Today, we lost legendary artist and performer Prince . Instead of our usual weekly featured playlist, we’ve gathered up a collection of Prince’s live performances to remember how fantastic a person and artist he truly was.

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My favorite question to ask about any type of food is will it casserole? In the case of buffalo chicken, the answer is a resounding yes. This magical skillet meal is filled with quinoa, chicken, buffalo sauce, and plenty of blue cheese. It's all your favorite elements of this classic bar snack, wrapped up into one delicious package.

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Here's the biggest obstacle to making smoothies in my house: It can feel slightly overwhelming to assemble the ingredients into a reliably delicious mixture first thing in the morning. But smoothies can be one of the easiest ways to pack nutrition into a meal for a baby or toddler — especially if you do the prep work ahead of time.

For my family, this method of assembling a muffin tin of smoothie ingredients and stashing them in the freezer until we need a quick breakfast or snack option has been a game-changer.

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LONDON: Guy Hamilton, director of four James Bond films including classics “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds are Forever”, has died aged 93, former Bond actor Roger Moore said Thursday.

Moore, who was directed by Hamilton in “Live and Let Die” and “The Man with the Golden Gun”, tweeted that he was “incredibly, incredibly saddened to hear the wonderful director Guy Hamilton has gone to the great cutting room in the sky. 2016 is horrid”.

Ken Adam, the designer of many of the Bond films’ elaborate villainous lairs as well as 007’s Aston Martin ejector seat, died last month aged 95.

Hamilton’s other credits include “The Battle of Britain”, “Evil Under the Sun” and “The Mirror Crack’d”.

He was born in Paris in 1922, but attended school in England. He launched his career in French cinema in the 1930s, starting out as a tea boy before becoming a director after World War II.

He is survived by his second wife, French actress Kerima.

– AFP

Some people think you can just toss some pancake batter into a waffle iron and call it good. Not so. If you really want a great waffle, the secret is some carefully whipped egg whites.

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Headaches happen for myriad reasons : dehydration, eyestrain, drinking a wee bit much the previous night, and exercising. Yes, exercise too, and they’re just as annoying as any other headache. Here’s the difference between exercise headaches and regular head pains, and how you can best treat or avoid them.

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Being mindful of food waste isn't always about the big stuff. Taking on an issue of that magnitude in your own home kitchen may seem like a drop in the sea, but starting small makes it feel possible.

If you're looking for a super-simple, very tasty way to eliminate some of the food waste in your own cooking, it's time to consider the vegetable from tip to top.

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NEW YORK : Oil prices fell on Wednesday as oversupply worries returned after Kuwaiti oil workers ended a three-day strike and US industry data indicated a larger-than-expected build in crude inventories last week.

Six supertankers have lined up at Kuwait’s crude export terminal to load oil, and the country has raised its output to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.1 million on Sunday.

The US government’s Energy Information Administration will issue official inventory numbers at 10:30 a.m., following a much stronger-than-expected storage rise reported on Tuesday by American Petroleum Institute.

The impending expiry of the front-month May contract in US crude’s West Texas Intermediate futures also weighed, as it traded at a discount of around $1.50 to the June contract that would become the market’s benchmark from Thursday.

“An expiration of more than $1.50 a barrel in the May-June spread today would send off some additional bearish WTI signals,” said Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago-based energy markets consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.

May was down 71 cents at $40.37 a barrel by 9:39 a.m. The June contract was off 70 cents at $41.77.

Brent’s front-month contract traded 70 cents lower at $43.33 a barrel.

The end of Kuwait’s oil industry strike revived the bearish mood brought on by the failure at the weekend by major crude producers to agree to freeze output at a meeting in Doha, Qatar. The production freeze was designed to ease an oil glut that had brought prices down from a mid-2014 high above $100 a barrel.

“Kuwait is moving back to full production, and we expected that oil would come off more after the Doha deal fell apart, so we’re seeing the impact of that now,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodity analyst at SEB in Oslo.

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday Russia’s oil production could exceed 540 million tonnes this year (10.8 million barrels per day) and cautioned that Saudi Arabia also had potential to hike its output.

– Reuters

Redditor mrrej89 posted this beautiful workspace to the Battlestations subreddit. At first blush, it’s simple, almost a little boring, but then you look more closely at the details—from the lamp to the keyboard to the monitor stand to the bookshelf, it’s simple, but all well done and well built.

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By now, we’ve gotten used to the idea that not all milk on the market comes from cows, which is a great thing for lactose-intolerant people or those who prefer not to consume animal products: there’s soy milk, coconut milk, rice milk, hemp milk, and almond milk, among other things. One non-dairy product we never saw coming? Pea milk — which is now a real thing.

While it apparently doesn’t taste anything like the vegetable, milk made from pea protein is a very real thing that’s heading to grocery stores soon from a company called Ripple Foods, which is the brainchild of one of the founders of sustainable soap brand Method.

It took a year for Ripple to tackle the challenge of making creamy, sweet milk from peas, reports Co.exist, and come out with something that doesn’t actually taste like peas. In fact, Ripple says, it tastes more like dairy milk than the other dairy-alternatives out there.

“The primary challenge is one of flavor,” Ripple Food’s Adam Lowry told Co.exist. “If you just make pea milk the way that you make almond milk, with regular yellow peas, you can get a very high protein beverage, but it frankly tastes terrible. That’s because if you put a lot of peas in the milk, it’s going to taste like peas.”

To create the milk, the company developed a technology that can “separate the good stuff from the peas from all of the stuff that kind of gives it that off-flavor and color,” Lowry explains, leaving all the protein behind and none of the pea taste.

Ripple will be available at Whole Foods as of May 2 for $4.99 per 48-ounce bottle. Eventually the product will expand to other outlets as well.

This Pea-Based Milk Is Healthier Than Almond Milk, And Actually Tastes Almost Like Milk [Co.exist]

SEOUL: A South Korean court has ordered a fried chicken restaurant owner to pay 14.5 million won ($12,500) for refusing to comply with a ban on using the luxury Louis Vuitton brand name for his outlet, a report said Tuesday.

The owner, identified only by his surname Kim, had called his restaurant in Seoul, “LOUIS VUITON DAK” — a play on the word “tongdak” which means whole chicken in Korean.

He also ran up a logo very similar to that of the French fashion house and had it printed on his napkins and fried chicken take-out cartons.

None too pleased with Mr. Kim’s ingenuity, Louis Vuitton filed a suit in September last year, saying the use of the company’s name to sell fried chicken was damaging to the brand.

A district court in Seoul agreed and in October ordered Kim to desist and threatened a 500,000 won-per-day fine for non-compliance.

Kim responded by tinkering with the restaurant name and came up with “chaLouisvui tondak” which he unsuccessfully argued was different enough to comply with the court ruling.

Louis Vuitton complained again and this week and the court ordered Kim to pay the fashion house 14.5 million won for the 29 days that the amended name was displayed.

“Although he changed the name with different spacing, the two names sounded almost the same,” the Korea Times quoted the judge as saying.

– AFP

HONG KONG: US oil and gas major Chevron Corp has put its Myanmar gas block stakes worth an estimated $1.3 billion up for sale, banking sources familiar with the matter said, in what would mark the biggest M&A transaction involving the country’s assets.

The sale is part of Chevron’s efforts to preserve cash and retreat from non-core assets in the wake of sliding oil prices. It is also seen as setting the tone for deals in a country that investors hope will see continued reforms after a historic election win by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy last year.

The sources said suitors could number about half a dozen and would likely include Australia’s Woodside Petroleum, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production, Japanese trading houses and Chinese companies.

“Companies understand that Myanmar is in a very good position as you have export markets like China and Thailand and a growing domestic market,” said Adrian Pooh, a Singapore-based analyst at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

“It’s kind of one of the last few remaining exploration plays with good prospects as well.”

The sources said buyers would be keen to acquire all three assets bundled together.

Chevron is working with an US investment bank on the deal, they added, declining to be identified as the sale process has not been made public. Chevron, which has been operating in Myanmar for two decades, declined to comment.

Woodside declined to comment on whether it was interested in Chevron’s assets. But it highlighted its recent exploration successes in the Rakhine Basin, where it is the largest holder of acreage, as well as its partnerships across its six exploration blocks in Myanmar.

Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Chevron owns 28.3 percent of the Yadana and Sein gas fields operated by France’s Total SA in the Andaman Sea, which mostly supplies Thai power plants and also has a stake in the pipeline company that transports the gas to the Thai border. Some of the gas is also supplied to Myanmar.

Last year, it also signed a production sharing contract in exploration Block A5 in the Rakhine Basin. Its subsidiary holds a 99 percent stake in this exploration block.

Chevron’s net daily natural gas production in Myanmar last year averaged 117 million cubic feet, making up 2.2 percent of the company’s annual gas output in 2015.

Myanmar’s previous record deal was Singapore’s Sea View Hotel Ltd’s $1 billion purchase of a hotel property in 2005, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Chevron is also seeking buyers for its Asian geothermal energy blocks valued at about $3 billion, sources familiar with matter have said.

– Reuters

TOKYO: Asian shares dropped on Monday, dragged down by tumbling crude oil futures after producers' weekend talks failed to address the global supply glut.

A handful of years ago, I popped into a cafe to grab a quick lunch and was delighted to discover savory muffins on the menu. Since then I've made savory muffins a part of my baking repertoire. This version of a savory muffin takes advantage of one of spring's most abundant (and certainly most beautiful) vegetables, radishes, and pairs them with goat cheese for a peppery, tangy twist.

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PENGKALAN CHEPA: Screaming and shouting continued to be heard at SMK Pengkalan Chepa 2 secondary school where more than 50 pupils and teachers have reportedly suffered mass hysteria, in which a “black figure” was seen.

The school, with an enrolment of 1,044 pupils and 84 teachers, was closed on Thursday, after three days of hysteria attacks, and reopened this morning under the observation of several religious teachers and Islamic medical practitioners.

However, Star Online said that waiting reporters and photographers outside the compound heard more screaming and shouting and again at 11am. They were not allowed to enter the school.

Earlier in the week, the principal, Siti Hawa Mat, had said that all the victims claimed to have seen a “black figure”. She told reporters that 25 pupils suffered the hysteria attacks on Monday, and 50 pupils and 11 teachers on Wednesday.

She said the school has since engaged the services of Islamic medical practitioners to help recover the situation, adding that this was the first such case that happened at the school since it was erected in 2001.

According to Star Online, school officials conducted a two-hour recital of Quranic verses and held prayers together with the students. It is believed that a Chinese bomoh from Perak and his team had also entered the school compound to assist.

A teacher, Norlailawati Ramli, who was affected on Wednesday was quoted by Astro Awani as saying:

“When I was holding one of the pupils, my arms felt extraordinarily heavy. I recited the istighfar. Things were truly out of control at the time. But after the pupil recovered and went home, I then felt as though someone was hanging on to the left side of my body. I saw flashes of black, like a black figure.”

Another teacher, Kamariah Ibrahim, she said she tried to recite verses from the Al-Qur’an when she realised that she was losing control of herself.

“I saw a black figure, like it was trying to enter my body, but my colleagues were surrounding me, reciting verses from the Al-Qur’an. I felt like my head was bloating, I felt numb and tears kept pouring down my face,” she was quoted as saying. “I silently recited the Ayatul Kursi, over and over again, then my head began to feel lighter after about an hour.”

KANGAR: Water rationing began today in the northern area of Perlis affecting 13,000 domestic users in Wang Kelian, Kaki Bukit, Titi Tinggi, Beseri and Abi, said Perlis Menteri Besar Azlan Man.

Other residents would receive water with lower pressure. The areas are: Kampung Melayu, Kampung Kolam and Kampung Kok Mak in Padang Besar; Jalan Batu 16; National Service Training Programme in Guar Chenderai; and Kampung Bukit Merah, in Beseri.

He said areas affected by rationing would be supplied with clean water from lorry tankers. Static tanks placed at several strategic locations in the villages concerned.

He said Syarikat Air Perlis would supply clean water to schools or colleges in the affected locations if there were demands from them.

Azlan, who is also SAP chairman, suggested that leave be granted to the Guar Chenderai PLKN trainees who started their training on March 26 until water supply had returned to normal. Students at the Mara Junior Science College in Beseri could be given leave to return home during the weekend.

“The water rationing plan is subject to changes from time to time by SAP because if rain occurs in the near future, we can stop the rationing.

“During the critical period, consumers in the affected areas are advised to conserve the water available during times of emergency,” he said after a gathering with 44 former village heads last night.

He said the cloud seeding operations in Perlis would be continued for the fifth day today and is expected to end on Monday.

– BERNAMA

Here are eleven of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

If you hurry, Amazon’s selling your undisputed favorite travel mug , the Contigo Autoseal West Loop, for as little as $13, one of the best prices we’ve ever seen, and a solid discount from its usual $18-$20. Just be sure to grab one before the deal cools off.

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Bob De Schutter, Miami University The teenagers who were hooked on Pac-Man in the arcades and amusement parks of the early 1970s are getting ready for retirement, but many of them have never stopped playing video games. In fact, it doesn’t look like they are going to stop gaming anytime soon. The...

JOHOR BARU: SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd will start scheduled water rationing to 85,000 domestic and industrial consumers in the Kota Tinggi and Mersing districts starting from April 18 until May 15.

MANILA: A 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of southern Philippines early Thursday, seismologists said, with no damage or casualties immediately reported and no tsunami warning issued.

The quake occurred at 2:21 am (1821 GMT Wednesday) off Mindanao island with its epicentre about 28 kilometres (17 miles) northwest of the mountainous town of Siocon at a depth of about 12 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

It struck more than 750 kilometres south of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

A USGS map recorded moderate-strong shaking on coastal areas near the quake’s epicentre, but said the risk of damage was not high.

Local authorities said there was no tsunami risk and that they had not received reports of casualties or damage, but warned that some buildings could be affected.

“Quakes of this magnitude can cause damage on poorly built structures,” state seismologist Dante Soneja of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology told AFP.

The institute’s own instruments measured the quake’s magnitude at 5.7 with a depth of 15 kilometres, Soneja added.

The Philippines is regularly hit by quakes due to its location along the so-called chain of fire of islands of the Pacific Ocean that were created by volcanic activity.

– AFP

When diners sat down at a recent gourmet experience held at the Harvey Nichols department store in Manchester, their food was filled with bacteria, fungus and mould. Far from being a public health hazard, this special five-course meal was designed to show how microorganisms are a fundamental part...

YANGON: A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Myanmar on Wednesday, causing tremors around the region, including in neighbouring Bangladesh where scores were reported injured in stampedes and buildings were damaged.

The quake, which took place at a depth of 134 kilometres (83 miles), hit some 400 kilometres northwest of Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), and was also felt in parts of India and China.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, although the region where the earthquake hit has poor communications infrastructure like many of Myanmar’s outlying provinces.

A lawmaker from the Sagaing region, some 100 kilometres from the epicentre, told AFP she felt rough tremors that lasted for several minutes.

“There may be some destruction and damage. But it’s difficult to know the (extent) of destruction at nighttime,” Cho Cho Win said, adding that the town does not have many high-rise buildings.

Tin Nyo, 67, from another township in Sagaing, said the earthquake was the strongest she had ever felt.

“Although it happened over a short period, it was really rough,” she said.

Some in Yangon — Myanmar’s former capital and biggest city — who also reported feeling tremors fled their multi-story apartment buildings in fear.

The quake was also strongly felt across Bangladesh, which shares a border with Myanmar.

More than 80 people in the country were injured, mostly in stampedes as panicked residents fled their homes and offices, Channel 24 reported.

In the port city of Chittagong, some 200 kilometres from the Myanmar border, at least four buildings stood on a slant following the quake.

“Around 50 people were injured in the Chittagong city, including 24 who were admitted to hospital with minor injuries. They were mostly injured in stampedes,” the city’s police constable Imran Hossain told AFP.

Traffic ground to a halt in parts of the capital Dhaka as tens of thousands of alarmed residents rushed into the streets.

‘Let’s get out!’

In neighbouring India, tremors were felt in the northeastern cities of Kolkata, Shillong, Guwahati and Patnam.

In Kolkata, one of India’s largest cities, startled residents ran from their houses after the trembling.

“I was inside, working and then suddenly I felt the ground shaking,” local resident Chiranjeet Ghosh told television news channels.

“People started yelling ‘Something is happening, let’s get out!’ and we immediately rushed out.”

“I came out and saw that everyone else around here had already evacuated their homes and poured onto the streets.”

Residents in Kolkata reported seeing cracks appearing in buildings following the quake, and the city’s metro was suspended for a few minutes.

Strong tremors were also felt in Tibet, with some residents of Lhasa out on the streets, Chinese official news agency Xinhua said.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or more struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the centre of the country, according to the USGS.

Myanmar has not seen a major quake since November 2012, when a powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the centre of the country, killing 26 people and injuring hundreds.

The impoverished Southeast Asian nation, which is emerging from decades of military rule, has a strained medical system, especially in its rural states.

The breakneck pace of development in Myanmar’s cities, combined with crumbling infrastructure and poor urban planning, has also made the country’s most populous areas vulnerable to earthquakes and other disasters, experts say.

In 2015, severe flooding swept across swaths of Myanmar, including the region where Wednesday’s earthquake hit, leaving more than 100 people dead and affecting thousands as rescuers struggled to reach isolated regions.

– AFP

Most dish brushes can be cleaned in the dishwasher, but if you have one that’s made of wood or you don’t have a dishwasher, this simple trick will get it clean.

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BANDA ACEH: An elderly Christian woman has been caned in a conservative Indonesian province for selling alcohol, the first time someone from outside the Islamic faith has been punished there under strict religious laws.

The 60-year was whipped nearly 30 times with a rattan cane before a crowd of hundreds in Aceh province Tuesday, an official said, along with a couple who were subjected to 100 lashes for committing adultery.

Aceh is the only province in the predominantly Muslim country that applies sharia law, and public canings for breaches of Islamic code happen on a regular basis and often attract huge crowds.

Those caught engaging in adultery, same-sex relationships, drinking and even associating with unmarried members of the opposite sex can end up facing the cane.

Though the law once only applied to Muslims, a bylaw that took effect late last year allowed sharia regulations to be applied to non-Muslims in certain situations, Lili Suparli, a senior official at the Central Aceh prosecutor’s office told AFP.

“This is the first case of a non-Muslim being punished under Islamic criminal bylaw,” he said, referring to the punishment of the Christian woman.

Aceh began implementing sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an effort by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

Islamic laws have been strengthened since the province struck a peace deal with the central government in 2005.

More than 90 percent of Indonesians describe themselves as Muslim, but the vast majority practise a moderate form of the faith.

– AFP

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Dua badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) hari ini membuat laporan polis terhadap Timbalan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang II, Prof P Ramasamy yang menggelar pendakwah dari India, Dr Zakir Naik sebagai ‘syaitan’.

Presiden Pertubuhan Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia (MJMM), Abdul Rani Kulup Abdullah menyifatkan catatan Ramasamy di Facebooknya itu sebagai biadap dan tidak sensitif.

“Amat biadap dan kasar untuk menggelar ulama bertaraf dunia sebagai syaitan,” katanya kepada wartawan di luar Balai Polis Daerah Sentul, hari ini.

Abdul Rani berkata, pemimpin berpangkat tinggi tidak sepatutnya membuat kenyataan sedemikian, kerana ia boleh menimbulkan kemarahan ramai.

Sementara itu, Presiden Ikatan Rakyat Insan Muslim Malaysia (IRIMM), Amir Amsaa Alla Pitchay berkongsi pendapat sama dan menegaskan kenyataan biadap sedemikian tidak boleh diterima rakyat.

“Kami tidak boleh terima (tindakan itu), sebab itu kami membuat laporan polis hari ini,” katanya.

Pengerusi IRIMM Pulau Pinang, Zainol Abidin Ahmad turut menggesa polis supaya menyiasat tindakan Timbalan Setiausaha Agung DAP itu.

“Dia menghina Islam. Kami gesa polis bertindak terhadap sikap biadap (Ramasamy),” ujarnya.

Terdahulu, Ramasamy melalui satu kenyataan media memohon maaf dan telah memadamkan perkataan ‘syaitan’ yang ditujukan kepada Dr Zakir.

“Saya menyesal sekiranya penggunaan perkataan ‘syaitan’ telah menimbulkan ketidakselesaan dan kemarahan di kalangan umat Islam di Malaysia. Ini sama sekali bukan niat saya, kerana saya menghormati semua agama di negara ini,” katanya.

Kali terakhir Dr Zakir mengunjungi Malaysia pada 2012 yang turut mendapat bantahan masyarakat beragama Hindu.

Semalam, Naib Canselor Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTEM), Prof Datuk Dr Shahrin Sahib mengumumkan penarikan diri daripada menjadi tuan rumah bagi program ‘Similarities Between Hinduism and Islam’ yang dijadual disampaikan Dr Zakir, Ahad ini.

Keputusan itu dibuat bagi mematuhi arahan Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar demi menjaga ketenteraman awam dan sensitiviti agama di negara ini.

SONGKLA: A four-year-old boy and a policeman were killed, while eight others were wounded in the latest bomb attack in southern Thailand, which occurred in front of the Chana railway station at 5.30pm Monday.

Many people find it difficult to fit the recommended daily 30 minutes or more of walking into weekday routines. It can be hard get out for a walk before work and not everyone has time to get active in the evening. So why not use time spent at the office to get moving, squeezing bursts of activity into a daily routine? Try these five tricks to burn 300 calories in a day at the office.

Walk for 5 minutes every hour

The ideal solution is to get up and go for a short, five-minute walk every hour. Why not go see a colleague at the other end of the office or in a different department, trekking across corridors and staircases if possible. Or go get a glass of water from a water fountain or kitchen on a higher floor, for example. And when heading to the restroom, choose facilities that are far away from your desk. Simply getting up and getting moving eight times a day can soon add up to 40 minutes of physical activity, burning around 300 calories with relative ease.

Don’t forget: walking briskly and springing up stairs vigorously burns more calories than plodding wearily around the office.

Stretch legs when sitting down

Like when traveling by plane — where you can’t get up and walk around as often as you might like — blood circulation can be boosted with a few simple exercises. This will help prevent legs from feeling heavy and stiff. Raise and extend legs one after the other while clenching all leg muscles tightly. Then, rotate ankles clockwise then counter-clockwise, all while keeping abdominal muscles engaged by squeezing them tightly. Your legs will thank you for it in the evening.

Go for a brisk walk at lunchtime

Nothing could be worse than spending your whole lunch hour glued to a smartphone screen. If the weather permits, slip into a pair of comfortable sneakers and get outside for some fresh air. Walking for 30 minutes at a reasonably fast, steady pace (around 3 to 4mph — 5 to 6km/h) can burn up to 175 calories. Why not turn it into a social activity by getting a few colleagues to come along?

Mindful breathing

As well as getting oxygen into the body, breathing is a way of relaxing and managing emotions. Plus, good breathing can have beneficial effects on the lymphatic and digestive systems. In fact, taking a series of deep, abdominal breaths several times a day can help cleanse the body. With hands on the abdomen, breathe in and inflate your stomach like a ball while counting to three. Then, breathe out, letting the stomach fall back into place. Repeat the exercise while counting to six when breathing out (do five sets of each).

Come prepared with healthy snacks

Instead of succumbing to chocolatey snacks from the vending machine or tucking into leftover lunch platters, bring a selection of your own healthy and delicious snacks. These could be handfuls of dried fruit, for example, or fresh fruit, a couple of squares of dark chocolate per day, or some crystalized ginger. These snacks will boost energy without adding unwanted pounds — when consumed in reasonable quantities — and can help keep you on top form all day long.

To stay motivated, remember that each little burst of activity counts towards burning calories and losing weight. It’s better to be active and energetic all week long than simply taking occasional exercise at weekends. And the good news is that the heavier you are the more you’ll burn. So what are you waiting for?

– AFP Relaxnews

GEORGE TOWN: Even durians have taken a hit from the heat. Durian lovers will be disappointed to learn that the supply of the King of Fruits is expected to drop by up to 40% due to the hot weather.

This year at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany, we’ve seen a new A330 cabin design, gigantic seat-back TVs for the economy cabin and a new 4K business-class seat from Panasonic that’s going to transform the in-flight experience once it launches in 2019. While all of those innovations are pretty exciting, they’re not going to have an immediate effect on the passenger experience. Fortunately, there was plenty more to see on the show floor, including new ideas that are already flying today.

One of the biggest challenges facing airlines and passengers alike is how to accommodate a huge influx in the number of carry-on bags. While it’s easy to avoid checked bag fees if you have a certain credit card, many passengers opt to carry on their roll aboard instead. That means a rush to board the plane, with passengers in the lower boarding groups often being asked to check their carry-on instead of being allowed to tuck it in an overhead bin.

If you’ve flown on a new “Sky Interior” Boeing 737, you may have noticed the much larger “Space Bins,” which provide passengers with up to 50% more overhead bin space. These new cabins are flying with several US-based airlines, including American and United. Meanwhile, Airbus has also developed a solution for accommodating more carry-ons on each flight, and I got to check it out in Hamburg last week.

New overhead bins from Airbus provide 60% more space, letting passengers stow their rolling bags vertically instead of horizontally, just like you can see in the image above. That means there’s room for many more bags on each flight, so, in theory, every single passenger will get to stow a bag above their seat. With these new bins, fewer passengers will be parted from their belongings, reducing frustration and resentment, while airlines will (in theory) be able to get flights off the gate more quickly.

The first Delta A321 with this new bin design is flying today. Unfortunately you’ll only find the larger bins on a small percentage of the airline’s fleet, but it’s a bit of a relief to see that major improvements are on the way.

Have you flown with Airbus’ larger overhead bins?