her diasporic upbringing in a practice that spans video, sculpture, painting, and installation. As a bonus, the Malaysian Design Archive (located in the same building as The Back Room) will also be presenting an artist talk by Ain titled 'Ashes And Access - On the Fragility Of Belonging' at 3pm this Sunday. More info here. YAYASAN SIME DARBY ARTS FESTIVAL 2025 - URBAN TOUR Venue: PARC, Subang Jaya, Selangor Date: July 5 The Yayasan Sime Darby Arts Festival (YSDAF) Urban Tour heads to the PARC in Subang Jaya this Saturday, bringing the diverse world of performing arts, music, dance and more to the lakeside venue. Expect everything from outdoor theatre and live buskers to dance workshops and art installations - all set against the laid-back backdrop of the PARC venue. Highlights include Young KL Singers, MyDance Alliance, Orang Orang Drum Theatre, and The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat, alongside special acts like a traditional Jikey troupe from Penang and a Mandarin children's theatre piece by Hongjiejie Work Station. YSDAF runs from 11am to 5pm, featuring over 330 artists and 80 activities. No parking stress - free shuttle vans run from 10am between LRT Subang Jaya and The PARC. Round up your friends, take a stroll, and see how a green public space - with ample food choices - transforms into a creative playground for all ages. Admission is free - just bring your curiosity. More info here. A close-up view of Lyne's cymatic installation titled 'Water' - a live work created using a subwoofer, water basin, LED lights, and video loop to reveal the unseen patterns of resonance in motion. Photo: Lyne Ismail EXHIBITION: LYNE ISMAIL'S 'CAT TOWN: ENERGY, MATTER, AND THE ART OF BECOMING' Venue: Temu House, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Date: July 5-27 Here's an exhibition - opening this weekend at Temu House - that brings science and art into thoughtful, immersive dialogue. Visual artist, material scientist, and academic Lyne Ismail invites viewers to explore abstraction, sensory perception, and expansive ideas through the lens of resonance and transformation. On view is a new series of large abstract paintings alongside a live cymatic installation, where water responds to sound and vibration by forming intricate, mandala-like patterns. By making resonance visible, Lyne encourages viewers to feel their way into meaning, rather than decode it intellectually. The exhibition also expands on her book Musings Of The Spring Water, launching in tandem with the show. Together, they offer a sensory and reflective journey into energy, intuition, and the act of becoming. An 'In Conversation' session with Lyne takes place this Saturday (July 5) at 3pm, with the opening reception and book launch scheduled for Sunday (July 6) at 4pm. More info here. As part of her solo debut 'Sesuatu Yang Something', Binti invites art lovers to join a collaborative art project 'Teman Buat Something' this weekend at KL's Cult Gallery. Photo: The Star/Glenn Guan EXHIBITION: BINTI'S 'SESUATU YANG SOMETHING' Venue: Cult Gallery, Taman Tunku, Kuala Lumpur Date: ends July 14 In her debut solo show, Binti, a zany multidisciplinary artist, presents seven distinct series that weave together text, photography, collage, drawing, and even AI-generated imagery. Her work is rooted in deeply personal themes - self-acceptance, emotional honesty, and the challenges of navigating life as a young creative today. Binti's sharp writing, inventive compositions, and fearless use of materials give each piece a distinct voice and presence. Drawing from family histories, layered language, and a disarming sense of humour, Binti creates a space where vulnerability meets protest, and joy shares the stage with reflection. This exhibition isn't just a viewing - it's an invitation to connect with her world. Want to contribute to an art piece? In conjunction with her show, Binti is presenting 'Teman Buat Something', an interactive installation where visitors can be part of the artwork this weekend (July 5 and 6). At the heart of 'Teman' is a sofa you can sit on, draw on, write on and help transform into a living artwork of community expression. Visitors are invited to co-create alongside Binti, turning this everyday object into a shared canvas that grows with each contribution. More info here.
The Star
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Atas Pagar' art exhibition wants us to think about the gates we keep
When her grandmother's home in Kuantan was broken into at the end of last year, 25-year-old artist Nurul Ain Nor Halim, who goes by Ain, was as dismayed as the rest of her family. But there was a part of her that was transfixed – the image of the burglar's clean and tidy cut through the metal grille covering a window in the kitchen, where they had gained entry into the home, remained stuck in her mind and imagination. 'Luckily there wasn't much to steal from the house, as it had been left empty for quite some time,' says Ain in a recent interview at The Back Room gallery in Kuala Lumpur. 'But what stood out to me was how neatly they had cut a hole in the grille – like it had been done with scissors. My first thought when I saw the photo in the family group chat was, 'Wow, are they an artist or something?'' she adds with a laugh. Upon returning to Malaysia after finishing her studies, Ain began to notice the prevalence of grilles and gates in Malaysian homes. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli The break-in acted as the catalyst that motivated Ain to put together her second solo exhibition, Atas Pagar, currently showing at The Back Room gallery until July 20. Visitors can see the cut-through window grille, along with another that was removed from her family home to make way for a newer fire-access design. 'I wanted to display them across from one another as a contrast – one grille was cut through in secret and without permission, while the other was voluntarily taken down and left to quietly rust and disintegrate,' she explains. Locked in or out? Atas Pagar comes hot off the heels of her first solo, Da Lama Dah, which took place at Blank Canvas in George Town, Penang from March 1 to May 25 this year. While her previous show looked at the tradition of oral storytelling, this new solo highlights a common feature of Malaysian homes – window and door grilles, gates and fences. 'Growing up, my family moved around a lot, so I spent most of my childhood outside of Malaysia, in Japan and Indonesia. Then I moved to the Netherlands to further my studies. 'So when I returned to Malaysia a couple of years ago, I started to notice the prevalence of these gates, which you don't typically see in the other countries I've lived in. I became obsessed with them,' says the Bangkok-born artist, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, Netherlands. Visitors view the old window grille from Ain's family home, replaced with a new fire-access design. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli For Ain, who now works as an art teacher, the idea of a 'gate' can change depending on the context. 'I wanted to explore the role of gates in its many forms, from physical to cultural to philosophical. What we choose to enclose, and leave open, says something about safety, culture, trust, fear and identity. 'There's also the concept of 'gatekeeping', especially by institutions such as museums and schools in terms of the narratives they choose to display or who gets access to education. We often don't realise it, but in our daily lives, we've all encountered some form of gatekeeping,' she says. Nothing left to waste According to Ain, who dabbles in multiple mediums, Atas Pagar is a continuation of her ash painting series, which were the result of her experiments in mixing the ash left over from firing ceramic pieces. 'I wanted to try my hand at making my own clay, so I dug some up from the backyard of my family home in Putrajaya. After firing the pieces, I noticed there was a lot of ash left behind. I didn't want it to go to waste, so one day, I combined the ash with pigment powder and a bit of clay and put it on some paper. 'What I noticed was that it became this new medium that isn't quite painting, but also not necessarily sculpture – it occupies the space that's somewhere in between,' she says. That 'in-between' quality of the works is one of the reasons why Ain decided to name the show Atas Pagar. Another reason is her affinity with the phrase and how it reflects her own personality. Ain's exhibition features a new series of A4-sized ash paintings of gates, grilles, and fences – structures meant to keep people 'safe.' Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli 'As an artist, when I create something, I often overthink and question myself, like 'Does this make sense?' or 'Is this good enough?' I don't see that as a bad thing. It's a way to dig deeper and look at things from different perspectives. But that's one of the reasons why I'm drawn to the phrase 'atas pagar' and why I felt it was the perfect title for this show,' she adds. Despite harbouring some self-doubt about her works, once the art is out there, Ain doesn't mind if you love it or hate it. 'I'd rather have a reaction than no reaction. Because no reaction means that there's no discourse, there's no talk, and I want to allow audiences to talk,' she concludes. Atas Pagar is showing at The Back Room in Kuala Lumpur until July 20. Free admission.
Straits Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Singapore U-16 girls bounce back with improved performance against Hong Kong
Striker Nur Ain Salleh volleying home Singapore's first goal in their 2-0 win over Hong Kong in the Lion City Cup at Jalan Besar Stadium on July 10. SINGAPORE – After a 9-0 thrashing by South Korea in their opening game, Singapore's Under-16 girls bounced back with a timely victory over Hong Kong in the Lion City Cup (LCC), prevailing 2-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on July 10. Battle-hardened after their opening defeat on July 8, the hosts put in a much improved performance. They showed tenacity in their tackling and were more cohesive in the final third, an area in which they did not spend much time against the Koreans. Singapore U-16 girls' coach Yeong Sheau Shyan said: 'The way that we play in this match makes it so much easier for us because they (the players) understand their roles, and that allowed the team to settle into how we wanted to play much faster offensively. 'Our players are very focused on trying to improve themselves using this tournament (and) they are thinking more as a team.' Singapore started on the front foot and took the lead after just four minutes. Striker Ain Salleh struck a volley that squeezed under Hong Kong goalkeeper Chan Tsz Yiu for the Republic's first goal in the competition. They were nearly rewarded for their efforts again in the 20th minute. Ain followed up some good forward play by spraying the ball out to midfielder Verona Lim, whose shot found Tsz Yiu's gloves, in what ended up as a comfortable save. Ain credited the fans for doing a great job supporting them, adding: 'My relatives were here to support me. I felt like it was a big difference because their presence motivated me to do them proud.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business S'pore to launch new grant for companies, expand support for workers amid US tariff uncertainties Singapore Up to 90% of air-con units can be recycled, including greenhouse gas refrigerant Singapore KTPH trials 'smart diapers' for adult patients to prevent skin conditions, relieve burden on nurses Singapore Singaporean fugitive nabbed and charged with drug trafficking, may face death penalty Sport World Aquatics C'ships Singapore 2025 declared open by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam World 'Do some homework': 6 key exchanges between US Senator Duckworth and S'pore envoy nominee Sinha Multimedia 60 objects to mark SG60: Which is your favourite? Singapore CPF Board uses AI to improve call centre services, prioritise help for less tech-savvy users The 15-year-old, who is currently with Spanish club Madrid CFF's youth team under the Unleash The Roar! (UTR) overseas football scholarship, said she had benefited from the 'more physical' training she received. In an attempt to turn the tide, Hong Kong coach Chan Shuk Chi made two substitutions just before the half hour mark, injecting fresh energy into the team and limiting Singapore's chances heading into the break. After a host of half-time substitutions from both sides, Singapore extended their lead in the 58th minute in breathtaking fashion. Verona cut inside from the left wing and the 15-year-old unleashed an unstoppable curler from outside the box that caressed the back of the Hong Kong net. They nearly scored a third goal 12 minutes from full time. Substitute Risya Rizqyqa fired a low shot with her left foot that was saved well by Tsz Yiu, who endured a tough outing in goal. Chan admitted her team 'did not perform well' and suggested the hot weather might have played a part. 'They are young and don't have this experience, so we need to improve. They did not perform well today, but tried their best.' In the day's earlier kick-off, South Korea continued their rampant form with an emphatic 12-0 victory over Cambodia, who remain winless after two games. The Koreans, who top the group on six points, need just a draw against Hong Kong in their final game on June 12 to be crowned champions. Singapore, who are third, will meet bottom-placed Cambodia on the same day. Yeong said the team will be trying to recover from the gruelling schedule, adding: 'It (the win) has given us the confidence that we can attack so that will bring us forward to Cambodia. We cannot allow ourselves to relax because Cambodia can lead us if we are too complacent.' Singapore's U-16 boys will resume their campaign on July 11 against Cambodia as they seek to put things right after losing to the Philippines in their first game. All matches are played at the Jalan Besar Stadium with Singapore's games kicking off at 8pm.
Business Insider
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The NCAA settlement is a big win for football players. For other athletes, the picture is murkier.
DI track and field athlete Sabrina Oostburg isn't celebrating the recent NCAA settlement, which allows colleges to pay athletes directly. The Belmont University student said she was standing next to a volleyball player and two football players when the news came out. One of the football players reacted positively and then turned to the volleyball player to get her take. "It's good for you because you're going to get paid, but some of your female athlete friends might get cut," Oostburg recalled the volleyball player saying. The recent settlement, which ended multiple antitrust cases against the NCAA, sets up a system in which football players will likely get the lion's share of the money. The settlement's back-pay portion, for example, allocates 75% to football, guided by how much revenue the sport brings in. Colleges that opt into the settlement can pay up to $20.5 million to their athletes for the year starting July 1 (with increases in subsequent years). "It's going to be focused on football, basketball," Craig Weiner, a partner and litigator at Blank Rome, told Business Insider. While schools are free to distribute the money to different teams as they wish, there is a clear incentive for them to want to remain competitive in football to generate revenue. That could mean some athletic programs — if we take that 75% figure as guidance — will need to cover $15 million in new expenses to pay football players. Where is the money going to come from? Oostburg said she's worried about cuts to her team and others that don't make money for the college. She fears they could lose roster spots, places where they practice and train, or even snacks. "I think you're going to see cuts potentially in the non-revenue sports," Weiner said. "As far as support, athletic facilities, athletic support. Money that is that is earmarked to help the non-revenue producing sports, because they're going to focus on the money makers." The settlement ruling could create Title IX issues The skew toward football and men's basketball in the $2.8 billion back-pay part of the settlement has already attracted a legal challenge. Dan Ain, an attorney at Reavis, Page, Jump, noted that current and former DI female athletes had filed an appeal. They argued that 90% of the back pay going to former football and men's basketball players was a violation of Title IX, which requires schools to give male and female athletes equitable opportunities. Ain also pointed out that Judge Claudia Wilken, who oversaw the case, said that athletes could sue if they felt there was any infringement on Title IX due to the nature of the revenue share model. "This is new territory for schools," Ain said. "Schools, for the first time, will be deciding how to allocate tens of millions of dollars in revenue share to individual athletes. The expectation right now is that the distribution is going to be grossly unequal between men and women, and that will open schools up to Title IX litigation." Athletes have to run their deals through a clearinghouse Oostburg said she also had concerns about a new clearinghouse that will oversee deals athletes strike on their own with brands, called NIL deals (short for "name, image, and likeness"). Athletes with deals of over $600 will have to report them to the clearinghouse, operated by Deloitte, which will determine the athlete's value. If the deal is higher than their assessed value, it can't go through. Athletes who don't report deals or violate them by taking something of a different value could have their eligibility taken away. For athletes like Oostburg in "non-revenue" sports, NIL deals — often driven in part by their social media footprint — are the biggest money-making opportunity. "That does concern me," Oostburg said. "If I get a deal over $600 and they decide, no, that doesn't make sense for someone like a track athlete like me to get a $1,000 deal."
