Indus

Death of a delta: Pakistan's Indus sinks and shrinks

BY ZAIN ZAMAN JANJUA

  • Khatti is preparing to move his family to nearby Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and one swelling with economic migrants, including from the Indus delta.
  • Salt crusts crackle underfoot as Habibullah Khatti walks to his mother's grave to say a final goodbye before he abandons his parched island village on Pakistan's Indus delta. 
  • Khatti is preparing to move his family to nearby Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and one swelling with economic migrants, including from the Indus delta.
Salt crusts crackle underfoot as Habibullah Khatti walks to his mother's grave to say a final goodbye before he abandons his parched island village on Pakistan's Indus delta. 
Seawater intrusion into the delta, where the Indus River meets the Arabian Sea in the south of the country, has triggered the collapse of farming and fishing communities. 
"The saline water has surrounded us from all four sides," Khatti told AFP from Abdullah Mirbahar village in the town of Kharo Chan, around 15 kilometres (9 miles) from where the river empties into the sea.
As fish stocks fell, the 54-year-old turned to tailoring until that too became impossible with only four of the 150 households remaining. 
"In the evening, an eerie silence takes over the area," he said, as stray dogs wandered through the deserted wooden and bamboo houses.
Kharo Chan once comprised around 40 villages, but most have disappeared under rising seawater.
The town's population fell from 26,000 in 1981 to 11,000 in 2023, according to census data. 
Khatti is preparing to move his family to nearby Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and one swelling with economic migrants, including from the Indus delta.
The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, which advocates for fishing communities, estimates that tens of thousands of people have been displaced from the delta's coastal districts.
However, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced from the overall Indus delta region in the last two decades, according to a study published in March by the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former climate change minister.
The downstream flow of water into the delta has decreased by 80 percent since the 1950s as a result of irrigation canals, hydropower dams and the impacts of climate change on glacial and snow melt, according to a 2018 study by the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water.
That has led to devastating seawater intrusion.
The salinity of the water has risen by around 70 percent since 1990, making it impossible to grow crops and severely affecting the shrimp and crab populations.
"The delta is both sinking and shrinking," said Muhammad Ali Anjum, a local WWF conservationist.

'No other choice'

Beginning in Tibet, the Indus River flows through disputed Kashmir before traversing the entire length of Pakistan.
The river and its tributaries irrigate about 80 percent of the country's farmland, supporting millions of livelihoods.
The delta, formed by rich sediment deposited by the river as it meets the sea, was once ideal for farming, fishing, mangroves and wildlife.
But more than 16 percent of fertile land has become unproductive due to encroaching seawater, a government water agency study in 2019 found.
In the town of Keti Bandar, which spreads inland from the water's edge, a white layer of salt crystals covers the ground.
Boats carry in drinkable water from miles away and villagers cart it home via donkeys.
"Who leaves their homeland willingly?" said Haji Karam Jat, whose house was swallowed by the rising water level. 
He rebuilt farther inland, anticipating more families would join him. 
"A person only leaves their motherland when they have no other choice," he told AFP.

Way of life

British colonial rulers were the first to alter the course of the Indus River with canals and dams, followed more recently by dozens of hydropower projects. 
Earlier this year, several military-led canal projects on the Indus River were halted when farmers in the low-lying riverine areas of Sindh province protested.
To combat the degradation of the Indus River Basin, the government and the United Nations launched the 'Living Indus Initiative' in 2021.
One intervention focuses on restoring the delta by addressing soil salinity and protecting local agriculture and ecosystems. 
The Sindh government is currently running its own mangrove restoration project, aiming to revive forests that serve as a natural barrier against saltwater intrusion. 
Even as mangroves are restored in some parts of the coastline, land grabbing and residential development projects drive clearing in other areas.
Neighbouring India meanwhile poses a looming threat to the river and its delta, after revoking a 1960 water treaty with Pakistan which divides control over the Indus basin rivers.
It has threatened to never reinstate the treaty and build dams upstream, squeezing the flow of water to Pakistan, which has called it "an act of war".
Alongside their homes, the communities have lost a way of life tightly bound up in the delta, said climate activist Fatima Majeed, who works with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum.
Women, in particular, who for generations have stitched nets and packed the day's catches, struggle to find work when they migrate to cities, said Majeed, whose grandfather relocated the family from Kharo Chan to the outskirts of Karachi.
"We haven't just lost our land, we've lost our culture."
zz/ecl/lb

climate

Japan sets new record high temperature of 41.8C

BY TOMOHIRO OSAKI

  • Last week in tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40C, the first time any of its observation points -- the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 -- had seen such a high, authorities said.
  • Japan logged two new heat records in a day on Tuesday, with the mercury hitting 41.6C and then 41.8C, the weather office said, warning temperatures may rise further still.
  • Last week in tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40C, the first time any of its observation points -- the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 -- had seen such a high, authorities said.
Japan logged two new heat records in a day on Tuesday, with the mercury hitting 41.6C and then 41.8C, the weather office said, warning temperatures may rise further still.
Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as climate change creates ever more erratic weather patterns, and Japan is no exception.
The scorching temperatures in the city of Isesaki on Tuesday surpassed the previous record seen in the western Hyogo region of 41.2C only last week.
Japan's summer last year was the joint hottest on record, equalling the level seen in 2023, followed by the warmest autumn since records began 126 years ago.
Last week in tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40C, the first time any of its observation points -- the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 -- had seen such a high, authorities said.
Experts warn Japan's beloved cherry trees are blooming earlier due to the warmer climate -- or sometimes not fully blossoming -- because autumns and winters are not cold enough to trigger flowering.
The famous snowcap of Mount Fuji was absent for the longest recorded period last year, not appearing until early November, compared with the average of early October.
July was also the hottest since records began in 1898, the weather agency said Friday, with the average monthly temperature 2.89C above the 1991-2020 average.

South Korea sizzles

South Korea also saw its second-hottest July, with an average temperature of 27.1C, according the meteorological office, which has been collecting such data since 1973. 
The hottest July on record in South Korea was in 1994, when the average temperature reached 27.7 degrees Celsius.
In Japan some dams and paddies nationwide are experiencing a water shortage, with farmers complaining that the sizzling heat combined with the lack of rain is slowing rice cultivation. 
Precipitation in July was low over wide areas of Japan, with northern regions facing the Sea of Japan experiencing record low rainfall, it added.
The rainy season ended about three weeks earlier than usual in western regions of Japan, another record.
Every summer, Japanese officials urge the public to seek shelter in air-conditioned rooms to avoid heatstroke.
The elderly in Japan -- which has the world's second-oldest population after Monaco -- are particularly at risk.
This year western Europe saw its hottest June on record, as extreme temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, according to the EU climate monitor Copernicus.
Dangerous weather stretched into July, with separate research estimating that climate change made the temperature up to 4C hotter, pushing the thermometer into deadly territory for thousands of vulnerable people and greatly worsening the projected death toll.
Millions were exposed to high heat stress as daily average temperatures in western Europe climbed to levels rarely seen before -- and never so early in the summer.  
tmo-stu/fox

music

Gen Z shift, high costs force UK nightclubs to reinvent

BY CLARA LALANNE

  • The capital remains an "exciting" city, 25-year-old Carys Bromley who recently moved to London from the island of Guernsey, told AFP. "There's a lot of parties, clubs, and a big nightlife.
  • Is the party over?
  • The capital remains an "exciting" city, 25-year-old Carys Bromley who recently moved to London from the island of Guernsey, told AFP. "There's a lot of parties, clubs, and a big nightlife.
Is the party over? UK nightclubs are famed around the world, but Covid and inflation have hit the sector hard, forcing businesses to reinvent themselves to attract new generations to the dance floor.
Pryzm Kingston is a well-known club in southwest London popular with students, where artists like Billie Eilish, Rod Stewart, and Stormzy have performed.
But the converted cinema closed its doors for renovation last month, with its owners saying it was time to "look to the future and reimagine this venue for the next generation of partygoers."
It will be transformed into a smaller club and a dance bar -- "creating venues that reflect what people are looking for now," they added.
Many other British clubs are also trying to re-adjust after around a third of them, about 400 venues, have shut down since 2020, according to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA).
"Whilst nightclubs were in gentle decline prior to Covid, the pandemic profoundly accelerated things," Tony Rigg, a music industry consultant, told AFP, noting that the cost-of-living crisis had sent bills and rents soaring.
As the first pints of the evening were poured in central London, 26-year-old account manager Conor Nugent told AFP he only goes clubbing for "special occasions," after asking himself "if it's really worth it."
Like 68 percent of 18-to-30-year-olds, the Londoner has cut back on nights out for financial reasons and prefers to save up for concerts and events.
Rigg pointed out that Covid-19 caused a "cultural shift" among Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — who generally drink less alcohol and largely miss out on the "rite of passage of going out, experiencing clubs and learning some social behaviours."

Lure of Paris, Berlin

Rekom UK, the company behind iconic clubs like Pryzm and Atik, filed for bankruptcy in 2024, shutting down 17 venues across the country, citing multiple pressures.
About 20 others, including Kingston, were acquired by Neos Hospitality, which decided to convert some into dance bars or host alcohol-free events. 
"The sector has to evolve otherwise it will become obsolete," Rigg acknowledged.
To stop hemorrhaging party-seekers lured by Berlin or Paris, London Mayor Sadiq Khan launched an independent working group called the "Nightlife Taskforce," which is set to publish a report later this year.
"One of the reasons why people love London is our nightlife, our culture," Khan told AFP.
"When I speak to mayors in Paris, in New York and Tokyo, I'm jealous of the powers they have" especially on licensing issues, he said, adding he was looking at other cities like Paris "with envy" as it enjoys a nighttime boom.
He was granted approval in March to overrule certain local authorities who had forced pubs, restaurants, concert halls, and nightclubs to close early.
The government has also announced plans to change regulations to support nightlife venues in certain areas.
"Sadly, in the UK, we struggle with reputational issues and a narrative that makes (clubbing) more of a counterculture element rather than a real economic and cultural driver," NTIA head Michael Kill, who advocates for greater recognition of electronic music and club culture, told AFP.
The night-time sector contributes a vital £153 billion ($203 billion) a year to the UK economy, employing around two million people, according to NTIA.
And with London still enjoying a long, well-established reputation, all is not lost.
The capital remains an "exciting" city, 25-year-old Carys Bromley who recently moved to London from the island of Guernsey, told AFP.
"There's a lot of parties, clubs, and a big nightlife. The places stay open longer, it's busier, a bit more wild," she said.
cla-zap/jwp/jkb/gv

heritage

Dutch windmill village churned by overtourism debate

BY RICHARD CARTER

  • Eventually, the "Zaanse Schans" site was famous enough to be officially "opened" by Queen Juliana in 1972.
  • With its historic windmills and gabled wooden houses nestling by a meandering river, the picture-perfect and TikTok-famous area of Zaanse Schans is a must-see for any visitor to the Netherlands.
  • Eventually, the "Zaanse Schans" site was famous enough to be officially "opened" by Queen Juliana in 1972.
With its historic windmills and gabled wooden houses nestling by a meandering river, the picture-perfect and TikTok-famous area of Zaanse Schans is a must-see for any visitor to the Netherlands.
But the village of centuries-old buildings near Amsterdam has become "a national symbol of overtourism", according to local authorities, who now want to charge a hotly contested entrance fee.
The fierce debate over the 17.50-euro ($20) ticket planned for next year comes during a global backlash against mass tourism that has seen hotspots like Venice charge for day trips.
On a glorious summer day when AFP visited, long queues for the world-famous windmills snaked outside the doors and crowds shuffled over bridges, waiting in line for Instagram-ready snaps of the bucolic scenery.
Buses disgorge scores of day-tripping tourists all day long, packing into a relatively small area that is public and free to visit -- for now.
The council in nearby Zaanstad says the fee is vital to preserve the heritage buildings, which are coming under "severe pressure" from high tourist numbers.
"For several years now, the Zaanse Schans has been a national symbol of overtourism," said alderman Wessel Breunesse.
Around 2.6 million tourists visited last year, a figure set to rise to three million in coming years if nothing is done, the council says.
An entrance fee could reduce the annual volume to around 1.8 million and bring in millions of euros to preserve these historic buildings.
"Doing nothing is not an option. Without sufficient resources for adequate maintenance, the heritage will be lost in the short term (five to seven years)," said the council in a statement sent to AFP.

Tourism-dependent economy

What many tourists do not know until they arrive is that while many of the buildings date from the 16th century, the site itself is a recent and artificial oddity.
After World War II, traditional timber construction was in danger of dying out for good.
Eager to preserve this slice of history, local mayor Joris in 't Veld came up with a plan: he would uproot the houses and relocate them to a new protected site.
The first mill arrived in 1955, the first house a few years later. Eventually, the "Zaanse Schans" site was famous enough to be officially "opened" by Queen Juliana in 1972.
"The Zaanse Schans was never conceived as the international crowd-puller it is today, attracting millions of visitors from all over the world," noted alderman Breunesse.
But for local resident and businesswoman Ingrid Kraakman, the plan to charge an entrance fee would spell disaster, both as a citizen and for the cheese shop in which she works.
"As a resident from this area, I don't want to live behind a fence... that's not OK," the 62-year-old told AFP from her 17th-century home in the heart of Zaanse Schans.
Kraakman and her husband Ko have lived in the area for 33 years and believe an entrance fee would be a death blow for the local economy and jobs.
"There's a lot of fear," she said, estimating that around 80 percent of the local economy is dependent on tourism.
Her cheese shop is brimming with tourists, attracted by free samples and souvenirs, but she said the fee would be a major drag on spending.
A family of four would already be paying around 80 euros with parking, reducing their budget for on-site purchases, she noted.
"They don't buy cheese. They don't buy clocks. They buy a souvenir or maybe the smallest cheese there is," she told AFP.

Referendum demand

The Kraakmans have collected more than 2,000 signatures for a referendum on the issue, but their push has so far fallen on deaf ears in the town hall.
Aware of some local hostility, the council has pledged the site will stay free for locals and that there will be no physical fence around the area.
Although the plans are for next year, an amendment was introduced to allow for the possibility of delays. Now 2026 seems too short a deadline -- a "moonshot", said one local official on condition of anonymity.
Most tourists said the trip would be worth it even if they had to pay.
Spanish visitor Robert Duque told AFP: "It's a lovely place but sometimes it's too crowded and you don't really get to enjoy the full experience."
The 35-year-old operations manager said he would welcome the entrance fee to crimp tourist volumes.
"I think it's good, so we can stagger the arrival of guests and we can enjoy the facilities more," said Duque.
ric/srg/rlp

Niger

NGOs caught between juntas and jihadists in turbulent Sahel

  • "The need is mostly concentrated in the central Sahel" in junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger where assistance is critical to nearly 15 million people, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA. Since seizing power, the juntas have made sovereignty and the fight against jihadists their priority, leaving NGOs and organisations that receive funding from abroad under increased pressure.
  • NGOs in the violence-wracked Sahel region are dangerously caught between military juntas who accuse them of being spies, and jihadists who view them as symbols of Western influence.
  • "The need is mostly concentrated in the central Sahel" in junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger where assistance is critical to nearly 15 million people, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA. Since seizing power, the juntas have made sovereignty and the fight against jihadists their priority, leaving NGOs and organisations that receive funding from abroad under increased pressure.
NGOs in the violence-wracked Sahel region are dangerously caught between military juntas who accuse them of being spies, and jihadists who view them as symbols of Western influence.
In the world terror epicentre, nearly 30 million people rely on humanitarian aid provided by non-governmental organisations and international bodies.
"The need is mostly concentrated in the central Sahel" in junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger where assistance is critical to nearly 15 million people, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA.
Since seizing power, the juntas have made sovereignty and the fight against jihadists their priority, leaving NGOs and organisations that receive funding from abroad under increased pressure.
In Burkina Faso, 21 NGOs had their permits to operate in the country revoked in the space of just one month between June and July, for what the authorities said were administrative reasons.
Ten other associations were suspended for three months.
"It's a tough blow but we are working to comply with legal requirements. For now, our activities are suspended," a member of one of the associations told AFP.
In neighbouring Mali, NGOs financed or supported by former colonial power France, with whom the junta has cut ties, have been suspended since 2022.
The military-led authorities also plan to impose a 10-percent levy on funding for NGOs and associations to use for Mali's "economic, social, environmental and cultural development", according to a draft law seen by AFP.

'Subversion missions' 

Niger's junta has ordered NGOs to align their activities with its priorities, which it says are bolstering security, developing production centres to boost the economy and promoting good governance.
In November, it withdrew the operating licences for French aid group Acted and a local association, Action for Wellbeing (ABPE).
Interior Minister General Mohamed Toumba declared two months later that "many NGOs" in Niger were carrying out "subversion missions" through "support they often provide to terrorists".
Then in February, the International Committee of the Red Cross was ordered to leave the west African country, where it had worked since 1990, accused of "collusion with terrorists".
As they come under pressure from the juntas, NGOs must also contend with attacks by jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, who see them as a threat to their power and ideology.
The Sahel region was the epicentre of global "terrorism" for the second straight year in 2024, accounting for more than half of deaths put down to terror attacks worldwide, according to the Global Terrorism Index. 
At least 26 humanitarian workers were killed in the Sahel last year and many more wounded and kidnapped in 116 security incidents, OCHA said. 
"Our operations are now limited to a few cities. To transport staff or supplies, for example, we prefer air transport, which generates extra costs at a time when we are struggling to mobilise resources," a Burkinabe humanitarian worker, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told AFP.
"Many NGOs are now present on the ground thanks to their local staff, which minimises risks," a Nigerien NGO worker said.

 'Supplant the state'

In October, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stopped working in the large northern Burkinabe town of Djibo, which is surrounded by jihadists, following attacks targeting its health centres and offices.
A few years earlier the medical charity had been forced to leave the southeast Nigerien town of Maine Soroa near the border with Nigeria due to raids by Boko Haram jihadists in August 2020.
"NGOs are targeted because extremist groups are seeking to establish themselves as legitimate alternative authorities," said Charlie Werb, an analyst at risk advisory company Alert:24.
"They want to supplant the state, which means not only pushing out the state itself from territory, but also organisations deemed to be providing services on its behalf," he told AFP.
The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its Arabic initials JNIM, an Islamist outfit affiliated with Al-Qaeda that is active in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, "has stated that it will only allow NGOs to operate in areas under its control so long as they don’t carry out activity that goes against their religious principles", Werb said.
NGOs have had armed escorts imposed on them by the juntas purportedly to ensure their safety, but humanitarian workers believe the move is mostly designed to keep track of their activities.
"Conducting our activities under military escort can hinder our actions and expose us to one of the belligerents," the Burkinabe aid worker said.
bur-lar-bh-bdi/ldp/lp/bam/kjm/gv

nuclear

'Unspeakable horror': the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  • - The aftermath - The twin bombings dealt the final blow to imperial Japan, which surrendered on August 15, 1945, bringing an end to World War II. Historians have debated whether the bombings ultimately saved lives by bringing an end to the conflict and averting a ground invasion.
  • Japan this week marks 80 years since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. The first on August 6, 1945 killed around 140,000 people in Hiroshima and three days later another 74,000 perished in Nagasaki.
  • - The aftermath - The twin bombings dealt the final blow to imperial Japan, which surrendered on August 15, 1945, bringing an end to World War II. Historians have debated whether the bombings ultimately saved lives by bringing an end to the conflict and averting a ground invasion.
Japan this week marks 80 years since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
The first on August 6, 1945 killed around 140,000 people in Hiroshima and three days later another 74,000 perished in Nagasaki.
Here are some facts about the devastating attacks:

The bombs

The first atomic bomb was dropped on the western city of Hiroshima by the US bomber Enola Gay, nicknamed "Little Boy".
It detonated about 600 metres from the ground, with a force equivalent to 15,000 tonnes of TNT.
Tens of thousands died instantly, while others succumbed to injuries or illness in the weeks, months and years that followed.
Three days later the US dropped a second bomb, dubbed "Fat Man", on the southern city of Nagasaki.
The attacks remain the only time atomic bombs have been used in wartime.

The attacks

In Hiroshima, the first thing people noticed was an "intense ball of fire", according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Temperatures near the blast reached an estimated 7,000 degrees Celsius (12,632 degrees Fahrenheit), which incinerated everything within a radius of about three kilometres (five miles).
"I remember the charred bodies of little children lying around the hypocentre area like black rocks," Koichi Wada, a witness who was 18 at the time of the Nagasaki attack, has said of the bombing.
ICRC experts say there were cases of temporary or permanent blindness due to the intense flash of light, and subsequent related damage such as cataracts.
A whirlwind of heat generated also ignited thousands of fires that ravaged large parts of the mostly wooden city. A firestorm that consumed all available oxygen caused more deaths by suffocation.
It has been estimated that burn- and fire-related casualties accounted for more than half of the immediate deaths in Hiroshima.
The explosion generated an enormous shock wave that blew people through the air. Others were crushed to death inside collapsed buildings or injured or killed by flying debris.
- Radiation effects - 
Radiation sickness was reported in the aftermath by many who survived the initial blasts and firestorms.
Acute symptoms included vomiting, headaches, nausea, diarrhoea, haemorrhaging and hair loss, with radiation sickness fatal for many within a few weeks or months.
Survivors, known as "hibakusha", also experienced longer-term effects including elevated risks of thyroid cancer and leukaemia, and both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have seen elevated cancer rates.
Of 50,000 radiation victims from both cities studied by the Japanese-US Radiation Effects Research Foundation, about 100 died of leukaemia and 850 suffered from radiation-induced cancers.
The group found no evidence however of a "significant increase" in serious birth defects among survivors' children.

The aftermath

The twin bombings dealt the final blow to imperial Japan, which surrendered on August 15, 1945, bringing an end to World War II.
Historians have debated whether the bombings ultimately saved lives by bringing an end to the conflict and averting a ground invasion.
But those calculations meant little to survivors, many of whom battled decades of physical and psychological trauma, as well as the stigma that sometimes came with being a hibakusha.
Despite their suffering, many survivors were shunned -- in particular for marriage -- because of prejudice over radiation exposure.
Survivors and their supporters have become some of the loudest and most powerful voices opposing nuclear weapons, including meeting world leaders to press their case.
Last year, the Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of hibakusha, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2019, Pope Francis met several hibakusha in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, decrying the "unspeakable horror" and calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima. He offered no apology for the attack, but embraced survivors and called for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Russia is one of around 100 countries expected to attend this year's memorial in Nagasaki, the first time Moscow has been invited to commemorations in the city since the start of the war with Ukraine.
bur-aph/stu/jfx

Global Edition

Tourism boom sparks backlash in historic heart of Athens

BY MARINA RAFENBERG

  • Any resident who spots a restaurant terrace encroaching on public space or cars parked on the pavement can report the offenders to this team.
  • Surrounded by a hubbub of blaring music, restaurant terraces and rumbling suitcase wheels slaloming between overflowing litter bins, Giorgos Zafeiriou believes surging tourism has made his historic Athens neighbourhood unrecognisable.
  • Any resident who spots a restaurant terrace encroaching on public space or cars parked on the pavement can report the offenders to this team.
Surrounded by a hubbub of blaring music, restaurant terraces and rumbling suitcase wheels slaloming between overflowing litter bins, Giorgos Zafeiriou believes surging tourism has made his historic Athens neighbourhood unrecognisable.
The Greek capital's Plaka district "is threatened by overtourism", said Zafeiriou, who has lived there for more than three decades and leads its residents' association.
This year, 10 million people are expected to visit Athens, an increase of two million from 2024 which reflects the city's growing popularity as a tourist destination since the Covid-19 pandemic ended.
Despite its label as the cradle of Western civilisation, Athens was previously regarded as a mere stopping point between the airport and the port of Piraeus, from where tourists explore Greece's myriad of picturesque islands.
Nicknamed "the neighbourhood of the gods", Plaka is nestled below the ancient Acropolis hill, a world heritage site hosting the millennia-old Parthenon temple which welcomed almost 4.5 million visitors last year.
Plaka is now awash with tourists who navigate its warren of narrow streets lined with cafes, taverns, souvenir shops, small Byzantine churches and relics from Antiquity and the Ottoman era.
Plaka "is Europe's oldest neighbourhood which has been inhabited continuously since Antiquity", said Lydia Carras, head of the Ellet association working to preserve the environment and cultural heritage. 
"We cannot see it lose its soul," she added.

'Saturated with tourists'

Tourism is a pillar of the Greek economy, which endured years of painful austerity following the 2008 global financial crash and the ensuing eurozone debt crisis.
For souvenir shop seller Konstantinos Marinakis, "Greece is finally doing better thanks to the good health of tourism which allowed the economy to recover and create jobs."
But the flourishing sector has generated a backlash in Europe's most sought-after locations, with locals complaining of soaring housing prices and the impact on their neighbourhoods.
Protesters have targeted tourists with water pistols in Spain's Barcelona, while the Italian city of Venice has introduced a charge in a bid to control visitor numbers.
Mayor Haris Doukas told AFP with pride that Athens was now one of the world's 10 most-visited cities, but acknowledged "areas like Plaka which are saturated with tourists".
"We are not yet at the stage of Barcelona, but we must act before it is too late," he said.
An "intervention unit" for Plaka was recently created to enforce rules with the support of the police.
Any resident who spots a restaurant terrace encroaching on public space or cars parked on the pavement can report the offenders to this team.
"Between 1960 and 1980, Plaka was overwhelmed by discos and bouzoukias," and "many residents had already left," explained Carras, referring to clubs that play traditional Greek music.
A 1993 presidential decree shut the clubs, protected homes and specified the use of each building in the neighbourhood, with hotels only allowed on certain streets.

Rules 'dodged'

But "these rules have been dodged", with "entire houses converted into several apartments" advertised on short-term rental platforms, said Dimitris Melissas, a lawyer specialising in urban planning. 
Plaka's population of 2,000 can be swamped by up to four times as many tourists in the summer, added Melissas, although no official statistics exist because the census measures Athens as a whole.
Representing Ellet, the lawyer has taken a case over the legality of 16 buildings converted entirely into seasonal rentals to the Council of State, Greece's top administrative court.
He argued they are actually hotel premises in disguise because they have receptions or serve breakfast on terraces. A decision, which could set an important legal precedent, is expected by the end of September.
The conservative government has banned new registrations of apartments on short-term rental platforms for at least a year in central Athens, where more than 12,000 seasonal lets existed in 2024, fuelling rent rises.
"But when I still read adverts in newspapers to invest in apartments that can be converted into Airbnbs, I doubt the effectiveness of this measure," said Melissas.
"The problem in Greece is not voting laws but enforcing them."
mr/imm/sbk

history

Mighty Atom: how the A-bombs shaped Japanese arts

BY KATIE FORSTER AND KYOKO HASEGAWA

  • - 'Black Rain' - "Black Rain", a 1965 novel by Masuji Ibuse about radiation sickness and discrimination, is one of Japan's best-known novels about the Hiroshima bombing.
  • From Godzilla's fiery atomic breath to post-apocalyptic anime and harrowing depictions of radiation sickness, the influence of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki runs deep in Japanese popular culture.
  • - 'Black Rain' - "Black Rain", a 1965 novel by Masuji Ibuse about radiation sickness and discrimination, is one of Japan's best-known novels about the Hiroshima bombing.
From Godzilla's fiery atomic breath to post-apocalyptic anime and harrowing depictions of radiation sickness, the influence of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki runs deep in Japanese popular culture.
In the 80 years since the World War II attacks, stories of destruction and mutation have been fused with fears around natural disasters and, more recently, the Fukushima crisis.
Classic manga and anime series "Astro Boy" is called "Mighty Atom" in Japanese, while city-levelling explosions loom large in other titles such as "Akira", "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Attack on Titan".
"Living through tremendous pain" and overcoming trauma is a recurrent theme in Japan's cultural output "that global audiences have found fascinating", said William Tsutsui, a history professor at Ottawa University.
The US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 left around 140,000 people dead. It was followed days later by the bombing of Nagasaki that killed around 74,000 people.
Some poetry "portrays the sheer terror of the atomic bomb at the moment it was dropped", but many novels and artworks address the topic indirectly, said author Yoko Tawada.
"It's very difficult for the experience of the atomic bomb, which had never existed in history before, to find a place in the human heart as a memory," she told AFP.
Tawada's 2014 book "The Emissary" focuses on the aftermath of an unspecified terrible event.
She was inspired by connections between the atomic bombs, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and "Minamata disease" -- mass mercury poisoning caused by industrial pollution in southwest Japan from the 1950s.
The story "is less of a warning, and more a message to say: things may get bad, but we'll find a way to survive", Tawada said.

Godzilla's skin

Narratives reflecting Japan's complex relationship with nuclear technologies abound, but the most famous example is Godzilla, a prehistoric creature awakened by US hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific.
"We need monsters to give a face and form to abstract fears," said professor Tsutsui, author of the book "Godzilla on My Mind".
"In the 1950s, Godzilla fulfilled that role for the Japanese -- with atomic energy, with radiation, with memories of the A-bombs."
Many people who watched Godzilla rampage through Tokyo in the original 1954 film left theatres in tears, he said.
And "it's said that the special effects people working on Godzilla modelled the monster's heavily furrowed skin after the keloid scars on the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
In the nearly 40 Godzilla movies released since, nuclear themes are present but often given less prominence, partly to appease American audiences, Tsutsui said.
Even so, the series remains hugely popular, with 2016 megahit "Shin Godzilla" seen as a critique of Japan's response to the tsunami-triggered Fukushima disaster.

'Black Rain'

"Black Rain", a 1965 novel by Masuji Ibuse about radiation sickness and discrimination, is one of Japan's best-known novels about the Hiroshima bombing.
But the fact Ibuse was not an A-bomb survivor is part of a "big debate about who is permitted to write these stories", said Victoria Young of the University of Cambridge.
"How we talk about or create literature out of real life is always going to be difficult," she said.
"Are you allowed to write about it if you didn't directly experience it?"
Nobel-winning author Kenzaburo Oe collected survivor accounts in "Hiroshima Notes", essays written on visits to the city in the 1960s.
"He's confronting reality, but tries to approach it from a personal angle" including his relationship with his disabled son, said Tawada, who has lived in Germany for four decades after growing up in Japan.
"The anti-war education I received sometimes gave the impression that Japan was solely a victim" in World War II, she said.
"When it comes to the bombings, Japan was a victim -- no doubt" but "it's important to look at the bigger picture" including Japan's wartime atrocities, she said.
As a child, illustrations of the nuclear bombings in contemporary picture books reminded her of depictions of hell in historical Japanese art.
This "made me consider whether human civilisation itself harboured inherent dangers", making atomic weapons feel less like "developments in technology, and more like something latent within humanity".
kaf-kh/stu/djw/jfx

pope

Pope's 'Jubilee of Youth' ends with mass for 1 million pilgrims

  • The festive atmosphere reached a peak Saturday ahead of the vigil presided over by Leo, with Italian broadcaster Rai dubbing it a Catholic "Woodstock". 
  • Pope Leo XIV presided over a final mass in Rome for over one million young people on Sunday, the culmination of a pilgrimage that has drawn Catholics from across the world. 
  • The festive atmosphere reached a peak Saturday ahead of the vigil presided over by Leo, with Italian broadcaster Rai dubbing it a Catholic "Woodstock". 
Pope Leo XIV presided over a final mass in Rome for over one million young people on Sunday, the culmination of a pilgrimage that has drawn Catholics from across the world. 
"Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less," Pope Leo told the crowd. 
The week-long "Jubilee of Youth" -- a highlight of the Jubilee holy year -- was an enormous undertaking for the Vatican, with a half a million young pilgrims in Rome for most of the week. 
On Saturday night, before a twilight vigil led by the pope, organisers said there were 800,000 people in the vast, open-air space on Rome's eastern outskirts, and on Sunday the Vatican said that number had grown to one million. 
Most of them spent the night in tents, in sleeping bags or on mats in anticipation of Sunday's mass. 
Among them was New Yorker Christofer Delano, who said he was "so happy to see Pope Leo" but stunned by the crowds.
"I didn't expect to see all these people. I knew there was going to be a lot of people -- I didn't know it was going to be this many," he told AFP.
In his homily, the first US pope and former missionary encouraged the gathered youth to "spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith to everyone you meet!" 
The Vatican has sought to highlight pilgrims who travelled to Rome from war-torn regions, and Leo said in his Angelus prayer: "We are closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils which are caused by other human beings." 
"We are with the young people of Gaza. We are with the young people of Ukraine, with those of every land bloodied by war," said the 69-year-old pontiff. 
"My young brothers and sisters, you are the sign that a different world is possible, a world of fraternity and friendship where conflicts are not resolved with weapons but with dialogue."

Catholic 'Woodstock'

The colourful event was accompanied by music from a choir, and about 450 bishops and 700 priests, all in green robes. A towering cross dominated the massive golden arch covering the stage where the pope led mass.
Italian pilgrim Tommaso Benedetti said the pope had passed his "first test" in the eyes of young people during the youth jubilee.
"We feel quite satisfied. There were many references to peace, which is a theme that is very close to our hearts as young people," Benedetti told AFP.
The young pilgrims -- from 146 different countries, according to the Vatican -- have filled Rome's streets since Monday, chanting, singing and waving flags of their countries. 
The festive atmosphere reached a peak Saturday ahead of the vigil presided over by Leo, with Italian broadcaster Rai dubbing it a Catholic "Woodstock". 
Hundreds of thousands camped out at the dusty venue, strumming guitars or singing, as music blasted from the stage where a series of religious bands entertained the crowds.  
Leo was greeted with deafening screams and applause after his arrival by helicopter and as he toured the grounds in his popemobile, with many people running to catch a better glimpse of the new pope. 
Roads leading to the Tor Vegata venue, about a 40 minute drive from the centre of Rome, were packed, making Leo's choice of helicopter transportation on both Saturday and Sunday more efficient. 
At over 500,000 square metres (125 acres), the grounds were the size of around 70 football fields. 
British student Andy Hewellyn sat in front of a huge video screen -- a prime spot, as he could not even see the stage far away. 
"I'm so happy to be here, even if I'm a bit far from the pope. I knew what to expect!" he told AFP.
"The main thing is that we're all together."
The youth pilgrimage came about three months after the start of Leo's papacy and 25 years after John Paul II organised the last such youth gathering in Rome. 
It was announced by Pope Francis during World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023. 
The Church planned a series of events for the young pilgrims over the course of the week, including turning the Circus Maximus -- where chariot races were held in ancient Rome -- into an open-air confessional. 
ams/js/tw

pope

Young Catholics give rock star welcome to Pope Leo at vigil

BY ALEXANDRIA SAGE

  • - Open-air confessional -   Throughout the week, attendees have participated in Church-planned events, such as confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome's top tourist spots.
  • Hundreds of thousands of young faithful feted Pope Leo XIV like a rock star Saturday at an open-air prayer vigil outside Rome, after the head of the Catholic Church made a dramatic entrance by helicopter.
  • - Open-air confessional -   Throughout the week, attendees have participated in Church-planned events, such as confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome's top tourist spots.
Hundreds of thousands of young faithful feted Pope Leo XIV like a rock star Saturday at an open-air prayer vigil outside Rome, after the head of the Catholic Church made a dramatic entrance by helicopter.
Pilgrims began crying and cheering when the white military helicopter descended over the sprawling, open-air site in Rome's eastern outskirts;
Organisers said as more than 800,000 young pilgrims from 146 countries around the world had assembled there as part of a "Jubilee of Youth" -- and perhaps as many as a million.
Smiling broadly from his popemobile, the first American pope waved to throngs of young, screaming pilgrims lining his route, many of them running for a better vantage point.
They had already spent the day in the hot sun listening to music, praying and talking with fellow Catholics.
"The pope is here!" announced an excited voice over the public address, to thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd.
But the tenor of the event soon became more solemn and contemplative as the pope took to the stage, carrying a large wood cross. 
"Dear young people, after walking, praying and sharing these days of grace of the Jubilee dedicated to you, we now gather together in the light of the advancing evening to keep vigil together," Leo, 69, told them.

A Catholic 'Woodstock'

In the crowd was French pilgrim Julie Mortier, 18, whose voice was hoarse from singing and screaming for hours.
"We're too happy to be here! Seeing the pope, that's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" she croaked happily to AFP. 
Event organisers said people had continued to arrive during the vigil and that it was possible that attendance numbers had reached one million. 
Most pilgrims said they would camp overnight for a Sunday morning mass at the site led by Leo. That will mark the culmination of the week-long youth pilgrimage, a key event in the Catholic Church's Jubilee holy year.
Some in the crowd were so far away, they could not see the massive stage with a golden arch and towering cross that dominated the vast open area -- which at over 500,000 square metres was the size of around 70 football fields.
"I'm so happy to be here, even if I'm a bit far from the pope. I knew what to expect!" British student Andy Hewellyn told AFP.
"The main thing is that we're all together," he said ahead of the pope's appearance, as other young people nearby played guitars, sang, or snoozed in the sun.
Italian broadcaster Rai dubbed the event a Catholic "Woodstock", as throughout the day nearly two dozen musical and dance groups, many of them religious, entertained the crowds, who lounged among blankets, cushions and umbrellas.
In a video message, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed pilgrims to the capital, who were "praying, singing, joking amongst themselves, celebrating in an extraordinary party".

Water and suncream

The "Jubilee of Youth", which began Monday, comes nearly three months after the start of Leo's papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland's Pope John Paul II.
Early Saturday, countless groups of young people set off from central Rome for the venue in Tor Vergata after filling water bottles, applying suncream and adjusting backpacks.
They were ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a crowd of people and then sleep under the stars.
Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing "the pope up close".
"It's the first time I'm going to see him, and I can't wait," the 21-year-old told AFP, looking forward to a "night of prayers under the stars". 
French pilgrim Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late pope Francis's rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland. 
"Pope Francis told us to 'get off your couches,' and that really gave me a boost," he said. 
- Open-air confessional -  
Throughout the week, attendees have participated in Church-planned events, such as confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome's top tourist spots.
On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand, with 200 white gazebos serving as makeshift confessionals lining the hippodrome where chariot races were once held in Ancient Rome.
The pilgrimage unfolds as under-30s navigate economic uncertainty, climate change, and ongoing international conflict, with some pilgrims travelling from war-torn areas like Syria and Ukraine. 
Samarei Semos, 29, who said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome, said she hoped Leo would have a strong say about "third world countries". 
The Vatican said that before the vigil the pope had met and prayed with travellers accompanying an 18-year-old Egyptian pilgrim who died Friday night. 
Rai News reported that the young woman had died of a heart attack on a bus while returning to her lodging from an event in Rome.
Amid tight security, more than 4,300 volunteers and over 1,000 police are watching over the vigil, organisers said. 
ams/jj

politics

Academics warn Columbia University deal sets dangerous precedent

BY AKSHATA KAPOOR

  • But Columbia last week agreed to pay the government $200 million, and an additional $21 million to settle an investigation into anti-Semitism.
  • Columbia University's $200 million agreement with President Donald Trump's administration marks the end of a months-long showdown, but academics warn it is just the first round of a government "assault" on higher education.
  • But Columbia last week agreed to pay the government $200 million, and an additional $21 million to settle an investigation into anti-Semitism.
Columbia University's $200 million agreement with President Donald Trump's administration marks the end of a months-long showdown, but academics warn it is just the first round of a government "assault" on higher education.
Academics from Columbia and beyond have expressed concerns that the deal -- which makes broad-ranging concessions and increases government oversight -- will become the blueprint for how Trump brings other universities to heel.
The New York institution was the first to be targeted in Trump's war against elite universities, for what the US president claimed was its failure to tackle anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests.
It was stripped of hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding and lost its ability to apply for new research grants. Labs saw vital funding frozen, and dozens of researchers were laid off.
But Columbia last week agreed to pay the government $200 million, and an additional $21 million to settle an investigation into anti-Semitism.
According to Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, the lack of due process -- with the government slashing funding before carrying out a formal investigation -- left Columbia in an "untenable position."
Columbia law professor David Pozen agreed, saying the "manner in which the deal was constructed has been unlawful and coercive from the start" and slamming the agreement as giving "legal form to an extortion scheme."

Federal oversight

The deal goes beyond addressing anti-Semitism and makes concessions on international student admissions, race and ethnicity considerations in admissions and single-sex spaces on campus, among other issues.
Columbia also agreed to appoint an independent monitor to implement the deal, share ethnicity admissions data with the government and crack down on campus protests.
Many of the provisions "represent significant incursions onto Columbia's autonomy," said Pozen.
"What's happened at Columbia is part of a broader authoritarian attack on civil society," he said, pointing to similar pressures on law firms and media organizations to fall in line.
According to the law professor, the deal "signals the emergence of a new regulatory regime in which the Trump administration will periodically and unpredictably shake down other schools and demand concessions from them."
In the coming weeks, Pozen said he expected the "administration will put a lot of pressure on Harvard and other schools to follow suit."
Harvard University has pushed back against the government, filing a lawsuit in a bid to reverse sweeping funding cuts.
But Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard, said that "in terms of academic freedom and in terms of democracy, the (Columbia) precedent is devastating."
- 'First round' - 
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said she hoped the Columbia deal would be a "template for other universities around the country."
On Wednesday, McMahon announced a deal with Brown University to restore some federal funding and end ongoing investigations after the Ivy League school agreed to end race considerations in admissions and adopt a biological definition of gender.
Brown President Christina Paxson admitted "there are other aspects of the agreement that were not part of previous federal reviews of Brown policies" but were "priorities of the federal administration."
Harvard is reportedly considering forking out $500 million to settle, according to the New York Times.
Others have made smaller concessions to appease the government, with Trump's alma mater the University of Pennsylvania banning transgender women from competing in women's sports, and the University of Virginia's head resigning after scrutiny over its diversity programs.
Brendan Cantwell, a professor at Michigan State University who researches the history and governance of higher education, said government interference in universities "has not happened at scale like this, probably ever in American history."
While some university staff see striking an agreement as the quickest way to reopen the federal funding spigot, Cantwell warned that concessions such as sharing ethnicity data from admissions could be "weaponized" and provide fodder for future probes.
Levitsky agreed, saying: "Extortionists don't stop at the first concession. Extortionists come back for more."
"There's a very high likelihood that this is just the first round," he said.
Pozen noted that it will be harder for "major research universities to hold the line" compared to smaller colleges which are less reliant on federal funding.
But Levitsky still urged Harvard to stand its ground and "fight back," including in the courts. 
"Fighting an authoritarian regime is costly, but that's what we have to do," he said. "This is an unprecedented assault, and universities need to work together."
aks/wd

Belgium

France says it cannot save contraceptives US plans to destroy

BY MARINE PENNETIER AND DANIEL LAWLER

  • According to several media reports, the unexpired products were to be incinerated in France at the end of July by a company that specialises in destroying medical waste.
  • France said Friday it could not seize $9.7 million worth of women's contraception products that the United States plans to destroy, after media reports suggested the stockpile would be incinerated in the country.
  • According to several media reports, the unexpired products were to be incinerated in France at the end of July by a company that specialises in destroying medical waste.
France said Friday it could not seize $9.7 million worth of women's contraception products that the United States plans to destroy, after media reports suggested the stockpile would be incinerated in the country.
The contraceptives were purchased by the US foreign aid agency USAID under former president Joe Biden to be provided to women in some of the world's poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
But Donald Trump's administration, which has dismantled USAID since Trump succeeded Biden in January, confirmed last month it intends to destroy the contraceptives being stored in a warehouse in the Belgian city of Geel.
According to several media reports, the unexpired products were to be incinerated in France at the end of July by a company that specialises in destroying medical waste.
France's government has come under pressure to save the contraceptives, with women's rights groups calling the US decision "insane".
But the health ministry told AFP that "unfortunately there is no legal basis" for French or even European health authorities to intervene to recover the stockpile.
"Since contraceptives are not drugs of major therapeutic interest, and in this case we are not facing a supply shortage, we have no means to requisition the stocks," it added.
The ministry also said it had no information on where the contraceptives would be destroyed.

Where are they?  

It remains unclear where the contraceptives currently are -- or even if they have already been destroyed.
French women's rights group Family Planning told AFP on Thursday they had been informed that the boxes had started being moved out of the Belgian warehouse 36 hours earlier.
"We do not know where these trucks are now -- or whether they have arrived in France," the group's head Sarah Durocher said, calling on incineration companies to "oppose this insane decision".
Exactly which company could be responsible for incinerating the products has also not been revealed.
French company Veolia, which had been rumoured as a contender, confirmed to AFP that it has a contract with the US firm Chemonics, USAID's logistics provider. 
However the company emphasised that the contract only covers "expired products, which is not the case for the stockpile" in Belgium.
The products, which include IUDs, implants and birth control pills, are reportedly up to five years away from expiring.
Belgium's foreign ministry told AFP earlier this week that it "is exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these products, including temporary relocation solutions".

'Senseless'

The US decision has provoked an outcry in France.
"Can France accept to become the executor of a senseless policy imposed by the US?" said an opinion piece by five NGOs in the French newspaper Le Monde on Friday.
Among the signatories was MSI Reproductive Choices, one of several organisations that have offered to purchase and repackage the contraceptives at no cost to the US government. All offers have been rejected.
Last week, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen pointed to the Trump administration's stated goal of reducing government waste, saying the contraceptives plan "is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse".
Shaheen and Democratic Senator Brian Schatz have introduced a bill aiming to prevent further US aid being wasted.
A US State Department spokesperson told AFP earlier this week that the destruction of the products would cost $167,000 and "no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed".
The spokesperson also pointed to a policy, reinstated by Trump earlier this year, which prohibits providing aid to non-governmental organisations that promote or perform abortions.
The NGO Doctors Without Borders, which has slammed the US plan as "unconscionable", has pointed to reports that there is another warehouse with USAID-purchased contraceptives in the United Arab Emirates.
A study published in The Lancet medical journal in June estimated that more than 14 million of the world's most vulnerable people could die as a result of the USAID cuts.
Last month, the US also incinerated nearly 500 metric tons of high-nutrition biscuits that had been meant to keep malnourished children in Afghanistan and Pakistan alive.
pan-mep-dl/rmb

rights

Budapest mayor questioned as a suspect over Pride march

  • Police confirmed to AFP that "an interrogation of a suspect" as part of an ongoing probe took place on Friday, but declined to say who they had questioned.
  • Hungary's police on Friday questioned the mayor of Budapest as a suspect for having organised the city's 30th Pride parade, which in June attracted a record turnout despite an official ban.
  • Police confirmed to AFP that "an interrogation of a suspect" as part of an ongoing probe took place on Friday, but declined to say who they had questioned.
Hungary's police on Friday questioned the mayor of Budapest as a suspect for having organised the city's 30th Pride parade, which in June attracted a record turnout despite an official ban.
If the environmentalist mayor Gergely Karacsony is charged and convicted, he could spend up to a year in prison for organising and encouraging participation in a banned rally.
"They described the accusation. I said that I considered this to be unfounded and that I will lodge a complaint against it," Karacsony told journalists after having been questioned for more than an hour.
He did not answer any questions posed by investigators, but contested the accusations levelled against him on legal grounds, he added.
Karacsony said he thought the investigation would likely be put to rest ahead of next year's election. 
Police confirmed to AFP that "an interrogation of a suspect" as part of an ongoing probe took place on Friday, but declined to say who they had questioned.
Karacsony wore a T-shirt featuring the capital's coat of arms overlaid with rainbow colours when he arrived at the headquarters of Hungary's top investigative authority.
He addressed a few hundred supporters gathered outside, saying Budapest Pride showed that "neither freedom nor love can be banned in Budapest.
"And if it cannot be banned, it cannot be punished," he added.
Pride organisers said more than 200,000 people took part in the June 28 parade in what they said was a rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's years-long clampdown on LGBTQ rights in the name of "child protection".
After the nationalist leader declared his intention to ban this year's celebration, his ruling coalition in parliament passed new laws to prohibit the annual parade.
Budapest city hall stepped in to co-organise the event, arguing the police cannot legally ban a municipal event.
Before the march, Orban warned organisers and attendees of "legal consequences".
The National Bureau of Investigation -- tasked with investigating serious and complex crimes -- later launched a probe against an "unknown perpetrator" for organising a banned rally. 
But police announced last month they would not take action against participants, who could have faced fines up to 500 euros ($570) for attending the Pride parade.
ros/kym/jj

migration

Famed union leader Dolores Huerta urges US to mobilize against Trump

BY PAULA RAMON

  • They created what is now United Farm Workers, launching an unprecedented fight for the rights of marginalized laborers who toil in the fields that feed America every day.
  • One of the best-known leaders in the decades-long struggle for US farm laborer rights, Dolores Huerta may be 95 years old but she is busier than ever.
  • They created what is now United Farm Workers, launching an unprecedented fight for the rights of marginalized laborers who toil in the fields that feed America every day.
One of the best-known leaders in the decades-long struggle for US farm laborer rights, Dolores Huerta may be 95 years old but she is busier than ever.
With the administration of US President Donald Trump ramping up immigration raids targeting farmworkers, the veteran activist -- who co-founded the country's largest agricultural union more than 60 years ago -- is a galvanizing figure for those seeking to fight back.
"People are reaching out because they want to do something," she told AFP during an interview at the headquarters of her Dolores Huerta Foundation in Bakersfield, an agricultural nexus in California's Central Valley.
Born in New Mexico and raised in California, Huerta took the reins of the US farmworker movement in the 1960s along with the late activist Cesar Chavez.
They created what is now United Farm Workers, launching an unprecedented fight for the rights of marginalized laborers who toil in the fields that feed America every day.
At the time, Huerta was raising seven children -- she later had four more -- while going through a divorce.
Finding the time to organize and mobilize workers remains as crucial as ever today, she said.
"We've got to be a lot more active, because what's happening right now is so huge. I liken it to what was happening in Germany before Hitler took power," Huerta said. 
She argues that it is essential to prepare the electorate to vote in the 2026 midterms, which could reshape the US Congress. Both its chambers currently have Republican majorities.
"This is the only way that this can be solved," she said.

'Si se puede' slogan

Much has changed since her time as a young union leader, but one thing that has never gone away is racism, Huerta said.
"I believe that that illness of racism is what has really contaminated our political system," said Huerta.
"Trump is actually playing out that racism when he is again putting immigrants, and mostly people of color, into the detention centers" with "inhumane conditions," she said.
Many have been sent to countries with which they have no connection, Huerta noted, such as the 252 Venezuelans who were sent to a notorious El Salvador prison, before eventually being repatriated to their homeland as part of a political deal.
For Huerta, the Republican-led crackdown is "absolutely atrocious... our people have been caught off guard."
Huerta believes that the swell of Latino support for Trump that aided his victory in November was driven by religious interests.
Church leaders and lobbyists who are influential with Hispanic communities used issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights to "intimidate" Hispanic communities, who traditionally favor Democrats, into voting Republican, she said.
But Huerta -- whose famous "Si se puede" slogan was mirrored by Barack Obama's "Yes, we can" rallying cry in 2008 -- believes Trump's promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history could yet backfire.
In various sectors ranging from agriculture to hospitality and services, employers are realizing how much they need hard-working immigrants, she said.

'Fear'

The risks have sharply risen for many in her community since Trump came to power, but for Huerta personally, activism has long had perilous consequences.
When she was 58, Huerta was arrested and brutally beaten by police at a San Francisco protest.
Her commitment to the union movement also meant she was an absent mother -- and even today, she spends more time on her work than with her many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Huerta has often been the only woman in male-dominated spaces, and is renowned by many for her ability to face down corporate power.
In February, her foundation helped drive an ongoing boycott against the retail giant Target over its decision to end pro-diversity programs following Trump's election.
"Trump instilled fear in all these corporations," she said.
Using tactics like boycotts to influence billionaire business owners who can "pull Trump's strings," she said, "we finally are able to move them in the right direction."
"They need to start speaking up and stop these dangerous policies of Trump."
pr/amz/jgc

Britain

In Darwin's wake: Two-year global conservation voyage sparks hope

BY RICHARD CARTER

  • We went so far away and to then sail back up this river and see the skyline of Rotterdam again is just super special," he told AFP. He said he hoped the round-the-world voyage completed by scientists and crew his age would send a message to his generation.
  • After a two-year around-the-world ocean voyage inspired by Charles Darwin, scientists and crew sailed home on a historic vessel into Rotterdam Thursday bearing a warning about climate change -- but also a message of hope.
  • We went so far away and to then sail back up this river and see the skyline of Rotterdam again is just super special," he told AFP. He said he hoped the round-the-world voyage completed by scientists and crew his age would send a message to his generation.
After a two-year around-the-world ocean voyage inspired by Charles Darwin, scientists and crew sailed home on a historic vessel into Rotterdam Thursday bearing a warning about climate change -- but also a message of hope.
The majestic three-masted Oosterschelde, the last remaining vessel from a fleet of Dutch schooners that criss-crossed the globe in the early 20th century, arrived to a welcome befitting a voyage of more than 40,000 nautical miles (74,000 kilometres, 46,000 miles).
Ceremonially escorted by more than a dozen vessels ranging from tall ships to steamships, all blaring horns, the Oosterschelde received a "water cannon salute" from fire service boats, as hundreds waved and cheered from the banks.
Like Darwin in 1831, the Oosterschelde departed the British port of Plymouth in August 2023 to embark on a voyage of discovery that took in the major stops explored during the British naturalist's world-changing mission aboard the HMS Beagle.
From the Falkland Islands to the southern tips of Africa, South America and Australia, the trip closely shadowed Darwin's voyage that inspired his groundbreaking theory of natural selection described in "On the Origin of Species".
Aboard the Oosterschelde at various points of the voyage were some of the world's best young conservationists, 100 scientists aged 18-25, selected to study a species also observed by Darwin, himself aged 22 at the time of his trip.
Giant tortoises, Chilean dolphins, and howler monkeys were just some of the weird and wonderful creatures the young "Darwin Leaders" investigated, tracking changes since their appearance in "Origin of Species" two centuries ago.
With "online classrooms" onboard and slick social media output, the mission also hoped to inspire a new generation around the message: "Conservation isn't about what we've lost, it's about protecting what we still have."

'Barely anything left'

One of the Darwin Leaders, 23-year-old Lotta Baten, spent a week on the ship and conducted a study into the impact of tourism on forests in Tenerife, Spain.
She said only roughly four percent of the forest that Darwin would have seen from the Beagle is still alive today, with much torn down to support the tourism industry.
"There's barely anything left, mainly the strips around the coast," the Dutch-German scientist told AFP.
She said it was "quite something" to follow in the footsteps of Darwin, but noted that the botanist's legacy is divided, as a European in colonial times.
"He basically explored and discovered things that maybe had already been explored and discovered by people at the places themselves. And then he claimed he discovered them," said Baten.
Science co-ordinator Rolf Schreuder admitted that "it's not a rosy picture", with habitat loss and climate change all transforming the environment beyond what Darwin would have recognised.
"You see the natural world degrading in many places," the 55-year-old told AFP.
But Schreuder, like many on board, found the mission inspiring rather than depressing.
He ran more than 100 local projects during the trip with people seeking to preserve their landscapes.
"We met so many great people that are actually on the ground working on the survival of those species," he said.
He found himself inspired too by the young scientists, "full of ideas, full of commitment and determination to really make a difference."

'Do another tour'

Crew member Daan van Roosmalen was a boy of 17 when he set sail on the Oosterschelde. He returned to his native Netherlands having just turned 19.
"I've just been to so many places. To the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia. We went so far away and to then sail back up this river and see the skyline of Rotterdam again is just super special," he told AFP.
He said he hoped the round-the-world voyage completed by scientists and crew his age would send a message to his generation.
"I think it's very important that we keep inspiring young people to look after our world, because we are going to be the ones taking over," he said.
"So to see all these young conservationists putting so much effort in Mother Earth... I think that should inspire more people to also take care of our planet."
And what of Darwin, the inspiration behind the mission?
"I would say he would have been enthused by his fellow young people taking care of this natural world, which he described so nicely," said Schreuder.
"I think he would hop on this boat again and do another tour."
ric/srg/rmb

film

Oscars group picks 'A Star is Born' producer as new president

  • Howell Taylor also produced the 2020 Oscars ceremony, in which "Parasite" became the first non-English language film to win best picture.
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences elected "A Star is Born" film producer Lynette Howell Taylor as its new president, the group behind the Oscars said Thursday.
  • Howell Taylor also produced the 2020 Oscars ceremony, in which "Parasite" became the first non-English language film to win best picture.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences elected "A Star is Born" film producer Lynette Howell Taylor as its new president, the group behind the Oscars said Thursday.
Howell Taylor, who is British and also produced "Blue Valentine" and "The Accountant," becomes the fifth woman chosen to run Hollywood's most elite group of filmmakers.
Academy members vote for the winners of the Oscars each year.
CEO Bill Kramer praised Howell Taylor for "revitalizing our awards work" during her time serving as an Academy governor.
Howell Taylor also produced the 2020 Oscars ceremony, in which "Parasite" became the first non-English language film to win best picture.
Hollywood's most prestigious award show, the Oscars have seen a recent uptick in interest, with nearly 20 million watching the latest ceremony in March.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Oscars ratings sank to barely 10.4 million. The Academy Awards telecast regularly topped 40 million just a decade ago.
amz/hg/dw

genetics

Study reveals potato's secret tomato past

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • This study suggests that using the tomato "as a chassis of synthetic biology" is a promising route for creating this new potato, he said. ia/des
  • You say potato, I say tomato?
  • This study suggests that using the tomato "as a chassis of synthetic biology" is a promising route for creating this new potato, he said. ia/des
You say potato, I say tomato?
Turns out one helped create the other: Natural interbreeding between wild tomatoes and potato-like plants in South America gave rise to the modern day spud around nine million years ago, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Cell.
Co-author Loren Rieseberg, a professor at the University of British Columbia, told AFP the findings point to a "profound shift" in evolutionary biology, as scientists increasingly recognize the role of ancient hybridization events in shaping the Tree of Life.
While it was once thought that random mutations were by far the biggest driver of new species, "we now agree that the creative role of hybridization has been underestimated," he said.
Simple, affordable and versatile, the humble potato is now one of the world's most important crops. But its origins have long puzzled scientists.
Modern potato plants closely resemble three species from Chile known as Etuberosum. However, these plants do not produce tubers -- the large underground structures, like those found in potatoes and yams, that store nutrients and are the parts we eat.
On the other hand, genetic analysis has revealed a surprising closeness to tomatoes.
"This is known as discordance, and indicates something interesting is going on!" co-author Sandra Knapp, a research botanist at Britain's Natural History Museum, told AFP.
To solve the mystery, an international team of researchers analyzed 450 genomes from cultivated potatoes and 56 wild potato species.
Lead author Zhiyang Zhang, of the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, said in a statement: "Wild potatoes are very difficult to sample, so this dataset represents the most comprehensive collection of wild potato genomic data ever analysed."

'Wow' moment

The analysis revealed that modern potatoes carry a balanced genetic legacy from two ancestral species -- roughly 60 percent from Etuberosum and 40 percent from tomatoes.
"My wow moment was when the Chinese team showed that ALL potatoes, wild species as well as land races, had basically the same proportion of tomato genes and Etuberosum genes," said Knapp.
"That really points to an ancient hybridization event rather than various events of gene exchange later on," she added. "It is so clear cut! Beautiful."
One gene called SP6A, a signal for tuberization, came from the tomato lineage. But it only enabled tuber formation when paired with the IT1 gene from Etuberosum, which controls underground stem growth.
The divergence between Etuberosum and tomatoes is thought to have begun 14 million years ago -- possibly due to off-target pollination by insects -- and completed nine million years ago.
This evolutionary event coincided with the rapid uplift of the Andes mountain range, providing ideal conditions for the emergence of tuber-bearing plants that could store nutrients underground.
Another key feature of tubers is their ability to reproduce asexually, sprouting new buds without the need for seeds or pollination -- a trait that helped them spread across South America, and through later human exchange, around the globe.
Co-author Sanwen Huang, a professor at the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, told AFP that his lab is now working on a new hybrid potato that can be reproduced by seeds to accelerate breeding.
This study suggests that using the tomato "as a chassis of synthetic biology" is a promising route for creating this new potato, he said.
ia/des

labour

Thousands of Afghans scramble for chance to work in Qatar

  • "We are grateful to Qatar and ask other (Arab) countries to hire Afghan workers too, because the situation in Iran and Pakistan is very bad," said 39-year-old Noor Mohammad, who registered in Herat, hoping for a hotel job.
  • When Mohammad Hanif heard Qatar was opening jobs to Afghans, he joined thousands of others to put his name down for a shot to make a living in the gas-rich emirate, his own country wracked by unemployment.
  • "We are grateful to Qatar and ask other (Arab) countries to hire Afghan workers too, because the situation in Iran and Pakistan is very bad," said 39-year-old Noor Mohammad, who registered in Herat, hoping for a hotel job.
When Mohammad Hanif heard Qatar was opening jobs to Afghans, he joined thousands of others to put his name down for a shot to make a living in the gas-rich emirate, his own country wracked by unemployment.
The Taliban authorities announced a deal with Gulf state this month to recruit 3,100 workers from Afghanistan, who started applying on Tuesday at centres across the country.
By Wednesday, more than 8,500 people had put their names down from the capital Kabul and surrounding provinces, labour ministry spokesman Samiullah Ibrahimi told AFP, and more than 15,500 people are expected to register nationwide.
The Taliban government says the jobs will help fight steep unemployment and poverty in the country of around 48 million people, facing what the United Nations says is one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. 
"Our country has many problems, most people are poor and work odd jobs," said Hanif, who travelled to western Herat from neighbouring Badghis to register. 
"I have skills in car mechanics and cooking, and I have certificates to prove it," said the 35-year-old, adding he was grateful to Qatar for employing Afghans.  
Competition is steep, however, with centres swarmed by hopeful applicants ready to present the required passports, identification cards and professional certificates to nab roles ranging from bus driver to cleaner, cook, mechanic and electrician. 
More than 1,000 people have applied in southern Kandahar for around 375 positions allocated to the region, and in Herat, around 2,000 people lined up on Wednesday to try for one of a few hundred jobs, AFP journalists said. 

 Doha instead of Tehran

Qatar, where the Taliban opened an office during the two-decade war with US-led forces, is one of the handful of countries to have strong diplomatic ties with Afghanistan's rulers after they swept to power in 2021. Only Russia has so far officially recognised the Taliban government.
Discussions are also underway with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey and Russia to set up similar deals, labour minister Abdul Manan Omari said in a statement on Tuesday. 
The process "will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the country's economic situation and reduce unemployment", said Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs.
Nearly half of Afghanistan's population lives in poverty, and the unemployment rate (over 13 percent) affects nearly a quarter of young people aged 15 to 29, according to the World Bank. Those who do have work often support large, extended families on stretched salaries.
High unemployment has been driven by infrastructure hamstrung by 40 years of conflict, drought impacting the crucial agriculture sector and the recent mass removals of Afghans from neighbouring countries, said Noorullah Fadwi, head of an association of job search companies.  
This year, nearly two million Afghans have returned to their country after being driven out or deported from Iran and Pakistan, where many had lived for decades. 
"We are grateful to Qatar and ask other (Arab) countries to hire Afghan workers too, because the situation in Iran and Pakistan is very bad," said 39-year-old Noor Mohammad, who registered in Herat, hoping for a hotel job.

 'There is nothing'

The Taliban authorities have not yet detailed how the Afghan recruits will be housed or their potential working conditions, while pledging to safeguard their rights.
Qatar, where foreigners make up nearly 90 percent of the three million-strong population, has faced heavy criticism over the treatment of migrant labourers, particularly during construction leading up to hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 
Qatar has since introduced major reforms to improve workers' safety and punish employers who violate the rules.
It has dismantled its "kafala" labour system, which gave employers powerful rights over whether workers could leave their jobs or even the country.
Mohammad Qasim, 37, said he would not go to Qatar if he could find a job in Afghanistan, but he earned a university degree in education four years ago and has been unemployed ever since.
"I tried very hard to find work but there is nothing," he told AFP, saying he applied to be a cleaner at a centre in Kandahar.
At least in Qatar, he said, "I will earn something."
str-sw/dhw

charity

Terrified by Trump raids, LA's undocument migrants hide at home

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  •  - 'Ghost town' -  Trump's immigration offensive was a major feature of his re-election campaign, even winning the favor of some voters in liberal Los Angeles.
  • For over a month, Alberto has hardly dared to leave the small room he rents in someone's backyard for fear of encountering the masked police who have been rounding up immigrants in Los Angeles.
  •  - 'Ghost town' -  Trump's immigration offensive was a major feature of his re-election campaign, even winning the favor of some voters in liberal Los Angeles.
For over a month, Alberto has hardly dared to leave the small room he rents in someone's backyard for fear of encountering the masked police who have been rounding up immigrants in Los Angeles.
"It's terrible," sighed the 60-year-old Salvadoran, who does not have a US visa.
"It's a confinement I wouldn't wish upon anyone." 
To survive, Alberto -- AFP agreed to use a pseudonym -- relies on an organization that delivers food to him twice a week.
"It helps me a lot, because if I don't have this... how will I eat?" said Alberto, who has not been to his job at a car wash for weeks.
The sudden intensification of immigration enforcement activity in Los Angeles in early June saw scores of people -- mostly Latinos -- arrested at car washes, hardware stores, on farms and even in the street.
Videos circulating on social media showed masked and heavily armed men pouncing on people who they claimed were hardened criminals.
However, critics of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweeps say those snatched were only trying to earn a meagre wage in jobs that many Americans don't want to do.
The raids -- slammed as brutal and seemingly arbitrary -- sparked a wave of demonstrations that gripped the city for weeks, including some that spiraled into violence and vandalism.
Alberto decided to hole up in his room after one such raid on a car wash in which some of his friends were arrested, and subsequently deported.
Despite being pre-diabetic, he is hesitant to attend an upcoming medical appointment. His only breath of fresh air is pacing the private alley in front of his home. 
"I'm very stressed. I have headaches and body pain because I was used to working," he said. 
In 15 years in the United States, Trump's second term has turned out to be "worse than anything" for him.
 - 'Ghost town' - 
Trump's immigration offensive was a major feature of his re-election campaign, even winning the favor of some voters in liberal Los Angeles.
But its ferocity, in a place that is home to hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers, has taken the city by surprise.
Faced with mounting raids, migrants are limiting their movement as much as possible. 
In June, the use of the public transportation system -- a key network for the city's poorer residents -- dropped by 13.5 percent compared to the previous month. 
"As you're driving through certain neighborhoods, it looks like a ghost town sometimes," said Norma Fajardo, from the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, a non-profit organization that supports these workers. 
It has joined forces with other groups to deliver hundreds of bags of food every week to those afraid to step outside.
"There is a huge need for this," said the 37-year-old American.
"It's very saddening and infuriating. Workers should be able to go to work and not fear getting kidnapped."
In June, ICE agents arrested over 2,200 people in the Los Angeles area, according to internal documents analyzed by AFP. 
About 60 percent of them had no criminal record. 
Given the colossal resources recently allocated to ICE by Congress -- nearly $30 billion to bolster immigration enforcement, including funding to recruit 10,000 additional agents -- Fajardo says she is not expecting any let up.
- 'New normal' - 
"It seems like this is the new normal," she sighed.
"When we first heard of an ICE raid at a car wash, we were in emergency crisis mode. Now we are just really accepting that we need to plan for the long term."
Food assistance has also become essential for Marisol, a Honduran woman who has been confined to her building for weeks with 12 family members.
"We constantly thank God (for the food deliveries) because this has been a huge relief," says the 62-year-old Catholic, who has not attended Mass in weeks.
Marisol -- not her real name -- has hung up curtains on the windows at her home entrance to block any view from outside.
She forbids her grandchildren from opening the door and worries enormously when her daughters venture out to work a few hours to provide for the family's needs.
"Every time they go out, I pray to God that they come back, because you never know what might happen," she said. 
Marisol and her family fled a Honduran crime gang 15 years ago because they wanted to forcibly recruit her children.
Now, some of them wonder if it's worth continuing to live in the United States. 
"My sons have already said to me: 'Mom, sometimes I would prefer to go to Europe.'" 
rfo/hg/aks

religion

Vatican embraces social media 'digital missionaries'

BY MADELEINE DE BLIC

  • The 29-year-old nun, whose secular name is Albertine Debacker, is one of hundreds of Catholic influencers in Rome for a Vatican-organised social media summit this week. 
  • Sister Albertine, a youthful French Catholic nun, stood outside the Vatican, phone in hand, ready to shoot more videos for her hundreds of thousands of followers online.
  • The 29-year-old nun, whose secular name is Albertine Debacker, is one of hundreds of Catholic influencers in Rome for a Vatican-organised social media summit this week. 
Sister Albertine, a youthful French Catholic nun, stood outside the Vatican, phone in hand, ready to shoot more videos for her hundreds of thousands of followers online.
The 29-year-old nun, whose secular name is Albertine Debacker, is one of hundreds of Catholic influencers in Rome for a Vatican-organised social media summit this week. 
The Vatican calls them "digital missionaries" and -- in an unprecedented move for the centuries-old institution -- Pope Leo XIV led a mass dedicated to them at St Peter's Basilica, calling on them to create content for those who "need to know the Lord". 
Long wary of social media, the Catholic Church now sees it as a vital tool to spread the faith amid dwindling church attendance.  
For Sister Albertine, this is the ideal "missionary terrain".
Inside the Baroque basilica, she was one of a swarm of religious influencers who surrounded the new pope, live streaming the meeting on their smartphones within one of Christianity's most sacred spots. 
She said it was highly symbolic that the Vatican organised the event bringing together its Instagramming-disciples.  
"It tells us: 'it's important, go for it, we're with you and we'll search together how we can take this new evangelisation forward," she told AFP.
The influencer summit was held as part of the Vatican's "Jubilee of Youth", as young believers flooded Rome this week. 

'The great influencer is God'

Sister Albertine has 320,000 followers on Instagram and some of her TikTok videos get more than a million views. 
She shares a mix of prayers with episodes from daily religious life, often from French abbeys. 
"You feel alone and I suggest that we can pray together," she said in one video, crossing herself.
But, as religious content spreads online in the social media and AI era, one of the reasons behind the Vatican's summit was for it to express its position on the trend. 
"You are not only influencers, you are missionaries," influential Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle -- one of the few Vatican officials active on social media - told those attending mass.
The "great influencer is God", he added.  

'Jesus not a digital programme'

But Tagle also warned that "Jesus is not a voice generated by a digital programme".
Pope Leo called on his online followers to strike a balance at a time when society is "hyperconnected" and "bombarded with images, sometimes false or distorted". 
"It is not simply a matter of generating content, but of creating an encounter between hearts," said the American pope, 69. 
It is this balance that has been hard to strike, with some Catholic clerics themselves embracing a social media presence. 
Father Giuseppe Fusari does not look like a regular priest: wearing tight shirts exposing his arm tattoos.
To his 63,000 followers on Instagram, he mixes content about Italian church architecture and preaching.

'Important we're online too'

Fusari told AFP there is no reason Catholic clerics should not embrace the world of online videos. 
"Everyone uses social media, so it's important that we're there too," said Fusari, who came to Rome for the influencer event from the northern city of Brescia.
Fusari said his goal was to reach as many people as possible online, sharing the "word of God" with them.  
This also takes the form of sharing videos of his chihuahua eating spaghetti.
But priests and nuns are not the only ones trying to attract people to the Church online, with regular believers spreading the faith too. 
Francesca Parisi, a 31-year-old Italian teacher, joined the Catholic Church later in life. 
She now has some 20,000 followers on TikTok, where she tries to make the Catholic faith look trendy.
Her target audience? People who have "drifted away" from the church. 
It's possible, she said, to lure them back through their smartphones.
"If God did it with me, rest assured, he can also do it with you."
mdb-oc/ams/jj/tc