Latest news with #Maru
Hype Malaysia
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hype Malaysia
M'sian-Born Actor Zhang Yaodong Spotted Taking Shifts At Hawker Stall In Singapore
Spotting your favourite celebrity in public is like spotting a rare Pokémon in the wild, especially when they're doing some pretty mundane tasks. As most celebrities prefer to keep out of the public spotlight, it's easy to forget that these individuals are just regular people like us. Malaysian-born actor Zhang Yaodong (张耀栋) was spotted yesterday (4th June 2025) at a kopitiam in Singapore, where he looks to be manning a steamed seafood stall. It was revealed by a user on Xiaohongshu that the stall belonged to Zhang Yaodong and the actor was taking an employee's shift who had resigned. Clad in a basic white tee and glasses, the actor looked to be taking orders from customers while standing behind the cash register of the stall located at Tampines Industrial Park Kopitiam. Despite the crowd, the original poster noted that Zhang was polite and praised his actions. Some also brought up his recent scandal, saying that there is nothing better than fixing one's behaviour after committing a mistake. Zhang Yaodong isn't a stranger to the hawker stall business as he has ventured into multiple F&B businesses since his parents used to be hawkers. The actor used to run a catering business, a roast meat stall, as well as a bee noodle store in Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, he opened an Asian fusion restaurant called 'Maru' in Tanjong Pagar in in 2017, but it has since closed down. Almost a year prior to this, Zhang Yaodong was caught up in messy allegations where he impregnated multiple women. The actor has never denied nor confirmed these rumours. The actor has since revealed in November that he has two daughters (as shown above), and deeply regrets not having been there for them earlier in their childhood. Do you think this is Zhang's path to redemption? Sources: 8days, The Straits Times What's your Reaction? +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0
Al Jazeera
02-06-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Amnesty calls for probe into ‘reckless' Nigerian military air strike
A military air strike in northwest Nigeria has killed at least 20 people, according to the military and local residents, prompting calls from human rights groups for an investigation into the attack. The strike occurred over the weekend in Zamfara state, one of the regions worst affected by violence from armed groups, commonly referred to as 'bandits'. Nigerian Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame said the strike followed intelligence that 'a significant number of terrorists were massing and preparing to strike unsuspecting settlements'. 'Further intelligence confirmed that the bandits had killed some farmers and abducted a number of civilians, including women and children,' Ejodame said in a statement, adding that two local vigilantes were killed and two others injured in the crossfire. However, according to residents cited by the AFP news agency, a group of local vigilantes pursuing a gang was mistakenly bombed by a Nigerian military jet. The air force had been called in by villagers who had suffered an attack earlier in the weekend. Locals said an unknown number of people were also wounded in the strike. 'We were hit by double tragedy on Saturday,' said Buhari Dangulbi, a resident of the affected area. 'Dozens of our people and several cows were taken by bandits, and those who trailed the bandits to rescue them were attacked by a fighter jet. It killed 20 of them.' Residents told AFP that the bandits had earlier attacked the villages of Mani and Wabi in Maru district, stealing cattle and abducting several people. In response, vigilantes launched a pursuit to recover the captives and stolen livestock. 'The military aircraft arrived and started firing, killing at least 20 of our people,' Abdullahi Ali, a Mani resident and member of a local hunters' militia, told the Reuters news agency. Another resident, Ishiye Kabiru, said: 'Our vigilantes from Maraya and nearby communities gathered and went after the bandits. Unfortunately, a military jet struck them.' Alka Tanimu, also from the area, added: 'We will still have to pay to get those kidnapped back, while the cows are gone for good.' Amnesty International condemned the strike and urged a full investigation. 'Attacks by bandits clearly warrant a response from the state, but to launch reckless air strikes into villages – again and again – is absolutely unlawful,' the rights group said. Nigeria's military has previously acknowledged mistakenly hitting civilians during air operations targeting armed gangs. In January, at least 16 vigilantes were killed in a similar strike in Zamfara's Zurmi district. In December 2022, more than 100 civilians were killed in Mutunji village while pursuing bandits. A year later, an attack on a religious gathering in Kaduna state killed at least 85 people.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ikimonogakari ‘Plays' With Music & Expands Musical Range on New Album ‘Asobi'
Ikimonogakari recently released their 11th full album, Asobi ('Play'). Following the release of their previous album, Maru, their first release since becoming a duo, Kiyoe Yoshioka and Yoshiki Mizuno have had a series of firsts: their first overseas show, their first acoustic show at the Budokan, and their first acoustic concert tour. In addition to previously released singles, the album also contains the new song 'Irodori' and collaborations with artists such as Humbert Humbert, fox capture plan, Nao Matsushita, and 'Yu Asobi.' Bonus tracks include 'Koisuru Otome – From THE FIRST TAKE,' which generated a lot of buzz on social media. The songs on the album are the product of the duo allowing themselves to take on music with a sense of freedom, joy, and playfulness. Billboard JAPAN talked to the two about this new album, a second 'debut' after they began a new chapter as a band. More from Billboard Nessa Barrett Announces 2025 Australian Arena Tour Sombr Announces 2025 Australia and New Zealand Headline Tour Eddie Vedder Covers Springsteen's 'My City of Ruins' After Trump Clash Let's start by talking about what you've been doing overseas. In June of 2024 you performed at the 35th Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, and then in July you performed at the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards in Macao. How was the response? Mizuno: I was surprised at the cheering, this tremendous 'Whoooooaaaaa!' Yoshioka: The audience's tone of voice and the volume of the cheering was totally different than with a Japanese audience. Sometimes my singing was swallowed up by the cheering. Mizuno: When I'd start a guitar solo, there'd also be that 'Whoooooaaaaa!' cheer. Yoshioka: The audience really put their emotions and reactions into their voices. What song got the biggest reaction? Mizuno: 'Blue Bird.' People overseas listen to it a lot, and it seems the audiences all knew it. Yoshioka: When we performed ballads like 'SAKURA,' the whole audience was swaying side to side, too. Even despite the language barrier, the emotion of the song came across, which made me really happy. After your overseas performances, you finished your new album, . Since the last album, , you've been busy with live shows, such as the shows in China, and also releasing new songs. You've had quite the packed schedule. Looking back, what do you remember about this period? Mizuno: After releasing Maru, we did have a time when we were really focused on live shows. We put on a performance hall tour, played at a few festivals, and put on an acoustic show at the Budokan. We had a lot of opportunities to play in front of audiences, and every day was really stimulating for us. This had a positive influence on our song-writing, and I think we also changed a lot deep down inside. I also met all kinds of people through my HIROBA project and put out an album, which was a great experience. I was able to bring that experience back with me to Ikimonogakari. Sho Hasumi from Daw90000 wrote lyrics for me (on 'Anohi No Koto meets Sho Hasumi') and I got the courage to connect with people outside our circle. Yoshioka enjoyed that, too. Yoshioka: Mizuno, who is Ikimonogakari's leader, would actively propose new things we'd never tried before, like performing with just the two of us on stage. At first, I was really nervous, but gradually I came to enjoy doing new things. There was a lot of trial and error, of course, and it was really challenging, but the creation process also really stimulated my curiosity. The album has songs with lyrics written by other creators ('Jigazou meets Yu Asobi' and 'Anohi No Koto meets Sho Hasumi'). That was an ambitious choice. Mizuno: I think it was about seven or eight years ago, we had a meeting with our staff and I said, 'What about having someone else write some lyrics for us?' Our director at the time said 'Don't you think you should still keep writing the lyrics yourself?' At the time, that made sense, and I was like, 'You're right,' but years have passed since then and we've had all kinds of new experiences. We've come to see change as a positive thing, and we're okay with people from outside the group getting involved. We feel secure now that even with outside involvement, the end result will be proper Ikimonogakari. Yoshioka: I was really nervous at first, though (laughs). But when Mizuno said 'I want to ask someone else to write the lyrics,' it felt really natural, so I took a positive outlook on it, like 'I think it'll work out fine.' Everyone on the team was like 'Let's give it a shot.' If someone else writes the lyrics, the words will also match up with the music in a different way. Yoshioka: Right. I've always sung Mizuno's lyrics to Mizuno's music, so I've developed what I guess you could call habits. After recording, I realized I'd had to get rid of those habits when I sang. It felt very natural putting the words to music, which I liked. Mizuno: You develop habits, or perhaps color, and I hoped that by changing that color we'd produce something new. I've been working with Yoshioka since we were in our teens, and we've grown together. Yoshioka's way of singing has become part of me, and my melodies, and the melodies of (Hotaka) Yamashita, have become a part of Yoshioka. So when you're singing lyrics that aren't part of that, you find that you can't sing them the way you normally would (laughs). I was very curious about how my own melodies would sound. It was fun taking on that challenge with Hasumi's lyrics and Yu Asobi's lyrics. What's behind the title of the album, ? Mizuno: I feel like the process of creating our last album, Maru, was very stoic. On this album, fortunately, we had a lot of tie-in songs and a lot of variety. The context of each song was also totally different, so we were having a hard time coming up with a concept that would tie them all together. We were thinking about different possibilities when the conversation turned to maybe seeing the rich variety of the album in a positive light instead of trying to put everything in one box. The idea of 'play' (in Japanese, 'asobi') came up through that conversation. Yoshioka: Right. Mizuno: Since the idea of that title, Asobi, came up, I suggested working with outside artists on the songs. A lot of different artists took part on IKIMONOGAKARI meets (a collaborative album in which 12 artists interpreted Ikimonogakari songs in new ways), and this time I wanted us to 'meet' them. Yoshioka: When the word 'play' came up, everyone got really excited. The whole room lit up. It felt like if we went in that direction, we'd come up with something good. Like Mizuno said, the creation of Maru was a very stoic process, and it felt like with this album, we could go in a totally different direction. We had this fun concept in mind as we created the new album. This has been called a second 'debut' after you began your new chapter as a band, and it really is packed with songs that go in new artistic directions. Do you feel like the creation of will be influencing your future work? Mizuno: Over the last four or five years, there have been a lot of big events in our lives. We separated from our talent agency, a member left, and Yoshioka had a baby. A lot of our songs were shaped by our story. In 2024, it felt like we really focused on the music itself, and we had a lot of fun both performing live and recording songs. We've walked a lot of roads, and I think now we're really able to focus on 'what I should sing as a singer,' 'what I should write as a songwriter,' and 'what kinds of artists we should work with as a group.' We've come full circle, back to where we started, and we can move forward from here. I hope a lot of people listen to our new album, and, personally, I'm really happy to be able to look forward to the future. Yoshioka: As I mentioned earlier, we've taken on a lot of different challenges, like playing at the Budokan as just a duo or performing street shows. We've worked with a lot of artists on our album. We've kept trying new things, and that's become normal for us now. I think we've created a great album, and I feel like we'll keep diving into new things in the future. In the past, I've been the type that gets nervous about new things (laughs), but I've come to see how fun taking on new challenges can be. I'm glad we've been able to open this door that will lead us in new directions. —This interview by Tomoyuki Mori first appeared on Billboard Japan Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Time of India
Two Bengaluru policemen accepting Rs 1L bribe land in Lokayukta trap
Bengaluru: Two officers from Kempegowda Nagar police station were arrested by Lokayukta officials while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from an accused in a cheating case. The accused are inspector Shivaji Rao and sub-inspector Shivananda case involves Keshavamurthy S, 46, a resident of Avalahalli, who was accused of defrauding jeweller Uttamchand Maru of Rs 1.3 crore and 1.2 kg of gold by promising to obtain a bar licence. Maru filed a complaint on Feb 20 this year, alleging that Keshavamurthy cheated him between Jan 2020 and Dec to the complaint, Keshavamurthy introduced himself as a driver in the excise department when he visited Maru's shop in 2018. He claimed to have connections with senior excise department officials and assured Maru he could secure a CL 7 or CL 9 specifically referenced licence number 'EXE/01/13/02/CL-9/2020-2021' and collected money on multiple occasions, along with no licence materialised, Maru demanded the return of his money and gold. He alleged that Keshavamurthy responded with death threats, leading to the registration of a case under various sections of the Indian Penal the investigation, the officers summoned Keshavamurthy for questioning and demanded Rs 6 lakh as bribe to help with his case, requesting Rs 1 lakh as an initial to pay the bribe, Keshavamurthy approached Lokayukta police. Following their guidance, he visited the police station Monday evening and paid the bribe, at which point Lokayukta officials arrested the duo.A case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act-1988.
Business Journals
22-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Maru rooftop bar to debut in Tampa's Bayshore with Nikkei-inspired menu
A hospitality group known for its innovative concepts is bringing a taste of Japanese-Peruvian fusion to Tampa's Bayshore neighborhood. Story Highlights Maru, a rooftop cocktail bar, opens Friday, May 2, in Tampa's Bayshore neighborhood. Menu includes small plates, hand rolls, ceviches, and upscale shareables like caviar. Open Thursday–Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight; until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. A new rooftop bar is set to open in Tampa's Bayshore neighborhood. Maru, an elevated rooftop cocktail bar with a Nikkei-style menu, will open on May 2. The new eatery from the Indigo Road Hospitality Group will be located on the seventh floor of Bayshore Gardens at 2909 W Bay to Bay Blvd. Asana Partners is redeveloping Bayshore Gardens, located along West Bay to Bay Boulevard, with scenic views of Bayshore Boulevard and Hillsborough Bay. The developer acquired the site in late 2021 and is known for its distinctive, retail-focused neighborhood projects. Since then, it has expanded its footprint in Tampa's urban core, with a portfolio that includes properties in North Hyde Park and SoHo. Maru will offer customers traditional Japanese cooking techniques mixed with Peruvian flavors, according to a release. It will have a curated beverage program led by beverage director Vonda Freeman, with a selection of sparkling wines, champagnes and crafted cocktails. Under the direction of Chef Masa Hamaya, Maru's menu has shareable dishes, ranging from small plates, hand rolls and ceviche to elevated shareable dishes such as caviar. The restaurant will be open Thursday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight, with extended hours until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. This latest opening continues Indigo Road Hospitality Group's trend of opening unique concepts in Bayshore. Last year, the company announced it would open O-Ku, a sushi concept, this year on the ground floor of Bayshore Gardens.
