entertainment

TV soaps and diplomacy as Bangladesh and Turkey grow closer

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • - 'New opportunities' - Ties between Ankara and Dhaka have not always been smooth, but they "are growing stronger now," said Md Anwarul Azim, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka.
  • In a recording studio in Dhaka, voiceover artist Rubaiya Matin Gity dubs the latest Turkish soap opera to become a megahit in Bangladesh -- a pop-culture trend that reflects growing ties between the two countries.
  • - 'New opportunities' - Ties between Ankara and Dhaka have not always been smooth, but they "are growing stronger now," said Md Anwarul Azim, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka.
In a recording studio in Dhaka, voiceover artist Rubaiya Matin Gity dubs the latest Turkish soap opera to become a megahit in Bangladesh -- a pop-culture trend that reflects growing ties between the two countries.
"Yasmeen! Yasmeen! I have fallen in love..." the 32-year-old actor cried in Bangla, her eyes fixed on the screen playing new episodes of Turkish drama "Kara Sevda", or "Endless Love", which has captivated millions of viewers in the South Asian nation.
The success of Turkish shows, challenging the once-unrivalled popularity of Indian television dramas, is the sign of a change that extends far beyond Bangladeshi screens.
It mirrors shifting alliances and expanding diplomatic, trade and defence relations between the two Muslim-majority nations, 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) apart.
More Turkish restaurants are opening in Bangladesh and there is a general interest in learning the language, coupled with rekindled warmth between the two governments, set against increasingly fractious relations between Dhaka and New Delhi.
An interim government has led Bangladesh since an uprising last year toppled the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina -- who fled to old ally India, where she has resisted extradition, turning relations between the two neighbours icy.

'New opportunities'

Ties between Ankara and Dhaka have not always been smooth, but they "are growing stronger now," said Md Anwarul Azim, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka.
"The relationship faltered twice," he said, first in 1971 when Bangladesh separated from Pakistan, and then in 2013, when Dhaka hanged men accused of war crimes during the independence struggle.
Bilateral trade remains modest, but Azim noted that Turkey offers Bangladesh an alternative to its reliance on China as its main weapons supplier.
Ankara's defence industry boss Haluk Gorgun visited Dhaka in July, and Bangladesh's army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman is expected in Turkey later this month to discuss production of military equipment.
Bangladesh has also shown interest in Turkish drones, technology Ankara has reportedly supplied to Pakistan, India's arch-enemy.
Dhaka's interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, said he was "focused on further deepening" ties with Ankara, after meeting a Turkish parliamentary delegation this month.
"Bangladesh stands ready to work hand in hand with Turkiye to unlock new opportunities for our people," Yunus said.

Classes, clothes and horses

Alongside formal ties, cultural links are also deepening.
Ezaz Uddin Ahmed, 47, head of programming at the channel that pioneered Turkish dramas in Bangladesh, said that Deepto TV has "a dedicated team of translators, scriptwriters, voice artists and editors" working to meet the growing demand.
Its breakout hit came in 2017 with a historical epic that eclipsed Indian serials and "surpassed all others" in terms of popularity, Ahmed said.
Riding on that success, Deepto TV and other Bangladeshi broadcasters snapped up more Turkish imports -- from Ottoman sagas to contemporary family dramas.
Interest in the Turkish language has followed suit, with several leading institutions now offering courses.
"I have 20 students in a single batch," said Sheikh Abdul Kader, a trainer and economics lecturer at Jagannath University. "There is growing demand."
For some, the love for all things Turkish doesn't end there.
Business owner Tahiya Islam, 33, has launched a Turkish-themed clothing line, and inspired by Ottoman traditions, even took up horseback riding.
"During the Ottoman era, couples used to go out on horseback," she said. "Now, my husband rides too -- and I even have my own horse."
sa/pjm/ami

exam

South Korea halts flights for college entry exam

BY KANG JIN-KYU

  • With so much at stake, the South Korean government is taking no chances as anxious-looking students bid farewell to their parents on what many consider to be the most important day of their teenage lives.
  • Flights are temporarily halted, the stock market will trade an hour later and parents are packing shrines for prayers -- it can only be college entry exam day for South Korean students.
  • With so much at stake, the South Korean government is taking no chances as anxious-looking students bid farewell to their parents on what many consider to be the most important day of their teenage lives.
Flights are temporarily halted, the stock market will trade an hour later and parents are packing shrines for prayers -- it can only be college entry exam day for South Korean students.
The college entry exam, known locally as the "Suneung", is essential for admission to top universities and widely regarded as a gateway to social mobility, economic security and even a good marriage.
With so much at stake, the South Korean government is taking no chances as anxious-looking students bid farewell to their parents on what many consider to be the most important day of their teenage lives.
A 35-minute nationwide ban on flights has been imposed during the English listening test, except in emergencies, while banks and public offices told their workers to start an hour later to avoid traffic on the roads. 
"I am really nervous but as I have prepared so much, I will do my best," Kim Min-jae, 18, told AFP as he walked into a test centre in Seoul on Thursday morning. 
He said his parents were "even more nervous" than he was as he left home.
"They tried to make sure I have everything," he said, smiling.
A total of 140 flights, including 75 international services, will be rescheduled from 1:05 to 1:40 pm because of the exam, the land ministry told AFP. 
Videos of police rushing late students to exam halls have also become an annual occurrence.
- Seaweed soup - 
Heavy media presence and traffic police were seen at Yongsan High School in Seoul as students streamed in early in the morning to sit the day-long Suneung -- short for the College Scholastic Ability Test.
At the Yongsan school gate, junior high school students, who will take the crucial exam in the coming years, cheered the test-takers, holding encouraging signs and chanting slogans, including: "Get 100 score on Suneung".
"I came here to give my support for my high school seniors. Being here makes me motivated to study harder for the next two years to prepare for my own Suneung," said Kang Dong-woo, 16.
There are many taboos associated with the college entrance exam in South Korea.
Among them is avoiding seaweed soup for lunch, as its slippery strands are believed to make students "slip" in the high-stakes test -- a superstition that has long shaped test-day menus.
After sending their children to exam centres, parents often visit churches or Buddhist temples to pray for good results.
Han Yu-na, a 50-year-old mother of one exam-taker, was among them.
"I am going to a Buddhist temple near my home to offer prayers along with other mothers during the exam hours," she told AFP.
Han, who runs a private tutoring academy, said her prayer schedule would mirror the exam timetable -- taking a break when her son takes a break and eating lunch when he eats lunch.
"My son Young-woo, I hope you pour your best until the end. I love you," she said in a message to her son.

Bullying records

More than 550,000 students registered for the exam, though turnout is typically slightly lower. 
The 2026 college admission cycle marks the first time all four-year universities must consider a student's history of school violence in their decisions.
In recent years, victims of bullying have spoken out in a #MeToo-style wave, accusing perpetrators of escaping accountability and demanding justice.
Previously, factoring in such records was a recommendation, not a requirement.
Ten state-run universities rejected 45 applicants over school violence in the last admission cycle, according to MP Kang Kyung-sook.
kjk/ep/tc/lb

migration

Migrant workers in Romania fear wave of hate fuelled by far right

BY ANI SANDU

  • In early November, in a town close to Bucharest, a Sri Lankan delivery rider was hit with a charging cable, cursed at and spat on following a traffic altercation. 
  • Bangladeshi food delivery rider Sabbirrul Alam has stopped making night-time deliveries on his bike in Bucharest ever since a man hit a fellow countryman on the street, shouting "Go back to your country!"
  • In early November, in a town close to Bucharest, a Sri Lankan delivery rider was hit with a charging cable, cursed at and spat on following a traffic altercation. 
Bangladeshi food delivery rider Sabbirrul Alam has stopped making night-time deliveries on his bike in Bucharest ever since a man hit a fellow countryman on the street, shouting "Go back to your country!" and "You are an invader!"
"I'm afraid," the 29-year-old told AFP, adding that the incident in August had surprised him.
"I think people have become very angry," said Alam, sporting a black cap with the Romanian flag.
The attack came just days after one of the leaders of the far-right AUR party, which has been gaining votes, asked people on Facebook to refuse deliveries from drivers who aren't Romanian.
Several European countries have seen an increase in attacks against immigrants in tandem with rising hate speech across the continent.
Concern is growing in Romania, which relies heavily on non-EU workers in its manufacturing, construction, trade and hospitality sectors.
Images posted to social media show that some delivery riders have even started writing "I am Romanian" on the bags they use to transport food.
President Nicusor Dan has condemned the August attack, describing it as an "act of xenophobic violence" which happened after the spread of "voices inciting hatred against foreigners". 
"Words have real, sometimes dramatic consequences," he wrote on X.

False claims

The number of non-EU workers in Romania has steadily grown in recent years, reaching 140,000 at the end of 2024. Most are from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey and India.
As Romanians leave the poor EU member state to work abroad, the Eastern European country has one of the highest labour shortages across the 27-nation bloc, according to a European Employment Services report.
Romulus Badea, president of the Employers' Federation of Labour Force Importers, says while attacks against foreign workers have been isolated, he hopes this won't "become a phenomenon".
Badea added he has noticed an increase in hate speech against foreign workers on social media, with false claims that "these people are coming to take our jobs".
In a deeply polarised society, a far-right candidate shot to prominence in presidential elections last year, which were later annulled.
Centrist Dan won a re-run in May, but anti-immigrant parties hold an unprecedented third of parliamentary seats.
In a Facebook post last week, AUR leader George Simion said foreign migrants were given better housing than Romanians in one Bucharest block -- a claim the owner reportedly dismissed, saying the renovated building was intended for all workers.
"Issues of concern are the increasing presence of hate speech in political discourse, in the media and online," the Council of Europe's anti-discrimination body, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), said last month in a report on Romania.
In response to an AFP request asking if the number of incidents involving foreign workers had increased in recent months, national police said it did "not have the statistical data in the form you requested".

 'Concerning'

Several workers told AFP they had experienced degrading treatment.
Ruban Jayathas, a 47-year-old IT worker from Sri Lanka who has been living in Romania for more than 15 years, said he felt most Romanians remained welcoming but worried that online hate was "picking up momentum".
"I wouldn't have imagined it before," he told AFP.
In October, posters depicting a Nigerian man arrested for rape appeared in central Bucharest, urging people "to defend their city" before police took them down. No one claimed responsibility for putting them up.
In early November, in a town close to Bucharest, a Sri Lankan delivery rider was hit with a charging cable, cursed at and spat on following a traffic altercation. 
He filed a complaint with the police, but later withdrew it. 
After the case became public, a trade union announced it would offer free legal assistance and support in cases of abuse or harassment to all such workers. 
"Unfortunately, this is not the first case of its kind, and these repeat offences are deeply concerning," it said.
ani/jza/cc

music

Humans can no longer tell AI music from the real thing: survey

  • "Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer in a statement.
  • It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday.
  • "Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer in a statement.
It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 people to listen to two clips of AI-generated music and one of human-made music in a survey conducted for France-based streaming platform Deezer.
"Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer in a statement.
The survey was conducted between October 6 and 10 in eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.
Deezer said more than half of the respondents felt uncomfortable at not being able to tell the difference.
Pollsters also asked broader questions about the impact of AI, with 51 percent saying the technology would lead to more low-quality music on streaming platforms and almost two-thirds believing it will lead to a loss of creativity.
"The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they're listening to AI or human made tracks or not," Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said in a statement.
Deezer said there has not only been a surge in AI-generated content being uploaded to its platform, but it is finding listeners as well. 
In January, one in 10 of the tracks streamed each day were completely AI-generated. Ten months later, that percentage has climbed to over one in three, or nearly 40,000 per day.
Eighty percent of survey respondents wanted fully AI-generated music clearly labelled for listeners.
Deezer is the only major music-streaming platform that systematically labels completely AI-generated content for users.
The issue gained prominence in June when a band called The Velvet Sundown suddenly went viral on Spotify, and only confirmed the following month that it was in fact AI-generated content.
The AI group's most popular song has been streamed more than three million times.
In response, Spotify said it would encourage artists and publishers to sign up to a voluntary industry code to disclose AI use in music production.
fan/vg/rl/jxb

ethics

'We're already living in science fiction': The neurotech revolution

BY JULIEN DURY

  • Many experts are concerned about the ethical implications of neurotechnology -- particularly because some companies are looking well beyond healthcare applications, instead hoping to use computers to improve our cognitive abilities.
  • From translating thoughts into words to allowing paralysed people to walk, the field of neurotechnology has been quietly surging ahead, raising hopes of medical breakthroughs -- and profound ethical concerns.
  • Many experts are concerned about the ethical implications of neurotechnology -- particularly because some companies are looking well beyond healthcare applications, instead hoping to use computers to improve our cognitive abilities.
From translating thoughts into words to allowing paralysed people to walk, the field of neurotechnology has been quietly surging ahead, raising hopes of medical breakthroughs -- and profound ethical concerns.
Some observers even think that neurotech could end up being as revolutionary as the far more hyped rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
"People do not realise how much we're already living in science fiction," King's College London researcher Anne Vanhoestenberghe told AFP.
The scientist leads a laboratory developing electronic devices which are implanted into a person's nervous system -- not just the brain, but also the spinal cord that transmits signals to the rest of the body.
It has been a big couple of years for neurotech research. In June, Californian scientists revealed that a brain implant they developed could translate the thoughts of a man with the neurodegenerative disease ALS into words almost instantly, in just one-fortieth of a second.
Swiss researchers meanwhile have enabled several paralysed people to regain significant control of their body -- including walking again -- by implanting electrodes into their spinal cords. 
These experiments, and other trailblazers in the field, are still far from restoring full capability to patients who have lost the ability to talk or walk.
It also remains to be seen how such technology, some of which requires invasive brain surgery, could be made available to people in need across the world.
But still, "the general public is unaware of what is already out there and changing lives," Vanhoestenberghe said.
And these devices are becoming more effective at a remarkable rate, she emphasised.
"Previously it took thousands of hours of training before someone could compose several words using their thoughts," she said. "Now it only takes a couple."

Musk wants human-AI 'symbiosis'

Neurotechnology has been propelled by a combination of scientific advances -- including growing understanding of the human brain -- and technological progress which has shrunk devices down so small they can slot into our skulls.
Algorithms using artificial intelligence have significantly sped things along, helping to interpret and transform the data coming from brains.
Numerous start-ups that have emerged since the late 2000s have raised tens of billions of dollars for research that has only recently started translating into concrete achievements.
The most publicised company is billionaire Elon Musk's Neuralink, which says that it has now implanted 12 people with its chip.
While Musk has made characteristically lofty claims, experts have remained cautious about his firm's accomplishments.
"Neuralink is currently just smoke and mirrors, with a lot of hype," Herve Chneiweiss, a neurologist and expert in ethics at France's research organisation INSERM, told AFP.
However, "the day they manage to produce commercial products -- and it won't be long -- it will be too late to worry about it," he cautioned.
Many experts are concerned about the ethical implications of neurotechnology -- particularly because some companies are looking well beyond healthcare applications, instead hoping to use computers to improve our cognitive abilities.
Musk, for one, has repeatedly said he ultimately wants Neuralink to allow humans to achieve "symbiosis" with AI.

'Innermost thoughts under threat'

Against this background, the United Nations' agency for science and culture UNESCO recently approved recommendations for how nations can regulate neurotechnology. 
These recommendations -- which are not legally binding -- are due to come into effect on Wednesday.
The authors, who include Chneiweiss, adopted a broad definition of neurotech. It includes devices already widely available such as smartwatches and headsets that do not directly interact with the brain, but instead measure indicators providing an idea of the user's mental state.
"Today, the main risk is invasion of privacy: our innermost thoughts are under threat," Chneiweiss said.
He warned, for example, that neurotech data could "fall into the hands of your boss", who could then decide that you are not spending enough time thinking about work.
Some have already started trying to address such concerns.
Late last year, the US state of California, a global hub of neurotech research, passed a law protecting the brain data of consumers.
jdy-dl/rlp/kjm

UN

Indigenous protesters clash with security at COP30 summit in Brazil

BY MADELEINE PRADEL

  • The incident caused "minor injuries to two security staff, and minor damage to the venue," a spokesperson for United Nations Climate Change told AFP. "Brazilian and UN security personnel took protective actions to secure the venue, following all established security protocols," the spokesperson said.
  • Dozens of Indigenous protesters clashed with security guards Tuesday at the COP30 summit in Brazil, causing minor injuries in a rare incident of violence at the UN climate talks. 
  • The incident caused "minor injuries to two security staff, and minor damage to the venue," a spokesperson for United Nations Climate Change told AFP. "Brazilian and UN security personnel took protective actions to secure the venue, following all established security protocols," the spokesperson said.
Dozens of Indigenous protesters clashed with security guards Tuesday at the COP30 summit in Brazil, causing minor injuries in a rare incident of violence at the UN climate talks. 
In the evening, Indigenous demonstrators and their supporters breached security barriers at the main entrance to the conference hall in Belem and scuffled with security officers there. 
The incident caused "minor injuries to two security staff, and minor damage to the venue," a spokesperson for United Nations Climate Change told AFP.
"Brazilian and UN security personnel took protective actions to secure the venue, following all established security protocols," the spokesperson said.
Calm was quickly restored and security staff used tables and chairs to barricade the entrance to the high-level "blue zone" at the heart of the conference venue.
An AFP journalist saw a police officer being evacuated in a wheelchair.
Security inside the COP30 venue falls under the responsibility of the UN, while local authorities take charge of the surrounding area.
UN police officers were asking those still inside the COP30 venue to evacuate the vast site of giant air-conditioned tents.
"The Indigenous movement wanted to present its demands inside the blue zone but were not allowed in," said Joao Santiago, a professor at the Federal University of Para.

'Voices ignored'

Maria Clara, a protester with the Rede Sustentabilidade Bahia association, told AFP she wanted to draw attention to the plight of Indigenous peoples.
"These voices are ignored," she said.
"They entered the COP30 venue to protest the fact that the COP will end but the destruction continues."
The March for Health and Climate, the organizers behind the protest, sought to distance themselves from the incident.
"The march, which concluded before the COP30 venue, was a legitimate, peaceful, and organized expression of popular mobilisation, built through dialogue, responsibility, and collective commitment," the group said in a statement.
The UN spokesperson said "the venue is fully secured, and COP negotiations continue." Brazilian and UN authorities were investigating the incident, the spokesperson added. 
Last week, Brazil's Minister for Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, said the UN summit would be "the best COP in terms of Indigenous participation."
bur-ico/ia/np/jgc

indicator

UK unemployment jumps to 5% before key govt budget

  • The rate increased from 4.7 percent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, ahead of the Labour government's annual budget due November 26 which is set to feature tax rises amid weak UK economic growth.
  • Britain's unemployment rate rose more than expected to five percent in the third quarter, the highest level since early 2021, official data showed Tuesday ahead of a key UK government budget.
  • The rate increased from 4.7 percent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, ahead of the Labour government's annual budget due November 26 which is set to feature tax rises amid weak UK economic growth.
Britain's unemployment rate rose more than expected to five percent in the third quarter, the highest level since early 2021, official data showed Tuesday ahead of a key UK government budget.
The rate increased from 4.7 percent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, ahead of the Labour government's annual budget due November 26 which is set to feature tax rises amid weak UK economic growth.
Analysts' consensus forecast for the third quarter, running from July to September, had been for an increase to 4.9 percent.
"The number of people on payroll is falling, with revised tax data now showing falls in most of the last 12 months," ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said in comments accompanying the latest figures.
The data deals a further blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ruling Labour party, which is trailing badly in popularity polls 16 months after winning a general election.
"There will be no pre-budget comforts that can be taken from today's employment data," noted Isaac Stell, an analyst at investment manager Wealth Club.
"Not only has the unemployment rate risen, but wage growth... continues to shrink." 
Stell added that "with speculation around the budget reaching fever pitch, businesses have postponed hiring and are less likely to commit to any form of investment until they know where the economic land lies".
Analysts said, however, that the weak data increased chances of the Bank of England cutting its main interest rate at its next monetary policy meeting in December, which would ease some pressure.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves has indicated that taxes will rise in the budget to help drive down government debt and to fund public services.
bcp/aks/rmb

cybercrime

AI agents open door to new hacking threats

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • AI agents are programs that use artificial intelligence chatbots to do the work humans do online, like buy a plane ticket or add events to a calendar.
  • Cybersecurity experts are warning that artificial intelligence agents, widely considered the next frontier in the generative AI revolution, could wind up getting hijacked and doing the dirty work for hackers.
  • AI agents are programs that use artificial intelligence chatbots to do the work humans do online, like buy a plane ticket or add events to a calendar.
Cybersecurity experts are warning that artificial intelligence agents, widely considered the next frontier in the generative AI revolution, could wind up getting hijacked and doing the dirty work for hackers.
AI agents are programs that use artificial intelligence chatbots to do the work humans do online, like buy a plane ticket or add events to a calendar.
But the ability to order around AI agents with plain language makes it possible for even the technically non-proficient to do mischief.
"We're entering an era where cybersecurity is no longer about protecting users from bad actors with a highly technical skillset," AI startup Perplexity said in a blog post.
"For the first time in decades, we're seeing new and novel attack vectors that can come from anywhere."
These so-called injection attacks are not new in the hacker world, but previously required cleverly written and concealed computer code to cause damage.
But as AI tools evolved from just generating text, images or video to being "agents" that can independently scour the internet, the potential for them to be commandeered by prompts slipped in by hackers has grown.
"People need to understand there are specific dangers using AI in the security sense," said software engineer Marti Jorda Roca at NeuralTrust, which specializes in large language model security.
Meta calls this query injection threat a "vulnerability." OpenAI chief information security officer Dane Stuckey has referred to it as "an unresolved security issue."
Both companies are pouring billions of dollars into AI, the use of which is ramping up rapidly along with its capabilities.

AI 'off track'

Query injection can in some cases take place in real time when a user prompt -- "book me a hotel reservation" -- is gerrymandered by a hostile actor into something else -- "wire $100 to this account."
But these nefarious prompts can also be hiding out on the internet as AI agents built into browsers encounter online data of dubious quality or origin, and potentially booby-trapped with hidden commands from hackers.
Eli Smadja of Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point sees query injection as the "number one security problem" for large language models that power AI agents and assistants that are fast emerging from the ChatGPT revolution.
Major rivals in the AI industry have installed defenses and published recommendations to thwart such cyberattacks.
Microsoft has integrated a tool to detect malicious commands based on factors including where instructions for AI agents originate.
OpenAI alerts users when agents doing their bidding visit sensitive websites and blocks proceeding until the software is supervised in real time by the human user.
Some security professionals suggest requiring AI agents to get user approval before performing any important task - like exporting data or accessing bank accounts.
"One huge mistake that I see happening a lot is to give the same AI agent all the power to do everything," Smadja told AFP.
In the eyes of cybersecurity researcher Johann Rehberger, known in the industry as "wunderwuzzi," the biggest challenge is that attacks are rapidly improving.
"They only get better," Rehberger said of hacker tactics.
Part of the challenge, according to the researcher, is striking a balance between security and ease of use since people want the convenience of AI doing things for them without constant checks and monitoring.
Rehberger argues that AI agents are not mature enough to be trusted yet with important missions or data.
"I don't think we are in a position where you can have an agentic AI go off for a long time and safely do a certain task," the researcher said.
"It just goes off track."
tu-gc/arp

media

Show shines light on Mormons' unique place in US culture

BY RAPHAëLLE PELTIER

  • After being discovered on TikTok, the heroines of "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives" are their direct descendants. 
  • The breakout success of the US reality TV show "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives," the third season of which begins Thursday, shines a light on America's fascination with the Christian religious movement. 
  • After being discovered on TikTok, the heroines of "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives" are their direct descendants. 
The breakout success of the US reality TV show "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives," the third season of which begins Thursday, shines a light on America's fascination with the Christian religious movement. 
The main Mormon Church, known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has seven million US members -- two percent of the country's population.
Fundamentalist Mormon groups, which practice polygamy, account for fewer than 100,000 people.
Mormons are still "prominent and unique in American imagination," said Brenda Weber, a professor at Indiana University and author of a book on Mormonism in media and culture.
The movement began in 1830 in New York state, coinciding with the rise of the printing press which served as a springboard for the belief system, Weber said.
Mormonism, and particularly the practice of polygamy, also inspired the Sherlock Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet," and silent cinema hit "Trapped by the Mormons" in 1922.
The Church, which emphasizes singing and dancing, has been home to many hit artists including Donny Osmond and actor Ryan Gosling.
The 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah -- which is the Church's stronghold -- marked the start of a cultural "Mormon moment."
The presidential ambitions of Republican Mormon Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012 coincided with television programs dedicated to polygamous families in Utah.
The series "Big Love" aired between 2006 and 2011, while the reality show "Sister Wives" has broadcast since 2010.
On Broadway, the parody musical "The Book of Mormon," named after a religious text, has been a hit since 2011.
Around the same time, "Momfluencers" began gaining traction on social media -- including Mormon matriarchs who are more likely to be stay-at-home mothers with more education and wealth than other American women.
Matthew Bowman, a specialist in American religions at Claremont Graduate University, said that combination of factors created "potent possibilities for social media." 

'Very sensitive'

Being a proselytizing religion -- meaning followers seek to convert others -- the Mormon women active online "create media to attract people," said Weber. 
After being discovered on TikTok, the heroines of "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives" are their direct descendants. 
But the swinging practices of one of the stars serves as the basis for the show, the first season of which released on Hulu in 2024 and outperformed the Kardashians series.
Show stars Taylor Frankie Paul, Mayci Neeley, Jen Affleck, and others -- recently invited onto hit shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Bachelorette" -- claim to want to modernize the image of Mormons.
They regularly discuss their roles in a culture where men are traditionally family heads and breadwinners. Even though the women claim they earn more than their husbands, many also paint themselves as "tradwives," according to Weber.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not respond to AFP's request for comments on the program.
A statement published shortly before season one criticized media representations that "depict lifestyles and practices blatantly inconsistent with the teachings of the Church."
Bowman said the Church has been struggling with something ever since 'The Book of Mormon' musical came out: "how does it grapple with publicity that may not, on the face of it, seem very favorable?"
The Church responded to the hit musical with tongue-in-cheek advertisements inviting people to read its founding text.
But overall, it "has often tended to be very sensitive about this sort of thing, and in many of its responses or public statements, it can be rather defensive," said Bowman.
pel-gw/mlm

UN

Brazil's Lula urges 'defeat' of climate deniers as COP30 opens

BY ISSAM AHMED, NICK PERRY WITH LAURENT THOMET IN PARIS

  • Those efforts culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which commits the world to limiting global warming to well below 2C relative to pre-industrial levels, while striving for 1.5C. But Jim Skea, head of the UN's expert climate science body, warned Monday it was "almost inevitable" that the world will cross the crucial warming threshold at least temporarily.
  • The United Nations climate conference opened Monday in the Brazilian Amazon with pleas for the world to keep up the fight against global warming, even as the United States turns its back.
  • Those efforts culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which commits the world to limiting global warming to well below 2C relative to pre-industrial levels, while striving for 1.5C. But Jim Skea, head of the UN's expert climate science body, warned Monday it was "almost inevitable" that the world will cross the crucial warming threshold at least temporarily.
The United Nations climate conference opened Monday in the Brazilian Amazon with pleas for the world to keep up the fight against global warming, even as the United States turns its back.
Feeble progress toward weaning off fossil fuels and cutting planet-warming emissions have opened fault lines between countries in Belem, the hot and sticky city on the edge of the rainforest hosting the two-week COP30 summit.
"It's time to inflict a new defeat on the deniers," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thundered in his opening address, which followed a traditional performance from Indigenous people in feathered headpieces.
He pointedly slammed those who "spread fear, attack institutions, science, and universities."
Weighing on the talks is the absence of the United States, the world's top oil producer and second-largest polluter.
But American state and local leaders, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, are set to take the stage Tuesday to show the country isn't entirely missing in action, highlighting their own climate policies and solidarity with global efforts.
"Make no mistake, humanity is still in this fight," said UN climate chief Simon Stiell. "We have some tough opponents, no doubt, but we also have some heavyweights on our side." 
He pointed to "the brute power of market forces" beginning to tip in favor of renewables, which this year overtook coal as the world's top energy source: "extraordinary progress that was unimaginable a decade ago."
The summit opens in the wake of destructive storms in the Caribbean and Asia and a growing fear that geopolitical tensions -- from wars to trade feuds -- are distracting from the fight against climate change.
In a stark reminder of what's at stake, the UN's top climate scientist reaffirmed that a temporary breach of the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) benchmark -- the safer warming goal of the Paris Agreement -- was now inevitable.
Those challenges and more were compounded by logistical problems in Belem, including a dire shortage of hotel rooms.
Organisers say just over 42,000 delegates have gathered, fewer than at recent editions, as sky-high accommodation costs appear to have kept many away.
Lula has defended the choice of location, saying he wanted to bring the world's attention to the Amazon's role in combating climate change, a shift mainly driven by burning coal, oil and gas.

Tough negotiations

A tough two weeks lies ahead for diplomats meeting in a cavernous conference hall, where the din of negotiations are occasionally drowned out by tropical rainfall hammering the roof overhead.
Rich nations and developing countries regularly clash at COPs over how to raise the money needed for poorer regions to adapt to climate change and shift to a low-carbon future.
"Our 44 countries did not light this fire, but we are bearing its heat," Evans Njewa, a Malawian diplomat who chairs the Least Developed Countries (LDC) bloc that represents more than one billion people, told reporters.
Major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia have traditionally opposed efforts at COPs to focus on fossil fuels. At COP28 in 2023, nations historically agreed to transition away from fossil fuels for the first time.
Lula has floated the idea of a "roadmap" on fossil fuels at COP30, but the proposal so far lacks details.
For 30 years, the countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change -- adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro -- have met annually to strengthen the global climate regime.
Those efforts culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which commits the world to limiting global warming to well below 2C relative to pre-industrial levels, while striving for 1.5C.
But Jim Skea, head of the UN's expert climate science body, warned Monday it was "almost inevitable" that the world will cross the crucial warming threshold at least temporarily.
The world's failure to rein in global temperature rises is the focus of an effort by small island nations to put this on the official agenda.
A Western diplomat told AFP that such nations "are ready to upend the COP" if they don't see a stronger official response to these efforts assured at COP30.
"If they don't deliver on 1.5C, that spells our demise," Tuvalu minister for climate affairs and environment Maina Vakafua Talia told AFP.
burs-lth/ia/np/mlm

religion

Top US court hears case of Rastafarian whose hair was cut in prison

  • He presented prison guards with a copy of a 2017 court ruling stating that Rastafarians should be allowed to keep their dreadlocks in line with their religious beliefs.
  • The US Supreme Court on Monday heard the case of a devout Rastafarian who is seeking damages after his knee-length dreadlocks were forcibly shorn while he was in prison in Louisiana.
  • He presented prison guards with a copy of a 2017 court ruling stating that Rastafarians should be allowed to keep their dreadlocks in line with their religious beliefs.
The US Supreme Court on Monday heard the case of a devout Rastafarian who is seeking damages after his knee-length dreadlocks were forcibly shorn while he was in prison in Louisiana.
Damon Landor is seeking permission to sue individual officials of the Louisiana Department of Corrections for monetary damages for violating his religious rights.
"Without damages, officials can literally treat the law like garbage," Landor's lawyer Zachary Tripp told the court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority.
Louisiana has acknowledged that the treatment of Landor by prison guards was "antithetical to religious freedom" and has amended its prison grooming policy.
But the southern US state insists that federal law does not permit money damages against a state official sued in his individual capacity -- an argument that appeared to gain traction Monday among a majority of the conservative justices.
Landor, who had been growing his hair for nearly two decades, was serving the final three weeks of a five-month sentence for drug possession in 2020 when his hair was cut.
He presented prison guards with a copy of a 2017 court ruling stating that Rastafarians should be allowed to keep their dreadlocks in line with their religious beliefs.
A prison guard threw the document away and Landor was handcuffed to a chair and had his head shaved, according to court records.
An appeals court condemned Landor's "egregious" treatment but ruled that he is not eligible to sue individual prison officials for damages.
Rastafarians let their hair grow, typically in dreadlocks, as part of their beliefs in the religion which originated in Jamaica and was popularized by the late reggae singer Bob Marley.
The case unusually brought together legal advocates on both the left and the right.  
The Supreme Court is generally hostile to approving damages actions against individual government officials but at the same time the right-leaning court has tended to side with the plaintiffs in religious liberty cases.
cl/mlm

virus

Deadly measles surge sees Canada lose eradicated status

BY BEN SIMON

  • Health Canada, a government agency, said in a statement that it has officially been informed by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) "that Canada no longer holds measles elimination status."
  • Canada has lost its measles elimination status, health officials said Monday, a major setback caused by a year-long resurgence of the disease largely among unvaccinated groups.
  • Health Canada, a government agency, said in a statement that it has officially been informed by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) "that Canada no longer holds measles elimination status."
Canada has lost its measles elimination status, health officials said Monday, a major setback caused by a year-long resurgence of the disease largely among unvaccinated groups.
Canada was formally declared measles-free in 1998, an achievement credited to years of consistently high childhood vaccination rates.
But an outbreak that began in the eastern part of the country in October 2024 has since spread nationwide, notably among certain groups of Mennonite Christians who have refused to vaccinate their children on religious grounds.
Canada has recorded 5,138 measles cases so far in 2025, with the provinces of Ontario and Alberta the hardest hit.
Two newborns, born to unvaccinated mothers, have died from the virus.
Health Canada, a government agency, said in a statement that it has officially been informed by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) "that Canada no longer holds measles elimination status."
The update came after PAHO, the UN's regional health office, confirmed "sustained transmission of the same measles virus strain in Canada for a period of more than one year."
Provincial health ministers are "discussing coordinated actions, including strategies to build trust (in vaccines) through community engagement," Health Canada said.
The agency noted that while measles transmission "has slowed recently," the outbreak has persisted "primarily within under-vaccinated communities."
Samira Jeimy, from Western University's Schulich School of Medicine, told AFP that Canada lost its status "because two-dose vaccine coverage dropped below the 95 percent threshold required to stop sustained transmission."
The spread of the virus in under-vaccinated communities was, for experts, "easily visible as a signal of system fragility," Jeimy said.
Pediatric doctors in Ontario have stressed that the outbreak is not confined to Mennonite groups.
Infections have also occurred among new immigrants from the developing world who, for various reasons, did not keep up with immunizations after settling in Canada -- including due to an acute shortage of family doctors.

Regional spread

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or simply breathes.
It causes fever, respiratory symptoms, and a rash, but can also lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death.
In a regional update Monday, PAHO confirmed Canada was the only country in the Americas to lose its elimination status, but said several others were facing active measles transmission, including the United States.
In 2025, the United States experienced its worst measles outbreak in more than 30 years, with over 1,600 confirmed cases.
A September Washington Post poll found that one in six American parents has delayed or skipped some or all of the standard childhood vaccines.
Some nine percent have opted out of administering polio or MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shots to their children, the poll found.
Vaccine resistance has mushroomed in the United States in recent years, stoked in large part by debunked claims linking vaccines to autism.
The US health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has played a significant role in fueling those fears by repeating the false claims.
bs/des

marriage

US Supreme Court declines to hear case challenging same-sex marriage

  • Conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and Davis's appeal of the award had raised concerns among the LGBTQ community that the court -- which struck down the constitutional right to abortion three years ago -- may agree to revisit the decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
  • The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a case challenging the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
  • Conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and Davis's appeal of the award had raised concerns among the LGBTQ community that the court -- which struck down the constitutional right to abortion three years ago -- may agree to revisit the decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a case challenging the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
The conservative-dominated court, as is customary, did not provide any explanation for its decision to reject the case.
Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, had asked the top court to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage.
Davis was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to a gay couple who were among those she refused a marriage license.
Conservatives have a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and Davis's appeal of the award had raised concerns among the LGBTQ community that the court -- which struck down the constitutional right to abortion three years ago -- may agree to revisit the decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
At least four votes would have been needed for the top court to accept the case.
Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, welcomed the court's decision not to hear the case brought by Davis, who had cited her Christian religious beliefs for her refusal to issue the marriage licenses.
"Today, love won again," Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
"When public officials take an oath to serve their communities, that promise extends to everyone —- including LGBTQ+ people," Robinson said.
"The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences."
cl/des

justice

Japan death row inmate's sister still fighting, even after release

BY HIROSHI HIYAMA

  • Hakamada was the fifth death row inmate to be exonerated in Japan's post-war history.
  • Hideko Hakamada campaigned for almost six decades to get her little brother, the world's longest-serving death row inmate, cleared.
  • Hakamada was the fifth death row inmate to be exonerated in Japan's post-war history.
Hideko Hakamada campaigned for almost six decades to get her little brother, the world's longest-serving death row inmate, cleared. But at 92 she refuses to relax, campaigning against capital punishment in Japan and beyond.
"Courts are run by people and they obviously make mistakes," Hideko told AFP in an interview at a congress in Tokyo on the death penalty in East Asia where she was a keynote speaker.
"I fought for 58 years. I cannot just be sad and slow down," she said at the weekend event that included campaigners from China -- the country that executes the most people, rights groups say -- North Korea and elsewhere.
Her brother Iwao Hakamada was finally exonerated in 2024 after being convicted for a 1966 quadruple murder, in one of Japan's biggest miscarriages of justice in modern history.
The ex-boxer spent 46 of those years waiting to be hanged, mostly in solitary confinement. In Japan, death row inmates are only informed that they will be executed on the morning of their final day.
In his acquittal, a court ruled that police tampered with evidence and that Iwao suffered "inhumane interrogations" to force a confession, which he later withdrew.
Cheery and lively, his sister said that Iwao, 89, now spends his days taking naps and going for drives with his supporters, but that he is a broken man.
The lasting effects of his incarceration "cannot be cured", she said.
"He says silly things. I go with his silly tales and live this silly life," she said with a smile.
"There is no point in being sad now. If I stay happy and bright, then Iwao should also feel that."
In March Iwao won compensation of some 200 million yen ($1.3 million) -- around $80 per day in detention -- and other lawsuits are ongoing.

'Loud and clear'

The United States and Japan are the only G7 countries to retain capital punishment, and strong support remains among the Japanese public, surveys show.
Japan has more than 100 inmates on death row and the most recent execution was in June this year, the first since 2022.
Recently back from Italy where she spoke at a conference on the death penalty, Hideko said her brother's case changed her mind on the subject.
"The death penalty has existed since I was a child. So it seemed normal to me," she told AFP.
"But Iwao's case happened. I became absolutely determined not to let them kill an innocent person for a crime he didn't commit," she said.
Hakamada was the fifth death row inmate to be exonerated in Japan's post-war history.
"People are blase about this. It doesn't affect them, so why bother. But I experienced it myself. I need to speak out, loud and clear."
The weekend regional congress organised by France-based group Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) comes ahead of a global conference it is convening in Paris in 2026.
Worldwide, 1,151 people were executed in 2024, but since Chinese executions are a state secret, this likely falls "far short" of the reality, ECPM says. 
At least 30,000 people are on death row, with 47 states still handing down death sentences, ECPM says. Behind China, the leaders in capital punishment are Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
hih/stu/mtp

dance

Saudi belly dancers break taboos behind closed doors

BY RANIA SANJAR

  • In Arab communities, belly dancing has played many roles.
  • In a fitness studio in Saudi Arabia, dozens of women sway to Arabic music as they practise belly dancing -- an activity that many feel compelled to keep secret.
  • In Arab communities, belly dancing has played many roles.
In a fitness studio in Saudi Arabia, dozens of women sway to Arabic music as they practise belly dancing -- an activity that many feel compelled to keep secret.
Despite their enthusiasm, none of them would give their real name or show their faces on camera, underlining the stigma and cultural prejudices surrounding the ancient dance.
In Arab communities, belly dancing has played many roles. It is a form of artistic expression, popular entertainment and a staple of classic Egyptian cinema.
More recently, many women around the world have taken it up as a group fitness routine and form of empowering self-expression.
But in Saudi Arabia, even closed-door all-female sessions remain taboo.
"We're a conservative society," one participant said. "Belly dancing is seen as something sexy, and no family or husband would accept that men see you like that."
It took AFP months to gain access to the class in Riyadh, a fiercely private affair where identities were strictly guarded.
Most of the participants said they feared how their families and friends would react.
"I won't tell my family... out of respect for their dignity -- they're elderly," the same participant, said on condition of anonymity.
It is a reminder of the deep-seated conservatism that still prevails in Saudi Arabia, despite a roll-back of social strictures in recent times.
Chief among the women's concerns is that their families will see images of them dancing. Phone use is carefully monitored by the gym staff.
"Someone might harm me and record me, so there is always fear," one dancer said.
Another said she could not tell her father she enjoyed belly dancing, knowing he would never accept it.

'Sense of modesty'

Saudi Arabia is the cradle of the austere Sunni doctrine known as Wahhabism, which embraces a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Under its 40-year-old de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom has loosened its arch-conservatism, allowing women to drive and shed their veils.
But cultural traditions remain and belly dancing, despite being a centuries-old art form, retains the stigma of being too suggestive.
To some, the dance with its revealing costumes and glittering sequins is linked to prostitution, but at the class in Riyadh the women are dancing for fitness and themselves.
The two instructors do not describe themselves as dancers, but coaches. They play up the fitness benefits.
"We've transformed dancing into a sport," said one of them, calling herself Oni, the name she uses when sharing dance videos on social media -- where she also hides her face.
"Saudis love to enjoy, have fun and appreciate life, but always within the boundaries of our religion and our sense of modesty," added Oni.

Female empowerment 

Around her, dancers of all ages shook their hips to Arabic music, shimmying barefoot as a woman with a neck tattoo played the derbake, a traditional drum.
The atmosphere was festive, like a "women-only party", said another instructor, who also gave only her alias, Roro.
"All of us have fun and it's considered to be stress relief," she said.
Yoga studios and boxing gyms catering to women, as well as belly dancing classes, have sprouted around the capital -- a far cry from the days when they were banned from sport.
Gyms and studios continue to be strictly divided along gender lines, with men and women prevented from exercising together. 
Belly dancing, which originated outside the Arabian Peninsula, is "a bit more provocative than regional dance", said Lisa Urkevich, professor of musicology and ethnomusicology at Georgetown University.
"So one's family may not want a girl to dance it at all at an event," she told AFP.
But Saudi Arabia is a large, diverse country and, she added, "even among families themselves there are different perspectives on women and dance".
The instructors told AFP they viewed dancing as more than a pastime or a way of keeping fit.
Classes are "deeply committed to female empowerment" and helping women feel confident, Oni said.
"Dance fosters those feelings -- it brings a sense of community and strength."
rs-sar/aya/th/dc

women

Big lips and botox: In Trump's world, fashion and makeup get political

BY AURéLIA END

  • Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and "contouring," a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. 
  • Long, blond, wavy hair, heavy makeup and cosmetic injections: like many women in Donald Trump's orbit, political consultant Melissa Rein Lively wears her support for the US president on her face.
  • Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and "contouring," a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. 
Long, blond, wavy hair, heavy makeup and cosmetic injections: like many women in Donald Trump's orbit, political consultant Melissa Rein Lively wears her support for the US president on her face.
With the rise of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, a group of well-connected and well-off Republican women have come into the spotlight sporting what the US media have dubbed the "MAGA look."
"This has always been my look. I just found my tribe," said Rein Lively, 40, founder of "America First," a public relations agency that provides "anti-woke" services.
"It's so much bigger than politics. It's friendships. It's relationships," she told AFP in a recent interview. "That MAGA look really signals to other people that you're on the same team."
These new-style conservatives, almost always devout Christians, espouse traditional values while pursuing personal ambition.
Since the September assassination of top MAGA influencer and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, his widow Erika has taken the reins of his youth mobilization group.
During a memorial service for her husband, the 36-year-old former Miss Arizona dabbed her impeccably made-up eyes with a handkerchief and praised a Christian marriage. She cited a New Testament passage that instructs wives to submit to their husbands for protection.
"It's so hard to articulate the beauty of an Ephesians 5 marriage when you actually have a man that's worth following," she said.

Not just fashion

While professing family values and religious beliefs, these MAGA women are anything but shy in their appearance.
Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and "contouring," a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. 
Many opt for cosmetic interventions, including fillers and surgery to achieve fuller cheeks, plumper lips and a refined nose.
Rein Lively points to Trump's daughter Ivanka and his daughter-in-law Lara as her role models.
"It's a mistake to dismiss this as just about fashion, just about makeup," said Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA. "It's actually absolutely central because this Trump MAGA movement was able to return to the White House in 2024, I believe, essentially because of leveraging the gender war."

'Two hours in the gym every day'

The 79-year-old Trump has mobilized many young voters with his nationalist, pro-business and macho appeal.
The MAGA face is political because it is "a way of signaling to all women that your value depends on your attractiveness to men," said Williams, adding that Trump used to run a beauty pageant.
Rein Lively, however, rejects any idea of submission or coercion.
"By absolutely nobody's volition other than my own do I spend two hours in the gym every day, get my hair done every three and a half weeks on the button, get my nails done, get my eyebrows done, get my skincare done, get Botox," she said.
The PR consultant vied for the job of White House spokesperson for Trump's second term, but the president ultimately picked long-time loyalist Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt, 28, has surrounded herself with young assistants who emulate her impeccably groomed look, which includes high heels, even on trips that involve a lot of running around.
"I look at these MAGA women and I don't see them as fashion victims... but I see it as war paint," Williams said. "And, you know, embracing a system that is ultimately designed to work against them."

'It is ironic'

One of the women most frequently cited as embodying the so-called "MAGA face" is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has led Trump's hardline immigration policy.
"The long-hair extensions, the big lips, the big cheeks, the makeup, the lash extensions, it's like she's doing drag," said Daniel Belkin, a dermatologist in New York.
Belkin finds it paradoxical that MAGA supporters are hostile to drag queen shows and condemn breast augmentation and facial reconstruction surgery for transgender people. They often resort to similar procedures to accentuate their femininity and masculinity.
"It is ironic, because they're so against gender-affirming care for trans people, but they're doing gender affirming care for themselves," Belkin said.
In a recent episode, the popular animated series "South Park" ridiculed Noem as a shrew with a face butchered by cosmetic procedures, which her assistants must constantly patch up for the cameras.
"It's so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look," Noem protested during a recent interview.
aue/md/iv/mlm

auto

Tanzania Maasai fear VW 'greenwashing' carbon credit scheme

BY JORIS FIORITI

  • - 'Scam' - Several researchers and NGOs believe the Maasai are unwitting participants in a vast "greenwashing" scheme by Volkswagen.
  • Namnyak, a Maasai herder in north Tanzania, fears a carbon credit scheme linked to Volkswagen -- dismissed by NGOs as "greenwashing" -- could destroy her community's way of life.
  • - 'Scam' - Several researchers and NGOs believe the Maasai are unwitting participants in a vast "greenwashing" scheme by Volkswagen.
Namnyak, a Maasai herder in north Tanzania, fears a carbon credit scheme linked to Volkswagen -- dismissed by NGOs as "greenwashing" -- could destroy her community's way of life.
Under the scheme, local Maasai are being offered money to keep their cattle on a strict "rotational grazing" scheme so that the grass grows longer and captures more carbon. 
The idea is that Volkswagen, and possibly other companies, will pay for this through "carbon credits" which are supposed to offset carbon emissions from its factories and operations.
Many researchers and NGOs question the whole concept, saying such schemes disrupt local communities while doing little to improve the environment, existing only to allow companies to keep polluting elsewhere.
The scheme in northern Tanzania is run by Volkswagen partner Soils for the Future Tanzania (SftFTZ), covering the districts of Longido and Monduli, an area of 16,000 square kilometres (6,200 square miles) -- roughly 20 times the size of New York City. 
For Namnyak, a 33-year-old mother of three in Longido, it seems absurd.
Local Maasai have been sustainably living on the land -- rotating grazing in line with the weather and seasons -- for centuries.
Many locals, she said, fear the company has ulterior motives and may one day seize their land.
"It does not matter how much money they give us. We depend on our land for our cattle, our crops and our beekeeping. This is our lives, and the ones of the future generations," she told AFP. 

'Implausible'

SftFTZ and Volkswagen deny any desire to take their land, but many locals remain suspicious and feel they are getting money for nothing. 
A 2023 study of a similar scheme in neighbouring Kenya by Survival International, an NGO supporting Indigenous communities around the world, found it was "highly implausible" that the new grazing regime was actually being implemented.
"To the contrary, the vegetation appears to continue to deteriorate in large parts of the project area," it said.
Verra, the main international body that validates carbon credit projects, suspended credits from a major forestry project in Zimbabwe in September, for which Volkswagen was also a client, saying its benefits had been exaggerated.
Verra told AFP it had yet to audit the project in Tanzania, or a competing carbon credit scheme proposed by US-based Nature Conservancy in the same region.

'Scam'

Several researchers and NGOs believe the Maasai are unwitting participants in a vast "greenwashing" scheme by Volkswagen.
"Ultimately, there is nothing done for the land, not even a tree is being planted," said Maasai lawyer Joseph Oleshangay, calling the whole thing a "scam". 
"Why is Volkswagen not doing this in Frankfurt or New York? Because they feel people here are easier to manipulate," he added.
SftFTZ is offering the local Maasai $2 per hectare to sign a 40-year contract, under which they promise to move their cattle roughly every two weeks.
Some have agreed since that amounts to huge sums by local standards, said Namnyak: "If someone gives you free money, who will refuse it?"
Sherie Gakii, advocacy officer for Greenpeace, said such projects only existed to let companies like Volkswagen "continue polluting and making big profits on the backs of indigenous people trying to protect their ancestral land".
Volkswagen's environmental arm, ClimatePartner, strongly disagrees.
It told AFP the carbon credits would be "based on scientifically validated measurements" including regular soil samples to ensure that carbon capture was increasing.
A Verra spokesperson defended carbon credit schemes as "one of the few vehicles that bring sustained investment into rural areas". 
The SftFTZ contract promises to give 51 percent of the value of all carbon credits sold to the local community. 
But the Maasai International Solidarity Alliance, an NGO, questions whether that money will ever materialise and has called for a five-year pause on all such schemes until they can be properly evaluated. 
Benja Faecks of think tank Carbon Market Watch told AFP the focus should be on getting companies to stop polluting in the first place. 
"When a company like Volkswagen or Danone or Nestle can buy these credits and claim they are carbon neutral... that's misleading and false," said Faecks.
"Volkswagen should focus on phasing out the internal combustion engine."
jf/er/rh

Shein

Shein bans sex dolls after France outrage over 'childlike' ones

  • It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a "total ban on sex-doll-type products" and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. 
  • Asian e-commerce giant Shein said Monday it was banning sex dolls from sale on its sites globally after French authorities condemned it for featuring ones resembling children.
  • It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a "total ban on sex-doll-type products" and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. 
Asian e-commerce giant Shein said Monday it was banning sex dolls from sale on its sites globally after French authorities condemned it for featuring ones resembling children.
France's finance minister had threatened to ban the retailer from the country if it resumed selling the childlike dolls, just days before it opens its first physical store in Paris.
The Paris prosecutors' office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailer AliExpress, over the sale of sex dolls.
The probes were also for distributing "messages that are violent, pornographic or improper, (and) accessible to minors", the office told AFP.
The investigations were launched after France's anti-fraud unit reported on Saturday that Shein was selling "childlike" dolls of a likely pornographic nature.
French daily Le Parisien published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform, accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption.
The pictured doll measured around 80 centimetres (30 inches) in height and held a teddy bear.
Shortly after the fraud watchdog's statement, Shein announced the dolls had been withdrawn from its platform and it had launched an internal inquiry.
It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a "total ban on sex-doll-type products" and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. 
A spokesperson told AFP the ban applied globally.
"These publications came from third-party vendors, but I take personal responsibility," said Shein's chief executive Donald Tang.

French warning

France's finance Minister Roland Lescure had warned Monday he would move to ban the company from the French market if the items returned online.
"These horrible items are illegal," he told the BFMTV broadcaster, promising a judicial investigation.
Shein said it was setting up a dedicated team to ensure the "integrity" of content on the sales platform.
France's high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Hairy, said several websites were being investigated, after French media reported Chinese shopping platform AliExpress sold the same dolls.
AliExpress said it had immediately removed the items from its website.
The anti-fraud office said in a statement later Monday that it was taking legal action against AliExpress for selling "child-porn-style dolls".

Shein store in Paris

Shein is due on Wednesday to open its first physical store in the world inside the prestigious BHV Marais department store in central Paris, a move that has sparked outrage in France.
Frederic Merlin, the director of the company that owns BHV, said selling the childlike dolls was "unacceptable", but on Monday defended his decision to allow Shein into the department store.
"Only clothes and items conceived directly by Shein for BHV will be sold in store," he said.
Shein, a Singapore-based company which was originally founded in China, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model.
Some brands have pulled their products from BHV Marais since the announcement.
France has already fined Shein three times in 2025 for a total of 191 million euros ($220 million).
Those sanctions were imposed for failing to comply with online cookie legislation, false advertising, misleading information and not declaring the presence of plastic microfibres in its products.
The European Commission is also investigating Shein over risks linked to illegal products, while EU lawmakers have approved legislation aimed at curbing the environmental impact of fast fashion.
mpa-cac-bur/rmb/sla/jhb

entertainment

Japan to screen #MeToo film months after Oscar nomination

  • It was unclear if other movie theatres would screen the film, which was nominated but did not win the best documentary feature category at this year's Academy Awards.
  • Japan will for the first time screen a documentary directed by a prominent campaigner in the country's #MeToo movement, months after it was nominated for an Oscar.
  • It was unclear if other movie theatres would screen the film, which was nominated but did not win the best documentary feature category at this year's Academy Awards.
Japan will for the first time screen a documentary directed by a prominent campaigner in the country's #MeToo movement, months after it was nominated for an Oscar.
Shiori Ito won a landmark 2019 civil case against a Japanese TV reporter accused of raping her -- a charge he denies -- and turned her ordeal into a film screened worldwide.
But "Black Box Diaries" has until now not been distributed in Japan, where her former lawyers raised concerns over video and audio that was covertly shot or meant for use in court.
The documentary will finally be shown at one cinema in Tokyo from December, according to publicist Toei Advertising.
It was unclear if other movie theatres would screen the film, which was nominated but did not win the best documentary feature category at this year's Academy Awards.
"The version released in Japan has been finalised with some revisions and adjustments made based on feedback received from the parties involved," the publicist said in an undated press release.
Ito was quoted as saying she hoped the film would help ignite conversations to "protect the next person, and move society little by little".
Lawyer Yoko Nishihiro, who represented Ito for more than eight years, said she had felt "completely shattered" after realising that a secretly recorded phone conversation had been featured in the documentary.
Nishihiro and her team highlighted other footage used without permission, including hotel CCTV shown in court.
The lawyers said earlier this year that "Black Box Diaries" was not "banned" in Japan or shunned over to its subject matter, but rather had not been shown due to these concerns.
Ito apologised for the incident.
Despite several high-profile cases, Japan has never seen an outpouring of #MeToo allegations, Ito -- who received vicious online criticism for going public -- has said.
Government surveys in Japan show few rape victims report the crime to the police, although the number of consultations at sexual violence support centres is rising.
Ito alleges that ex-journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi -- who had close links to then-prime minister Shinzo Abe -- raped her in 2015 after inviting her to dinner to discuss a job.
Having told Ito there was insufficient evidence, police then said they would arrest Yamaguchi, before suddenly backing off.
In the documentary, Ito records one police investigator telling her the order came from "higher-ups".
In 2019, she won $30,000 in damages in a civil case that was followed by a toughening of Japan's rape laws.
mac-aph/dhw