theatre

French scholars seek to resurrect Moliere with AI play

BY KARINE PERRET

  • The playwright, considered the father of modern French comedy, is as central to the nation's culture as Shakespeare to the English-speaking world -- so much so that French refer to their native tongue as the "language of Moliere".
  • What might France's greatest playwright have written had he not died of tuberculosis in 1673?
  • The playwright, considered the father of modern French comedy, is as central to the nation's culture as Shakespeare to the English-speaking world -- so much so that French refer to their native tongue as the "language of Moliere".
What might France's greatest playwright have written had he not died of tuberculosis in 1673?
A team of French scholars, researchers and artists have joined forces to tap into the power of artificial intelligence to create a play they say Moliere himself might have written.
"The Astrologer, or False Omens" is the result of three years of collaboration between the Sorbonne University and Obvious, a French trio of artists and researchers, who have trained AI to imitate Moliere's style and mastery of satire.
The playwright, considered the father of modern French comedy, is as central to the nation's culture as Shakespeare to the English-speaking world -- so much so that French refer to their native tongue as the "language of Moliere".
Written in 17th‑century French, the AI creation will hit the stage at the Royal Opera of Versailles on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The three‑act farce tells the story of a credulous father whose obsession with astrology leads him to force his young daughter to marry an old wigmaker.
Fidelity to Moliere's creative process and scholarly rigour were at the heart of the project, said Pierre‑Marie Chauvin, a vice president at the Sorbonne.
"There is no existing protocol for creating a play in the style of Moliere, so we had to devise one, but in the most rigorous way possible, and above all the most faithful," he told AFP.
The Sorbonne has said the "Moliere Ex Machina" project was aimed at "bringing to life a world that never was, but could have been", and acknowledged its attempt to imitate Moliere "was bold, almost sacrilegious".
Chauvin said the success of the project would be measured by its effect on the audience.
"Does it make people laugh?" he said.

AI music and costumes

The project is being billed as the first theatrical play written by AI.
It cost one million euros ($1.2 million), funded by North American donors and a handful of French patrons.
Researchers worked with Le Chat, a generative AI tool developed by the French start‑up Mistral, training it on Moliere's body of work, as well as dialogues and philosophical treatises.
The generated text was then reviewed during writing workshops with Coraline Renaux, a doctoral student in literature, and Mickael Bouffard, head of the Theatre Moliere Sorbonne, which seeks to revive theatrical techniques of the 17th century.
The work was subsequently submitted to reading committees, tasked with checking its syntax and overall coherence.
"In creating this piece, there were at least 20,000 back-and-forth exchanges between the algorithms and the creative team," said Gauthier Vernier of Obvious.
The AI was also trained to create about 15 costumes, as well as music and sets.
"For each costume, we'd go through around 50 iterations," said Hugo Caselles‑Dupre, also of Obvious.
"We had a huge number of back-and-forth discussions."

'Very human skills'

The theme of astrology emerged fairly quickly, as Moliere was interested in "denouncing human credulity", Bouffard said.
"The plot is very Moliere-esque," said the Quebec native, adding that the name of the father's astrologer, Pseudoramus –-- a pseudo-Nostradamus -- was "a clever invention by AI".
For the costumes and sets, the technology was trained using sketches by Henri de Gissey, a costume designer and decorator for the court of King Louis XIV.
Musicologists guided the AI's musical output using sheet music.
The stage production involves nine actors, two dancers and four musicians. It showcases wigs, hand-sewn costumes and sets made using period techniques.
AFP attended a recent rehearsal at the Theatre des Trois Pierrots in Saint-Cloud, west of Paris.
The plot and dialogue appeared plausible.
The actors' use of Classical French and historically faithful declamation could however disorientate some viewers.
Generative AI tools have surged into prominence in recent years, dramatically reshaping the world.
The use of artificial intelligence remains one of the most sensitive issues in the entertainment industry and has generated debate.
But the teams behind the Sorbonne project defend it as an innovative cultural experiment.
"AI gives us superpowers we don't have: a universal memory and the ability to write quickly," said Bouffard.
Chauvin stressed that humans were still at the heart of the production.
"We actually saw some truly impressive effects from AI at times, but the overall structure was achieved thanks to human work and very human skills."
kp-as/ah/jhb

migrants

Migrants deported from US stranded, 'scared' in DR Congo

  • She only found out where they were headed the day before being expelled from the United States.
  • Spending the past five days cooped up in a hotel in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not quite what a group of Latin Americans expected when they sought asylum in the United States.
  • She only found out where they were headed the day before being expelled from the United States.
Spending the past five days cooped up in a hotel in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not quite what a group of Latin Americans expected when they sought asylum in the United States.
But their predicament is far from the worst of it: the men and women told AFP on Wednesday that they arrived in Kinshasa after a 27-hour flight which they spent with their hands and feet shackled.
Gabriela, a 30-year-old Colombian sporting tattoos and clad like most of her fellow sufferers in a white T-shirt, summed up their plight.
"I didn't want to go to Congo. I'm scared, I don't know the language," she said.
She only found out where they were headed the day before being expelled from the United States.
The DRC -- one of a number of African nations that have agreed to take in deported migrants -- is one of the world's 15 poorest countries, thousands of kilometres from the Americas.
The first batch of deportees arrived last Friday in the central African country under a controversial US migration scheme to pack off undocumented foreign nationals to third countries.
Others include Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan.
The scheme has often been accompanied by US financial or logistical support.
Yet scant information is provided by the authorities in the host countries about the migrants' fate once they arrive on their soil.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which takes charge of them once they have obtained short-stay visas, told AFP it can offer "assisted voluntary return to migrants who request it".

Waiting

Since their arrival in Kinshasa, a megacity of more than 17 million people, the 15 South American migrants have been whiling away their time in a complex near the airport.
Rows of neat, white-walled little houses stand side by side. The migrants sleep there and say they are forbidden to leave the premises.
Police and army vehicles are parked outside and on occasion personnel can be seen from a private military firm which AFP was unable to identify.
Cast adrift by US President Donald Trump's immigration policy, the migrants spend their days on their mobile phones, trying to contact their families.
None speaks French, the DRC's official language.
They claim to have received around $100 in aid from IOM officials but are not allowed any visitors.
"Several of our friends have taken ill -- as have I," said Gabriela.
"We've had fevers, vomiting and stomach problems. But we're told that's normal and that we must adapt."
Some have been given medication, but Gabriela said no healthcare worker has come to examine them.
Four residents of the hotel said they had been issued with a seven-day visa, extendable for three months.
But once the seven days are up, they said they are threatened with no further support, as well as with being left to fend for themselves.
"They've got us cornered because they tell us: if you don’t accept the repatriation programme, you'll be stuck in a mess here in Congo," said Gabriela, visibly upset.
"That is inhumane and unfair."

Afraid

The noisy chaos of the overcrowded Congolese capital reverberates behind the walls of the hotel.
A constant stream of minibuses and cars honk their horns on a potholed road that is surrounded by dilapidated buildings.
Most Kinshasa residents have no reliable access either to running water or electricity.
Nearly three-quarters of Congolese people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
The arrival of South American migrants has sparked strong reactions among civil society and on Congolese social media.
"I get three meals a day, the hotel staff cleans the rooms, and we're well protected," said Hugo Palencia Ropero, a 25-year-old Colombian who said he spent five months in US detention before being deported to the DRC.
But he added: "I'm more afraid of being here in Africa than in Colombia.
"If the seven days go by and we don't receive any further assistance, things will get very difficult for us, especially since we don't have work permits."
He said he was willing to accept "any travel document" just to "be able to leave this country".
clt/cld/cw/phz/jhb

religion

'No pilgrims': regional war hushes Iraq's holy cities

BY QASSEM AL-KAABI

  • Millions of Shia Muslims from around the world typically flock to Najaf and fellow holy city Karbala every year. 
  • In Iraq's holy city of Najaf, the majestic shrine of Imam Ali stands quiet, its vast courtyards no longer echoing with the multilingual whispers of pilgrims from before the Middle East war.
  • Millions of Shia Muslims from around the world typically flock to Najaf and fellow holy city Karbala every year. 
In Iraq's holy city of Najaf, the majestic shrine of Imam Ali stands quiet, its vast courtyards no longer echoing with the multilingual whispers of pilgrims from before the Middle East war.
The absence of tourists leaves nearby shopkeepers and hotel owners with little to do, their days dragging on as they hope for the crowds to return and revive their businesses. 
"Iranians used to keep us busy, whether the jeweller, the fabric merchant or the taxi driver. Now there are none," said jewellery shop owner Abdel Rahim Harmoush.
"It used to be hard even to step into the market because of foreigners... Even street vendors drew huge crowds of visitors," the 71-year-old added. 
Millions of Shia Muslims from around the world typically flock to Najaf and fellow holy city Karbala every year. 
But the regional war ignited in late February by US-Israeli strikes on Iran has stemmed the usual influx of pilgrims from the Islamic republic, Lebanon, the Gulf states, India, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Iraq was drawn into the conflict from the onset, with strikes targeting US interests and Tehran-backed armed groups in the country.
People in the holy cities "live on religious tourism", said Harmoush, who for 38 years has worked in the old market near Najaf's golden-domed mausoleum.
The shrine is the ornate burial place of Ali -- the Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law, the fourth Islamic caliph and the first Shia Imam.
Harmoush warned of economic ruin were the crisis to persist: shop owners unable to pay rent and taxes, cab drivers left without passengers and labourers struggling to find work.

Hotels closed

Hotel owner Abu Ali, 52, was forced to lay off five employees, leaving just one to tend to nearly 70 empty rooms.
"How can I pay salaries if there is no work?" he said.
Saeb Abu Ghneim, head of the hotel association in Najaf, told AFP that 80 percent of the city's 250 hotels had closed, with more than 2,000 employees laid off or on unpaid leave.
He added that most of Najaf's religious tourism relies on Iranians, followed by Lebanese visitors -- also trapped at home by war -- and other nationalities. 
The sector, which already weathered the closure of mosques and shrines in the pandemic, is a rare type of tourism in a country reeling from decades of conflicts.
Religious tourism also constitutes a significant source of revenue for Iraq's non-oil economy.
Before the war, 28-year-old Moustafa al-Haboubi could barely manage the crowds queuing to exchange foreign currency for Iraqi dinars.
He now spends the long hours idly scrolling through his phone or chatting with neighbours.
"We barely receive one or two customers," he said. "There are no pilgrims now, Iranian or otherwise."
Even after a fragile ceasefire took effect on April 8 and Iraq's airspace reopened, little has changed.
Some pilgrims trickle through during the week, while on weekends the area grows somewhat livelier as Iraqis visit the sacred sites.

'Catastrophe'

The situation is no different in Karbala, which is around 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Najaf and home to the shrines of the revered grandsons of Prophet Mohammed, Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas. 
The main corridor linking the two golden shrines and the surrounding alleyways were once alive with the murmurs of tourists walking to prayers. 
Today, the visitors are almost exclusively Iraqi.
"The situation is dangerous... a catastrophe," said Israa al-Nasrawi, head of Karbala's tourism committee.
She warned that the war had devastated the city's economy, slashing tourist numbers by around 95 percent and forcing hundreds of hotels to close.
The city's many pilgrim tour companies sit idle.
Akram Radi, who has worked in the sector for 16 years, said his company once helped up to 1,000 visitors a month but is now operating at only 10 percent of capacity.
"I might have to close and look for another job," he said.
sf-str/rh/amj/lga

music

Under full moon, Shakira thrills 2 million fans on Rio's Copacabana beach

BY LUCIA LACURCIA

  • The beach has hosted the biggest divas in pop in recent years, with Madonna striking a pose for 1.6 million in 2024 and Lady Gaga singing her greatest hits to 2.1 million fans last year.
  • Latin pop queen Shakira delighted crowds of two million that packed Rio's famed Copacabana beach under a full moon Saturday, delivering fan-favorite hits and words of love for Brazil.
  • The beach has hosted the biggest divas in pop in recent years, with Madonna striking a pose for 1.6 million in 2024 and Lady Gaga singing her greatest hits to 2.1 million fans last year.
Latin pop queen Shakira delighted crowds of two million that packed Rio's famed Copacabana beach under a full moon Saturday, delivering fan-favorite hits and words of love for Brazil.
The 49-year-old Colombian superstar took the stage dressed in Brazil's national colors shortly after 11 pm (0200 GMT), more than an hour behind schedule, heralded by drones overhead forming the image of a she-wolf -- Shakira's nickname.
"Brazil, I love you! It's magical to think that here we are, millions of souls together, ready to sing, dance, be moved and remind the world what really matters," Shakira told the crowd in Portuguese.
"Two million people. The she-wolf made history in Rio," city mayor Eduardo Cavaliere wrote on X, citing the official tourism body.
The beach has hosted the biggest divas in pop in recent years, with Madonna striking a pose for 1.6 million in 2024 and Lady Gaga singing her greatest hits to 2.1 million fans last year.
Shakira on Saturday performed hits such as "Hips Don't Lie," "La Bicicleta," " La Tortura" and "Estoy Aqui" on a huge stage outside the legendary Copacabana Hotel measuring 1,345 square meters (14,500 square feet).
The concert, featuring 10 outfit changes, saw Shakira performing local-style funk with Brazilian pop star Anitta, and featured guests including Brazilian pop music legends Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethania.

'She loves Brazil so much'

With more than 90 million records sold, four Grammys, 15 Latin Grammys and a generation-spanning repertoire including bangers "Hips Don't Lie," "Waka Waka" and "Whenever, Wherever," Shakira enjoys unique popularity in Brazil, where she has performed numerous times.
"I'm very inspired by her, she's a Latin woman at the top," 26-year-old designer Joao Pedro Yellin told AFP, dressed in an overcoat made of scraps representing Latin American flags.
"She loves Brazil so much and the love she has for us is the love we have for her," said superfan Graciele Vaz, who slept on the beach Friday night after traveling four hours from the resort town of Paraty.
"I've been a Shakira fan for more than 20 years," the 43-year-old said, sporting a large she-wolf tattoo on her back.
Shakira's 2025 tour kicked off in Rio and has already earned a Guinness World Record for highest-grossing tour for a Latin artist.

Rio energized

Rio has been readying for the concert for days, with huge posters blanketing the city.
Copacabana vendors were busy Saturday hawking beer, caipirinhas, t-shirts and little vials of "Shakira's tears," a nod to her current "Women No Longer Cry" tour.
Security was also tight, with nearly 8,000 officers deployed, along with drones, facial recognition cameras and 18 screening points with metal detectors.
Last year, after Lady Gaga's performance, police said they had foiled a bomb plot by a group that disseminated hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community.
Some Shakira fans camped out in front of the Copacabana Palace, where she was staying, hoping to glimpse her at a window.
City officials estimated the event would inject more than $160 million into the local economy.
National tourism officials said airline bookings were up 80 percent this week compared to 2024.
ll-ffb/vel/hol/ami

gender

Fleeting freedom at festival for India's transgender community

BY SATISH BABU

  • The festival culminates in two days of ceremonies as Koovagam briefly becomes a rare space of acceptance.
  • For a few fleeting days each year, India's often-shunned transgender community is welcomed and revered at a festival that is at once sacred ritual, celebration, and a refuge.
  • The festival culminates in two days of ceremonies as Koovagam briefly becomes a rare space of acceptance.
For a few fleeting days each year, India's often-shunned transgender community is welcomed and revered at a festival that is at once sacred ritual, celebration, and a refuge.
At the heart of it is the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom.
Several thousand attend the annual ceremony in Koovagam, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts that has gained prominence in recent decades.
"I need a life like a bird," said Thilothama, 34, who uses only one name, her voice steady amid the hum of drums and devotional songs.
"Freedom -- to do what I want, despite being transgender."
Thilothama, who works for Thozhi, a Chennai-based charity supporting transgender people, has spent more than a decade helping others find work and counselling those navigating rejection and uncertainty.
Her own journey has been shaped by both resilience and loss.
Facing opposition from her family over her gender identity, she left home and built a life within the transgender community.
Today she earns a modest income -- but speaks with quiet pride about her independence.

'My world'

For the past 10 years Thilothama has returned to Koovagam, where a beauty pageant and singing contests are held alongside religious rituals.
"I believe the rituals here bring good things," she says, adjusting her sari.
She recalls caring for a friend's bedridden mother, only to be barred from the funeral rites after her death.
"That was the hardest time," she says.
The festival culminates in two days of ceremonies as Koovagam briefly becomes a rare space of acceptance.
On the first, priests tie a sacred thread around the necks of the transgender devotees, symbolising their marriage to the Hindu warrior god Aravan.
The next day, as devotees cry in mourning for his death, the thread and their wrist bangles are cut.
South Asia has a long history of people assigned male at birth but who identify as female.
In India's last census in 2011, more than 487,000 people were members of the third gender -- a designation the supreme court formally recognised in 2014, but whose members still face severe discrimination.
For Anuya, a member of the community, the change in how she is treated at the festival is striking.
"Here, people smile at me, speak kindly. The villagers who are participating in this festival believe that if they get blessing from transgender people, they will have prosperity in their life," she says.
"So I am getting more respect, and in this way I feel more proud of becoming transgender."
As night falls, music and laughter ripple through the village.
"Usually, I feel alone. Here, I see so many like me," says Dhanshika, another member of the community, smiling as she watched friends dressed in their finest sari dresses.
"I feel this is my world."
str-pjm/sjc/mtp/abs

army

Illegal party at French military site draws up to 40,000 ravers

BY GREG OZAN AND KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

  • While modern shells posed no threat, he warned of the risk from older unexploded ordnance dating back to World War II. - Old artillery shells - He said that even the France's Directorate General of Armaments, which owns the land, did not have precise knowledge of the risks.
  • Up to 40,000 partygoers gathered on Saturday for an illegal rave at a military site in France, defying warnings about the risk of possible explosions from old ordnance.
  • While modern shells posed no threat, he warned of the risk from older unexploded ordnance dating back to World War II. - Old artillery shells - He said that even the France's Directorate General of Armaments, which owns the land, did not have precise knowledge of the risks.
Up to 40,000 partygoers gathered on Saturday for an illegal rave at a military site in France, defying warnings about the risk of possible explosions from old ordnance.
Thumping techno music echoed across a vast firing range near the central French town of Bourges as revellers -- many dressed in brightly coloured outfits, others shirtless -- assembled for the unauthorised event, known as a "free party", which began on Friday.
Behind them, tents and vans stretched across the grassy field.
Authorities had estimated attendance at 20,000 on Saturday morning, but more ravers arrived during the day and Tekno Anti Rep, a free party support network present at the site, told AFP the total was between 35,000 and 40,000 by the evening.
Bomb disposal experts had to intervene after a shell was discovered near a road passsing through the party site, the local officials said.
The gathering comes as the French parliament is seeking to tighten legislation against unauthorised rave parties, introducing prison sentences for organisers and fines for attendees.
"Despite its illegal nature, the government has mobilised to ensure the safety of this event and limit any disturbances," the prefecture said.
Philippe Le Moing Surzur, the local prefect, said the site was "extremely dangerous due to the unexploded ordnance it may contain".
While modern shells posed no threat, he warned of the risk from older unexploded ordnance dating back to World War II.

Old artillery shells

He said that even the France's Directorate General of Armaments, which owns the land, did not have precise knowledge of the risks.
"This is a site that has been in use for 150 years, and we know there are potentially old artillery shells there," he said, adding that bomb disposal experts discover them regularly.
The firing range covers 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) and is crisscrossed by roads that are closed during tests but open to the public at other times.
Signs prohibit access to the range itself, but it is not fenced off.
The organisers have urged attendees to refrain from lighting fires, digging or picking up any objects.
The local mayor's office said residents and partygoers were getting on well. 
"For once there's something going on, make the most of it!" Paulette, 64, who lives in the village nearby and declined to give her family name, told AFP.
Emergency services treated 12 people with minor injuries Saturday morning.
The prefect said one person had been struck by a vehicle, and a number of the injured people had cut themselves while handling sharp shrapnel.
Revellers see the giant party not only as a chance to unwind, but also as a protest against the rave-curbing legislation.
"It's a way of showing that participants are mobilised and will keep coming, whatever happens, and will continue to challenge these laws," a member of the Tekno Anti Rep collective told AFP.

'Message against repression'

A free party is usually an illegal form of rave rooted in anti-establishment culture.
They are held without permission in remote locations, and admission is free or by donation.
"I had heard there were going to be a lot of people, but once you're there, it's still a shock to see so many people gathered in one place," said one 22-year-old man, who did not want to be named.
Another partygoer, 19, also anonymous, said the turnout was "a strong message against repression".
Around 600 police and 45 firefighters were deployed at the site.
"We're getting ready for a big get-together tonight," said Edith Raquin, the mayor of Cornusse, a village of 220 people located less than two kilometres (about one mile) from the site. 
She said that the revellers came across as "peaceful people" and some elderly residents were "delighted" to talk with them.
"They are polite, they say hello," Raquin said. 
bur-pdw/jj

protests

UK PM says some pro-Palestinian marches could be banned

  • They also denounced pro-Palestinian activists holding marches in British cities, which began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
  • Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that banning some pro-Palestinian marches could be justified, especially when they call for the intifada to spread.
  • They also denounced pro-Palestinian activists holding marches in British cities, which began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that banning some pro-Palestinian marches could be justified, especially when they call for the intifada to spread.
Labour leader Starmer is under pressure to act after a spate of antisemitic incidents, including this week, when two men were stabbed in the north London suburb of Golders Green, which is home to a large Jewish community.
A 45-year-old British national who was born in Somalia was remanded in custody when he made his first appearance in court on Friday accused of attempted murder.
Starmer visited the scene of the attacks and a Jewish volunteer ambulance service on Thursday and was booed by some locals, who accused him of not doing enough to protect them.
They also denounced pro-Palestinian activists holding marches in British cities, which began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
The prime minister, a former human rights lawyer and chief public prosecutor whose wife is of Jewish origin, said many Jewish people had told them they were affected by "the repeat nature" of the protests.
"I'm a big defender of freedom of expression, peaceful protests," he told the BBC. "But when there are chants like 'globalise the intifada', that's completely off limits.
"Clearly, there should be tougher action in relation to that."
The intifada refers to the Palestinian civilian uprisings against Israel in 1987-1993 and the early 2000s.
Starmer said he wanted to police the language used on marches more strongly and that there were "instances" when some protests should be stopped altogether.
Discussions had been taking place with the police for some time about what further action could be taken, he added.
In December last year, police in London and the northwest city of Manchester said they would arrest anyone chanting "globalise the intifada".
The Jewish community in Britain views the chant as "very, very dangerous", said Starmer.
On Thursday, the UK increased its security alert level to "severe" -- the second highest -- in part because of the attack in Golders Green, as well as the threat from Islamist extremism and the far-right.
The police have said they would look closely at all calls about future protests.
cla/phz/jxb

royals

King Charles gets warm welcome in Bermuda after whirlwind US visit

BY HENRY NICHOLLS

  • Charles was visiting the archipelago without Queen Camilla, who had accompanied him to the United States.
  • King Charles III spent a day in the British island territory of Bermuda on Friday after a high-stakes visit to the United States where he sought to heal strained ties between Washington and London.
  • Charles was visiting the archipelago without Queen Camilla, who had accompanied him to the United States.
King Charles III spent a day in the British island territory of Bermuda on Friday after a high-stakes visit to the United States where he sought to heal strained ties between Washington and London.
It was the first visit by a British king to Bermuda in its 400-year history, Charles said -- a history that involved making the archipelago a maritime hub of Britain's transatlantic slave trade, which the monarchy has been pressured to address.
The king toured a museum exhibit on the slave trade and watched a dance with roots in the era.
"I'm told, to my amazement, it is also the first time in Bermuda's 400 year history, the islands have actually received a reigning king," Charles said during a reception at Government House in Bermuda's capital of Hamilton. "So I'm terribly sorry it has taken so long."
Charles was visiting the archipelago without Queen Camilla, who had accompanied him to the United States.
Early in the day the British monarch greeted a line of schoolchildren, pausing to chat with them, on the steps of the whitewashed St. Peter's Church in St. George's, the Atlantic Ocean territory's first English settlement.
"Thank you for coming," said one crowd member who held a miniature Union Jack flag.
"Get home safe," said another member of the hundreds-strong crowd gathered in King's Square.
One well-wisher wore a plastic crown speckled with imitation jewels as she filmed the gathering on her cell phone after a 21-gun salute.
Charles received a Royal Salute and the Royal Bermuda Regiment's band played the national anthem before setting a more relaxed tone with Bob Marley and the Wailers' song "Jamming."
In Sandys Parish, the royal party was treated to a performance by Gombeys -- dancers who maintain a folklore tradition with African, Caribbean and Native American influences. 
Their vibrant costumes evolved from the era of slavery, when performances were restricted and painted masks helped conceal dancers’ identities.
Charles also visited Trunk Island, an island in Bermuda's Harrington Sound where the local zoological society runs education programs.
Long a vocal conservationist, Charles appeared "right at home" on the island, Bermuda Zoological Society spokeswoman Robyn Bardgett told AFP, adding it was clear his passion for the environment was "completely genuine."
Charles asked a society staff member "are you getting the message through?"
The king took "real time to chat with them about what (members) are learning about coral reefs," Bardgett added.
Charles is scheduled to depart for the United Kingdom on Saturday.

Trump's 'greatest king'

The four-day US visit was largely seen as a success, with President Donald Trump serving as a solicitous host who honored the royal couple with a white-tie banquet at the White House.
"He's a great king -- the greatest king, in my book," Trump told reporters as they said farewell.
Soon after, Trump announced he was removing tariffs on Scottish whisky "in honor" of Charles and Camilla.
The centerpiece of the US trip was Charles's speech Tuesday to Congress, the first by a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II in 1991.
The address was warmly received, even as Charles touched on subjects from climate change and the need for restraints on presidential power to the importance of NATO and defense of Ukraine -- sensitive issues for the US president.
The 77-year-old king skirted around tensions between Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Britain's refusal to join the war against Iran, insisting the partnership between the two countries was "born out of dispute, but no less strong for it."
burs-gw/bgs/md/ksb

politics

Raisin moonshine banned in Iran enjoys resurgence in New York

BY RAPHAëL HERMANO

  • "Being in New York helps, because I can see people are not supportive of what is happening in this administration -- either the war or like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and all of that," Imani said. 
  • Three Iranian men pressed rehydrated raisins at an artisan distillery just outside New York, thousands of miles from their war-struck homeland. 
  • "Being in New York helps, because I can see people are not supportive of what is happening in this administration -- either the war or like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and all of that," Imani said. 
Three Iranian men pressed rehydrated raisins at an artisan distillery just outside New York, thousands of miles from their war-struck homeland. 
They were carefully producing aragh sagi, a traditional spirit banned by the clerical authorities along with all alcohol following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Despite its outlaw moonshine status, the drink is still made clandestinely and consumed inside Iran. 
"Everybody's drinking, but we just don't want to get caught," said Siavash Karampour, formerly a fixture on Tehran's rock music scene and now the co-manager of a bar in Brooklyn. 
Together with three childhood friends who, like him, came to New York to rebuild their lives, they decided to brew the Iranian firewater in the United States. 
They say they wanted to offer others like them a taste of home as well as "something that has been behind the curtain." 
Branded as "SAG," their aragh sagi -- like a stronger Italian grappa -- is made in the still of David Nahmias, a distiller born into a Moroccan Jewish family who makes mahia, a traditional dried fig-based spirit from his homeland. 
"They came to me through word of mouth. Their alcohol uses the same process as arak, which you find in Syria or Lebanon -- but without the anise. It wasn't complicated for me... And I liked them!" Nahmias said. 
The creators of SAG, aged between 35 and 41, settled in New York several years ago and remain active in the local Iranian diaspora and all have day jobs.
They were the first to bring aragh sagi to the US market, although a handful of brands exist in Europe. 

' I feel privileged'

The company's output of 7,000 bottles a year -- sold for $50 a pop in around 30 liquor stores and available in as many bars -- remains modest.
But bars have latched on to their creation as a way to promote new cocktails.
"We just started this back in the day, as a hobby... we kind of want to grow organically," said brew group member Sasan Oskouei, a visual artist. 
The entrepreneurs see their venture as a project that goes beyond a simple spirit, representing an emotional and cultural gesture. 
"So many Iranian artists and filmmakers have highlighted some parts of Iran that haven't been seen before, and in making this, we are kind of doing the same thing," said Karampour. 
Since they launched SAG two years ago, many artistic projects have emerged to complement the brand, with parties in New York and DJ sets performed by Iranian musicians. 
Their connection to Iran through friends and family is constant, making the ongoing conflict between Tehran and their host nation all the more painful. 
"It's really tough to be seeing all these images, and then you still have to go to work and live your daily life... You technically live in two countries," said Karampour. 
With the help of large handheld food mixers, they carefully grind the mixture of dried Californian grapes and water, which they then ferment before distilling it in a large still imported from Germany. 
Amir Imani, a computer engineer, says New York was the ideal place to establish their brand, a city that is both very diverse and tolerant, and where their business is not written off as "exotic." 
"Being in New York helps, because I can see people are not supportive of what is happening in this administration -- either the war or like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and all of that," Imani said. 
"So I feel privileged that I'm here surrounded by people who think the same."
rh-gw/sst

politics

Baguettes take centre stage on France's Labour Day

BY BEATRICE JOANNIS WITH BAPTISTE PACE IN SAINT-JULIEN-CHAPTEUIL

  • "Let's have several... at least four," he said, as he sought to promote a new bill to clearly exempt independent bread and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labour Day.
  • French bakeries sold crusty baguettes and flaky croissants with government backing Friday, defying labour unions arguing that May 1 should remain a day of compulsory rest.
  • "Let's have several... at least four," he said, as he sought to promote a new bill to clearly exempt independent bread and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labour Day.
French bakeries sold crusty baguettes and flaky croissants with government backing Friday, defying labour unions arguing that May 1 should remain a day of compulsory rest.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered several baguettes for lunch in front of the cameras in the village of Saint-Julien-Chapteuil in central France.
"Let's have several... at least four," he said, as he sought to promote a new bill to clearly exempt independent bread and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labour Day.
It is also a day for unions to organise marches and protests. Police said 158,000 had joined the activities across France and the interior ministry added that 15 people had been arrested. The main CGT union said 300,000 had taken part.
Under French law, "May 1 is a public holiday and a non-working day". Essential services -- such as hospitals and hotels -- can remain open but must pay their staff double.
But there has been confusion about whether bakeries can make their employees work.
Labour inspectors on the public holiday in 2024 reported five bakers to the authorities for operating.
Although the bakers were all acquitted last year, their plight sparked debate across France.
The government earlier this week encouraged bakers to work on May 1, saying they were "indispensable to the continuity of social life".
It also said florists could employ staff to sell fragrant lily of the valley, which is traditionally sold on Labour Day in France.
On Wednesday, the cabinet put forward a bill -- that has yet to go to a vote in parliament -- to allow both bakeries and florists to open on the first day of May, provided staff volunteer to work in writing and are paid double wages.
The government decided not to back a previous proposal for more businesses including butchers and fishmongers to open on the public holiday.

'Hands off May 1'

The country's main unions argue that no employee is truly free to volunteer when they are seeking to keep a work contract.
They fear French workers will soon all be required to work on the holiday as exceptions gradually become the rule.
"Hands off May 1," read the poster of a hard-left activist at a May Day protest in Paris.
CGT leader Sophie Binet criticised "employers who feel entitled to open all their businesses and make their staff work on May 1, even though it's not allowed".
"The government must ensure that the law and the rule of law are upheld," she said, leading the protest in the capital.
She added that the public holiday was not however her chief concern.
"It's not the stealing of May 1 that should be on parliament's agenda. It's a major plan to raise wages," she said.
Some came to protest in costume.
A man dressed as a late 18th-century revolutionary held a pike topped with a picture of the US president, billionaire Donald Trump.
A woman protester nearby was dressed as Marie-Antoinette, the queen executed by guillotine during the French revolution.
According to folklore, when she was told the poor were running out of bread, she responded: "Let them eat cake".
burs-ah/jxb/jj

demonstration

Turkish police fire tear gas, arrest hundreds at Istanbul May Day rallies

  • Earlier, the CHD Lawyers' Association said police had arrested at least 550 people by mid-afternoon in Istanbul, where police fired tear gas from riot-control vehicles into the crowd, AFP journalists observed.
  • Turkish police on Friday fired tear gas and arrested hundreds of people holding May Day demonstrations in Istanbul, as thousands rallied nationwide.
  • Earlier, the CHD Lawyers' Association said police had arrested at least 550 people by mid-afternoon in Istanbul, where police fired tear gas from riot-control vehicles into the crowd, AFP journalists observed.
Turkish police on Friday fired tear gas and arrested hundreds of people holding May Day demonstrations in Istanbul, as thousands rallied nationwide.
A statement from the office of the governor of Istanbul said that as of 6:00 pm (1500 GMT), police had arrested 575 people, describing them as people who had defied security decisions.
Earlier, the CHD Lawyers' Association said police had arrested at least 550 people by mid-afternoon in Istanbul, where police fired tear gas from riot-control vehicles into the crowd, AFP journalists observed.
Large numbers of police, many in riot gear, had set up metal barricades to cut off access to central neighbourhoods of Istanbul, including Taksim Square, the site of many gatherings.
Images aired on the opposition channel HALK TV also showed the president of the Turkish Workers' Party, Erkan Bas, engulfed in pepper spray.
"Those in power already speak 365 days a year, so let workers talk about the hardships they face at least one day a year," he said.
Police focussed on groups who had signalled their intention to march to Taksim Square -- the scene of several anti-government protests in the past -- which had been sealed off overnight by police.
A union official, Basaran Aksu, was arrested just after denouncing the Taksim lockdown. 
"You can't close off a square to the workers of Turkey," he said.
"Everyone uses Taksim, for official ceremonies, for celebrations. Only the labourers, the workers, the poor find the square closed to them."

Police lines

May Day, which celebrates workers and the working classes, sees a major police deployment in Turkey every year, with a large area in the heart of Istanbul sealed off.
Last year, protests moved to the Kadikoy area of the city and more than 400 people were arrested.
In the Mecidiyekoy district, AFP reporters saw police use tear gas on the crowd, which included members of a Marxist party, the HKP, as they tried to push through while chanting "USA murderer, AKP (Turkey's ruling party) accomplice".
Police encircling the Besiktas neighbourhood stepped in -- sometimes violently -- whenever a chant was taken up by the demonstrators. AFP saw several protesters thrown to the ground.
Unions and civil society associations had called for the May 1 demonstrations under the slogan "Bread. Peace. Freedom".
While inflation in Turkey is officially pegged at 30 percent, it is closer to 40, according to independent estimates.
In Ankara, about 100 coal miners who had staged a nine-day hunger strike to demand wage arrears were cheered as they joined the May Day march.
The turnout, notably large and youthful, was monitored by a significant police presence, an AFP journalist said.
Earlier this week, Turkish authorities issued arrest and search warrants against 62 people, of whom they deemed 46 -- including journalists, trade unionists and opposition figures -- "likely to carry out attacks".
bur-jj/phz

gender

UK court clears comedy writer of damaging transgender activist's phone

  • An appeal judge at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday quashed that conviction for damage after a two-day hearing.
  • A London court on Friday overturned Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan's conviction for damaging the mobile phone of a transgender activist.
  • An appeal judge at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday quashed that conviction for damage after a two-day hearing.
A London court on Friday overturned Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan's conviction for damaging the mobile phone of a transgender activist.
Linehan co-created the popular 1990s sitcom "Father Ted" but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views.
A court in November cleared him of harassing the activist, Sophia Brooks, who had accused him of sending "abusive and vindictive messages" on social media.
But the court found him guilty of damaging her phone.
An appeal judge at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday quashed that conviction for damage after a two-day hearing.
"Having considered all the evidence before us, we cannot be sure that the damage to the complainant's phone was caused by Mr Linehan," said judge Amanda Tipples.
"We therefore found Mr Linehan not guilty of the offence."
Speaking after the hearing, Linehan said the decision to throw out the conviction was "very welcome" but that the case "should never have got to court".
He said he believed there had been a "troubling pattern of police forces around the country to believe trans-rights activists, time and time again, even when there has been overwhelming evidence that complaints have been made against gender critical campaigners, in bad faith". 
The Irish writer, who also co-created the sitcoms "Black Books" and "The IT Crowd", became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain last year over his stance.
It followed his arrest at London's Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his social media posts insulting transgender people.
The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. Last October UK prosecutors said they would take "no further action" in that case.
har/jkb/jxb

politics

Baguettes take centre stage on France's Labour Day

  • Under French law, "May 1 is a public holiday and a non-working day".
  • French bakeries sold crusty baguettes and flaky croissants with government backing Friday, defying labour unions arguing that May 1 should remain a sacred day of compulsory rest.
  • Under French law, "May 1 is a public holiday and a non-working day".
French bakeries sold crusty baguettes and flaky croissants with government backing Friday, defying labour unions arguing that May 1 should remain a sacred day of compulsory rest.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered several baguettes in front of the cameras in the village of Saint-Julien-Chapteuil in central France.
"Let's have several... at least four," he said, as he sought to promote a new bill to clearly exempt independent bread and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labour Day.
Under French law, "May 1 is a public holiday and a non-working day". Essential services -- such as hospitals and hotels -- can remain open must pay their staff double.
But there has been confusion about whether bakeries can open.
Labour inspectors on the public holiday in 2024 reported five bakers to the authorities for operating, causing them to be hauled before a court.
The bakers were all acquitted last year, but their plight sparked debate across France.
The government earlier this week encouraged bakers to work on May 1, saying they were "indispensable to the continuity of social life".
It also said florists should open to sell fragrant lily of the valley, which is traditionally sold on Labour Day in France.
On Wednesday, the cabinet put forward a bill -- that has yet to go to a vote in parliament -- to allow both bakeries and florists to open on the first day of May, so long as employees volunteer to work in writing and are paid double wages.
But the country's main unions argue that no employee is truly free to volunteer when they are seeking to keep a work contract.
They also fear French workers will soon all be required to work on the holiday.
"Social history shows us that each time a principle is undermined, exemptions gradually increase until they become the rule," they warned in a joint statement last month.
burs-ah/cw

US

Lufthansa apologises for lost Oscar after US airport security row

  • The airline said "we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologised to the owner".
  • German airline Lufthansa on Friday said it had apologised to Russian filmmaker Pavel Talankin for losing his Oscar statuette after US airport security banned him from taking it on a flight from New York.
  • The airline said "we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologised to the owner".
German airline Lufthansa on Friday said it had apologised to Russian filmmaker Pavel Talankin for losing his Oscar statuette after US airport security banned him from taking it on a flight from New York.
After a frantic search, Lufthansa said it found the missing statuette.
Talankin, who won an Academy Award for his documentary "Mr Nobody Against Putin", was prevented from taking the trophy on board a flight at JFK Airport on Wednesday, film industry news site Deadline reported.
US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials told him they thought it could be used as a weapon and he was forced to check it into the hold in a cardboard box, Deadline said.
When he landed in Germany, the golden statuette was missing.
Lufthansa offered its "regret" said it had embarked on an internal search "with the utmost care and urgency" to recover the Oscar.
Hours later, it issued a new statement saying that "we can confirm that the Oscar statuette is now in our care in Frankfurt" and it was going to hand it back to Talankin "as quickly as possible".
It did not explain how the award went missing, saying that "an internal review of how this occurred is currently still ongoing".
The airline said "we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologised to the owner".

Smuggled footage

Talankin, 35, a videographer from a small-town Russian school, caused a sensation when he won the Academy Award for best documentary feature alongside US filmmaker David Borenstein in March.
Made from footage Talankin had smuggled out of Russia, "Mr Nobody Against Putin" chronicles pro-war patriotic lessons introduced in Russia's schools under President Vladimir Putin amid Moscow's Ukraine offensive.
Talankin told Deadline he had flown at least a dozen times with the statuette without any issues.
"It's completely baffling how they consider an Oscar a weapon," he said after landing in Frankfurt on Thursday morning, adding that on previous flights he "flew with it in the cabin, and there never was any kind of problem".
A Lufthansa agent had offered to walk Talankin to the gate and keep hold of his statuette during the flight, but this plan was vetoed by a TSA official, according to Deadline. 
fec/rmb

culture

Afghans celebrate spring in bright red poppy fields

BY ATIF ARYAN

  • - 'Vitality and freshness' -  Many Afghans living in the north used to travel to see the poppies after celebrating Persian New Year, Nowruz, in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
  • In the middle of a field filled with bright red poppies, Afghans frolic among the spring flowers in a tradition deeply rooted in the country's north.
  • - 'Vitality and freshness' -  Many Afghans living in the north used to travel to see the poppies after celebrating Persian New Year, Nowruz, in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
In the middle of a field filled with bright red poppies, Afghans frolic among the spring flowers in a tradition deeply rooted in the country's north.
Families flocked to the valleys of Shirin Tagab district, near the border with Turkmenistan, to be among thousands of flowers that appeared after abundant rain. 
"There has been a drought for almost 10 years. No flowers or greenery grew," said Ghawsudin, who only uses one name.
"This year has been very good, and God is merciful," said the 79-year-old, who drove for three hours just to see the flowers.
Mohammad Ashraf, a 35-year-old visitor, said he hadn't seen so many poppies for more than a decade.
"Now there are so many red flowers, and you see people come here for picnics," he told AFP.
The landscape in Shirin Tagab is brightened by the common poppy, not the opium poppy that authorities have banned.
- 'Vitality and freshness' - 
Many Afghans living in the north used to travel to see the poppies after celebrating Persian New Year, Nowruz, in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The Taliban government, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic law, has stopped such celebrations each spring.
But the tradition of visiting the poppies, which are widely revered in poems and songs, has endured.
Oriane Zerah, a photographer who published a book about Afghans and flowers, said they are an integral part of daily life.
"As soon as an Afghan has a little space in their garden, they plant a flower. Even in displacement camps, there'll be a flower somewhere. They put them on their pakol, one of their traditional hats, and there are desserts made with flowers," she told AFP.
The poppy has also been associated with wartime in the country, with the flower often placed on the coffins of fighters, according to Afghan writer Taqi Wahidi.
"Dying in the path of the homeland, or in the path of religion and faith, was considered a kind of new resurrection and entry into a new life," he told AFP.
The same flower is widely used in countries, such as Britain, Australia and New Zealand, where people wear artificial poppies to remember those killed in past conflicts.
Nowadays in Afghanistan, however, the poppy "symbolises vitality and freshness", according to Wahidi.
"At the same time that nature is renewed, human beings also want to bring new colours into their lives," he said.
strs-qb-iw/rsc/lga

Global Edition

Clashes erupt in Australian town over death of Indigenous girl

  • The violence followed the discovery Thursday of a body south of Alice Springs believed to be that of the little girl, referred to at her family's request as Kumanjayi Little Baby.
  • An angry crowd clashed with Australian police outside a hospital treating the suspected killer of a five-year-old Indigenous girl in the outback town of Alice Springs.
  • The violence followed the discovery Thursday of a body south of Alice Springs believed to be that of the little girl, referred to at her family's request as Kumanjayi Little Baby.
An angry crowd clashed with Australian police outside a hospital treating the suspected killer of a five-year-old Indigenous girl in the outback town of Alice Springs.
Images on local media Friday showed teargas in the air, a police van in flames and crowds yelling at armed officers keeping people at bay during the overnight confrontation.
The violence followed the discovery Thursday of a body south of Alice Springs believed to be that of the little girl, referred to at her family's request as Kumanjayi Little Baby.
She had disappeared from an Indigenous community camp called Old Timers late on Saturday night, sparking a vast, days-long search on foot, horseback, and by helicopter that gripped much of the country.
Police said a formal autopsy would be held on the child's body, which was found about five kilometres (three miles) from the camp.
Hours after her body was found, police announced they had arrested the suspect, Jefferson Lewis.

'He was unconscious'

Lewis was beaten until he was unconscious after turning himself in to Indigenous community members on Thursday evening at a camp by Alice Springs, in central Australia.
When police and emergency services intervened, they too came under attack, said Northern Territory Police Force Commissioner Martin Dole.
"At the time of his apprehension by us, he was unconscious and he was in the process of being treated by St John's Ambulance when they were set upon, as were the police," he told a news conference.
Lewis was then taken to hospital.
"A large crowd gathered and tried to gain access to that hospital," the police commissioner said.
"We called out all the resources we had available to quell that violent disturbance. And just let me say that the behaviour that we saw last night cannot be explained away, excused or accepted."
Dole said "a number" of police were injured at the hospital, and one officer was treated for a head wound inflicted during the suspect's arrest.
Ambulance and fire crew members were also attacked, he said, with one fire and rescue officer receiving a "significant facial injury".

'Sorry business'

One woman was being investigated for allegedly trying to set a police car alight.
Many people outside the hospital shouted that Lewis must face "payback", public broadcaster ABC reported, referring to a traditional punishment in central Australian Indigenous communities.
"I just call for calm across the community," Dole said.
Police said they removed Lewis for his safety from hospital to the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, where he was being held in custody.
He is expected to face charges in the coming days.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the girl's death was the realisation of "our worst nightmares".
But it was no excuse for violence, she said, recalling how the community had united to search for the missing child.
"This week, we've seen this town come together like never before -- hundreds of people walking shoulder to shoulder through the long buffel grass, through the bush, to make sure we left no stone unturned," Finocchiaro said.
"I don't want last night to take away from that extraordinary effort."
Robin Granites, a spokesman for the family and an elder of the Warlpiri Indigenous group, called for calm in the community.
"It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering," he said in a statement.
"We need to be strong for each other, we must respect family and cultural practice."
djw/kln/fox

agriculture

India's cows offer biogas alternative to Mideast energy crunch

BY UZMI ATHAR

  • The government insists there is no shortage of cooking gas, but supply delays, panic buying and black marketeers have created long queues for cylinders.
  • Across much of India, an energy crunch caused by the Iran war has prompted long queues for cooking gas cyclinders.
  • The government insists there is no shortage of cooking gas, but supply delays, panic buying and black marketeers have created long queues for cylinders.
Across much of India, an energy crunch caused by the Iran war has prompted long queues for cooking gas cyclinders. That's not a problem for Gauri Devi.
On a stove with blue flames, she flips a chapati flatbread, burning biogas produced from cow dung -- an alternative fuel helping ease pressure on supplies.
"It cooks everything," the 25-year-old said in her courtyard kitchen in Nekpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) from New Delhi. "If the pressure goes down, we let it rest for half an hour and it works again."
India consumes more than 30 million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) annually, importing over half its needs.
The government insists there is no shortage of cooking gas, but supply delays, panic buying and black marketeers have created long queues for cylinders.
However, since the 1980s India has also promoted biogas as a low-cost rural energy source, subsidising more than five million "digester" units that convert farm waste into methane for cooking, and nitrogen-rich slurry for fertiliser.
For Gauri, it requires mixing a couple of buckets of dung with water, then pouring the mixture into a car-sized underground tank topped with a storage balloon.
It provides a piped methane supply so regular that she only uses an LPG cylinder for emergencies or large gatherings.
The biogas works for everything -- "vegetables, tea, lentils", she said.

'Black gold'

The residual slurry is later spread on fields as fertiliser. It has better nitrogen availability for plants compared with raw dung, farmers say.
"The manure is so good," said farmer Pramod Singh, who installed a larger unit in 2025, enough for six people, fuelled by 30–45 kilogrammes of dung daily from four cows.
And he said the slurry fertiliser is particularly valuable at a time when global supplies of artificial fertilisers have been hit by trade disruptions due to the war.
"The real benefit is not just the gas -- that is like a bonus," local farmer leader Pritam Singh said. "The slurry is 'black gold'."
More than 45 percent of India's 1.4 billion people rely on farming, and the country has one of the largest cattle populations.
India -- the world's most populous nation and third-largest fossil fuel polluter -- has pushed large-scale biogas production to achieve a goal of carbon neutrality by 2070.
The government last year required that biogas account for at least one percent of liquid gas fuelling both vehicles and for domestic use  -- rising to five percent by 2028.
Dozens of multi-million dollar production plants are now in the pipeline.
But small-scale rural producers are also being rolled out -- units cost around 25,000–30,000 rupees ($265-$318), often heavily subsidised by the government.
In a Hindu-majority nation where cows are revered and dung and urine are used in everything from floor plastering and fuel to ritual practices, it is easy to win supporters, said Pritam Singh.
He installed his first plant in 2007, and has helped put in 15 more in his village in the past year alone.
He said interest had shot up after the LPG shortages.
"People who earlier were not interested now ask how to get it," he said.
"Once they see food being cooked and crops benefiting, they are convinced."

'Mini factories'

But biogas is still a small fraction of household cooking fuel -- with LPG considered more convenient because companies manage the supply chain.
"Biogas plants are not just equipment; they are mini factories," said A.R. Shukla, president of the Indian Biogas Association.
"They need organised installation, regular operation and maintenance," he added. 
"So, unless installation and upkeep are handled through community-based or cooperative enterprises, households will continue to treat biogas as secondary fuel."
And even with government support, there are barriers to uptake, including cost and space.
"We work on other people's farms the whole day. We don't have land for it," said labourer Ramesh Kumar Singh, standing in a line of around 100 queueing for LPG cylinders in the nearby village of Madalpur.
"I am standing in scorching heat, hungry and thirsty," said Mahendri, 77, who had failed to secure a cylinder for three days in a row.
uzm/pjm/sah/lga

execution

Florida executes man who spent nearly 50 years on death row

  • His nearly 50 years on death row made him among the inmates who had spent the most time in prison awaiting execution in the United States.
  • A Florida man who has spent nearly half a century on death row was executed by lethal injection on Thursday for the murder of a 13-year-old girl.
  • His nearly 50 years on death row made him among the inmates who had spent the most time in prison awaiting execution in the United States.
A Florida man who has spent nearly half a century on death row was executed by lethal injection on Thursday for the murder of a 13-year-old girl.
James Hitchcock, 70, was convicted of the 1976 murder of Cynthia Driggers, his step-niece, and sentenced to death in 1977.
Hitchcock, who maintains his innocence, was executed at 6:12 pm (2212 GMT) at the Florida state prison in Raiford, the state's Department of Corrections said on its website.
His nearly 50 years on death row made him among the inmates who had spent the most time in prison awaiting execution in the United States.
A second US execution took place on Thursday, in Texas.
James Broadnax, 37, was put to death at 6:47 pm (2347 GMT) by lethal injection for the 2008 robbery and murder of two music producers, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
In his last statement, shared by the department, Broadnax said: "No matter what you think about me, Texas got it wrong. I'm innocent."
Ten executions have been carried out in the United States this year -- six in Florida, three in Texas and one in Oklahoma.
There were 47 executions in the country last year, the most since 2009, when 52 people were put to death.
Florida carried out the most executions in 2025, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, where there were five each.
Thirty-nine of last year's executions were carried out by lethal injection.
Three were by firing squad and five by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.
The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others -- California, Oregon and Pennsylvania -- have moratoriums in place.
President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and has called for an expansion of its use "for the vilest crimes."
The Trump Justice Department said in April that it is seeking to expand the use of the death penalty in federal capital cases and add the firing squad, electrocution and gas as methods of execution.
cl/des/msp/mlm

wage

Venezuela leader hikes minimum wage package by 26%

  • The increase announced Monday by Rodriguez is to the "comprehensive minimum income," a package composed of a very low wage ($0.30 a month) -- roughly 330 times lower than the UN poverty line of $3 a day -- topped with a food bonus of $40 and an "economic war" bonus of $150 for a total of $190.
  • Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday hiked the minimum wage package by 26.3 percent, to $240, in an attempt to quell growing discontent over difficult living conditions.
  • The increase announced Monday by Rodriguez is to the "comprehensive minimum income," a package composed of a very low wage ($0.30 a month) -- roughly 330 times lower than the UN poverty line of $3 a day -- topped with a food bonus of $40 and an "economic war" bonus of $150 for a total of $190.
Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday hiked the minimum wage package by 26.3 percent, to $240, in an attempt to quell growing discontent over difficult living conditions.
Addressing thousands of government supporters in Caracas on the eve of International Workers' Day, Rodriguez, who succeeded deposed leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, said it was "the most significant increase in recent years."
She did not give a breakdown of the increase, leaving it unclear who would benefit.
Venezuelans have in recent weeks repeatedly demonstrated for an increase to wages so low that many struggle to survive in the face of annual inflation of over 600 percent.
On April 9, police clashed with thousands of protesters who marched towards the presidential palace in Caracas to demand salary and pension increases.
The increase announced Monday by Rodriguez is to the "comprehensive minimum income," a package composed of a very low wage ($0.30 a month) -- roughly 330 times lower than the UN poverty line of $3 a day -- topped with a food bonus of $40 and an "economic war" bonus of $150 for a total of $190.
Rodriguez also announced a $70 increase to the state pension, which she said represented an increase of 40 percent.
She acknowledged that it was still "not enough" and promised a "special plan for our grandfathers and grandmothers."
The announcements were met with applause and cries of joy from the crowd in Caracas.
But the increases still leave most workers far short of the $677 that a family of five needs to cover its basic food needs, according to Venezuelan analysts.
Rodriguez has insisted on the need for "responsible" wage increases that do not cause inflation to further spiral.
Yeisi Romero, a 44-year-old local government worker attending the rally, said the increases fell short of his expectations but that "things are getting better."
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US

Routine returns but Iranians struggle to afford daily life

BY SUSANNAH WALDEN WITH AFP CORRESPONDENTS

  • Salaries hadn't been increased either, Mahyar said, and inflation, already over 45 percent before the war, reached 53.7 percent in recent weeks, according to the national statistics centre. 
  • Gyms and cafes have reopened in Tehran as life returns to a familiar rhythm under a ceasefire following weeks of US-Israeli airstrikes, but for IT worker Mayhar such everyday amenities are out of reach as financial pressures mount. 
  • Salaries hadn't been increased either, Mahyar said, and inflation, already over 45 percent before the war, reached 53.7 percent in recent weeks, according to the national statistics centre. 
Gyms and cafes have reopened in Tehran as life returns to a familiar rhythm under a ceasefire following weeks of US-Israeli airstrikes, but for IT worker Mayhar such everyday amenities are out of reach as financial pressures mount. 
Trendy cafes in affluent northern Tehran were busy on Wednesday night, the start of Iran's weekend, with men and women sipping colourful drinks and strolling the streets. 
But the sense of normalcy belies the economic pains weighing on many Iranians in the capital and beyond, as Tehran and Washington face off with market-rattling blockades. 
"For many people, paying rent and even buying food has become difficult, and some have nothing left at all," 28-year-old Mahyar told an AFP reporter based outside Iran, saying the company he worked for had laid off 34 people -- nearly 40 percent of its staff. 
Salaries hadn't been increased either, Mahyar said, and inflation, already over 45 percent before the war, reached 53.7 percent in recent weeks, according to the national statistics centre. 
"Only those who had real estate, large businesses and significant wealth still have a normal situation," he said. 
The Iranian rial plummeted to a record low against the dollar on Wednesday, according to currency-tracking websites, trading at around 1.8 million on the black market, compared to 1.7 million at the time the war erupted. 
Iran's deputy labour minister said that 191,000 people had filed for unemployment after losing their jobs due to the impacts of the war.
- 'Increasing every day' - 
But 49-year-old Tonekabon said "even wealthy people are complaining", as tenants -- including his own -- struggle to pay rent. 
"Everyone is repairing what they have or buying second-hand instead," he said. 
Prices have been steadily rising, making paying for basic necessities a challenge, with anything but immediate needs put off.
The minimum daily wage in Iran is roughly 5.5 million rials ($3 on Thursday, according to currency-tracking websites), said a labour authority announcement carried by state media on April 20. 
But as of April 28, less than a litre of cooking oil cost around four million rials and eggs were 240,000 each, with meat costing from seven to 23 million rials per kilogramme. 
"Even during wartime, prices didn't rise this much, they're increasing every day," said Fatemeh, a 29-year-old in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan. 
The mother-of-two said she works all day sewing clothes and embroidering but she can't afford baby formula for her youngest. 
With her husband unemployed, she says she has been putting off medical care for a painful tooth for three months because she can't afford it or find anyone to lend her the money. 
"It's not just us, many of our relatives and neighbours don't go for medical treatment because it has become so expensive." 
Student Shahin Nampoor was fed up with mounting costs and varying prices, not to mention the current impasse in bringing the war to a definitive end. 
"Either there should be an agreement, or a war," he told AFP journalists in Tehran.

'Despite it all'

Iran's sanctions-hit economy was already struggling before Israel and the United States launched the war on February 28, and the conflict has only ratcheted up the pressure. 
Iran recently banned steel exports after Israeli-US airstrikes targeted its plants, as well as civilian infrastructure including roads, bridges and petrochemical facilities. 
The Islamic republic has been inflicting global economic pain by choking off vital trade through the Strait of Hormuz, but its own ports have been blockaded by Washington to try to pressure it into a deal on its nuclear programme. 
Some Iranians have expressed worry the standoff could explode into fighting again, but for many their focus is on getting by each day. 
Some said they couldn't find work, while others saw their income dry up after the authorities restricted the internet when the war started, suffocating industries and workers that relied on connecting to the global web. 
There has been little indication that protests might break out as they did in late December, sparked by economic pains and quickly expanding into mass anti-government rallies met by a violent crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands. 
Shervin, a photographer, lost his online work and for the first time was late paying rent recently. 
He said he can't afford his music streaming platform subscription anymore, but is going to parks and cafes for some normalcy, like the families who set out in paddleboats on a lake in Tehran on Wednesday or cycled through one of the city's leafy parks. 
"I am trying to see the beauty in life and to keep going despite it all," said Shervin. 
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