Moon

'I'm really proud': first Black astronaut candidate reflects on historic Moon mission

BY CHARLOTTE CAUSIT

  • "I have a personal attachment and affiliation with Victor, because I met him when he was 15 years old, and we had a program where we were trying to encourage young Black candidates to go to pilot training and to get into flying," Dwight said.
  • In the 1960s Ed Dwight was the first Black astronaut candidate -- but he never got his chance to go to the Moon.
  • "I have a personal attachment and affiliation with Victor, because I met him when he was 15 years old, and we had a program where we were trying to encourage young Black candidates to go to pilot training and to get into flying," Dwight said.
In the 1960s Ed Dwight was the first Black astronaut candidate -- but he never got his chance to go to the Moon.
He said he's now living out that once-denied dream vicariously through Victor Glover, who is set to make history on the Artemis 2 Moon mission that could take off as soon as Wednesday.
Glover is a 49-year-old veteran astronaut set to become the first Black person -- and first person of color -- to embark on a lunar voyage.
For Dwight, the achievement is personal.
The 92-year-old paved the way for diversifying the astronaut corps more than half-a-century ago, and later served as a mentor to Glover.
"I have a personal attachment and affiliation with Victor, because I met him when he was 15 years old, and we had a program where we were trying to encourage young Black candidates to go to pilot training and to get into flying," Dwight said.
"And never in a thousand years did I ever think that Victor would take it to heart and take it to the Moon, which is what he's done," the pioneering astronaut told AFP.
"I'm really living my old 92 years through Victor -- I'm really proud."

Racist backlash

In 1961, the civil rights movement was intensifying across the United States as Dwight was serving as a pilot in the US Air Force.
He was invited to join a training program that would set him up to become the nation's first Black astronaut.
Dwight says that it wasn't until later in his career that he understood that President John F. Kennedy at the time was seeking to garner Black support, and that "it was proposed to him that if he were to appoint a Black astronaut, it would ensure him the Black vote."
The move immediately sparked fierce backlash.
"The people who make astronauts fought it and said 'This guy will last about six weeks,'" Dwight recalls. "It was so crazy, all the stuff that I went through and had to face, all that criticism that Black people were too ignorant and ill-equipped."
But he held his ground: "I ended up ranked higher in the class than 10 white guys."
But in 1963, JFK was assassinated in Dallas -- a tragedy that marked the end of Dwight's spaceflight dreams.
He was repeatedly told that America wasn't ready for a Black astronaut, and that he'd arrived "20 years too early."
It wasn't until 1983 that NASA flew its first African American astronaut, Guion Bluford.
The historic journey took place three years after the Soviet Union sent the first person of color into space, the Cuban Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez.
And in 2024, Dwight finally made it to space aboard a suborbital space tourism flight operated by Blue Origin, the private space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

 'American hero'

The astronaut corps has become far more diverse since Dwight's era.
But the upcoming journey of both Glover and Christina Koch -- who is set to become the first woman to embark on a lunar mission -- mark significant achievements.
The milestones contrast with the Donald Trump administration's repeated attacks on diversity policies.
Since the Republican's return to power and subsequent executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion terminology, NASA has scrubbed its public commitment to send the first woman and first person of color to the lunar surface in missions to come.
That's cast doubt on what crews for the next phases of Artemis will look like.
The president's efforts have also taken aim at content displayed in museums -- a move critics denounce as revisionist history.
"I feel badly about and very disappointed in America," Dwight said. 
"What kind of country have we become that we would elect some person that would take and nullify all the contributions, and the wonderful contributions, if you will, that Blacks and women have made to this story and throw it away?"
"Trying to erase all this history is an absolute tragedy," he added.
But the eternal optimist said he draws strength from the example set by Glover: "He's a natural American hero, in my opinion."
Glover, Dwight said, will "be up here in in the Neil Armstrong territory of people of great accomplishments."
"He's done it all, and they can't take that away from him."
cha/mdo/jgc

immigration

Supreme Court weighing Trump challenge to birthright citizenship

BY CHRIS LEFKOW

  • Highlighting the importance of the birthright case, Trump told reporters on Tuesday he may personally attend Wednesday's oral arguments at the Supreme Court in what would be an extraordinary move by a sitting president.
  • The US Supreme Court is to hear a landmark case on Wednesday as it weighs in on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's contentious bid to end birthright citizenship.
  • Highlighting the importance of the birthright case, Trump told reporters on Tuesday he may personally attend Wednesday's oral arguments at the Supreme Court in what would be an extraordinary move by a sitting president.
The US Supreme Court is to hear a landmark case on Wednesday as it weighs in on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's contentious bid to end birthright citizenship.
Trump signed an executive order on his return to the White House decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.
Lower courts blocked the move as unconstitutional, ruling that under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment nearly everyone born on US soil is an American citizen.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States," the amendment states.
It does not apply to persons who are not subject to US jurisdiction -- foreign diplomats, for example, and sovereign Native American tribes.
Highlighting the importance of the birthright case, Trump told reporters on Tuesday he may personally attend Wednesday's oral arguments at the Supreme Court in what would be an extraordinary move by a sitting president.
"I'm going," he said. "I think so."
The Trump administration argues that the 14th Amendment, passed in the wake of the 1861-1865 Civil War, addresses the rights to citizenship of former slaves and not the children of undocumented migrants or temporary visitors.
Trump's executive order is premised on the notion that anyone in the United States illegally, or on a visa, is not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the country and therefore excluded from automatic citizenship.
The Supreme Court rejected such a narrow definition in an 1898 case involving a man named Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in 1873 to parents who had come to the United States from China.
After a visit to China, Wong Kim Ark was denied reentry into the United States in 1895 under the Chinese Exclusion Acts.
The Supreme Court ruled, however, that he was a US citizen by virtue of being born in the United States.

'History and tradition'

Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the court is likely to reject the challenge to birthright citizenship.
"This is a court that has looked to history and tradition as a significant guide in understanding the Constitution," Schwinn told AFP. "And it would be a little surprising if, after 150 years, we suddenly discovered we were applying the Citizenship Clause all wrong."
Conservatives have a 6-3 supermajority on the Supreme Court and three of the justices were appointed by Trump.
Trump's solicitor general John Sauer said that in order to be eligible for citizenship "a person must be both born 'in the United States' and 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof.'"
"Children of temporarily present aliens or illegal aliens are not 'subject to' the United States' 'jurisdiction,'" Sauer said in a brief with the court.
"A person is subject to the United States' 'jurisdiction' only if he owes sufficient allegiance to, and may claim protection from, the United States."
Automatic citizenship for children of undocumented migrants is a "powerful incentive for illegal migration," Sauer said, claiming it encourages "birth tourists."

'Dumb judges and justices'

If the Supreme Court does reject ending birthright citizenship, it would be the second major loss for Trump this term -- the justices struck down most of his global tariffs in February.
Trump reacted furiously to that ruling and called birthright citizenship one of the "great scams of our time" on Tuesday, a day after he took to Truth Social to denounce "dumb judges and justices."
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is defending birthright citizenship before the court, said the Trump administration "is asking for nothing less than a remaking of our Nation's constitutional foundations."
"The government's baseless arguments -- if accepted -- would cast a shadow over the citizenship of millions upon millions of Americans, going back generations."
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June or early July.
cl/dw/pnb

LGBTQ

US Supreme Court rules against ban on 'conversion therapy' for LGBTQ minors

  • But in a 8-1 decision, the court ruled in favor of Kaley Chiles, a licensed mental health counselor who invoked her Christian faith and challenged the law, arguing that it violated her First Amendment right of free speech.
  • The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against a Colorado state law banning "conversion therapy" for LGBTQ minors, siding with a Christian therapist who challenged it on the grounds of free speech.
  • But in a 8-1 decision, the court ruled in favor of Kaley Chiles, a licensed mental health counselor who invoked her Christian faith and challenged the law, arguing that it violated her First Amendment right of free speech.
The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against a Colorado state law banning "conversion therapy" for LGBTQ minors, siding with a Christian therapist who challenged it on the grounds of free speech.
At issue is the constitutionality of a 2019 Colorado law that prohibits licensed practitioners from conducting "conversion therapy" on patients under 18.
Proponents of the treatment claim to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ people.
The therapy has been discredited by major medical organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association, and is banned in more than 20 US states and much of Europe.
Research has shown that it is ineffective and even harmful, leading to depression and suicidal thoughts.
But in a 8-1 decision, the court ruled in favor of Kaley Chiles, a licensed mental health counselor who invoked her Christian faith and challenged the law, arguing that it violated her First Amendment right of free speech.
"Colorado's law addressing conversion therapy does not just ban physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint," wrote conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch in the decision on behalf of the majority of the Court.
"As applied to Ms. Chiles, Colorado’s law regulates the content of her speech and goes further to prescribe what views she may and may not express, discriminating on the basis of viewpoint," he argued.
The First Amendment, Gorsuch wrote, is a "shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country."
As a result, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower courts to review their decisions in light of this ruling.

'Can of worms'

Only the liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed dissent, accusing her colleagues of opening "a dangerous can of worms" by undermining states' ability to regulate medical practices that "risks grave harm to Americans' health and wellbeing."
"The Constitution does not pose a barrier to reasonable regulation of harmful medical treatments just because substandard care comes via speech instead of scalpel," she wrote.
Chiles' lawyer, James Campbell, of the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, hailed the ruling in a statement as "a significant win for free speech, common sense, and families desperate to help their children."
But Equality California, an LGBTQ civil rights organization, condemned the ruling, saying in a statement, "The Supreme Court is moving our country backward and into dangerously uncharted territory."
Children who have undergone conversion therapy "were taught to feel shame and self-hatred. Survivors continue to suffer from PTSD, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. As one survivor put it, conversion therapy came close to killing me," the statement said.
The group also warned that the ruling could have a "far broader" impact if "extended to vaccines, psychiatric medicine, and abortion and contraception."
After taking office for his second term in January, President Donald Trump said the US government would only recognize two genders -- male and female -- and signed an executive order restricting gender transition medical procedures for people under the age of 19.
In June, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold a Tennessee state law banning hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender transition surgery for minors.
Conversion therapies are banned, at least partially, in many countries, with the support of health organizations such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Great Britain. 
The UN has called for a global ban, describing them as discriminatory, humiliating and a violation of individuals' bodily integrity.
sst/ube/mjf/bgs

LGBTQ

Senegal enacts law doubling penalty for same-sex relations

BY BECCA MILFELD

  • The law punishes "acts against nature", a term used to signify same-sex relations, by five to 10 years' imprisonment, compared with one to five years previously.
  • Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has signed into law legislation doubling the maximum penalty for same-sex relations, making them punishable by up to 10 years in prison amid a crackdown on the country's gay community.
  • The law punishes "acts against nature", a term used to signify same-sex relations, by five to 10 years' imprisonment, compared with one to five years previously.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has signed into law legislation doubling the maximum penalty for same-sex relations, making them punishable by up to 10 years in prison amid a crackdown on the country's gay community.
The law, which was signed Monday and appeared in the official journal that was distributed Tuesday, passed by an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly and also includes criminal penalties for those found guilty of promoting or financing same-sex relationships.
UN rights chief Volker Turk called the law "deeply worrying" after its passage in parliament and said that it "flies in the face of the sacrosanct human rights".
The law punishes "acts against nature", a term used to signify same-sex relations, by five to 10 years' imprisonment, compared with one to five years previously.
It also provides for three to seven years in prison for those found guilty of promoting or financing same-sex relationships.
According to media reports, dozens of men have been arrested under the anti-LGBTQ laws since February, when police detained 12 men, including two local celebrities, the start of a spate of detentions.
Arrests have often been based on accusations and phone searches, which are reported almost daily, with the names of those detained made public.
The new law additionally penalises anyone who accuses another of same-sex offences "without proof".
After debating for several hours, lawmakers approved the bill by a vote of 135 in favour, zero opposed and three abstentions on March 11.
Under the law, the maximum sentence will be handed down if the act was committed with a minor.
Punishment will additionally include fines from two million to 10 million CFA francs ($3,500 to $17,600), compared to 100,000 to 1.5 million CFA francs previously.
- 'Deeply concerned' - 
Several human rights organisations had called on Faye not to sign the bill, although the response to Senegal's legislation has so far been muted compared to reaction against other recent anti-LGBTQ bills in Africa.
Among them was UNAIDS, which said it was "deeply concerned" by the bill and that criminalisation only "causes people to turn away from health services" such as those for HIV.
LGBTQ rights group ILGA World had also called on Faye not to sign, urging him to uphold "respect for individual liberty and the human person".
In recent years, LGBTQ issues have stirred controversy in Senegal, where gay rights advocacy is frequently denounced as a tool used by Westerners to impose foreign values.
Religious associations in the Muslim-majority west African country have staged demonstrations to demand tougher penalties.
Ousmane Sonko, before becoming Senegal's highly influential prime minister in 2024, had promised to make same-sex relations a crime, upping the offence from its current classification as misdemeanour.
However, the new law, which Sonko himself presented to parliament, maintains the same misdemeanour status.
At least 32 out of Africa's 54 countries have laws on the books prohibiting and punishing same-sex relations.
The death penalty is imposed in Uganda, Mauritania and Somalia.
Approximately 10 countries or territories impose sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison, including Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Sierra Leone.
bur-bfm/kjm

US

In Beirut's largest stadium, displaced people with disabilities face 'ordeal'

BY MARGAUX BERGEY

  • More than a million people have been displaced and Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,200 people, including 124 children, Lebanese authorities say.
  • In the stands of Beirut's largest stadium, it is the shouts of children displaced by war that echo, not the songs of fans. 
  • More than a million people have been displaced and Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,200 people, including 124 children, Lebanese authorities say.
In the stands of Beirut's largest stadium, it is the shouts of children displaced by war that echo, not the songs of fans. 
Beneath the concrete steps, more than a thousand people fleeing Israeli bombs on Lebanon sleep in tents, including around 50 wheelchair users and people with other mobility challenges. 
The vast sports complex is one of the few shelters able to take in people with disabilities, despite being poorly adapted to their needs. 
"If there's a strike, the people around me could run away and leave me behind; I can't get up and move if no one helps me," said 62-year-old Fatima Nazli, who uses a wheelchair. 
The state has not put in place any strategy to evacuate people with disabilities, said Sylvana Lakkis, head of the Lebanese Union for People with Physical Disabilities. 
"We submitted a policy and proposal" to the government, but "they never listened", she told AFP. 
"Every time there is a crisis, we, people with disabilities pay the price." 
Nazli and her husband had to leave their apartment in Beirut's southern suburbs, an area that has been struck repeatedly by Israel since Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2. 
They are living in a tent in a section of the stadium where she is forced to ask Red Cross volunteers for help to get down the flight of steps leading to the only bathrooms she can access. 
– 'Living in constant fear' –
The couple expects to move to another section of the stadium, where two access ramps and four accessible toilets were recently installed. 
In the meantime, Nazli and her husband, Abu Ali, who did not wish to give his full name, go back to their apartment from time to time to take a shower and pick up clean clothes, gripped by fear because the neighbourhood "could be bombed at any moment" by the Israeli air force.
The Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, on the edge of Beirut's southern suburbs, has witnessed the twists and turns of Lebanon's troubled history. 
Destroyed by bombing during the Israeli invasion in 1982 and rebuilt after the end of the civil war in 1990, it has fallen into disrepair due to a lack of funds for its upkeep.
Football legend Pele once trod its turf, and international sporting competitions have been held there. 
But the stadium has also served as a warehouse for food supplies, and Hezbollah held the lavish funeral there for its former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel in September 2024. 
– 'An ordeal' –
"This place was not built to be lived in," said stadium director Naji Hammoud, who opened its doors "the next day" after the first evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli army in the southern suburbs in early March.
More than a million people have been displaced and Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,200 people, including 124 children, Lebanese authorities say.
Many displaced people are sleeping on the streets of the capital or in their cars, and Hammoud said he wants the facility to take in "as many as possible".
Around the tents, workers are busy renovating the unsanitary restrooms, installing showers and connecting them to the water supply, and hooking up electricity.
"I can't wash myself on my own, I need help," said Khodr Salem, a shopkeeper from the south of the country, who has difficulty walking and uses a crutch because of an infection in his leg. 
"We lived like kings in our homes. Our life has become an ordeal," the old man said through tears, sitting on a mattress in his tent. 
For Lakkis, Lebanon doesn't have enough accessible shelters: the few schools able to receive people with disabilities fill up quickly.
She called on authorities "to make at least one inclusive shelter in each district".
Lacking options, many displaced people therefore have to find relatives who can host them or pay exorbitant rents to landlords, explained Fadi Al-Halabi, executive director in Lebanon of the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network. 
"The international community must take into account the needs of people with disabilities" and allocate a share of the international aid budget to them, he said. 
vid-mby/ris/lg/ser

Israel

Archaeologists forced by Mideast war to cut short Iraq digs

BY ROSE TROUP BUCHANAN

  • "After some days we got kind of used to the rockets and drones above our heads," she said.
  • Iraq is home to ruins from some of the world's earliest civilisations, but teams led by international archaeologists have been forced by drone and rocket attacks in the Middle East war to cut short their expeditions.
  • "After some days we got kind of used to the rockets and drones above our heads," she said.
Iraq is home to ruins from some of the world's earliest civilisations, but teams led by international archaeologists have been forced by drone and rocket attacks in the Middle East war to cut short their expeditions.
Archaeologists told AFP that some of the projects interrupted by the war had been planned for years, but their teams have had to evacuate ancient sites since the United States and Israel attacked Iraq's neighbour, Iran.
Like other countries around the region, Iraq has become engulfed in the war, bringing to an abrupt end a period of nascent stability.
Iraq's precious archaeological sites, some dating back thousands of years, had for years faced threats ranging from climate change to successive conflicts.
Under normal circumstances, around 60 international teams would have been working on digs, a government official told AFP, but "all of these missions have left Iraq".

'Like a musician'

Adelheid Otto of Germany's Ludwig-Maximilians-University started a long-planned dig at ancient Shuruppak, modern-day Tell Fara, on February 28.
That same day, Israel and the US launched strikes against Iran, sparking a war that has dragged Iraqi armed groups into the fray -- and cutting short Otto's work.
"We are Near Eastern archaeologists. So that is our work. That is like a musician who can no longer play an instrument," she told AFP.
Her team -- 18 German archaeologists, geologists, geophysical experts and students and seven Iraqi archaeologists -- initially stayed, reasoning travelling the 750 kilometres (460 miles) overland to Turkey was more dangerous.
"After some days we got kind of used to the rockets and drones above our heads," she said.
But Iraqi officials repeatedly urged them to depart, despite their discovery of ancient cuneiform tablets.
"It is impossible" to leave, she told authorities, insisting on staying extra days. "We have to document it. We have to take photos of everything."
"I told the students you have to work on all the small finds that we have," said Otto, 59, who boasts four decades of experience.
"You never know in any of these countries if you will ever return," she said.

'Guarantors'

Many German institutions had just started relaxing travel restrictions to Iraq after a succession of conflicts, including the 2003 US-led invasion and the extremist Islamic State group.
Now, said Otto, archaeologists once again face being shut out.
Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage head Ali Obeid Shalgham told AFP Iraqi security forces were the sites' "true guarantors", especially as many are in remote rural areas.
He said the country is installing so-called protective "blue shields" -- nicknamed "the Red Cross of heritage" -- at archaeological sites.
The presence of foreign teams is "crucial", said Aqeel al-Mansrawi, an Iraqi landscape archaeologist.
"They work to protect heritage through conservation," he said.
He also emphasised the training Iraqi experts receive from foreigners, vital after years of isolation and war.
"We are always training a lot of Iraqi archaeologists and colleagues," said Otto, of the German institute.
"If it would be cut again, it would be terrible," she said. 
Foreign digs must work with Iraqi archaeologists, bringing their international expertise.
Shalgham said the arrangement allows Iraqis "to keep up with global advancements in new technologies and state-of-the-art equipment".

'Can't catch a break'

Chicago University professor Augusta McMahon was in southern Iraq, working at the 6,000-year-old Nippur site, when the war began.
Having worked in the Middle East for almost four decades, this was her third evacuation. 
In 2024, she had to leave Iraq, while in 2011, she left Syria.
"We had pressure from a lot of different directions in terms of having to leave," she said, with her eight-person team departing under an Iraqi escort on March 10.
"It is quite frustrating, along with everything else, I feel terribly bad for [my] Iraqi colleagues," she said.
The war has also rippled beyond the immediate: an initiative to finally return the preeminent Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (RAI) conference to Iraq was cancelled by the University of Baghdad.
The city last attempted to host the event in 1990, according to the university, but it was scrapped with the Gulf War.
"Now 36 years later, they finally pulled themselves together... and its cancelled again," said McMahon, who was due to be presenting.
"It's like they can't catch a break."
bur-rbu/ser

OpenClaw

AI agent future is coming, OpenClaw creator tells AFP

BY KATIE FORSTER

  • While tech giants work out how agent tools could be used by businesses, the next AI innovation could come from "someone who just wants to have fun", Steinberger said.
  • Peter Steinberger's artificial intelligence agent tool OpenClaw has taken the tech world by storm with its ability to execute real-life tasks such as checking him in for his flight to Tokyo.
  • While tech giants work out how agent tools could be used by businesses, the next AI innovation could come from "someone who just wants to have fun", Steinberger said.
Peter Steinberger's artificial intelligence agent tool OpenClaw has taken the tech world by storm with its ability to execute real-life tasks such as checking him in for his flight to Tokyo.
AI is not yet a ubiquitous personal assistant for ordinary people, but "you'll see much more of that this year because this is the year of agents", Steinberger told AFP in the Japanese capital on Monday.
"There are still some things we need to do to make it better," the Austrian programmer said.
Demand is ramping up, however, with more developers now "making the future happen", he added in an interview during a gathering for OpenClaw enthusiasts.
When downloaded, OpenClaw can be connected to existing AI models and given simple instructions through instant messaging apps, as if to a friend or colleague.
Jensen Huang, head of the world's most valuable company Nvidia, this month hailed the tool -- whose symbol is a bright red lobster -- as "the next ChatGPT".
But all the buzz has raised concerns over the cybersecurity risks of allowing AI systems vulnerable to hacks to access personal data such as bank details.

Chinese 'momentum'

Steinberger built OpenClaw in November while playing around with AI coding tools in an attempt to organise his digital life.
He has since been hired by ChatGPT creator OpenAI "to drive the next generation of personal agents", the US startup's boss Sam Altman said in February.
"What you have to know about OpenClaw is, like, it couldn't have come from those big companies," Steinberger told AFP.
"Those companies would have worried too much about what could go wrong instead of just, like -- I wanted to just show people I've been into the future," he said.
While tech giants work out how agent tools could be used by businesses, the next AI innovation could come from "someone who just wants to have fun", Steinberger said.
At Monday's "ClawCon" event in Tokyo, where many of the hundreds of participants were dressed as lobsters, OpenClaw demos were held on stage and experts helped attendees install their agents.
Similar scenes have been seen across China, where users have been particularly quick to embrace OpenClaw's potential to organise emails, help with coding and a plethora of other digital tasks.
"If you see it as a competition, it certainly looks like China is gaining a lot of momentum" in the AI sector, Steinberger said.
"But right now there's still quite a bit of a leap between the best models from China and the best models in the US."

AI 'hammer'

OpenClaw's success in China has led national cybersecurity authorities and Beijing's IT ministry to issue official warnings over potential risks.
Is Steinberger concerned that people could use his tool for illicit purposes?
"Yes, I do worry a bit, especially because there's now a whole cottage industry of companies that try to make a big buck and make it even simpler to install OpenClaw," he said.
"I purposefully didn't make it simpler so people would stop and read and understand: what is AI, that AI can make mistakes, what is prompt injection -- some basics that you really should understand when you use that technology."
But at the end of the day, "if you build a hammer... you can hurt yourself. So should we not build hammers any more"?
A Reddit-like pseudo social network for OpenClaw agents called Moltbook, where chatbots converse, has also grabbed headlines and provoked soul-searching over AI.
"A lot of that was, in my view, very much driven by humans to just create those stories," Steinberger said, adding that joining OpenAI means he now has more resources to use on "cool ideas".
He said 2023-2024 "was the year of ChatGPT, last year was the year of the coding agent, this year's going to be the year of the general agent".
"I love that I helped a lot of people to bring AI from this scary thing into something that is fun and weird and gets them excited, because we need to to make it good for this next century," Steinberger explained.
"We need more people to think more about AI."
kaf/lga

leisure

Japan's cherry blossom season dazzles locals and tourists

  • - 'Good photo opportunity' - "We observed the cherry blossoms in full bloom on March 30," Kyoto Local Meteorological Office said.
  • Japanese locals and tourists packed the country's most stunning cherry blossom spots on Monday to enjoy the dazzling flowers at full bloom.
  • - 'Good photo opportunity' - "We observed the cherry blossoms in full bloom on March 30," Kyoto Local Meteorological Office said.
Japanese locals and tourists packed the country's most stunning cherry blossom spots on Monday to enjoy the dazzling flowers at full bloom.
The tiny white and pink petals of cherry flowers, known as sakura, herald the start of spring in Japan, and full bloom ushers in a brief period of boisterous outdoor parties held by residents.
Across the nation families and friends rolled out blankets and tarpaulins at parks, temples and even cemeteries over the weekend to eat and drink under cherry trees for traditional "hanami" or flower viewing gatherings.
Japanese people hold "very special feelings for sakura", said Tokyo resident Akiko Nyman, 48, as she admired flowers in crowded Ueno park in the centre of the capital.
"We love it, because it is so short... it doesn't last long, it comes every year, something very special," she said.
At this time of the year, weather forecasters are laser focused on when the blossom will peak in each city, and they advise excited residents on the best weather days for picnics and how long the flowers might last.
In the ancient capital of Kyoto, officials on Monday declared full bloom after examining a sample tree within the grounds of Nijo-jo Castle, a world heritage site.

'Good photo opportunity'

"We observed the cherry blossoms in full bloom on March 30," Kyoto Local Meteorological Office said.
Cherry flowers at ancient temples and shrines in Kyoto are particularly popular among visitors and locals.
Australian tourist Olivia Martell-Groves went all in for the seasonal experience, and donned a flower-printed kimono while marvelling at the flowers.
"We wanted to see them because they're really pretty, good photo opportunities and something you can only see in certain times of the year... and also it just feels so peaceful and nice," she said.
In Tokyo, the flowers reached full bloom during the weekend, entering a brief period of stunning beauty, before the petals will fall like flurries of snow.
The flowers symbolise both the youthful energy and the fragility of life in Japanese culture as full blooms only last about a week.
The season marks the start of the new business year when university graduates join the work force.
It is also a time of farewells, when school graduates leave their hometown while many corporate professionals receive assignments in new cities.
hih/aph/ane

US

Israel PM restores access after Latin Patriarch blocked from Holy Sepulchre

BY JAY DESHMUKH

  • After widespread backlash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the Latin Patriarch would get "full and immediate access".
  • Israel said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem would regain access to Christianity's holiest site after the decision to block him from entering the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday triggered international condemnation.
  • After widespread backlash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the Latin Patriarch would get "full and immediate access".
Israel said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem would regain access to Christianity's holiest site after the decision to block him from entering the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday triggered international condemnation.
Police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the church, citing security concerns as Israel enforces a ban on gatherings in synagogues, churches and mosques during the ongoing war with Iran, which has brought missile strikes near holy sites.
After widespread backlash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the Latin Patriarch would get "full and immediate access".
The Latin Patriarchate said in a statement that Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Ielpo, were travelling privately without a ceremonial procession when officers at the church entrance forced them to turn back.
"As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre," it said, calling the incident a "grave precedent" that disregards the sensibilities of Christians worldwide.
Palm Sunday, which opens Holy Week for Christians, marks Jesus Christ's final entry into Jerusalem, days before his crucifixion and resurrection, as described in the Gospels.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains the sites where Christians believe Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Religious freedom concerns

"War will not erase the resurrection. Grief will not extinguish hope," Pizzaballa said at a Palm Sunday mass he held later at the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives.
The Patriarchate had already announced the cancellation of the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, which normally draws thousands.
Israeli police said all holy sites in Jerusalem have been closed since the start of the war.
"The Patriarch's request was reviewed yesterday, and it was clarified that it could not be approved," it said in a statement to AFP.
"The Old City and the holy sites constitute a complex area that does not allow access for large emergency and rescue vehicles, which significantly challenges response capabilities and poses a real risk to human life in the event of a mass casualty incident," the force said.
In the Old City of Jerusalem, shops were shuttered and streets lay largely deserted as Christian worshippers expressed sorrow over the cancellation of the traditional Palm Sunday processions.
"This year because of the war we cannot celebrate in the streets like always," Simon Hosh, 25, a resident of the Old City, said.
"So, this year we just celebrate in the church. It's bad."
Pope Leo XIV, speaking after the Angelus prayer in Rome on Sunday, paid tribute to "the Christians of the Middle East, who suffer the consequences of a terrible conflict and in many cases cannot fully live the rites of these holy days".
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said barring the patriarch was a "violation of religious freedom" and urged Israel to guarantee worship "for all faiths".
World leaders from France, Spain, Italy and Jordan condemned the restriction. 
Netanyahu's office said there had been "no malicious intent" behind denying the cardinal entry.
The premier elaborated on Israel's security concerns in a post.
"Over the past several days, Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles," Netanyahu wrote on X.
On March 16, Israeli police said they found missile and interceptor fragments at holy sites in the Old City, including near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, sharing photos of debris on a roof near the church.
ha-ac-jd/abs/mjw

US

'Long live the shah': Iranian diaspora back war at Washington rally

BY VICTORIA LAVELLE

  • Not all supporters of the Iran war back Pahlavi outright, however.
  • More than 1,000 people of Iranian descent gathered in the US capital on Sunday to voice support for the war, riding on calls to bring back Iran's exiled crown prince who has emerged as a figure of intense interest.
  • Not all supporters of the Iran war back Pahlavi outright, however.
More than 1,000 people of Iranian descent gathered in the US capital on Sunday to voice support for the war, riding on calls to bring back Iran's exiled crown prince who has emerged as a figure of intense interest.
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's last shah who was ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution, has positioned himself as a potential transitional leader following the killing of Tehran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes last month.
The rally on the lawn of the National Mall, not far from the White House, was a sea of Iranian and American flags, with chants of "USA! USA!" and "Javid shah" ("Long live the shah") bolstering the crowd, along with songs in Persian.
The former crown prince entered the global spotlight during anti-government protests in Iran, which peaked in January, where "Pahlavi will return" was among the slogans chanted nationwide.
"I agree with the war, because I think it was the only option," said Sharita Kord, a 25-year-old nurse from New York City who grew up in Iran.
As for whether 65-year-old Pahlavi should return to power, Kord said: "In this situation, you don't have any other choices."
Naz Riz, a 53-year-old attendee wearing a red "Make Iran Great Again" hat, called the conflict in Iran a "rescue operation" coordinated by Israel and the United States.
"They're like cockroaches. They're everywhere," Riz told AFP, referring to those in power in Iran.

'The best option'

Riz said she left Iran almost 30 years ago and thinks Pahlavi returning to power would be "the best option right now" to ensure a democratic transition in the country.
Nissam Crowe, another rally attendee, agreed, saying: "We want democracy. We want freedom."
The 57-year-old from Virginia was critical of the Iranian leadership, calling them "not the government for the people."
While Pahlavi was not at the rally as he was attending the CPAC conservative political conference in Texas, his wife and daughter both addressed the crowd.
Not all supporters of the Iran war back Pahlavi outright, however.
"I'm not a direct supporter of Pahlavi," Ehsan Terani, 45, of Montreal, told AFP.
"At least for the transition period, I don't think there is any other alternative."
She added that after the transition phase, she hopes to see "free elections so people can choose the ruling group."
vla/bdx/jgc/cms/mjw

misinformation

Dubious AI detectors drive 'pay-to-humanize' scam

BY ANUJ CHOPRA, WITH EDE ZABORSZKY IN VIENNA, MAGDALINI GKOGKOU IN ATHENS AND LIESA PAUWELS IN THE HAGUE

  • The tools returned AI flags regardless of input -- even for nonsensical text.
  • Feed an Iranian news dispatch or a literary classic into some text detectors, and they return the same verdict: AI-generated.
  • The tools returned AI flags regardless of input -- even for nonsensical text.
Feed an Iranian news dispatch or a literary classic into some text detectors, and they return the same verdict: AI-generated. Then comes the pitch: pay to "humanize" the writing, a pattern experts say bears the hallmarks of a scam.
As AI falsehoods explode across social media, often outpacing the capacity of professional fact-checkers, bogus detectors risk adding another layer of deception to an already fractured information ecosystem.
While even reliable AI detectors can produce false results, researchers say a crop of fraudulent tools has emerged online, easily weaponized to discredit authentic content and tarnish reputations.
AFP's fact-checkers identified three such text detectors that claim to estimate what percentage is AI-generated. The tools -- prompted in four languages -- not only misidentified authentic text as AI-generated but also attempted to monetize those errors.
One detector, JustDone AI, processed a human-written report about the US-Iran war and wrongly concluded it contained "88% AI content." It then offered to scrub any trace of AI for a fee.
"Your AI text is humanizing," the site claimed, leading to a page where "100% unique text" was locked behind a paywall charging up to $9.99.
Two other tools -- TextGuard and Refinely -- produced similar false positives and sought to monetize them.

'Scams'

AFP presented its findings to all three detectors.
"Our system operates using modern AI models, and the results it provides are considered accurate within our technology," TextGuard's support team told AFP.
"At the same time, we cannot guarantee or compare results with other systems."
JustDone also reiterated that "no AI detector can guarantee 100 percent accuracy."
It acknowledged the free version of its AI detector "may provide less precise results" due to "high demand and the use of a lighter model designed for quick access."
Echoing AFP's findings, one user on a review platform complained that "even with 100% human-written material, JustDone still flags it as AI."
AFP fed the tools multiple human-written samples -- in Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, and English. All were wrongly flagged as having high AI content, including passages from an acclaimed 1916 Hungarian classic.
The tools returned AI flags regardless of input -- even for nonsensical text.
JustDone and Refinely appeared to operate even without an internet connection, suggesting their results may be scripted rather than genuine technical analysis.
"These are not AI detectors but scams to sell a 'humanizing' tool that will often return what we call 'tortured phrases'" -- unrelated jargon or nonsensical alternatives -- Debora Weber-Wulff, a Germany-based academic who has researched detection tools, told AFP.

'Liar's dividend'

Illustrating how such tools can be used to discredit individuals, pro‑government influencers in Hungary claimed earlier this year that a document outlining the opposition's election campaign had been entirely created by AI.
To support the unfounded allegation, they circulated screenshots on social media showing results from JustDone.
The tools tested by AFP sought to lure students and academics as clients, with two of them claiming their users came from top institutions such as Cornell University.
Cornell University told AFP it "does not have any established relations with AI detector companies."
"Generative AI does provide an increased risk that students may use it to submit work that is not their own," the university said.
"Unfortunately, it is unlikely that detection technologies will provide a workable solution to this problem. It can be very difficult to accurately detect AI-generated content."
Fact-checkers, including those from AFP, often rely on AI visual detection tools developed by experts, which typically look for hidden watermarks and other digital clues.
However, they too can sometimes produce errors, making it necessary to supplement their findings with additional evidence such as open-source data.
The stakes are high as false readings from unreliable detectors threaten to erode trust in AI verification broadly -- and feed a disinformation tactic researchers have dubbed the "liar's dividend": dismissing authentic content as AI fabrications.
"We often report on misinformers and other hoaxsters using AI to fabricate false images and videos," said Waqar Rizvi from the misinformation tracker NewsGuard.
"Now, (we are) monitoring the opposite, but no less insidious phenomenon: claims that a visual was created by AI when in fact, it's authentic."
burs-ac/dw 

AI

Life with AI causing human brain 'fry'

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • Consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have dubbed the phenomenon "AI brain fry," a state of mental exhaustion stemming "from the excessive use or supervision of artificial intelligence tools, pushed beyond our cognitive limits."
  • Heavy users of artificial intelligence report being overwhelmed by trying to keep up with and on top of the technology designed to make their lives easier.
  • Consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have dubbed the phenomenon "AI brain fry," a state of mental exhaustion stemming "from the excessive use or supervision of artificial intelligence tools, pushed beyond our cognitive limits."
Heavy users of artificial intelligence report being overwhelmed by trying to keep up with and on top of the technology designed to make their lives easier.
Too many lines of code to analyze, armies of AI assistants to wrangle, and lengthy prompts to draft are among the laments by hard-core AI adopters.
Consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have dubbed the phenomenon "AI brain fry," a state of mental exhaustion stemming "from the excessive use or supervision of artificial intelligence tools, pushed beyond our cognitive limits."
The rise of AI agents that tend to computer tasks on demand has put users in the position of managing smart, fast digital workers rather than having to grind through jobs themselves.
"It's a brand-new kind of cognitive load," said Ben Wigler, co-founder of the start-up LoveMind AI. "You have to really babysit these models."
People experiencing AI burnout are not casually dabbling with the technology -- They are creating legions of agents that need to be constantly managed, according to Tim Norton, founder of the AI integration consultancy nouvreLabs.
"That's what's causing the burnout," Norton wrote in an X post.
However, BCG and others do not see it as a case of AI causing people to get burned out on their jobs.
A BCG study of 1,488 professionals in the United States actually found a decline in burnout rates when AI took over repetitive work tasks.

Coding vigilance

For now, "brain fry" is primarily a bane for software developers given that AI agents have excelled quickly at writing computer code.
"The cruel irony is that AI-generated code requires more careful review than human-written code," software engineer Siddhant Khare wrote in a blog post.
"It is very scary to commit to hundreds of lines of AI-written code because there is a risk of security flaws or simply not understanding the entire codebase," added Adam Mackintosh, a programmer for a Canadian company.
And if AI agents are not kept on course by a human, they could misunderstand an instruction and wander down an errant processing path, resulting in a business paying for wasted computing power.

'Irritable'

Wigler noted that the promise of hitting goals fast with AI tempts tech start-up teams already prone to long workdays to lose track of time and stay on the job even deeper into the night.
"There is a unique kind of reward hacking that can go on when you have productivity at the scale that encourages even later hours," Wigler said.
Mackintosh recalled spending 15 consecutive hours fine-tuning around 25,000 lines of code in an application.
"At the end, I felt like I couldn't code anymore," he recalled.
"I could tell my dopamine was shot because I was irritable and didn't want to answer basic questions about my day."
A musician and teacher who asked to remain anonymous spoke of struggling to put his brain "on pause", instead spending evenings experimenting with AI.
Nonetheless, everyone interviewed for this story expressed overall positive views of AI despite the downsides.
BCG recommends in a recently published study that company leaders establish clear limits regarding employee use and supervision of AI.
However, "That self-care piece is not really an America workplace value," Wigler said.
"So, I am very skeptical as to whether or not its going to be healthy or even high quality in the long term."
tu-gc/js

tourism

High hopes at China's gateway to North Korea as trains resume

BY PETER CATTERALL

  • One Chinese tourist from the northeastern city of Shenyang told AFP that a peek at North Korea from Dandong was close enough for him.
  • Now retired, Wang Meili wants to see the world -- including North Korea, the reclusive nation that lies across the river from her lifelong home in northeastern China.
  • One Chinese tourist from the northeastern city of Shenyang told AFP that a peek at North Korea from Dandong was close enough for him.
Now retired, Wang Meili wants to see the world -- including North Korea, the reclusive nation that lies across the river from her lifelong home in northeastern China.
North Korea has long kept tight control over foreign visitors, and effectively sealed its borders at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic six years ago.
It has since partly reopened and restored daily passenger train services with China this month, but has not yet resumed issuing tourism visas to Chinese citizens, who once made up the bulk of its overseas visitors .
"We'd like to get visas to go. I've already got my passport," said 68-year-old Wang, who grew up in the border city of Dandong.
In another apparent sign of North Korea's reopening, Air China is set to resume flights to Pyongyang on Monday.
But for now, only those with work or study visas can go.
AFP journalists in Dandong, the main gateway for cross-border travel and trade, saw a mostly empty passenger train rattle over a bridge into North Korea this week.
Nearby, tourists on another bridge, partly destroyed by US bombs during the Korean War, posed for photographs and peered through binoculars at the North Korean city of Sinuiju on the opposite shore.
Tour boats took curious sightseers to gaze at North Koreans cycling along the Yalu river separating the two countries or cleaning boats on the bank. Uniformed guards stood at regular points along the boundary.
Li Shuo, the manager of a Dandong-based travel agency, said the resumption of passenger train services had had "no impact" on his business.
Unable to run tours into North Korea, he has been offering trips through border areas so customers can catch glimpses into the secretive state from a distance.
"We can only wait for news" on tourism visas, Li said, adding that they "would be a good thing for domestic tourists".
"Many people want to go," he said.

'The people are brainwashed'

Others were less keen.
One Chinese tourist from the northeastern city of Shenyang told AFP that a peek at North Korea from Dandong was close enough for him.
"It's totalitarian over there, the people are brainwashed," he said, declining to provide his name given the sensitivity of the topic and his public-sector job.
"Actually, there's brainwashing here in China too, but it's not as severe," he said.
AFP also spoke to tourists from outside mainland China -- including Hong Kong, Japan and Australia -- all drawn to Dandong for a rare view of the country it borders.
Louis Lamb, a 22-year-old nurse from Brisbane, told AFP that travelling into North Korea was "a bucket-list item".
"You can see (North Korea) from a certain perspective in what we see from our media," said Lamb, adding that he would like to experience the country for himself.
Although stretches of the opposite riverbank appeared "desolate", he said, "it's a lot more developed than I thought".
China is a major backer for diplomatically isolated North Korea, though Pyongyang has notably drawn closer to Russia since the start of the Ukraine war.
But trade with China, much of it through Dandong, is a key lifeline for North Korea's moribund economy, under UN sanctions because of its nuclear weapons programme. 
Cross-border shipments swelled to $2.7 billion last year and have nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, according to Chinese customs data.
AFP journalists saw a steady stream of trains and freight trucks hauling cargo from Dandong to Sinuiju.

'Going home soon'

For some in Dandong, North Korea's tentative reopening kindled hope of returning home.
Thousands of North Koreans are thought to reside in the city of two million people, despite sanctions banning them from working overseas.
North Korea's abrupt border closure in 2020 stranded many of them abroad for years, and Pyongyang later beefed up defences along the frontier to dissuade illegal crossings.
Staff at a North Korean restaurant in Dandong forbade AFP journalists from filming or taking photos of a large screen showing a patriotic music and dance performance.
One waitress from Pyongyang told AFP she had been in China for over six years without returning home.
Western experts say such workers endure miserable living and working conditions, have their movements restricted and see most of their wages commandeered by the North Korean state.
But after a long wait, travel between the two nations now seemed to be getting easier, the waitress said, declining to give her name.
"I'll be going home soon."
pfc/dhw/mjw

sport

Let's get physical: Singapore's seniors turn to parkour

BY MARTIN ABBUGAO

  • Her classmate Boon said one time she brought her grandchildren to a neighbourhood playground and taught them to jump onto a platform and do forward rolls.
  • In a corner of suburban Singapore, Betty Boon vaults a guardrail, crawls underneath a slide, executes forward shoulder rolls and scales a steep slope, finishing the course to applause.
  • Her classmate Boon said one time she brought her grandchildren to a neighbourhood playground and taught them to jump onto a platform and do forward rolls.
In a corner of suburban Singapore, Betty Boon vaults a guardrail, crawls underneath a slide, executes forward shoulder rolls and scales a steep slope, finishing the course to applause.
"Good job!" the 69-year-old's coach cheers.
This is "geriatric parkour", where around 20 retirees learned to tackle a series of relatively demanding exercises, building their agility and enjoying a sense of camaraderie.
Boon, an upbeat grandmother, said learning parkour has aided her confidence and independence as she ages.
"When you're weak, you will be dependent on someone," she told AFP after sweating it out with her parkour classmates in suburban Toa Payoh, under the shadow of government-built apartment blocks.
"I feel more alive, it's a whole new world."
The discipline has gained a devoted following of senior citizens in the city-state, which is among the world's fastest-ageing countries.
Singapore is projected to become a "super-aged" nation this year, meaning the proportion of residents aged 65 and above exceeds 21 percent.
By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above, according to the health ministry.
As the society greys, various activities and industries have mushroomed up to cater to seniors' needs, including social activities and group exercise classes.
Coach Tan Shie Boon, 33, said he was initially met with scepticism when he started offering parkour classes for older students in 2017, especially due to the risk of injury.
But his idea was to share manoeuvres that could help seniors with their balance, stamina and coordination.
"It's meaningful, I can see the impact of my work," he said.

Not just for youngsters

Parkour, a discipline that originated in France, focuses on overcoming physical obstacles like walls, gaps and platforms without any aid.
Often called the "art of displacement," it involves running, jumping, climbing, rolling and vaulting to quickly dart from one point to another.
The activity has a young, athletic following, but coach Tan and his students insist it can be suitable for every age.
"When people hear the word parkour, they think it's only for youngsters who can jump from rooftops," said retired banker and parkour enthusiast Irene Chuah, 67. "We don't do that. We jump over benches."
Tan, who specialises in coaching senior citizens in his classes across Singapore, tailors all the stunts to match the capabilities of his students, aged between their early 50s to 83.
"The whole point of parkour is to improve your agility ... you'll be faster in your reaction," he said.
"When seniors fall, they get severely injured because they have a lack of coordination, balance and agility. They're not fast enough to react in time," he added.
Chuah experienced firsthand how the moves she learned in parkour class can apply outside of practice.
When a trolley she was pushing at a supermarket hit an obstacle, it overturned and pulled her over.
But thanks to her training, she managed to jump over the mess, remain on her feet and escape unharmed.
"Nobody helped me because the people thought I was young," Chuah told AFP with a laugh.
Retired kindergarten teacher Ling Ying Ying, 66, said doing parkour helped her to be able to mop the floor on her knees "like we used to do when we were young."

'Dare to do'

At the fitness space in Toa Payoh, the parkour students also practised traversing down an incline and scaling a low wall during the 90-minute session.
A couple of students jumped over a gap after some encouragement.
Life after retirement used to be "quite dull", Chuah said.
"After parkour, I can go line dancing, and I can remember the steps. You dare to do a lot of things that you think only young people can do," she added.
Her classmate Boon said one time she brought her grandchildren to a neighbourhood playground and taught them to jump onto a platform and do forward rolls.
When she looked back, she saw a line of other children wanting to try the moves.
"Since then, I became like the favourite grandmother. The children recognise me even when I'm far away," she said.
mba/jhe/lb/ane/ceg

demonstration

Cherry blossoms, kite-flying and 'No Kings' converge on Washington

BY MICHAEL MATHES

  • One woman said she traveled from Boston to Washington to see the cherry blossoms, but wound up also flying a dragon-shaped kite with her friend and learning about the day of protest that includes anti-Trump demonstrations in 3,000 cities and towns across America.
  • A boisterous "No Kings" rally competed for visitors' attention Saturday in Washington, as people also packed the National Mall for a kite-flying festival and the US capital's favorite annual rite of spring: communing with the cherry blossoms.
  • One woman said she traveled from Boston to Washington to see the cherry blossoms, but wound up also flying a dragon-shaped kite with her friend and learning about the day of protest that includes anti-Trump demonstrations in 3,000 cities and towns across America.
A boisterous "No Kings" rally competed for visitors' attention Saturday in Washington, as people also packed the National Mall for a kite-flying festival and the US capital's favorite annual rite of spring: communing with the cherry blossoms.
The trio of colorful and competing events left the city's monument area thronged with tourists, activists and selfie-seekers -- a tapestry of political protest, environmental tourism and family fun. 
"Where we come from there's not a lot of stuff like this, and there were so many people, like thousands, and it was a really cool experience for me" to attend the protest against President Donald Trump, said Casey Chafik, a 15-year-old visiting from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
As she and her parents dodged kites and their strings, Chafik -- still three years away from being able to vote -- told AFP it was important to gather with "people like me who believe in the same thing and who are willing to stand up for what is right."
"History is happening right in front of our eyes right now," the teen added, "and it's important that we're speaking up for what we believe in at such an important time."
For hours on a crisp, blue-sky day, kite flyers mingled with sign-wavers, sharing space on the National Mall as they pursued their dueling missions.

'Messy and chaotic'

"The planning could have been a little better," quipped Greg Erlandson as he walked toward the US Capitol hoping to catch some speakers for the anti-Trump rally.
"But it's kind of nice seeing everybody out here. I'm sure there are people who are Trump supporters or people who don't know what's going on and they're seeing the signs (held by protesters). That's a good thing," the 72-year-old former publisher from Maryland said.
"This is what democracy looks like. It's kind of messy and chaotic."
Erlandson said he showed up as an "act of solidarity" with other people unhappy with how the country is being run.
"I don't know that rallies bring political change, at least not immediately," he said. "But at the same time I think it's a way of realizing that you're not alone."
One woman said she traveled from Boston to Washington to see the cherry blossoms, but wound up also flying a dragon-shaped kite with her friend and learning about the day of protest that includes anti-Trump demonstrations in 3,000 cities and towns across America.
"It's great to see the 'No Kings' rally, and for people to speak up about whatever they want," said the 28-year-old who asked not to be named.
Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters marched past the famed Lincoln Memorial. Some held up oversized papier-mache heads of Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other members of the president's cabinet, along with a banner reading "Arrest them!"
Todd, a 30-year resident of Washington and progressive film director, said he joined the protest "to represent and to be inspired" by other activists critical of Trump's policies and behavior.
"But this ability to integrate with all kinds of other celebrations makes it kind of unique," the 65-year-old, who asked that only his first name be used, told AFP.
The blending of multiple events in a space commonly nicknamed "America's front yard" allows the politically motivated and the less aware to "show up and start a conversation," he said.
mlm/jgc

protest

Protesters rally in London against UK far-right rise

  • Saturday's march also came less than six weeks before voters head to the polls for elections to Scotland's parliament, the devolved assembly in Wales and local councils in London as well as some other parts of England.
  • Tens of thousands of people marched through central London Saturday to protest against the far right, weeks ahead of local elections and six months after Britain saw one of its largest far-right demonstrations.
  • Saturday's march also came less than six weeks before voters head to the polls for elections to Scotland's parliament, the devolved assembly in Wales and local councils in London as well as some other parts of England.
Tens of thousands of people marched through central London Saturday to protest against the far right, weeks ahead of local elections and six months after Britain saw one of its largest far-right demonstrations.
Organised by hundreds of civic groups, including trade unions, anti-racism campaigners and Muslim representative bodies, Saturday's Together Alliance event was billed as the biggest in UK history to counter right-wing extremism. 
A separate pro-Palestinian march had also converged with the main rally.
While organisers claimed half a million had turned out in total, the police gave a figure of around 50,000.
Protesters carrying placards with slogans like "no to racism" and "you cannot divide us" marched from near Marble Arch to Whitehall near the UK parliament for a planned rally featuring various speakers.
They included left-wing politicians like Zack Polanski, leader of the increasingly popular Green Party, singer Billy Bragg and members of English reggae band UB40. 
"Days like this are here to send a message... we are unstoppable," Polanski told the event, which appeared to have attracted people of all ages from across Britain. 
Student Emily Roth told AFP there was "a global toxic climate and the UK is not fighting it".   
"The government is obsessed with immigration but that's not our biggest problem," the 23-year-old said as she walked the route.
The London police, which had promised a "significant policing presence" to ensure various protests passed off safely and lawfully, later said officers had made 25 arrests.
It noted 18 of those followed an alleged protest near the Together Alliance rally in support of Palestine Action, an activist group banned under anti-terror law.
The London force announced earlier this week it would resume such arrests after pausing them in the wake of the High Court last month upholding a challenge against the government ban.

'Worried'

The Together Alliance march followed a rally organised last September by far-right activist Tommy Robinson that drew up to 150,000 people, many of whom draped themselves in English and British flags. 
That event was marred on its fringes by what police called "unacceptable violence" which saw clashes with officers that left several of them seriously injured.
Robinson is planning a follow-up rally in mid-May.
Saturday's march also came less than six weeks before voters head to the polls for elections to Scotland's parliament, the devolved assembly in Wales and local councils in London as well as some other parts of England.
Anti-immigration figurehead Nigel Farage's hard-right Reform UK party, which has been leading in national polls for over a year, is predicted to perform well across the contests.
Robert Gadwick, 48, who had travelled from Bath in western England for Saturday's march, said he was "worried" about Reform's rise. 
"We've been there with Brexit -- it's all the same lies and yet some people decide to believe it," he told AFP. 
"We need to speak the truth... voting for Reform is a vote for more chaos and more uncertainty and we certainly don't need more chaos."
Retiree Rose Batterfield, of central England, echoed the sentiment, saying the "current political climate" concerned her.
"I don't really recognise Labour anymore," she said of the country's centre-left ruling party which has been criticised for shifting to the right.
"The idea that you can implement far-right ideas in order to stop the far right is nonsense."
jj/jxb

Internet

Indonesian kids brace themselves for social media ban

BY MARCHIO GORBIANO

  • Several countries have proposed teen social media bans since Australia's landmark move in December to stop users under 16 from holding accounts on many popular platforms.
  • Bradley Rowen Liu, 11, wonders what he will do with himself once Indonesia's social media ban for under-16s enters into force on Saturday.
  • Several countries have proposed teen social media bans since Australia's landmark move in December to stop users under 16 from holding accounts on many popular platforms.
Bradley Rowen Liu, 11, wonders what he will do with himself once Indonesia's social media ban for under-16s enters into force on Saturday. As things stand, he spends most of his free time on TikTok.
The primary schooler is one of about 70 million children the government is hoping to shield from the threats of cyberbullying, pornography and internet addiction.
Several countries have proposed teen social media bans since Australia's landmark move in December to stop users under 16 from holding accounts on many popular platforms.
But Indonesia is among the first to act as concerns grow over the impact of such apps on kids' mental and physical wellbeing.
YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox -- deemed "high-risk" platforms by authorities in the Southeast Asian nation -- will from Saturday start deactivating underage accounts.
Liu, who says he can easily spend five hours a day on TikTok at weekends, told AFP he worries the ban will leave him driftless.
"Maybe I'll do some other activities," he shrugged, without much conviction.
"But I think I'm going to ask my dad or my mom to help me access" the video-sharing app, the boy said after class at a private academy in Jakarta where he learns computer coding.

Onus on platforms

"Parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm," communications minister Meutya Hafid said when she announced the ban three weeks ago.
Like in Australia, the Indonesian rules place the onus on platforms to regulate teen access.
Non-compliance of the ban, which will be phased in over time, will put defaulters at risk of a fine or even a suspension.
Indonesia has not said how it plans to monitor implementation, and the communications ministry did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.
It is part of a global reckoning over the potential harms of social media for minors.
A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman through the "addictive design" of their platforms, ordering the companies to pay $6 million in damages.
Britain's upper house of parliament voted this week in favour of banning children from social media, piling pressure on the government to follow suit.

'Brain rot'

Though annoyed about the looming interdiction, Liu concedes even he is worried about screen addiction.
"Sometimes I have to remember to keep track of time... Like when it's a holiday, I kind of get really attached to my phone."
A fellow pupil, 15-year-old Maximillian, said he spends too much time on social media, leaving him feeling "unproductive". He supports the ban.
Some want the government to go even further.
Randi Putra Chaniago, who teaches at the academy, said social media -- including the surreal AI-generated clips known as brain rot -- was a distraction in class.
"It's concerning, really, because some of this 'brain rot' content is weird and can disturb children's way of thinking," he said.
The 23-year-old, who uses YouTube to teach some classes, said the ban would challenge teachers to find better educational tools.
The P2G Indonesian Teachers' Association, for its part, wants the government to ban cellphones in classrooms altogether.

'Unhealthy use'

YouTube parent company Google said the two platforms have already introduced features allowing parents to limit scrolling time.
It said AI tech will be launched in Indonesia by next year to determine a user's age.
But "blanket account restrictions... will deprive young people accessing YouTube of the protections, parental controls, and security features we've integrated into supervised accounts", it argued in a statement.
TikTok said it would work with the government to ensure "teens can continue to access safe online spaces".
And gaming platform Roblox pledged to introduce "additional controls" for minors.
Karina Adistiana, an Indonesian educational psychologist, told AFP several studies have shown that intensive social media use is harmful for young people.
"Intensive in the sense that social media becomes the child's main world. That's where the danger lies," she said.
"Depression, difficulty concentrating, trouble sleeping, anxiety, constantly wanting to check notifications -- those are clearly signs of unhealthy use in children."
mrc/mlr/kaf/lga

energy

Myanmar travellers ride the rails as fuel prices rise

BY HLA-HLA HTAY

  • At Naypyidaw station, 26-year-old monk Zanaka said he was taking a train for the first time in his life.
  • Myanmar's ageing railway stations are bustling with life, crowded with passengers as surging fuel prices due to the Mideast war drive commuters to choose trains over costly planes and cars.
  • At Naypyidaw station, 26-year-old monk Zanaka said he was taking a train for the first time in his life.
Myanmar's ageing railway stations are bustling with life, crowded with passengers as surging fuel prices due to the Mideast war drive commuters to choose trains over costly planes and cars.
On a journey from the country's largest city Yangon to the capital Naypyidaw AFP journalists sat in air-conditioned carriages full of travellers napping and sharing tea, fried rice and instant noodles.
First class adult train tickets cost 19,000 kyats ($4.50), while the cheapest bus fares for the route now start at 35,000 kyats.
At one point on Thursday the train chugged past a queue of trucks waiting for fuel -- the trains themselves run on diesel, with the state railway company maintaining its own stocks.
People dozed on station benches or sat on luggage on  platforms as they waited for their trains.
Myanmar has been consumed by a civil war since 2021, when a military coup swept aside Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government, sparking armed resistance to junta rule.
Rail travel is not traditionally the most popular mode of transport in the country, and many trains are older and less comfortable, while much of the network was built under British colonial rule. 
But people from rural areas have long relied on affordable railways to journey between cities -- despite occasional attacks by rebel forces targeting trains since 2021.
"The costs are high if we use a car. Also there are not many security checkpoints on the train," said Zeya Ko Ko, 28, a passenger on the Naypyidaw train.
"Buses are also challenging as fuel can run out in some areas due to the fuel crisis."

First time

Since the US-Israel war against Iran began nearly a month ago, global fuel prices have soared with international shipping disrupted and fears of shortages, especially in import-reliant Asia.
In Myanmar, prices at the petrol pump have jumped and the junta has instituted fuel-saving measures, including alternate day bans on private vehicles, based on odd- or even-numbered licence plates.
Long queues of cars and motorbikes have formed at petrol stations around the country in the last three weeks.
"We have difficulty travelling for urgent health problems. As private vehicles are being restricted with even-odd numbers, we cannot leave right away when we are sick," said Pearl Hmway, a 53-year-old restaurant owner from Mandalay region, as she waited for for a train home.
A Naypyidaw station official told AFP more people were using trains because of fuel shortages, and extra services had been laid on.
"The government increased the number of scheduled trains because of higher demand," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Passengers said train tickets were selling out quickly, making booking them online harder.
At Naypyidaw station, 26-year-old monk Zanaka said he was taking a train for the first time in his life.
Bus fares had risen alongside fuel prices, making his journey twice as expensive by road as by rail, he explained.
"That's why we are taking the train on the way back," he said. 
"The train is faster and there's no need to wait in a queue."
bur-sco/slb/ane

climate

Tech-equipped Indigenous firefighters protect Thai forests

BY SALLY JENSEN

  • "Both local communities and state agencies are taking the issue more seriously, leading to tighter controls over burning and fire outbreaks," Mathaphan told AFP. The Hmong, an Indigenous ethnic group originally from the mountains of southern China, have lived on these slopes in northern Thailand since migrating in the mid-20th century.
  • In the dry-season heat of northern Thailand, Hmong villagers zip through forested slopes, blasting tinder with leaf blowers and cutting through brush with machetes, while others scan for smoke on live feeds from their phones.
  • "Both local communities and state agencies are taking the issue more seriously, leading to tighter controls over burning and fire outbreaks," Mathaphan told AFP. The Hmong, an Indigenous ethnic group originally from the mountains of southern China, have lived on these slopes in northern Thailand since migrating in the mid-20th century.
In the dry-season heat of northern Thailand, Hmong villagers zip through forested slopes, blasting tinder with leaf blowers and cutting through brush with machetes, while others scan for smoke on live feeds from their phones.
Across about a dozen villages in the hills of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, just above the city of Chiang Mai, Indigenous volunteers patrol on foot and clear firebreaks while also deploying drones and treetop cameras -- all to detect blazes early and defend Thailand's second-largest city from wildfire smoke.
"The forest we protect is part of the national park -- the lungs of Chiang Mai," said Mathaphan Phuchakritdapa, who started the firefighting volunteer force a decade ago and is chief of Suthep subdistrict.
"If it burns, the city's lungs are destroyed. That's why we have to take care of it as best we can."
He and his team shifted to tech-driven firefighting after devastating wildfires in 2020 tore through the mountains above the tourism-dependent city.
The blazes lasted weeks in March and April that year, killing at least five people and injuring and displacing residents and wildlife.
The thick smoke from fires then and since has regularly pushed Chiang Mai to the top of global air pollution rankings.

'Worst in my life'

Satellite imagery from the peak of the 2020 crisis showed northern Thailand blanketed by dense clusters of fire hotspots, with nearly 400 recorded in Chiang Mai province in a single day.
"It was the worst fire I've seen in my life," said Mathaphan, adding it took more than 40 days to bring it under control.
The hotter, drier weather caused by climate change creates the conditions for more frequent and destructive fires, and accumulated dry leaves can intensify them and accelerate their spread.
Outbreaks are often linked to human activities such as clearing forest and brush for foraging, hunting and agriculture.
To control air pollution, Chiang Mai authorities announced a strict five-month ban on open burning from the beginning of this year.
Authorities often blame local "hill tribes", while those communities say fires are set by outsiders for commercial purposes.
Data from NASA's fire monitoring service shows far fewer fires in the region in mid-March this year compared to the same period in 2020.
"Both local communities and state agencies are taking the issue more seriously, leading to tighter controls over burning and fire outbreaks," Mathaphan told AFP.
The Hmong, an Indigenous ethnic group originally from the mountains of southern China, have lived on these slopes in northern Thailand since migrating in the mid-20th century.
Volunteer teams roar through the hills on motorbikes, blasting away leaves with blowers and drowning out the buzz of a drone capturing footage of the blaze-prone landscape.

'Giving back'

Mongkol Yingyotmongkolsaen, a 47-year-old Hmong volunteer, returned from the city three years ago and began applying his skills as a photographer to firefighting.
He installed low-cost, internet-connected video cameras high among treetops that share live feeds with villagers who can remotely monitor conditions in real time.
Mongkol also flies standard and infrared drones to monitor for fires from above, track any flames that are spreading and detect heat at night.
This allows teams to identify hotspots earlier, plan safer routes and contain fires more quickly, he said, making their work much easier.
"This is my way of giving back to my community," he added.
Across the subdistrict, each household contributes a volunteer, forming a network of about 270 people managing nearly 1,600 hectares of forest.
Monitoring this vast area requires about 1.5 million baht ($45,000) a year to cover the cost of food, fuel and equipment maintenance.
But the community receives only around 50,000 baht annually in government funding -- an amount the local chief, Mathaphan, said is insufficient.
Still, their volunteer-based approach to fire prevention has become a model for other communities, he said -- helping shift perceptions of Hmong villagers who are often blamed for deforestation and "destructive" farming practices.
"We are not destroying the forest," Mathaphan said. "We are protecting it."
ci-sjc/sco/fox

conservation

Sacred leaf offers hope for Vanuatu's threatened forests

BY CHRIS MCCALL

  • But they acknowledge that the leaf and even growing national and international attention to Vatthe's importance are far from enough.
  • The feather-shaped namele leaf is so central to Vanuatu it features on the national flag, and now it is being enlisted to protect some of the country's most important forests. 
  • But they acknowledge that the leaf and even growing national and international attention to Vatthe's importance are far from enough.
The feather-shaped namele leaf is so central to Vanuatu it features on the national flag, and now it is being enlisted to protect some of the country's most important forests. 
By invoking a traditional taboo against touching the sacred leaf, conservationists and locals hope to keep loggers away from places like Vatthe Conservation Area -- a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status.
Located on Vanuatu's largest island Espiritu Santo, Vatthe is home to astonishing biodiversity, hosting over two-thirds of the South Pacific archipelago's land and freshwater birds and many of its endemic species.
But just a single ranger, traditional chief Bill Tavue, patrols the 2,720-hectare site, whose name means "estuary" in the local Na language.
Lack of funding for conservation projects, disregard for government regulations and the need to clear land for farming means that logging is common, making Tavue's battle to protect the forest all the harder.
So he hopes that the glossy green leaf of the namele, which resembles a small palm, can help him protect what remains.
The plant, known to science by the botanical name Cycas seemannii, grows across the western Pacific region, but holds particular significance in Vanuatu.
"In our culture, no one is allowed to touch the namele, only the moli," Tavue said, using a local word for chieftain.
When a namele leaf is placed somewhere, people know not to touch anything nearby, he explained.

Leaf of peace

Tavue comes from Matantas, a small village on the north coast of Espiritu Santo, one of the more than 80 islands that make up the Vanuatu archipelago.
When Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandez de Quiros landed there in 1606, he believed he had discovered the fabled "Great Southern Land".
In those days, Vanuatu's tribes used the namele leaf to mark boundaries that could not be crossed on pain of death -- a technique applied after wars to protect peace agreements.
More recently, locals in Matantas realised the leaf could help protect the forest, and began publicising its presence in Vatthe as a way to keep outsiders away.
The idea has caught on, and the government in Vanuatu's capital Port Vila now officially advocates that chiefs elsewhere use similar taboos to protect nature.
Traditional law still holds real sway in Vanuatu -- the country's Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs is made of up custom chiefs from across the nation and holds real political power.
Proponents of invoking the namele leaf taboo for conservation say it has helped keep Vatthe Conservation Area largely intact, despite few other protections.
But they acknowledge that the leaf and even growing national and international attention to Vatthe's importance are far from enough.
After one recent cyclone, Chinese loggers working in Vanuatu were given permission to pick up dead wood in the reserve.
But locals allege that was used as cover to log inside the area.
Officials at Vanuatu's Department of Forests and Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation did not respond to AFP's requests for comment about those claims.
While Vanuatu has tough forestry laws, it is unclear how effective those measures have been in practice.

'We don't destroy'

The leaf taboo holds weight in Espiritu Santo's mountainous west as well, where grassroots environmentalists created the Santo Sunset Environment Network to protect their forests.
They make educational visits to schools in villages often only accessible by hours-long boat rides and have persuaded chiefs there to ban logging and invoke the namele leaf and other taboos to enforce it.
Those caught breaking the taboo risk being fined a chicken or a pig -- a traditional form of currency in Vanuatu once used to pay 'bride prices'. 
Project manager Joses Togase said that logging is driven by poverty and a lack of understanding about the impact.
"They need money, but they were not realising the negative impact on the resources," he said.
In some areas, trees are cleared to grow subsistence crops like yams, cassava, taro and sweet potato, with growing communities seeing little option but to expand into forests.
Richard Rojo, the network's vice-chairman, is himself a subsistence farmer turned environmentalist, motivated by the need to protect his country's forests for his children and descendants.
"I just hope they will enjoy their resources, in their place, just as I am enjoying it now," he said.
In Matantas, ranger Tavue's parents, retired chief Solomon and his wife Purity say they are saddened by the state of the forest. 
"We have taboos. We don't destroy our rivers. We don't destroy our resources," Purity said. 
"Now we find out that the forest is starting to be damaged. The people started to slowly walk into the forest."
Her son trained four others to help him patrol, but they all gave up the unpaid work.
Tavue wants to see payment for forest protection, like carbon credit programmes, that can help fund work like his.
"We really want this conservation area to continue.
"If you don't have money you cannot continue."
str/oho/djw/sah/cms