30 Wednesday January 19 2022 | the times
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HUMAN KIND PHOTOGRAPHY/MEDIADRUMIMAGESPrince of pales A lion with leucism — partial loss of pigmentation — is the star of a sanctuary in Harrismith, South AfricaSaudi Arabia launched its heaviest air
raids for more than two years on the
Yemeni capital, a day after a drone
attack on its ally the United Arab Emir-
ates by Houthi rebels.
Reports from Sanaa, which the Iran-
ian-backed rebels control, said that a
former rebel officer and 13 family mem-
bers had been killed.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE entered
the war on the government side in 2015
but the strikes on Abu Dhabi were the
first confirmed hits on Emirati territory.
Saudi Arabia has been forced to limit
its airstrikes on civilian areas in recent
years after pressure from its military
suppliers the US and Britain, over the
many casualties. President Biden said
he would sell it only defensive arms.
Nevertheless, the Saudi air force has
been flying regular sorties, particularly
during the long drawn-out battle for
Marib, a city in central Yemen. Thou-
sands of rebels, including child soldiers,
were killed by Saudi strikes.
The attack on Sanaa was described
by the Saudis as a proportionate re-
sponse to the drone attack on the UAE.
Houthi officials said: “We sent them a
clear message by hitting places that are
not of great strategic importance, but it
is a warning if the UAE continues its
hostility, it will not be able to withstand
the coming strikes.”
Two Indians and a Pakistani were
killed by a strike on an oil storage facili-
ty. Another drone hit construction
work for Abu Dhabi airport.
The Emirati foreign ministry said:
“This sinful targeting will not go un-
punished.” The country withdrew most
of its troops from Yemen in 2019 but still
supports forces in the south.
Saudis hit
back after
Houthi raid
Yemen
Richard Spencer
Middle East Correspondent
Among the primped and preened influ-
encers on Instagram, Megumi Nakano
stands out. On a site dedicated to youth
and vanity, she is a 40-year-old mother
and housewife who appears without
make-up and with her hair unbrushed.
Rather than fashion tips or celebrity
gossip, her daily videos focus on ingen-
ious ways of reusing leftover vege-
tables. But in her own way Nakano is an
internet sensation.
In the past two years, under the nick-
name Kuu-chan, she has acquired
118,000 Instagram followers, published
a book and appeared on national tele-
vision. While Japan’s most famous self-
help celebrity, Marie Kondo, preaches
the benefits of tidiness, Nakano is the
guru of setsuyaku — thrift.
Every morning at 5.45am, she live-
streams in her sweatpants to tens of
thousands of fans — mostly Japanese
mothers like her — who rise before
dawn to prepare food for sleeping
husbands and children.
“Manage for a day using leftovers in
the fridge,” she says in a recent video, in
which an ageing onion, two tomatoes,
and a bag of chicken nuggets are effort-
lessly transmuted into several filling
meals. “Put the priority on what you
Queen of Thrift helps Japan
resist the call to splash out
have to eat rather than what you want
to eat,” she says.
Nakano gives advice on family meals,
discount grocery shopping and house-
hold saving. The message of her book, A
Thrifty Housewife’s 10 Million Yen
[£63,000] of Savings That You Too Can
Quickly Make, captures the anxious fru-
gality of many people in Japan, and
goes against everything its government
is trying to achieve.Since the collapse of the overheated
“bubble economy” of the late 1980s,
Japan has struggled with deflation —
the stubborn failure of prices and wages
to rise.
This hurts the economy by depress-
ing consumption, manufacturing and
commerce, and successive govern-
ments have tried to reverse its effects.
Interest rates have been reduced below
zero, tax cuts have been promised to
businesses that raise wages and the
goverment has handed out cash.
None of this has worked, however,and the modest goal of a 2 per cent
inflation rate is yet to be achieved. The
culprits are cautious, ordinary people
like Nakano and her followers, who
stubbornly insist on saving.
Their reasoning is brutally simple.
“People are anxious about the future,”
she said. “Without some expectation of
a rise in salary, or bonuses, or some re-
covery of the economy, people don’t
want to spend.”
Nakano grew up during the “bubble”
but like many, she started to feel the
crunch after the birth of her two sons.
Forced to work part time, her income
fell to the equivalent of £1,400 a month,
and the life of thrift began.
Unlike the queen of tidiness, Kondo,
who is inspired by the quasi-mystical
ideas of the Shinto religion, Nakano’s
advice is mundanely down to earth:
save money on clothes by adopting a
“uniform” of a white T-shirt and jeans;
keep careful accounts of spending and
income; plan meals; buy only what you
need; minimise big nights out.
Last year she gave up her nursing job
to become a full-time influencer. Her
book is in its third printing, the media
invitations keep coming and she is
training to become a financial adviser.
Frugality has been good to Megumi
Nakano. The queen of thrift has less
need than ever to economise.Japan
Richard Lloyd Parry To k y o
Caring street
hawker wins
scholarship
Nigeria
Richard Assheton Lagos
A video of a street hawker handing out
money to prisoners has gone viral in
Nigeria, landing the good Samaritan a
university scholarship.
Ekuma Jeremiah, who sells bottled
water on the streets of Lagos, was
shown in an Instagram video last week,
posted by the photographer Ojo Em-
manuel, giving 100 naira (about £1.70)
notes to prisoners in a truck.
“Though I am very poor and sell bot-
tled water, I still have my freedom, I can
eat whatever I want to eat and go any-
where I want to go, but the prisoners do
not have that freedom,” he told Emma-
nuel afterwards.
The video has been viewed nearly
90,000 times, prompting an offer of a
scholarship from Obi Iyiegbu, the own-
er of the Cubana Group of nightclubs,
who is worth about £70 million.
“I am offering him a lifetime oppor-
tunity. He has to go to school — I think
that is his ambition,” Iyiegbu, 46, said in
an interview with the broadcaster Dad-
dy Freeze.
“He will go to university, anything he
wants and then by God’s grace I know I
will still be standing by the time he is
done with school. He has a place in any
of my organisations at the top level.”Megumi Nakano is
is the guru of
setsuyaku, or thriftMass killer Breivik does
Nazi salutes in court
Norway Anders Behring Breivik,
the right-wing extremist who
killed 77 people in bomb and gun
attacks in 2011, has appeared in
court for a parole hearing. In 2012
he was jailed for 21 years for
terrorist acts on the island of
Utoya and in the government
quarter in Oslo. His sentence can
be extended indefinitely. Breivik,
42, is eligible to seek parole and
the Telemark district court must
rule whether he is still a danger to
society and should stay in jail.
During the hearing Breivik made
Nazi salutes and displayed white
supremacist messages. The court,
sitting at the jail in Skien where
he is imprisoned, is expected to
give a ruling this month. (AP)Spanish young adults
given €250 rent boost
Spain The Spanish government
will pay €250 a month to young
adults on low incomes to help
them to gain independence, as
increasing numbers cannot afford
rent and have to live with their
parents. Raquel Sánchez, the
housing minister, announced that
from this month under-35s
earning less than €24,318 a year
can request the rent subsidy for
up to two years. (Reuters)Quit presidential race,
aide urges Berlusconi
Italy Silvio Berlusconi’s right-hand
man has admitted that the former
prime minister’s campaign to
become president is making little
progress and has called on him to
drop out. Vittorio Sgarbi said he
had suspended the “desperate
task” of trying to persuade MPs
to back Berlusconi, 85, who has a
fraud conviction and is on trial
accused of bribing witnesses,
which he denies. (Reuters)Angry elephant gives
safari family a fright
South Africa A family of four were
fortunate not only to survive their
car being pummelled by an
elephant but to escape unhurt and
with a video of their close shave.
The four, including children aged
eight and ten, were trapped until
help arrived from Isimangaliso
Wetland Park. The elephant,
which was thought to be in musth,
a period of raised testosterone and
aggression, will not be put down.Missing leader surfaces
to deny power struggle
Kazakhstan The former president
Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, has
spoken for the first time since
225 people died in recent clashes
between security forces and
protesters angered by gas price
rises. Nazarbayev denied rumours
that he had fled amid a power
struggle and said President
Tokayev, his successor, was in
control. This is thought to be an
admission of his retirement.