Romeo and Juliet actress Olivia Hussey dies at 73

Actress Olivia Hussey, who shot to international prominence as a teenager for her role in the acclaimed 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet, has died aged 73.

The Argentinian-born actress, who grew up in London, died on Friday surrounded by her loved ones, a statement posted on her Instagram said.

Hussey won the best new actress Golden Globe for her part as Juliet, but decades later she sued Paramount Pictures for sexual abuse as she was aged just 15 when she filmed the movie’s nude scene.

Her other most notable screen role was as Mary, mother of Jesus, in 1977 TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.

“As we grieve this immense loss, we also celebrate Olivia’s enduring impact on our lives and the industry,” the statement said.

Hussey was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951, before moving to London aged seven and studying at the Italia Conti Academy drama school.

1968’s Romeo and Juliet was nominated for best picture and director Oscars

She was 15 when Romeo and Juliet director Franco Zeffirelli discovered her onstage, playing opposite Vanessa Redgrave in the play The Prime of Miss Joan Brodie

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Zeffirelli was looking for someone who was young enough to be a convincing Juliet in what he intended to be the definitive cinematic version of the Shakespeare play.

He cast Hussey alongisde British 16-year-old Leonard Whiting as Romeo in the film.

The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture and director. Hussey missed out on an Oscar nomination herself in a strong year in which Barbra Streisand won the main award for Funny Girl.

But at that year’s Golden Globes Hussey won the award for best new star.

Decades later, she and Whiting sued Paramount Pictures alleging Zeffirelli – who died in 2019 – had encouraged them to film nude scenes despite previous assurances they would not have to.

The pair sought damages of more than $500m (£417m), based on suffering they said they had experienced and the revenue brought in by the film since its release.

But last year a judge dismissed the case, finding the scene was not “sufficiently sexually suggestive”.

In 1977, Hussey had reunited with Zeffirelli for Jesus of Nazareth to play the Virgin Mary, before appearing in Death on the Nile a year later based on Agatha Christie’s novel.

Her roles in early slasher film Black Christmas (1974) and TV film Psycho IV: The Beginning earned her recognition as a scream queen. In the latter, she p[layed Norman Bates’s mother in a prequel storyline.

In later years she also took on work as a voice actress, appearing frequently in video games.

But she did have one final reunion with her former Romeo – as she and Whiting appeared together in the 2015 British film Social Suicide, which was loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, albeit set in the social media era.

Romeo and Juliet actress Olivia Hussey dies at 73

BBC

Israel attacks: UN warns humanitarian disaster in Yemen may get worse

NEW YORK CITY: The humanitarian crisis in Yemen, already one of the most dire in the world, threatens to get even worse should Israel continue to attack Hodeidah seaport and Sanaa airport and puts them out of action, the UN warned on Friday.

Julien Harneis, the organization’s resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said the number of people in the country in need of aid to survive is expected to reach 19 million in the coming year.

Speaking from Sanaa, he said Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has the second-highest number of malnourished children of any nation, and ranks third in terms of food insecurity.

The civil war there, which has dragged on for nearly a decade, has decimated the economy and left millions of civilians without access to the basic necessities of life, he added. The country is in the throes of a “survival crisis” and the number of people unable to access healthcare services is one of the highest in the world.

On Thursday, Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, as well as seaports and power stations on the Red Sea coast, killing at least four people. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attacks were a response to more than a year of missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, and were “just getting started.”

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The Houthis began attacking Israel and international shipping lanes shortly after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. They have vowed to continue as long as the war goes on.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli airstrikes and said he was “gravely concerned” about the intensified escalation of hostilities. He said the strikes on the airport and seaports were “especially alarming,” and warned that they pose “grave risks to humanitarian operations” in the war-torn country.

Harneis, who was in the vicinity of the airport during the strikes, told of the destruction of its air traffic control tower, which left the facility temporarily nonoperational. A member of the UN staff was injured in the strike, and there were significant concerns about the safety of humanitarian workers in the area, he added. The airstrikes took place while a Yemeni civilian airliner was landing, additionally raising fears for the safety of passengers.

The airport is a critical hub for the delivery of humanitarian aid, and a key departure point for Yemenis seeking medical treatment abroad. Harneis said destruction of the airport would have far-reaching implications for international aid operations and the ability of Yemenis to access life-saving healthcare.

Hodeidah seaport is another focal point for humanitarian efforts in Yemen, with 80 percent of the country’s food and 95 percent of medical supplies arriving through this gateway. The recent airstrikes, which damaged tugs used to guide large ships, have reduced the port’s capacity by 50 percent.

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“Any damage to this crucial facility would only deepen the suffering of the Yemeni population,” Harneis warned. He also reiterated that the one of the UN’s tasks is to ensure the harbor is used solely for civilian purposes in accordance with international law.

In addition to the immediate physical dangers airstrikes pose to its staff, the UN is also grappling with the detention of 17 of its workers by the Houthis, which casts another shadow over humanitarian operations.

Harneis said the UN has been in negotiations with the Houthis in Sanaa and continues to work “tirelessly” to secure the release of detained staff.

About 3,000 UN employees are currently working in Yemen, Harneis told Arab News, and the ongoing detentions and the threat of further airstrikes continue to create an atmosphere of anxiety. Given these risks, the emotional toll on staff is significant, he said.

“Many colleagues were very anxious about even coming to the office or going out on field missions. It’s very heavy for everyone,” he added.

Though there have been some improvements in operating conditions for humanitarian workers in recent months, Harneis said that when staff see that 16 of their colleagues are still detained “there’s obviously a great deal of anxiety.”

He added: “Then if you add in to that air strikes and the fear of more airstrikes, there is the fear of what’s going to happen next? Are we going to see attacks against bridges, roads, electricity systems? What does that mean for them?”

Despite the challenges to aid efforts, Harneis stressed that as the situation continues to evolve it is the response from the international community that will determine whether or not Yemen can avoid descending even more deeply into disaster.

Israel attacks: UN warns humanitarian disaster in Yemen may get worse

ARAB NEWS

Bashar Assad relatives while trying to fly out of Lebanon

BEIRUT: The wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian president Bashar Assad ‘s cousins were arrested Friday at the Beirut airport, where they attempted to fly out with allegedly forged passports, Lebanese judicial and security officials said. Assad’s uncle departed the day before.

Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad — the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad — and their daughter, Shams, were smuggled illegally into Lebanon and were trying to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to five Lebanese officials familiar with the case. They were being detained by Lebanese General Security. Rifaat had flown out the day before on his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Swiss federal prosecutors in March indicted Rifaat on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago.

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Rifaat Assad, the brother of Bashar Assad’s father Hafez Assad, Syria’s former ruler, led the artillery unit that shelled the city of Hama and killed thousands, earning him the nickname the “Butcher of Hama.”

Earlier this year, Rifaat Assad was indicted in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Hama.

Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night of Assad’s fall earlier this month, when insurgent forces entered Damascus.

The Lebanese security and judicial officials said that more than 20 members of the former Syrian Army’s notorious 4th Division, military intelligence officers and others affiliated with Assad’s security forces were arrested earlier in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested when they attempted to sell their weapons.

Lebanon’s public prosecution office also received an Interpol notice requesting the arrest of Jamil Al-Hassan, the former director of Syrian intelligence under Assad. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati previously told Reuters that Lebanon would cooperate with the Interpol request to arrest Al-Hassan.

Bashar Assad relatives while trying to fly out of Lebanon

ARAB NEWS