The jungles

Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers We write about hundreds of products a week. Here, in our version of the Sunday circular, we’ve plucked out some of our favorites — expert-recommended essentials, life-changing stuff you didn’t know you needed, newly launched gizmos, and the very good deals we uncovered while trolling through the vast online-shopping universe this past week, including the bug-repelling socks that “kill ticks in their tracks,” a defining gel for touchable twist outs, and some sensible (yet stylish!) clogs for Mom. Latched & Hooked Pre-Stretched Braiding Hair From $12 This past week was Natural-Hair Week on the Strategist, where we covered everything from four-in-one edge-control brushes to actually silky silk presses . Strategist contributor (and longtime braid-wearer) Baze Mpinja even took a deep dive into the (surprisingly secretive) world of synthetic braiding hair , finding that … [Read more...] about 10 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Better Braids to Private (Pool) Jets

For Central Reserve Police Force commando Rakeshwar Manhas patience was the key to his survival as he spent five days in a Chhattisgarh jungle after being taken captive by Naxals following an ambush that killed 22 members of his team. IMAGE: CRPF commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, who was released by naxals after being captured during an encounter in Chhattisgarh, being welcomed by his family on his arrival, in Jammu. Photograph: PTI Photo "I did not lose hope in the most difficult situation and I maintained my cool," said the 35-year-old who returned to his home in Jammu on Friday. Manhas had gone missing during a deadly encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on April 3. The gunfight left 22 security forces personnel dead and several others injured. He was released from captivity by the Naxals on April 8. Manhas was accorded a rousing reception by his family and villagers after he reached his native Barnie village on the outskirts of the … [Read more...] about ‘Owe my second life to my mother’, says CRPF commando abducted by Naxals

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Sal, Wyoming’s not a country. Director Sidney Lumet takes the true story of one of the most inept bank robberies in history and makes it better, much better , into something sublime and urgent and hilarious and unforgettable. Lumet makes you feel like a fly on the wall as a bizarrely entertaining life-moment unfurls in early-seventies Brooklyn. Warner Bros. No one famous is involved. Nothing of any consequence happened. Life happened, and life is always so much more fascinating than anything else. Dazed and Confused (1993) Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. The best movies transport you someplace else, into deep space or medieval times or Kypton. In Dazed and Confused , writer/director Richard Linklater transports you to a simpler place: a small Texas town in 1976 where we join a group of suburban high school kids on their last day of school. … [Read more...] about Countdown: The 165 Greatest American Movies Ever Made (16-40)

A burbling stream and traditional Japanese tsukubai basin are among the elements featured in the Selangor Japan Friendship Garden in Section 14, Shah Alam. The Japanese-themed garden, which spans 2.42ha, has been welcoming visitors from near and far for about a month now. On a Friday evening, a few office workers were spotted sitting on a bench and watching koi fish swim under the water lilies. Friends Nor Fariza Mohamad Norzan, 27, and Farhana Taiban, 23, have made it a weekly ritual to take a walk in the garden, appreciate nature and just relax. Fariza, a government employee, said at the end of a work week, she just wanted to escape from the concrete jungle and enjoy the calming atmosphere. “It is nice to be able to remove our shoes, sit on a wooden platform by the edge of a lake and splash water with our feet. “It is fun and this is how we de-stress, ” she added. She said the architecture of the engetsukyou or moon bridge, a bridge with a semi-circle shape near the … [Read more...] about Japanese-themed garden a welcome oasis in Shah Alam

The French government is looking to evacuate two migrant camps near Paris (AP) The French government announced Wednesday that it will remove thousands of migrants at makeshift camps around Paris, as President Emmanuel Macron’s government fights with Parisian authorities about how to handle the crisis. In a tough statement, Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said the situation was “no longer bearable for Parisians” and announced that he had ordered an “evacuation operation” that would remove more than 2,300 migrants from the camps near Paris. Le Monde reports that there are two camps, one near the Canal Saint-Denis, consisting of 1,600 people living in squalid conditions, and another near the Canal Saint-Martin. In 2016, French authorities tore down the controversial “Jungle” camp in Calais -- a sprawling refugee camp near the port to the United Kingdom. In January, Macron visited the site and promised that it would not be allowed to be rebuilt. But with … [Read more...] about French government to evacuate thousands of migrants from squalid, makeshift camps near Paris