film

New generation of Irish actors harness talent for global stardom

BY PETER MURPHY

  • Thousands of miles from Los Angeles the next wave of Irish acting talent is being shaped on rehearsal floors at institutions like The Lir Academy in Dublin's docklands.
  • When the envelopes are opened at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, one of the few guarantees is that actors from Ireland -- population just over five million -- are increasingly likely to be in the frame.
  • Thousands of miles from Los Angeles the next wave of Irish acting talent is being shaped on rehearsal floors at institutions like The Lir Academy in Dublin's docklands.
When the envelopes are opened at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, one of the few guarantees is that actors from Ireland -- population just over five million -- are increasingly likely to be in the frame.
Performers from the Emerald Isle have become regular fixtures on Oscar shortlists in recent years, with wins, nominations and breakout performances.
Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan are among those helping cement the country's reputation as a powerhouse of screen acting.
Now Jessie Buckley, who has swept all major awards this season for her role as William Shakespeare's wife in Chloe Zhao's "Hamnet", is poised to add a Best Actress Oscar to her collection.
Thousands of miles from Los Angeles the next wave of Irish acting talent is being shaped on rehearsal floors at institutions like The Lir Academy in Dublin's docklands.
Founded in 2011 and linked to Trinity College Dublin, The Lir Academy -- whose alumni include Mescal -- admits only small cohorts of just 16 students each year for intensive conservatoire-style training.
In the rehearsal room, however, there is little talk of Hollywood.
The focus is on voice, movement, accents and classical text, which produces performers with technical control and -- crucially -- "authenticity", Director of Actor Training Gavin O'Donoghue told AFP.
"One of the most important elements of learning here is the ability to be a spontaneous actor on stage and on screen," O'Donoghue told AFP on a grey Dublin morning between classes.
"Screen acting demands being rooted in emotional and psychological truth, and Irish actors do that really well."

Theatre-first tradition

The foundational skills taught at The Lir Academy are reinforced by Ireland's wider theatre-first tradition in which actors often do stage before screen.
Ireland's tradition of playwrights -- from J.M. Synge who helped set up Dublin's Abbey Theatre in 1899 to Martin McDonagh whose film "Banshees of Inisherin" was nominated for a raft of Oscars in 2023 -- underpins the acting culture from which many screen stars emerge.
At the Abbey, Ireland's national showcase, actors perform in intimate auditoriums where language and psychological detail are paramount, according to its artistic director Caitriona McLaughlin.
"There is something about having to perform live in the moment that makes screen actors who come through Irish theatres exciting to watch," she said.
"Irish actors have it all," McLaughlin told AFP as she kept an eye on last rehearsals for an upcoming centenary revival of Sean O'Casey's 1926 Irish classic "The Plough and the Stars". 
"They have a strong connection with words so can play into the psychology of a character, they are physical, energetic, and have a great capacity for humour as well as drama," she said.
Irish actors' "vocal quality" that allows them to excel at accents like British and American and "lose themselves in the character" also makes them unique, according to McLaughlin.
Actors like Andrew Scott -- who honed his craft at the Abbey -- Saoirse Ronan, and Cillian Murphy of "Peaky Blinders" fame, can easily play British or American roles due to their aptitude for accents, she said. 
- Talent spotted early - 
Opportunities for young actors to build careers at home before Hollywood comes calling are also a factor in the current success, said state film-funder Screen Ireland's marketing head Louise Ryan.
The group supports debut shorts and features, allowing young actors to lead films and develop their craft, and also promotes Ireland as a film location, Ryan told AFP at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin.
"You can get 360-degrees experience with lead roles in indigenous films, and in parallel get a part in a big-budget TV show shot here like "Wednesday" which helps you get those international breaks," she said.
Ireland's small scale also means directors, casting agents and actors know one another, with talent spotted early and word travelling fast.  
"It is easier to break talent here as streaming shows like 'House of Guinness' and 'Say Nothing' are casting largely from the Irish pool," Dublin-based casting director Maureen Hughes told AFP.
According to the Abbey's McLaughlin, Ireland has always had the talent "right from the formation of this theatre", but the difference now is that the world is looking.
"This brilliant wave of talent is being exposed nationally and internationally," she said.
pmu/har/jkb/pdw/jfx

textile

Bangladesh sari weaving tradition hangs by a thread

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • With demand falling and costs rising, many weavers have abandoned the craft, turning to driving or construction work to survive.
  • Bangladesh's Tangail sari is fighting for survival as weavers warn that automation and economic pressures are pushing the centuries-old craft to the brink despite its global acclaim.
  • With demand falling and costs rising, many weavers have abandoned the craft, turning to driving or construction work to survive.
Bangladesh's Tangail sari is fighting for survival as weavers warn that automation and economic pressures are pushing the centuries-old craft to the brink despite its global acclaim.
The detailed designs and fine textures of the garments made in the central Tangail city won UNESCO recognition in December as intangible cultural heritage reflecting "local social and cultural practices".
But it has brought little relief to crowded local workshops where a shift to automated looms, evolving fashion choices, unstable yarn prices and a lack of government support have squeezed weavers at every turn.
Ajit Kumar Roy, who spends the day interlacing warp and weft threads while paddling the shuttle back and forth, says the honour has done little to ease his daily hardship.
"It's all hard work," the 35-year-old weaver told AFP as he worked the handloom he has operated for nearly two decades.
"Hands, legs and eyes must move together. If I make a mistake then there is a problem."
Men typically lead the weaving, dyeing and design work, while women prepare threads, apply rice starch and add finishing touches.

High-profile clients

Once considered a well-paying profession, weaving has suffered from a market slump that began during the Covid-19 pandemic and never recovered.
Roy said his factory owner used to run 20 handlooms but now has only 10.
"Some factories have shut down entirely," Roy said.
With demand falling and costs rising, many weavers have abandoned the craft, turning to driving or construction work to survive.
"We earn 700 taka ($6) per sari, and it takes at least two days to make one. How can a family of four live on 350 taka a day?"
Raghunath Basak, president of a local sari traders' association, whose family has preserved Tangail weaving for generations, fears the craft may end with him. 
His ancestors migrated in search of weather and water suitable for weaving before settling in Tangail, nestled in a low-lying floodplain near the Jamuna River.
"I brought my son into the profession too, but I don't know how he will cope after I am gone," Basak, 75, said from his showroom, where shiny crests line the walls.
Despite high-profile clients -- from political leaders in India's West Bengal state to ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who wore his sari to deliver a speech to the UN General Assembly -- Basak says the industry is struggling.

Cultural symbol

A halt to land-port trade with neighbouring India following a diplomatic fallout has also affected business. 
"We used to export saris by road and import yarn when local prices shot up. Now land ports on both sides are sealed. Export has become almost impossible," he said.
In the 1960s, the sari emerged as a cultural symbol as Bengalis in what was then East Pakistan embraced their ethnic identity. 
But consumer preference is slowly shifting.
Kaniz Neera, 45, buys two dozen Tangail saris a year, favouring their distinctive patterns and comfortable design, but worries that the younger generation is drifting away.
"Sari is integral to our identity," she said. "My mother wears sari at home and outside. I wear it mostly outside. (But) girls now wear sari only on special occasions."
But researchers remain cautiously optimistic.
Shawon Akand, author of a book on the subject, notes that the Tangail sari is a relatively recent evolution by the descendants of Dhakai muslin weavers whose creations once captivated Mughal rulers and European aristocracy. 
"The Tangail weavers inherited fine yarn techniques from their ancestors and adapted with unique designs in Tangail sari," Akand told AFP.
"Tangail sari will evolve. It will endure."
sa/abh/lkd/mjw/lga

AI

Family of Canada mass shooting victim sues OpenAI

  • Lawyers representing the family of Maya Gebala, a 12-year-old who remains in hospital following the shooting, said in a statement that they were suing OpenAI over allegations of negligence.
  • The family of a girl gravely injured during a mass shooting in Canada is suing OpenAI over the company's failure to notify police about the killer's troubling activity on its ChatGPT chatbot, lawyers said Tuesday. 
  • Lawyers representing the family of Maya Gebala, a 12-year-old who remains in hospital following the shooting, said in a statement that they were suing OpenAI over allegations of negligence.
The family of a girl gravely injured during a mass shooting in Canada is suing OpenAI over the company's failure to notify police about the killer's troubling activity on its ChatGPT chatbot, lawyers said Tuesday. 
OpenAI had banned an account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025, eight months before the 18‑year‑old transgender woman killed eight people at her home and a school in the tiny British Columbia mining town of Tumbler Ridge.
The account was banned over concerns about usage linked to violent activity, but OpenAI has said it did not inform police because nothing pointed towards an imminent attack.
Lawyers representing the family of Maya Gebala, a 12-year-old who remains in hospital following the shooting, said in a statement that they were suing OpenAI over allegations of negligence.
"The purpose of this lawsuit is to learn the whole truth about how and why the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting happened, to impose accountability, to seek redress for harms and losses, and to help prevent another mass-shooting atrocity in Canada," the firm of Rice, Parsons, Leoni, and Elliot said.
It said the suit centers on "extremely serious, though unproven, allegations against the American technology firm."
Canada summoned OpenAI executives to Ottawa last month to discuss its security protocols and British Columbia Premier David Eby has had direct talks with the company's chief executive Sam Altman.
Late last month, OpenAI said that its current security protocols would have compelled the company to notify Canadian police about Van Rootselaar's account. 
It said it implemented various policy changes "several months ago," including consulting "mental health, behavioral, and law enforcement experts" to identify when chatbot conversations amount to a credible risk.
Asked about the lawsuit, OpenAI told AFP: "What happened in Tumbler Ridge was an unspeakable tragedy."
"OpenAI remains committed to working with government and law enforcement officials to make meaningful changes that help prevent tragedies like this in the future," a company spokesperson said in a statement
The law firm said Gebala "is fighting for her life" in hospital. 
"Maya has endured multiple emergency brain surgeries, other life-saving medical procedures, and severe infection. Slowly, Maya is stabilizing, but her long-term prognosis is unknown," the statement said. 
Van Rootselaar killed her mother and brother at the family home before heading to the local secondary school, where she shot dead five children and a teacher.
She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after police entered the building.
bs/des

rich

Musk, already world's richest person, eyes $1 trillion fortune

  • - More billionaires - Musk's fortune amounts to more than three times that of the next names on Forbes' billionaire list, which has grown to a record 3,428 individuals and is heavily populated at the top by other tech titans.
  • Elon Musk's estimated $839 billion net worth has made him the wealthiest individual ever recorded, Forbes said Tuesday, as billionaires worldwide saw their combined fortunes surge in the past year to an all-time high of $20.1 trillion.
  • - More billionaires - Musk's fortune amounts to more than three times that of the next names on Forbes' billionaire list, which has grown to a record 3,428 individuals and is heavily populated at the top by other tech titans.
Elon Musk's estimated $839 billion net worth has made him the wealthiest individual ever recorded, Forbes said Tuesday, as billionaires worldwide saw their combined fortunes surge in the past year to an all-time high of $20.1 trillion.
Musk topped the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the second consecutive year after his fortune swelled by roughly $500 billion over the past twelve months, driven by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, which is targeting a public offering in 2026. 
He is the first person ever to surpass the $800 billion mark and is on course to become the world's first trillionaire.
Musk's monumental jump in wealth reflects a rollercoaster 2025 for Tesla that saw the electric vehicle maker's stock price tumble through the spring amid consumer boycotts over the billionaire's backing of Donald Trump and other far-right politicians.
But Tesla shares rebounded in the second half of 2025 after Musk exited his Trump administration role and have remained lofty. The Forbes list is based on valuations as of March 1, 2026.
Tesla champions believe the company is poised for stratospheric growth because of Musk's access to cutting-edge technology in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence. 
While Musk remains a polarizing figure with the general public, Tesla shareholders have consistently backed the billionaire.
In a November vote, shareholders endorsed a pay package worth up to $1 trillion if Tesla meets production and valuation targets, lifting Musk's share of the company to about 25 percent.
Musk had suggested he could exit Tesla absent the package, saying ahead of the vote that he wanted a large enough stake to have a "strong influence" over the company as he builds a "robot army."
Musk has said that less than 0.1 percent of his wealth is in cash.
David Kirsch at the University of Maryland said estimates of Musk's wealth are inevitably "highly speculative" because a large share depends on equity assets whose valuations depend on whether anticipated growth pans out.
"If you were to measure the actual assets, it wouldn't be $800 bn. It might be a third of that, which would still be more than the next person," said Kirsch who characterized Musk's fortune as "staggering" and "kind of unreal."

More billionaires

Musk's fortune amounts to more than three times that of the next names on Forbes' billionaire list, which has grown to a record 3,428 individuals and is heavily populated at the top by other tech titans.
The cofounders of Google, Larry Page ($257 billion) and Sergey Brin ($237 billion) ranked second and third.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranked fourth with $224 billion, while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was fifth at $222 billion.
The current list has around 400 more billionaires than the 2025 Forbes compilation, a bounty propelled by a stock market surge due partly to bullishness about AI.
Trump moved up to 645th place from 700 a year ago. Forbes estimated Trump's fortune at $6.5 billion, up $1.4 billion.
Major drivers of the US president's rising wealth include hundreds of millions in wealth tied to cryptocurrencies he has promoted. Trump also benefited after a New York appeals court threw out a civil penalty of $518 million in a fraud case.
"Donald Trump's second term as president has so far paid off handsomely for the billionaire head of state," Forbes said.
"Whether striking deals in the Middle East, shilling his crypto coins or hosting luminaries at his properties, Trump has proven that he and his family are very much still in business."
arp-jmb/des

US

UN warns Hormuz standstill will hit world's most vulnerable

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • The UN's World Food Programme said the costs and time lost to the Strait of Hormuz disruptions were already impacting its humanitarian operations.
  • The standstill in the Strait of Hormuz caused by the Middle East war could hammer some of the world's most vulnerable people, the United Nations warned Tuesday.
  • The UN's World Food Programme said the costs and time lost to the Strait of Hormuz disruptions were already impacting its humanitarian operations.
The standstill in the Strait of Hormuz caused by the Middle East war could hammer some of the world's most vulnerable people, the United Nations warned Tuesday.
The strait is the only sea passage from the Gulf towards the Indian Ocean, through which nearly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil supplies pass, as well as a significant amount of cargo.
Iran has all but blocked the waterway following the launch of the February 28 US-Israeli airstrikes on the country that triggered the war.
"The current shock comes at a time when many developing economies struggle to service their debt, face a tightening of fiscal space and limited capacity to absorb new price shocks," the UN trade and development agency UNCTAD said.
"Higher energy, fertiliser and transport costs -- including freight rates, bunker fuel prices and insurance premiums -- may increase food costs and intensify cost-of-living pressures, particularly for the most vulnerable," it said.
UNCTAD added that, in terms of seaborne trade volume, in the week before the conflict 38 percent of crude oil, 29 percent of liquified petroleum gas, 19 percent of liquified natural gas and 19 percent refined oil products went through the strait.
But while an average of 129 ship transited daily through the passage between February 1 and 27, that number dropped to just three on March 3.
UNCTAD said the disruptions underscored the vulnerability of critical maritime chokepoints and their potential for disruption to them to send shocks across supply chains and commodity markets.
"Rising energy, transport and food costs could strain public finances and increase pressure on household budgets, potentially heightening economic and social pressures... particularly in economies heavily dependent on imported energy, fertilisers and staple foods," it said.

Food aid hit

UN rights chief Volker Turk echoed the alarm for the effect the plunge in commercial shipping activity could have, "particularly for the world's most vulnerable".
"The impact of an oil price surge will have a knock-on effect for macro-economic and social stability in many countries, particularly those already experiencing debt distress," he said.
The UN's World Food Programme said the costs and time lost to the Strait of Hormuz disruptions were already impacting its humanitarian operations.
"This is nothing less than another seminal moment in global supply chain history," Jean-Martin Bauer, the director of WFP's food and nutrition analysis service, told reporters in Geneva.
Speaking from the WFP's Rome headquarters, he said shipping lines were diverting services and adding surcharges, leading to congestion "in places that are very far from Hormuz".
"We're seeing congestion in Asia. It's quite a severe disruption that's taking place right now," Bauer said.
"We're needing to go the long way around the Cape of Good Hope to reach some of our key geographies."
WFP's biggest operation is in Sudan, but now it is facing approximately 25 days of additional shipping time.
"It's basically 50 percent more than we would usually have. So that's really extending the supply chain and adding to cost," said Bauer.
rjm-nl/rmb

US

Expats cling to Dubai's allure despite Iran's missiles

BY SOPHIE LAUBIE WITH AFP BUREAUS

  • For Lorraine Soulier, 43, who manages a chain of luxury real estate agencies in Dubai, living in the region "is like living in France with the risk of a terrorist attack or burglary".
  • While tourists and non-essential diplomats scramble to leave the Gulf as Iran retaliates across the region for US and Israeli airstrikes, many expatriates in the glittering hubs of Dubai and other Gulf cities are sitting tight.
  • For Lorraine Soulier, 43, who manages a chain of luxury real estate agencies in Dubai, living in the region "is like living in France with the risk of a terrorist attack or burglary".
While tourists and non-essential diplomats scramble to leave the Gulf as Iran retaliates across the region for US and Israeli airstrikes, many expatriates in the glittering hubs of Dubai and other Gulf cities are sitting tight.
Several told AFP that, although work and leisure routines were disrupted by the frequent launches of Iranian missiles and drones, they felt it was safe enough to stay -- and hope for a speedy end to the war.
- 'Unsettling'  but 'calm' reigns - 
"Initially, and I think that goes for everyone who is here, it has affected our day-to-day life, and it's unsettling to everyone," said Maria Palmou, 46, a Greek lawyer who has worked in Dubai for a decade.
"There is military activity, and you can hear it," she said, but added: "We have seen the way it has been handled by the local authorities, I think there is a sense of calm and confidence among the people living here that they are managing well."
Palmou said "normal life continues", with people walking around the city centre's streets, traffic on the roads and shops open. 
"There are a lot of people who will go to the park, who will go to the beach," she said.
While the frequent phone alerts were disconcerting, Palmou said she didn't feel there was anything to do except not go outside while they were in force.
"As things stand today, my plan is not to go back home," said Palmou.
"I think everyone is hoping that this will finish soon."

'Like Covid'

Working from home has become the rule for many as Iranian attacks target residential zones, airports and embassies, along with military sites.
For Sidonie Viaud, 48, a French national working in the tech sector in Dubai with her Indian husband, remote work will continue "until further notice". Classes for the children are also taking place online.
"It's more like Covid for us," she said.
French director and producer Bruno de Champris, 62, based in Dubai since 2005, was also working from home as "all film shoots have been suspended for the moment".
"We don’t sleep well" for fear of blasts, he said, but "despite everything, people go about their business".
De Champris also expressed confidence in the local authorities.
"Even if zero risk doesn’t exist, I know the Emirati forces are doing a phenomenal job of protection," he said.
De Champris said he doesn't plan to return to France in the near future, although his wife temporarily returned to Paris for family reasons.

Social life on hold

Asad, a US national living in the Qatari capital Doha with his Pakistani wife and 18-month-old daughter, said the US Embassy has offered to help them leave.
But "we are planning to stay" unless civilians are targeted, and if power and water supplies are affected and food becomes scarce, he said.
"My wife and I both work remotely. I work for a US-based company and my wife works for a local university, so work continues as usual," said Asad, 40.
"Our social life is on hold till the end of hostilities. We live and mostly remain within our compound, with brief trips out for groceries."
Frenchman Nicolas Thioulouse, 47, arrived in Saudi Arabia only a few months ago with his Australian wife and their two children after receiving "an offer you can’t refuse”" in real estate development.
Thioulouse said he has seen "quite a few people" leave his neighbourhood "in recent days", mainly for Europe.
He remains philosophical about the risks. 
"We have more chance of dying in a car crash in Sydney than from a missile in Riyadh." 
For Lorraine Soulier, 43, who manages a chain of luxury real estate agencies in Dubai, living in the region "is like living in France with the risk of a terrorist attack or burglary".
The likelihood of that scenario "was higher than having a missile land in my backyard in Dubai".
slb-jed-pau-jvi-od/rl/rmb

US

How is Trump's 'freedom' war seen by those it aimed to help?

BY ADAM PLOWRIGHT AND AFP CORRESPONDENTS

  • "After the death of Khamenei (on February 28), I celebrated that with my friends."
  • Shirin, a Tehran resident, was one of many who celebrated the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
  • "After the death of Khamenei (on February 28), I celebrated that with my friends."
Shirin, a Tehran resident, was one of many who celebrated the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. She drank wine and danced with friends. But as the war drags on, she's begun to question its logic.
A woman in her thirties, whose identity AFP is protecting for her safety, Shirin agreed to share her feelings about the 11-day conflict as part of an attempt to gauge the feelings of critics of the Islamic republic.
Before the war, huge crowds of protesters took to the streets in January for some of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in recent history. Thousands were killed in the subsequent crackdown by the country's Islamic authorities, rights groups say.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have advanced various justifications for their war on Iran, which they launched on February 28.
One of them was that it would help Iranians realise their dream of a different nation, with Trump telling them the "hour of your freedom is at hand".
"At the beginning I was in favour of the war," Shirin explained. "After the death of Khamenei (on February 28), I celebrated that with my friends."
But when air strikes struck fuel storage facilities in Tehran on Sunday, causing thick, oil-filled smoke that blotted out the sun, Shirin felt her sympathies shift.
"This isn't what we wanted. We didn't want them to bomb our national assets to make us even poorer than we already are," she explained.
Others fret about the country descending into civil war, which could spur support for the status quo.
"A lot of people are worried about the post-Islamic period. Like my father, he thinks it might get worse after they are gone," a shopkeeper in the southern city of Shiraz told AFP, referring to the current clerical leadership.
"You get happy at their destruction. But the fact that it is so costly, that so many innocent people are dying, it makes me feel horrible," a young pro-opposition woman in her twenties in Tehran told AFP.

Still 'hopeful'

In his message to an AFP journalist in recent days, the shopkeeper in Shiraz said he remained optimistic, convinced that the short-term pain and cost of the war would be worth it.
"The majority of people I know are hopeful things are going to get better and we will have freedom finally," he explained.
Others have said they have not fled so they can celebrate the end of the Islamic republic, if it comes. 
Thousands of US and Israeli air strikes have pummelled military targets, but also domestic security infrastructure such as police and paramilitary buildings.
"They don't hit normal buildings. They hit police stations, mosques, military locations and the airport. But the noise of the bombing scares us a lot. A lot," another woman in Tehran told AFP.
"If a police station is hit at the end of your street, all your windows shatter. That's what many have experienced," she added.
Iran's health ministry said on Monday that more than 1,200 civilians had been killed -- figures that align with estimates from an overseas human rights group -- and more than 10,000 have been injured.
AFP has not been able to access the sites of the many airstrikes in order to verify incidents as described by Iran's authorities nor obtain independent confirmation of the tolls. 

'Depth of hatred'

While sustaining huge material damage, the Islamic republic system has sought to project an image of solidity and continuity.
Officials named Khamenei's 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as their new supreme leader on Sunday. He is a hardliner believed to have been involved in suppressing waves of protests going back to the 2009 pro-democracy Green movement. 
Tens of thousands of people turned out for a pro-government rally for him in Tehran on his first day in power on Monday, while other similar demonstrations around the country have been reported by state media.
Ali Ansari, a professor of Iranian history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, told AFP it was extremely difficult to assess the consequences of the war on Iranian public opinion. 
He said he was sceptical about any idea of a "bounce" for the government or a nationalist "rally round the flag" outpouring.
After a 12-day war with Israel in June last year, thousands of Iranian protesters demanding the end of the Islamic republic were back on the streets by the end of the year.
"I don't think that bombing a fuel depot was a good idea, but I would be surprised if the depth of the hatred for the regime is dissipated for very long," Ansari explained.
"Once the bombing stops, that's when we've got to keep an eye out and see what happens," he continued. 
"I think if the regime survives, it will be so badly crippled it won't be able to do much."
burs-adp/sw/rmb

US

First group of Indonesians evacuated from Iran arrive home

BY SATYA ADHI

  • He said 10 more Indonesians were set to arrive on Wednesday, and another 36 have registered to be repatriated in a later wave.
  • Nearly two dozen Indonesians repatriated from Iran arrived home on Tuesday, recalling the terror of falling bombs in the Islamic republic as the Middle East descended into war.
  • He said 10 more Indonesians were set to arrive on Wednesday, and another 36 have registered to be repatriated in a later wave.
Nearly two dozen Indonesians repatriated from Iran arrived home on Tuesday, recalling the terror of falling bombs in the Islamic republic as the Middle East descended into war.
The group of 22 people is the first brought back to Indonesia by the government, having been evacuated over land from Iran to Azerbaijan before flying on to Jakarta.
Zulfanlindan, who was stuck in Iran for 10 days, sheltering at the Indonesian embassy in Tehran, said the situation in the capital was dire.
"Ten bombs flew over the embassy, and they exploded just one or two kilometres away, so powerful that the windows in the embassy shook," recounted the 69-year-old, who like many Indonesians has only one name.
Thousands of Iranians had been taking to the streets every night to condemn and mourn the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, he told reporters at Jakarta's main airport.
Zulfanlindan said the group waited five hours for immigration clearance in Tehran before making a roughly nine-hour trip by road to the Azerbaijani border.
In the Azerbaijani capital Baku, "it only took one hour before we headed straight into the city and checked into the hotel," he said.
Attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, and Tehran's retaliatory strikes in Middle East, have caused flight cancellations and airspace closures that have stranded large numbers of foreigners.
They include 329 Indonesians in Iran, most of them students in the central city of Qom.
"This afternoon we are welcoming our brothers and sisters back," Foreign Minister Sugiono said at the airport.
He said 10 more Indonesians were set to arrive on Wednesday, and another 36 have registered to be repatriated in a later wave.

'Deep sorrow'

Muhammad Jawad, who was a student in Iran, also said Khamenei's killing had been met with great sadness and anger in Tehran.
"It is entirely natural that the people of Iran feel such deep sorrow and are so deeply shaken by his martyrdom and passing," said the youngster.
Jakarta said last week it was not considering evacuations from other Middle Eastern countries where some half a million Indonesians live.
There have been no reports of Indonesians killed since the war broke out at the end of February, but three Indonesian crew members are missing after a United Arab Emirates-flagged tugboat sank in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
One Indonesian survivor was receiving burns treatment at a hospital in the Omani city of Khasab, according to the foreign ministry.
President Prabowo Subianto has volunteered to act as a mediator between Iran on the one hand and the United States and Israel on the other.
On Tuesday, Iran's foreign minister said talks with the United States were not on the agenda, after President Donald Trump said the conflict would end "soon".
dsa/mlr/mjw

diaspora

'Home' at last: Ghana grants citizenship to 150 members of African diaspora

BY WINIFRED LARTEY

  • Robertson was among 150 members of the African diaspora granted Ghanaian citizenship on Monday, the latest group in a growing initiative to reconnect descendants of Africans abroad with the continent of their ancestors.
  • Tightly holding her citizenship certificate against her chest, Patrice Ann Robertson wiped away a tear; she's now officially Ghanaian nearly a decade after she started living in the west African country.
  • Robertson was among 150 members of the African diaspora granted Ghanaian citizenship on Monday, the latest group in a growing initiative to reconnect descendants of Africans abroad with the continent of their ancestors.
Tightly holding her citizenship certificate against her chest, Patrice Ann Robertson wiped away a tear; she's now officially Ghanaian nearly a decade after she started living in the west African country.
"This is home," the now Ghanaian-American, who lives in Ghana's southeastern Volta region, told AFP at a ceremony in the oceanside capital Accra.
In nine years since she relocated to Ghana, she has only returned to her birthplace in the United States once.
Robertson was among 150 members of the African diaspora granted Ghanaian citizenship on Monday, the latest group in a growing initiative to reconnect descendants of Africans abroad with the continent of their ancestors.
More than 1,000 Africans in the diaspora have obtained Ghanaian citizenship in recent years, many of them Black Americans drawn by a mix of historical, cultural and personal motivations.
For some, the ceremony at which they waved miniature Ghana flags in jubilation, marked the culmination of years of identity search.
Nataki Kambon, who obtained Ghanaian citizenship in 2019 and attended Monday's ceremony, said becoming a Ghanaian allowed her to reconnect with a part of her identity rooted in ancestry but long distant from her daily life.
"I grew up in a household where we always knew we were African," she said. "But there's still a disconnect because of how Africa is portrayed in the United States."
- 'Global African family' - 
Ghana's Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang and Interior Minister Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed attended the ceremony.
The new citizens took an oath of allegiance before receiving their certificates.
"Distance may separate our people, but it does not erase identity," Opoku-Agyemang said. "Ghana continues to be a home for the global African family."
Ghana has positioned itself as a gateway for diaspora return since launching the "Year of Return" initiative in 2019, which commemorated 400 years since enslaved Africans were first taken to North America. 
It encourages people of African descent to visit, invest and reconnect with the continent.
For many diaspora members, however, the journey towards citizenship is not only symbolic.
Robert and Serita Faison, a couple from the United States, who visited Ghana a year earlier, said their decision to apply for citizenship came after falling in love with the country.
 - 'We've come full circle' -
"It feels like we've come full circle," Robert Faison said. "We learned so much about the history here and how it connects to our ancestors. It just seemed right to come back."
While requiring a series of documentation and formal approvals, the process was not "seamless, but it was certainly doable", he said.
Others said the emotional significance of the move outweighed any bureaucratic hurdles.
Kevin Harris, who grew up in Washington, D.C., and decided to move to Ghana over safety and quality-of-life concerns in the United States, described the moment he became a Ghanaian citizen as "earth-shaking".
"I grew up going out to play outside. I see that here. I want my grandchildren to be able to go out in the neighbourhood and play. I wanna be able to send my grandchildren to the store and not have to worry about their safety.
"In America, you always feel like you have to watch your children," Harris said, holding his certificate and a miniature Ghana flag. 
The Ghanaian government sees the diaspora not only as part of a historical family but also as a potential development partner.
The interior minister said the event reflected growing international recognition of the injustices of the transatlantic slave trade and the need to rebuild connections.
For Ghana, the diaspora also brings expertise, investment and networks that can help shape the country's future.
str/tba/sn/kjm

film

In which Pooh turns 100: Hunny-loving bear marks a milestone

  • "He's so steeped in wisdom that he himself does not always think he's giving, and that's so timeless."
  • Winnie the Pooh, the self-described bear of "very little brain" who has charmed generations with his homespun and heartfelt wisdom, is turning 100.
  • "He's so steeped in wisdom that he himself does not always think he's giving, and that's so timeless."
Winnie the Pooh, the self-described bear of "very little brain" who has charmed generations with his homespun and heartfelt wisdom, is turning 100.
The beloved children's character ambled into the world in 1926 in a book written by English author A.A. Milne, and illustrated by E.H. Shepard.
Now Disney, which acquired the rights to Pooh and his pals from Hundred Acre Wood in the 1960s, is holding a year-long celebration of the slow-witted bear, whose image is found all over the planet, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe.
"Winnie the Pooh is all of us," said Kevin Kern, senior manager of research at the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, California, where all kinds of Pooh paraphernalia are neatly catalogued.
"He shows all the emotions that we show. He sees the things that we see. He struggles like we do; whether he's trying to get up a tree to get honey or understand his friends.
"He's so steeped in wisdom that he himself does not always think he's giving, and that's so timeless."

Pooh for President

Milne's first book -- published in Britain and the United States in October 1926 -- was inspired by the author's son, Christopher Robin, and his collection of stuffed animals: Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, and Kanga and her baby Roo.
Two years later, the effervescent Tigger joined the gang for the second book, "The House at Pooh Corner."
When Disney's first animated short appeared in 1966, Pooh's signature look -- a too-short red t-shirt and nothing down below -- was set.
Over the decades, there have been books in dozens of languages, plush toys, backpacks, lunchboxes, watches and feature films, most recently the live-action "Christopher Robin" in 2018, starring Ewan McGregor as an adult Christopher Robin who reunites with Pooh.
But the lovable bear's adventures did not stop there: he even ran for US president, with Disneyland holding a ticker tape parade in 1972 as a lighthearted alternative to the battle between Richard Nixon and George McGovern.
In the 21st century, Winnie made another -- albeit unintentional -- foray into politics when Chinese critics of Xi Jinping noted what they said was a resemblance between the country's leader and the portly bear.
Communist Party censors worked to scrub the internet of any reference to the character.
And in 2023 after US copyright protections lapsed, Winnie found himself advising children how to avoid a school shooter when a Texas school district pressed him into action for a leaflet to warn them to "Run, Hide, Fight." 
That same year, he became a knife-wielding villain in a low-budget slasher film called "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey," which recouped its budget many times over with a theatrical run that surprised industry watchers. 
Mark Henn, an animator who worked on the altogether more family-friendly 2011 Disney film "Winnie the Pooh," said he had been thrilled to be able to draw a character he had grown up watching.
"He definitely is a bringer of joy," he told AFP.
"He's very calm. Even when he does get upset, there's a calmness to his demeanor, which I think most people really gravitate to."
hg/sst/dw

crime

Myanmar civil war drives drugs epidemic in Thai hills

BY NATHAPHOB SUNGKATE

  • When peace came to much of Southeast Asia the title moved to Afghanistan, but it was taken by Myanmar after the 2021 military coup and subsequent civil war, with a thriving methamphetamine industry alongside.
  • Hundreds of thousands of people in northern Thailand have become collateral damage from the civil war in neighbouring Myanmar, turning to drugs as supply through the area rockets on the back of the conflict.
  • When peace came to much of Southeast Asia the title moved to Afghanistan, but it was taken by Myanmar after the 2021 military coup and subsequent civil war, with a thriving methamphetamine industry alongside.
Hundreds of thousands of people in northern Thailand have become collateral damage from the civil war in neighbouring Myanmar, turning to drugs as supply through the area rockets on the back of the conflict.
The area is part of the Golden Triangle -- where the two countries' borders meet Laos -- once the world's biggest opium hub when wars raged across Indochina in the 1960s and 70s.
When peace came to much of Southeast Asia the title moved to Afghanistan, but it was taken by Myanmar after the 2021 military coup and subsequent civil war, with a thriving methamphetamine industry alongside.
Drugs are smuggled into Thailand on their way to market, and research shows usage rates in its northern regions have tripled in five years.
The poorest and most vulnerable are hardest hit, among them the area's hill tribes such as the Lahu, around 300,000 of whom live along the frontier, mostly in Myanmar's Shan state but around one-third in Thailand.
Researchers say that with few opportunities available to them, individual Lahu also often become involved with drugs as opium field labourers or as low-level smugglers.
Jawa Jabo, 70, relapsed into opium in the face of gruelling work on his coffee farm and marital tensions, before turning to religion to try to tackle his addiction.
At a cleansing ceremony in Mae Ai, just 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border, a spiritual leader cupped his hand over a candle before gripping Jawa's legs and body to drive out the toxins.
"May all that is bad dissolve into the river and never return," the shaman chanted.
At the culmination of the ritual Jawa burned through a sacred white cord to tie around his wrist for protection, and as a reminder of his promises.
"After the ritual, the pain eased -- and from today, I must quit opium," said Jawa.

Supply spike

On a foggy winter morning captain Khetsopon Nopsiri led a six-strong Thai army patrol along dirt tracks through the forest, assault rifles at the ready.
His unit monitors cross-border drug smuggling routes from Myanmar and regularly clashes with suspected traffickers, four times in November alone.
One group of 10 to 12 suspects fled after a firefight, he said, leaving behind 2.2 million methamphetamine pills.
"Drug trafficking into Thailand is increasing as production becomes more efficient," he said.
For centuries opium was an economic mainstay for many Golden Triangle hill tribes, where soils are too poor for most crops and government authority was weak.
Organised crime groups also operate methamphetamine labs that are easy to hide among the trees and offer reliable harvests in pill or crystal form.
Some of the myriad armed organisations in Myanmar, including its own military, have long been accused of profiting from the drugs trade, while others are said to have turned to it more recently to fund their fighting.
The conflict disrupts efforts to combat the industry, with the central government weakened and its attention elsewhere.
At the same time, some drug-producing areas have more stability, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report, "allowing major drug producing groups to ramp up production without law enforcement intervention".
Conflict-related incidents rose more than 17-fold in southern Shan state between the three years before the coup and the same period afterwards, the report found.
In the same timescale, the amount of crystal methamphetamine seized in Myanmar rose by more than 150 percent, even as the number of seizures fell.
Opium production has more than doubled since the coup, UNODC said, and poppy was farmed on more than 53,000 hectares last year, the largest area since 2015.
"The first victims are the communities living along the border," Delphine Schantz, UNODC regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, told AFP.
"The closer they are to production areas, the cheaper the drugs become, and we are seeing rising drug use, particularly among young people in border communities." 

Usage triples

Research published by Chiang Mai University estimated that almost 290,000 people in Thailand's eight northernmost provinces, including those on the border with Shan state, used hard drugs at least once in 2024.
That was more than three times as many as the previous survey in 2019, before the coup, and more than seven percent of the population -- with higher rates in rural and remote areas.
Mae Ai district is home to nearly 16,000 Lahu, their biggest centre in Thailand.
Other than farming or casual labour there are few opportunities for paid work, compounded by the fact that many cannot speak Thai.
"The fastest way to make money is producing and moving drugs," said Lieutenant General Worathep Bunya, head of an interdiction task force on the border.
Sitthikorn Palor, 19, dropped out of primary school and was raised by his stepfather, a low-level drug trafficker.
After a brief stint of farm work, he began to courier methamphetamine.
"I was the one picking up the drugs and delivering them to customers," he said.
But after he joined a grassroots support group offering emotional support and Thai lessons he returned to agricultural labour, and now dreams of opening a car repair shop.
"They encouraged me to change my ways," he said. "Normally I'm someone who doesn't listen to anyone, but when they came to talk to me and acted like older siblings, I listened and stopped what I was doing."
Scores of Lahu have been supported over the years by the With Loving Hearts organisation.
But one, activist Chaiyaphum Pasae, was shot dead aged 17 by soldiers at an army checkpoint claiming he was trafficking drugs, prompting a seven-year legal battle for co-founder Yuphin Saja.
"Behind the stigma that labels Lahu children as lazy, uneducated or drug users," she said, "they are simply struggling to survive on their own."
This story is a collaboration between AFP and HaRDstories, with support from the Pulitzer Center.
str/slb/hmn/jm/abs

leisure

Viral drone video fuels debate about Rio favela tourism

BY FRAN BLANDY

  • "These videos I make always get a lot of views, and so I wanted to make one here in Rocinha because it's going viral all over the world," she told AFP. She said the videos were "showing our country, showing our Rio de Janeiro, this is part of our culture."
  • A line of tourists touch up their makeup before strutting across a rooftop in Rio de Janeiro's largest favela, posing for a drone as it zooms out to show dramatic aerial views of the hillside community.
  • "These videos I make always get a lot of views, and so I wanted to make one here in Rocinha because it's going viral all over the world," she told AFP. She said the videos were "showing our country, showing our Rio de Janeiro, this is part of our culture."
A line of tourists touch up their makeup before strutting across a rooftop in Rio de Janeiro's largest favela, posing for a drone as it zooms out to show dramatic aerial views of the hillside community.
Set to an infectious beat, the video of the Rocinha favela has exploded on social media at a time when the city is drawing record tourist numbers.
It has also created a sense of unease, with dozens of comments accusing visitors of glamorizing poverty and crime in a low-income community dominated by drug traffickers.
However, Renan Monteiro, 42, founder of the tourism company Na Favela Turismo, told AFP that the drone footage was the fruit of efforts to show tourists "the positive side of the favela."
"We are not romanticizing poverty. We want to change the prejudice that exists in people's minds."
He explained that tourists cannot just go to the Porta do Ceu (Gate of Heaven) rooftop, where there has at times been a wait of up to two hours for the drone selfie, which costs at least 150 reais ($30).
They can only get there via a tour, navigating a maze of narrow alleyways as residents go about their daily lives while stopping to visit local artists or see a capoeira show.
Rocinha "has this image that it's kind of bad, kind of dangerous...I found it really lovely to see the atmosphere," said Gabriel Pai, 38, a delivery worker from Costa Rica, after posing for his drone shot.
The success of the drone video has drawn influencers, local officials, and even a marriage proposal.
Ingrid Ohara, a Brazilian influencer with 12 million followers on Instagram and 20 million on TikTok, walks across the rooftop in a shower cap and towel, which she casts aside to reveal a skimpy dress, twirling as the drone zooms away.
"These videos I make always get a lot of views, and so I wanted to make one here in Rocinha because it's going viral all over the world," she told AFP.
She said the videos were "showing our country, showing our Rio de Janeiro, this is part of our culture."

'Safari-like tourism'

Monteiro, who grew up in Rocinha, recalls the early days of "safari-like" tourism in the favela, when visitors guided by outsiders would show up in open-air jeeps, much to the chagrin of locals.
In 2017, a female Spanish tourist was shot dead during a firefight between police and drug traffickers, and all tourism stopped.
When it resumed years later, visitors were once again "wandering around on the wrong paths" with no oversight.
Monteiro was inspired to find a safe way to show visitors the sprawling favela, which is home to over 70,000 people.
Working with community leaders, he mapped out set tourist routes, monitored by locals. He also created an app to track guides' locations and manage the flow of tourists.
If there is a police operation against drug traffickers, guides communicate through the app to cancel ongoing tours.
The company has trained 300 local guides and ten drone pilots. The owners of 26 rooftops and terraces in Rocinha and Vidigal earn money for allowing tourist visits.
Drone pilot Pedro Lucas, 19, said he had few prospects before the job, which "changed my life a lot."
"I earn a good amount of money and it would be good if more people from the favela had the same opportunity."

'An exotic contrast'

With world-famous beaches, Carnival, and sights like the Christ the Redeemer statue, tourism in Rio has surged.
Government tourism agency Embratur told AFP there were almost 290,000 international visitors in January alone, a record.
In February, Na Favela Turismo recorded 41,000 visitors to Rocinha and nearby Vidigal.
Claudiane Pereira dos Santos, 50, a cleaner, welcomes the tourist "frenzy."
"People immediately associate (Rocinha) with crime, the bad side. And it's not like that. There are many hardworking people, wonderful people."
If people want to criticize something, she added, they could focus on the lack of basic services and electricity that residents struggle with.
"I recognize that some residents see this as a legitimate source of income," said Cecilia Olliveira, Executive Director of the Fogo Cruzado Institute, which tracks armed violence in low-income communities.
"The problem arises when the favela ceases to be a vibrant, complex neighborhood traversed by structural inequalities and becomes merely an exotic contrast or a backdrop for impactful content."
fb/sla

real-estate

US brothers guilty of luxury real estate sex-trafficking scheme: US media

  • The brothers used "deception, fraud and coercion" -- including the promise of luxury travel accommodation -- to engage in sex trafficking as well as drugging, sexually assaulting and raping dozens of women.
  • Three brothers were found guilty of sex trafficking on Monday, following a trial that showed they used their high-profile connections in the luxury real estate world to assault women for years.
  • The brothers used "deception, fraud and coercion" -- including the promise of luxury travel accommodation -- to engage in sex trafficking as well as drugging, sexually assaulting and raping dozens of women.
Three brothers were found guilty of sex trafficking on Monday, following a trial that showed they used their high-profile connections in the luxury real estate world to assault women for years.
Oren and Tal Alexander were the founders of real estate firm Official, which had offices in Miami and New York. Alon Alexander, Oren's twin, worked at the family's private security firm.
The brothers used "deception, fraud and coercion" -- including the promise of luxury travel accommodation -- to engage in sex trafficking as well as drugging, sexually assaulting and raping dozens of women.
Twins Alon and Oren, both 38, and their brother Tal, 39, all face sentences of up to life imprisonment when they are sentenced on August 6, The New York Times reported.
They used "their wealth and prominent positions in real estate to create and facilitate opportunities" to do so, prosecutors said when they were charged.
The assaults date from at least 2010 to at least 2021, prosecutors said.
In 2022, Tal and Oren were the subject of a New York Times profile detailing their successful ventures as real-estate high rollers, including the sale of a 24,000-square-foot (2,230-square-meter) Manhattan penthouse for $234 million.
Tal Alexander flaunted a "no days off" lifestyle of constantly showing glamorous residences to wealthy clients.
Prosecutors painted a grim picture of all three brothers luring women to events and parties, then drugging them with cocaine, magic mushrooms and GHB, and assaulting them.
The Alexanders and those in their circle used "social media, dating applications, in-person encounters...and party promoters who would recruit women for these events," prosecutors said.
gw/jgc

US

Shelter rankings and shower-timing apps: Israelis, Palestinians adjust to Iranian rockets

  • - Married in bomb shelter - There have also been endearing moments that have captured the public's attention.
  • What is Israel's best bomb shelter?
  • - Married in bomb shelter - There have also been endearing moments that have captured the public's attention.
What is Israel's best bomb shelter? And when is the best time of day to shower without interruption from a missile alert?
The Middle East war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran has provoked waves of retaliatory Iranian fire as well as some tricky questions for Jews and Arabs from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
A new app, which went viral in the country within hours of launching, uses statistical analysis of recent air raid alerts in specific areas to guide users on the optimal time of day to bathe, while limiting the chances of having to run for cover mid-wash.
"Can't even take a shower. I'm naked in the dining room. Is that normal?" quipped an Israeli on a Telegram account with 60,000 followers, as an alert warning of incoming Iranian missiles ordered residents to head for shelter.
Time Out, a publication known for directing people towards trendy restaurants and cocktail bars, is also trying to help the public navigate the war.
It has published a list of desirable Tel Aviv beach spots based on their proximity to a shelter.
"We searched and found beaches that are near compliant protected areas (shelters) you can reach in just a few minutes' walk if necessary. Don't panic!"
Journalist Ofek Tzach has offered a ranking of Tel Aviv's public shelters.
Among the low performers are one that he derides as packed with tourists, another "with barking dogs," and a third he says is "quiet but with no one to talk to."

Married in bomb shelter

There have also been endearing moments that have captured the public's attention.
The wedding venue booked by Lior and Michael was no longer available, due to security restrictions, so the couple got married in a shelter -- four levels below ground in a shopping centre parking lot.
"It was a wonderful moment," even if seventy percent of the people there were strangers, Michael told Israel's Channel 13.
There has also been a surge of online advice on how to make time in shelters more bearable.
Books, music and cushions are popular recommendations, standing in contrast to the more austere guidance from Israeli authorities, which includes having a radio, batteries, a phone charger and ID papers.
For Palestinians living in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, responses to the relentless air raid sirens have tilted towards dark humour.
There are few public shelters in the eastern part of the city and private shelters are almost non-existent.
"At the moment, Palestinians are taking a plate of qatayef and going up to the roof" to watch the missiles, said a Facebook post by pastry chef Mohammad Alayan, referring to the dessert traditionally eaten during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Palestinians in east Jerusalem regularly film rockets streaking through the sky from their rooftops.
Palestinians also took playful aim at a Facebook post by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion detailing the proper conduct when an air raid siren sounds.
One comment on the post, apparently from a resident of the east Jerusalem refugee camp Shuafat, asked: "What is someone in Shuafat refugee camp supposed to do? Jump out the window?"
mib/ha/anr/bs/del/dcp

Global Edition

Thousands march for women's rights and against Mideast war

  • - 'No to war'- Spanish protesters were denouncing both violence against women and the war in the Middle East sparked by last weekend's US-Israeli strikes.
  • Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the world Sunday to mark International Women's Day and denounce the war in the Middle East.
  • - 'No to war'- Spanish protesters were denouncing both violence against women and the war in the Middle East sparked by last weekend's US-Israeli strikes.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the world Sunday to mark International Women's Day and denounce the war in the Middle East.
From Rio in Brazil, Caracas in Venezuela and cities across France, Spain, Turkey and other European countries, demonstrators marched to demand women's rights across a range of issues.
Thousands marched in cities across Spain to protest gender-based violence and call for an end to the war in the Middle East.
Rape survivor Gisele Pelicot led a women's rights march in Paris, one of 150 demonstrations in French cities.
"We won't give up," Pelicot, 73, told the crowd as she joined thousands in the French capital marching for women's rights, economic equality and an end to sexual violence.
Pelicot became a global symbol in the fight after she waived her right to anonymity during the 2024 trial of her ex-husband and dozens of strangers who raped her while she was unconscious.

'No to war'

Spanish protesters were denouncing both violence against women and the war in the Middle East sparked by last weekend's US-Israeli strikes.
Demonstrations took place in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Granada, Bilbao, and San Sebastian, among other cities.
Madrid hosted two demonstrations in the centre of the Spanish capital -- one for transgender rights and the other for the legalisation and regulation of prostitution.
Slogans written on placards at the protests included "No to war" and "Anti-fascist feminists against imperialist war".
Alexa Rubio, a 30-year-old Mexican living in Spain, cited pay and harassment as some of the most urgent issues.
"And in my country, gender-based violence, because women are being killed for being women," she told AFP.
Yolanda Diaz, Spain's second deputy prime minister, spoke out against the war in the Middle East at a Madrid rally.
"We proclaim ourselves in defence of peace, in defence of the Iranian people, in defence of Iranian women," she said, referring to the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain's socialist prime minister, has drawn the ire of the US administration for opposing the war and refusing the use of Spain's military bases for strikes against Iran.

Women defy Istanbul ban

Thousands of women marched through Istanbul, defying a ban on demonstrations.
Demonstrators packed the streets of Cihangir district, some carrying parasols garlanded in fairy lights, others waving a sea of colourful banners.
There were cheers, dancing and purple flares at the end as organisers read out a statement of support for women affected by the Middle East war.
Earlier Sunday, several thousand women had gathered on the Asian side of Istanbul, and demonstrations took place in nine other cities across Turkey, organisers said.
In Latin America, women marched in cities in Brazil, Chile and Mexico and other countries.
"When one woman advances, we all advance," said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in a speech.
In a message posted on X to mark the day, French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the women of Iran.
"Their courage commands respect and reminds the world that freedom can never be silenced."
burs-ekf/jj/rlp

demographics

Young Chinese parents tighten belts as childcare costs rise

BY MARY YANG

  • The government has also promoted the image of "the ideal Chinese family that is centred around heterosexual marriages" as it tries to boost birth rates, said Zhou, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.
  • New mother Zhang Xiaofei wanted to be financially secure before having a baby, wary of high childcare costs that have been softened only a little by Chinese government cash incentives to boost record-low births.
  • The government has also promoted the image of "the ideal Chinese family that is centred around heterosexual marriages" as it tries to boost birth rates, said Zhou, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.
New mother Zhang Xiaofei wanted to be financially secure before having a baby, wary of high childcare costs that have been softened only a little by Chinese government cash incentives to boost record-low births.
The world's second-most populous country is threatened with a demographic crisis after its birth rate halved over the past decade -- all while people rapidly age out of the workforce.
Beijing has made "building a childbirth-friendly society" a priority over the next five years, China's Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday as lawmakers gathered in the Great Hall of the People for their annual political conclave.
The government introduced a raft of financial incentives last year,including free pre-school education and annual subsidies of 3,600 yuan ($500) for each child born.
However, young Chinese say the measures do little to alleviate financial stress.
Zhang, 32, and her husband Zhu Yunfei, both manicurists, decided to save before having a child.
"We discussed it before. The two of us were aligned in wanting to (focus on) work first because our families' (financial) conditions aren't that good," she told AFP while on maternity leave in Hebei province.
"If we were to have a child, we would want to give them the very best life," she said, cradling her three-week-old daughter.

'Doesn't mean anything'

The new childcare subsidies have cost the government more than 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion), China's national health director told reporters on Saturday.
They were announced shortly after Zhang and Zhu learned they would be parents.
"We thought our kid was too lucky," Zhu, 36, said.
However, the handout -- roughly 1.5 percent of their pooled annual income -- doesn't come close to covering a year's worth of baby formula.
"People joke that it's like giving you a five-yuan voucher towards a Rolls-Royce," he told AFP. 
Zhu scours second-hand platforms for deals on diapers, while Zhang plans to return to work after her daughter turns one month old.
In Henan, soon-to-be father Li plans to take up a second job once his daughter is born.
To save money, he and his wife made a five-hour round trip to neighbouring Hubei province, where he said hospitals offer free prenatal genetic screening.
Li, using a pseudonym for fear of repercussions, was reluctant to have children and said he was indifferent to the incentives.
"This bit of cash doesn't mean anything," the 35-year-old told AFP.

Incompatible with careers

Social demographer Yun Zhou warned that subsidies "often do not lead to any meaningful rebound in fertility".
The government has also promoted the image of "the ideal Chinese family that is centred around heterosexual marriages" as it tries to boost birth rates, said Zhou, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.
"For young Chinese women, especially young highly educated Chinese women, there is also this inherent concern about the pervasive gender-based discriminations in the labour market that is front and centre on their mind."
In 2023, the government banned employers from withholding advancement based on marriage, pregnancy, or parental status, as well as the practice of including pregnancy tests as part of pre-employment physical exams.
However, some women still "feel like childbearing and having successful careers and having a life as a whole is fundamentally incompatible", Zhou said.
Lawmakers this week proposed measures such as extra cash for families with three children and lowering the legal marriage age from 22 for men and 20 for women to encourage earlier childbearing.
Chinese social media users slammed such proposals as "nonsense".
Being a parent in China is "very difficult", Yuan Limei, a 30-year-old mother of two, told AFP.
"There are all kinds of expenses. Everything requires money," she said, pushing her six-year-old on a swing in Beijing.
"And with kids, there's no way for you to work."
Yuan's oldest child is 10 but she does not plan on having a third.
"A kid is much harder to raise than a dog or cat," she laughed.
New father Zhu noted that, while subsidies have little impact in big cities like Beijing, they can make a dent in smaller villages.
"In the city, 3,600 yuan is hardly anything and can't even buy a baby pram, but in some rural areas it's not a small sum," he said.
mya/dhw/pbt

shipyard

Women rule the roost atop the Gdansk shipyard cranes

BY BERNARD OSSER

  • It was Walentynowicz's dismissal in 1980 that triggered the huge shipyard strike and the creation of the first free trade union in the Communist bloc.
  • For the past 30 years, Halina Krauze has sat atop a 15-metre (49-foot) crane surveying the Gdansk shipyard, the birthplace of the Solidarnosc trade union.
  • It was Walentynowicz's dismissal in 1980 that triggered the huge shipyard strike and the creation of the first free trade union in the Communist bloc.
For the past 30 years, Halina Krauze has sat atop a 15-metre (49-foot) crane surveying the Gdansk shipyard, the birthplace of the Solidarnosc trade union.
For eight hours, the 65-year-old displaces tonnes of steel that will become ship hulls and wind turbine components.
She is one of dozens of crane operators at the huge yard, the largest in Central Europe.
Far below the cabin, hundreds of workers in overalls, helmets and protective goggles are busy at work.
The noise is constant, sparks fly and the air is full of welding fumes.
Around 70 percent of Poland's construction site crane operators are women, a tradition inherited from the Communist era.
In the Soviet period, "women had to be employed somewhere and since they couldn't do hard labour, they were integrated into other professions", explained Agnieszka Pyrzanowska, spokeswoman for the state-owned Baltic Industrial Group, which now operates part of the shipyard.
"Entire families worked for the same company."
Indeed, Krauze met her husband Stanislaw at the yard and today they work in the same unit.
"He's up there!" she exclaimed, waving energetically at another crane cabin in the sky.

Remembering a legend

Krauze joined what was then called the Vladimir Lenin shipyard in 1983, first in a coal-fired boiler room and later operating a crane. 
"In the beginning, it was a shipyard. We built a good dozen ships a year. Now we build dozens of wind turbine towers. It's quite different," she said.
She is proud to have worked on the same crane as Anna Walentynowicz, one of the founders of Solidarnosc. 
It was Walentynowicz's dismissal in 1980 that triggered the huge shipyard strike and the creation of the first free trade union in the Communist bloc.
Walentynowicz was "a kind of legend, especially among the older generation", Krauze remembered.
With a steady hand, she manoeuvred a huge wind turbine section, five metres in diameter, across the yard.
"There are people below you so you have to be careful nothing happens to them," said Lesia Kovalchuk, a 48-year-old Ukrainian colleague.
Kovalchuk was a crane operator in Ukraine for 15 years before moving to Poland as a refugee when Russia invaded her country in 2022.
Now she teaches young apprentices on Gdansk construction sites.
"In Ukraine, it's completely normal for women to operate cranes. No-one is surprised," she shrugged.
Both women agreed their male colleagues preferred to work with them than with other men.
"Women are calmer and more precise," Hrauze opined.
"Blokes try to get things done as fast as they can. Girls are all about finesse," Kovalchuk grinned.
One thing has changed though, since the Communist era.
At those days, women workers used to receive small gifts on International Women's Day -- "those famous tights, chocolates, carnations...", Krauze recalled.
"There's nothing any more," she said ruefully. "The unions have all forgotten about women."
bo/rl/gil/rmb

US

Voices from Iran: protests, fear and scarcity

BY MARIAM HARUTYUNYAN IN AGARAK, SYED ALI IN TAFTAN, REMI BANET IN ISTANBUL AND AFP BUREAUS

  • Here is a selection of their accounts, either from people inside Iran who sent messages to AFP reporters, or from those interviewed at the borders with Afghanistan, Turkey or Armenia.
  • From Kurdistan in western Iran to the shores of the Gulf and in Tehran, AFP reporters have spoken to Iranians throughout the week to build a picture of their lives under daily US and Israeli bombardment.
  • Here is a selection of their accounts, either from people inside Iran who sent messages to AFP reporters, or from those interviewed at the borders with Afghanistan, Turkey or Armenia.
From Kurdistan in western Iran to the shores of the Gulf and in Tehran, AFP reporters have spoken to Iranians throughout the week to build a picture of their lives under daily US and Israeli bombardment.
Most spoke of anxiety, but also frustration about rising prices and, for opponents of the government, fear about a crackdown that has seen checkpoints and armed security forces patrol the streets.
Here is a selection of their accounts, either from people inside Iran who sent messages to AFP reporters, or from those interviewed at the borders with Afghanistan, Turkey or Armenia.
AFP is withholding identifying information for their security.

Bukan (north-west Iran)

Reza, 36, runs a cafe in Bukan, in Iranian Kurdistan:
"I run a cafe right in the city centre. Over the past two nights, horror has come to our doorstep: the governor’s office building and the base of the Revolutionary Guards, located barely 200 metres away, were completely destroyed by US-Israeli strikes. 
Today, the streets are littered with rocket debris and the remains of destroyed buildings.
Yet, against all expectations, people keep coming to the cafe. What amazes me most is that they insist on sitting outside on the terrace to watch the bombardments, as if it were a show.
Perhaps it is because in this region we have been used to war since childhood. Bombs no longer seem enough to break our routine.
Moreover, it is Ramadan: people are used to spending their nights at cafes or strolling around the city. And with the Iranian New Year (Nowruz) approaching in two weeks, the city is bustling. Despite the chaos, the shops are packed.
The real problem is money -- banks are no longer distributing cash and many bank cards are blocked.
So in my cafe, I made a decision: for those who cannot pay for their coffee, it’s on the house. At times like these, solidarity is the only thing war cannot destroy."

Bandar Abbas (south)

Mustafa, 27, an Afghan fisherman who had fled Iran, interviewed at the Silk Bridge border post in Afghanistan:
"We were near the port of Bandar Abbas. The situation was not good, so we left. Missiles were falling. 
Work had stopped and goods had become so expensive that nobody could afford to buy them."
Mohammad, 38, employee at a poultry farm:
"Products have become very expensive. For example, the price of a container of oil went from 400,000 tomans ($1.56) to 2.2 million tomans ($8.25)."

Tehran

Teacher, 26:
"For people like me, life has stopped. We spend almost all our time watching the news. We are all very stressed. We tried to prepare reserves of water, food and an emergency bag.
When you hear the bombs, you have no idea where they will fall.
I don’t think anyone has the mental or physical capacity to endure the continuation of the war for long.
The most vulnerable are the children. They are very afraid. The youngest do not want to be separated from their parents. We cannot even keep them occupied at home because there is no internet, so they can neither play online nor watch children’s programmes."
Mahmed, 34, translator:
"There are many police officers, but it’s not dramatic. There are quite a few spies and the Iranian government is trying to track them down.
As the situation was tense in the streets, I didn’t go out much. There are two groups: those who support the government and those who oppose it. On some days one group comes out, on other days the other demonstrates. In recent days, the streets have mostly been filled with people in mourning after the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."
Robert, 60, businessman:
"Tehran has emptied out, many people have left. You can hear the sound of explosions.
Checkpoints have been set up in the city to prevent looting and maintain control. Law enforcement is present with weapons and special equipment... People are frightened."
Amir, 40:
"Before, we thought that if war ever broke out, electricity would be cut and, by a domino effect, water and gas. But the Islamic Republic has proved it is the enemy of the people: nothing has been cut off except the internet.
Without internet, we have no information about the news, evacuation alerts or what is happening to our relatives.
Since the start of the war, the city has become much more closed in on itself, but there are still shops open. Some are closing because there are no customers. There were queues for petrol during the first two days, but now it’s fine."

Shiraz (south)

Shopkeeper:
"For now we are safe. It seems they are only striking military bases. We hear the strikes and we say out loud: 'Well done'.
After the death of Ali Khamenei, people went out into the streets and celebrated. The streets were packed.
The following night, supporters of the government began driving through the streets in car processions, waving the flag of the Islamic Republic and black flags to show their mourning. The supporters are very few in number. Probably mostly families of the Revolutionary Guards or people connected to the regime."

On the island of Kish in the Gulf

Adult resident:
"From 6 pm, a military check is in place. Cars are stopped and thoroughly searched; sometimes they even check mobile phones. That is why many people no longer dare to go out. During the day, people only go out if they absolutely need to buy food."
bur-jri-adp/rmb

rights

El Salvador's Bukele holding dozens of political prisoners: rights group

  • Bukele, whose crackdown on street gangs has won over many Salvadorans, was re-elected in 2024 with a massive majority. 
  • The government of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, known for a harsh crackdown on street gangs and dissent, is holding dozens of political prisoners, a rights group charged Thursday.
  • Bukele, whose crackdown on street gangs has won over many Salvadorans, was re-elected in 2024 with a massive majority. 
The government of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, known for a harsh crackdown on street gangs and dissent, is holding dozens of political prisoners, a rights group charged Thursday.
Such detentions had not happened in El Salvador since its long civil war of the 1980s, making the country now as oppressive as Nicaragua and Venezuela, the NGO Cristosal said at a presentation in Guatemala City.
The group's directors fled to Guatemala last July, saying they were being persecuted by Bukele's administration.
Their report tallied 86 political prisoners, including the NGO's chief anti-corruption investigator, Ruth Lopez.
Bukele has called himself the "world's coolest dictator" and is close to US President Donald Trump.
He rules under a state of emergency during which crime has been slashed as authorities have arrested 91,000 people, often acting without warrants and accusing the detainees of gang affiliation. 
Thousands of innocent people were swept up in the crackdown, and around 8,000 have been released.
"For the first time since the peace agreements, after the war, we can state that there are political prisoners in El Salvador," Rene Valliente, head of research at Cristosal, told a news conference.
He was alluding to the 1992 accord that ended the war between a US-backed right-wing government and leftist guerrillas supported by Cuba.
The report said that besides the political prisoners at least 245 other people had been harassed in one way or another by the Salvadoran government, while cautioning the figure could be much higher.
Most are human rights advocates who criticized the gang crackdown, journalists, union leaders or environmental activists, the report said.

'Old forms of state violence'

"Ultimately, the famous 'Bukele model' is a regime like so many others -- a dictatorship that kills, tortures, robs and persecutes," said Cristosal's president Noah Bullock.
"What we see is a return to old forms of state violence exercised by tyrants and autocratic regimes to concentrate power and hold on to privileges," he said.
Bukele, who has been president since 2019, secured last August the right to seek indefinite re-election after his party-controlled Congress approved a sweeping constitutional reform.
The Salvadoran government did not immediately respond to the report.
Cristosal said along with using criminal courts as "a means of repression," the harassment included threats, having people followed, attempts at public shaming and "the systemic use of preventive incarceration."
"These methods are similar to those seen in countries like Nicaragua and Venezuela," the report said.
Lopez, the NGO's anti-corruption investigator, was detained in May 2025 on charges of embezzling state funds when she worked for an electoral court a decade ago.
She has denied the charges and accused the government of trying to silence her.
Bukele, whose crackdown on street gangs has won over many Salvadorans, was re-elected in 2024 with a massive majority. 
"I don't care if they call me a dictator. I'd rather be called a dictator than see Salvadorans killed in the streets," he said in a speech last year.
bur-hma/axm/js/jgc

US

'Enemy at home': Iranian authorities tighten grip as war rages

BY SUSANNAH WALDEN WITH AFP BUREAUS

  • Iranians have since found themselves caught between the bombs and their government as authorities deploy heavy security and cut off the population from the outside world with an internet blackout. 
  • War has emptied the usually traffic-jammed streets of Iran's capital, but Islamic republic authorities have filled them with checkpoints and security forces as they tighten their grip on the population.
  • Iranians have since found themselves caught between the bombs and their government as authorities deploy heavy security and cut off the population from the outside world with an internet blackout. 
War has emptied the usually traffic-jammed streets of Iran's capital, but Islamic republic authorities have filled them with checkpoints and security forces as they tighten their grip on the population.
After the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on Saturday, killing its supreme leader and urging Iranians to "take over" their government, celebrations at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death were quickly stifled.
Iranians have since found themselves caught between the bombs and their government as authorities deploy heavy security and cut off the population from the outside world with an internet blackout. 
The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) "has closed almost every main street with armed personnel and heavy machine guns to frighten people", a 30-year-old Tehran resident told AFP from Paris. 
"The people are the real enemy in their eyes, not the Americans. Their extremists say first you have to deal with the enemy at home." 
The public show of force appears intended to avoid any repeat of anti-government demonstrations that peaked in January and saw the streets stained with the blood of protesters who had chanted "death to Khamenei" in their thousands. 
The nationwide protests were met with a fierce crackdown that left more than 7,000 people dead, according to the US-based group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which notes the actual toll is likely much higher. More than 50,000 have been arrested, it says.

'Fear and intimidation'

Tehran residents told AFP many of the security forces were from the Basij -- a volunteer militia under the IRGC tasked with maintaining public order.
They have set up checkpoints along with Guards and police to search vehicles and people in the streets.
"There are no traffic jams but the ones that the IRGC has created with their temporary inspection stations in every corner," the 30-year-old said. 
Since Khamenei's death, plainclothes security forces are "in the streets in spades" and "they are all armed, so we can't protest for now", said Tehran resident Amir, who gave only his first name for security reasons. 
"They have taken over the places that belonged to the people," the 40-year-old said.
An engineer living in Tehran said security forces "roam the streets on their own, creating fear and intimidation, checking people's phones, going through them, and harassing people".
The tensions are even felt on the island of Kish in the Gulf, where "people hardly dare to go out anymore" except to buy food, a resident said, with a "military-style control" in place from 6:00 pm.
Iranian authorities have a formidable internal security apparatus, numbering an estimated "850,000 agents of repression", Pierre Razoux, director of studies at the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies, told French lawmakers on Wednesday. 
The 600,000-strong Basij "alone outnumber the regular army and the Revolutionary Guards combined", he said.
Rights groups have warned repression could mount in the war, undermining the chances of a popular uprising that US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have encouraged. 
"The main existential threat to the Islamic republic is not airstrikes... it's Iranian people who came on the streets," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Iran Human Rights NGO told AFP. 
"The Islamic Republic's aim number one is to protect itself. So there is a threat that we might face new massacres, mass arrests, mass executions," he said.  

'When we are free'

The authorities shut down the internet as soon as the war began and have been warning those who succeed in connecting using VPNs that their lines will be blocked and they could face charges.
A warning from the intelligence ministry on Thursday said anyone taking photos at "sensitive locations" could be working as foreign agents and urged citizens to report on each other, according to state television.
Iranians inside the country have expressed fear of giving their names to the media or having messages from journalists on their phones -- both a link to the outside world and a potential source of incrimination. 
A resident of Shiraz city said celebrations that packed the streets after Khamenei's death were shut down by government forces, only for people to gather the next night in a government-sanctioned rally.  
State television has been flooded with footage of such demonstrations, where crowds wave Iranian flags and mourn Khamenei.
Some Tehran residents still shout protest slogans from their windows at night, one woman said, as others hold out hope they'll soon take to the streets again.
"We are staying at home and hoping we stay alive so we can do a proper dance when we are free," said 39-year-old Elnaz.
sw/adp/