AI

'We're all too rich,' says photo legend Martin Parr

BY ALICE HACKMAN

  • It's unsustainable.
  • British documentary photographer Martin Parr says the world has never been more in need of satire like that in his images because many people are too wealthy and their lifestyle is unsustainable.
  • It's unsustainable.
British documentary photographer Martin Parr says the world has never been more in need of satire like that in his images because many people are too wealthy and their lifestyle is unsustainable.
"The state we're all in is appalling," said the 73-year-old, known for his humorous snapshots of bronzed beachgoers and selfie-snapping holidaymakers.
"We're all too rich. We're consuming all these things in the world," he said, referring to tourists increasingly jumping on planes and mobbing European cities like Venice or Rome.
"And we can't. It's unsustainable. This joke about going to net zero (carbon emissions), it's never going to happen," he told AFP in Paris on a visit to promote his autobiography.
Parr's latest book, a collection of photographs together with his wry commentary, is called "Utterly Lazy and Inattentive", after a French teacher's damning school report when he was 14.
It charts his journey from son of a birdwatching father to professional photographer with a sharp eye for mundane oddities.
Among the photos selected for the work, there is the first McDonald's drive-through in Ireland in 1986, the toilets of a Masonic Lodge in London in 2001 and an adult clutching a Donald Trump doll in 2016, before his first election.
Parr has travelled the globe, snapping images in North Korea, Albania, Japan and Russia among other places. 
He would have liked to visit Iran, he said, but the authorities never granted him a visa.
But Parr's frontline, he says, will always be the likes of the supermarket.
Everyday places of consumption are still relevant in 2025, adds the member of the prestigious Magnum agency, "because they change all the time".
"Now you don't actually have to go to the till. You just walk out," he said, alluding to shops where a tracking system charges consumers directly.

AI-generated biography?

Parr's autobiography spans from a time spotting steam trains to Tesla electric cars. But he said the single biggest societal change in his lifetime has been the advent of smartphones.
"I think smartphones made a huge difference to things like tourism, what people do" and how they respond to reality, he said.
He said the purpose of visiting any tourist landmark these days seemed to be almost solely about taking a photo, not seeing the site itself.
"You collect points, like you would collect points towards a toy or a game," added the photographer, whose more than 100 publications include a book called "Death by Selfie".
Parr said he found artificial intelligence less troublesome.
"I've seen AI interpretations of my work. They're horrible," he said. "Gaudy colours, just a mess."
"It will get better but it doesn't worry me at all," he added.
He is not impressed either with computer-generated text.
While promoting his autobiography, he has seen books about him pop up online that he says he has nothing to do with.
"They're all AI-generated, printed digitally -- horrible, generally speaking," he said.
AFP spotted one biography written by an unknown author, with a title 17 words long and a poorly written description on a US website, and Parr confirmed he had bought it.
"I'm collecting them just for the hell of it," he said.
ah/ekf/gil

unrest

Tanzania president inaugurated as opposition says hundreds dead

  • A total internet blackout has been in place since protests broke out on election day, so only a trickle of verifiable information has been getting out of the east African country. 
  • Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan was inaugurated as president on Monday, with an internet blackout still in place after election protests in which the opposition says hundreds were killed by security forces.
  • A total internet blackout has been in place since protests broke out on election day, so only a trickle of verifiable information has been getting out of the east African country. 
Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan was inaugurated as president on Monday, with an internet blackout still in place after election protests in which the opposition says hundreds were killed by security forces.
The electoral commission said Hassan won 98 percent of the vote.
She was sworn into office despite the main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from running, rejecting the results. It has called for fresh elections, saying last Wednesday's vote was a "sham".
Ahead of her arrival, state television showed officials and foreign dignitaries in stands overlooking parade grounds in State House in the capital Dodoma, rather than at a stadium as usual. Earlier, the broadcaster said the public would not attend.
A total internet blackout has been in place since protests broke out on election day, so only a trickle of verifiable information has been getting out of the east African country. 
A diplomatic source said there were credible reports of hundreds -- perhaps even thousands -- of deaths registered at hospitals and health clinics around Tanzania. 
Chadema told AFP it had recorded "no less than 800" deaths by Saturday, but none of the figures could be independently verified.
The government has not commented on any deaths, except to reject accusations that "excessive force" was used.
Schools and colleges remained closed on Monday, with public transport halted and reports of some church services not taking place on Sunday.
The diplomatic source said there were "concerning reports" that police were using the internet blackout to buy time as they "hunt down opposition members and protesters who might have videos" of atrocities committed last week.
Dar es Salaam and other cities were much calmer over the weekend as a near-total lockdown was in place. 
An AFP reporter said police were stopping almost everyone that moved around the city, checking IDs and bags, and allowing shops to open only in the afternoon.
AFP journalists on the island of Zanzibar, which has greater political freedom and had few protests, saw masked armed men patrolling without visible insignia or identification in the days after the election.
A rights group in neighbouring Kenya presented footage on Sunday that it said was gathered from inside Tanzania, including images of dead bodies piled up in the street. 
The images could not be independently verified.
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for prayers for Tanzania where he said post-election violence had erupted "with numerous victims".
"I urge everyone to avoid all forms of violence and to pursue the path of dialogue," the pope said.

'Wave of terror'

Hassan was elevated from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021.
She wanted an emphatic election victory to cement her place and silence critics within the ruling party, analysts say.
Rights groups say she oversaw a "wave of terror" ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.
Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets across the country, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.
Polling stations had been largely empty before the violence broke out, AFP journalists and observers saw, though the electoral commission later said turnout was 87 percent.
UN chief Antonio Guterres was "deeply concerned" about the situation in Tanzania, "including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations", his spokesman said last week.
The international reaction has been muted. However, Kenyan President William Ruto congratulated her and called for people to "uphold peace and the rule of law". The Democratic Republic of Congo leader, Felix Tshisekedi, also congratuled Hassan on her "brilliant re-election". 
er-rbu/kjm

politics

Andrew to lose his last military rank: defence minister

  • Guided again by the king, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has," Defence minister John Healey told the BBC. He told the Laura Kuenssberg programme that the government would also be guided by the king on whether Andrew should lose his military medals.
  • The UK government said Sunday it would move to strip the former prince Andrew of his honorary title of vice-admiral, his last remaining military rank.
  • Guided again by the king, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has," Defence minister John Healey told the BBC. He told the Laura Kuenssberg programme that the government would also be guided by the king on whether Andrew should lose his military medals.
The UK government said Sunday it would move to strip the former prince Andrew of his honorary title of vice-admiral, his last remaining military rank.
Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022 after he was sued by Virginia Giuffre, US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's main accuser.
The latest move comes after King Charles III on Thursday removed all his younger brother's remaining royal titles and honours amid growing UK anger over Andrew's ties to Epstein.
"We've seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he's had throughout the military... Guided again by the king, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has," Defence minister John Healey told the BBC.
He told the Laura Kuenssberg programme that the government would also be guided by the king on whether Andrew should lose his military medals.
The king's younger brother was once feted for his role as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot in the 1982 Falklands War. He retired in 2001 after 22 years of service.
Andrew has always denied that he sexually abused Giuffre, who said in her posthumous memoir published in October that she was trafficked to have sex with him on three occasions, twice when she was just 17.
But on Thursday Buckingham Palace said in a fiercely-worded statement that "Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor" adding "these censures are deemed necessary" despite his denial.
The king and queen also said their "utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse," it added.
A friend of the king and Queen Camilla told the Sunday Times: "That was extraordinary. That's the closest you'll get to the king and his court passing judgment on his brother."
US President Donald Trump, when asked by an AFP reporter about the saga Sunday aboard Air Force One, said he felt "badly for the family."
"It's a terrible thing that's happened to the family. That's been a tragic situation," added Trump, who has faced political woes in recent months over his own alleged relationship with Epstein.
UK media reported Andrew had refused to sign off on any statements which referenced the victims since his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 in which he defended his ties to Epstein and showed no empathy for women involved.
"There has long been a sense from the family that the voices of the victims needed to be heard," another friend told the Sunday Times. 
Camilla has long campaigned for the victims of abuse, and there were growing fears among the royal family of the reputational damage of the scandal.
In an email released among court documents on Thursday in the United States, Andrew wrote to Epstein in 2010 after his release from jail for prostituting minors that he was planning a trip to New York as it would be "good to catch up in person".
jkb/aks/gv/des/jgc

museum

Tehran toy museum brings old childhood memories to life

BY AHMAD PARHIZI

  • In the museum, a clay animal figurine from ancient Persia stood alone in a glass case.
  • Inside a restored house in central Tehran, toys from every era, from ancient Persia to Soviet Russia and the United States, share the same space, stirring childhood memories from long ago.
  • In the museum, a clay animal figurine from ancient Persia stood alone in a glass case.
Inside a restored house in central Tehran, toys from every era, from ancient Persia to Soviet Russia and the United States, share the same space, stirring childhood memories from long ago.
"I always thought that the target audience would be children and teenagers," said 46-year-old Azadeh Bayat, founder of the museum, which opened last year after six years of renovations.
"But now even adults visit the museum frequently," she told AFP.
Bayat, a researcher in children's education, has gathered more than 2,000 toys from around the world.
"By discovering the toys of their parents and grandparents, children learn to better understand and connect their own world with that of older generations," she said. 
In the museum, a clay animal figurine from ancient Persia stood alone in a glass case.
Nearby, a group of wooden "matryoshka" dolls, in traditional Russian dress with rosy cheeks, stood on one shelf, gleaming across from brightly painted Soviet tin cars.
An Atari console, one of the early versions of video games from the 1980s, sits among the displays.
American Barbie dolls, which were once heavily restricted in Iran as a symbol of Western influence, were also on display. 
Their popularity pushed Iranian authorities to create the modestly dressed "Sara and Dara" dolls as local equivalent in the early 2000s.
For Maedeh Mirzaei, a 27-year-old employee in the gold sector, the experience at the museum was nostalgic. 
"There was so much publicity around the two Iranian dolls, their faces appeared on books and notebooks everywhere," she said.
Across the room, a museum worker demonstrated to a group of visiting schoolchildren the mechanics of a wooden acrobat puppet, known as "Ali Varjeh", or "Ali the Jumper", whose movements come to life with the pull of a string.
The museum recently held an event themed around the Belgian character Tintin, as well as other shadow puppetry shows. 
"I remember playing with friends in the street or at home with these toys," said 31-year-old Mehdi Fathi, a fitness instructor who was visiting the museum.
"Some children nowadays may think that our dolls were silly and primitive," he said.
"But those toys helped us grow."
ap-sbr/rkh/mz/csp/mjw

religion

Daughter of 'underground' pastor urges China for his release

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • Growing up Christian in China, Jin Drexel has wondered how she would act if she is detained one day.
  • When Grace Jin Drexel lost contact with her father in China weeks ago, her worries swiftly turned into fear -- he, alongside more than 20 others, had been detained in a national crackdown on his underground church.
  • Growing up Christian in China, Jin Drexel has wondered how she would act if she is detained one day.
When Grace Jin Drexel lost contact with her father in China weeks ago, her worries swiftly turned into fear -- he, alongside more than 20 others, had been detained in a national crackdown on his underground church.
She recalls being consumed by franticness: "I was texting literally everyone in my contacts, like, 'what do I do?'"
Her father is Jin Mingri, who founded the unregistered Zion Church in 2007 in Beijing. It grew to 1,500 members before shuttering in 2018 under pressure from Chinese authorities.
But the church maintained an online presence that flourished during the Covid-19 pandemic, amassing a following across 40 Chinese cities.
On October 10, Jin -- who also goes by Ezra -- was detained on "suspicion of the illegal use of information networks." Around this time, authorities also rounded up several pastors and church members in cities like Beijing.
"None of the family members have been able to meet those detained," Jin Drexel told AFP in Washington, where she works.
She and her brothers are American citizens, and she now devotes much of her time advocating for the detainees' release.
But the 37-day window in which authorities may detain someone before making formal arrests is narrowing.
"We call on the Chinese government to also look into this case and realize that potentially, this was a mistake," she said.
Most of the pastors have secured legal representation, and her father has met his lawyers at least twice.
Still, Jin Drexel frets: "We want to see him. We're really concerned about his medication and his health."
"He has pretty severe Type 2 diabetes, and the detention center initially didn't even give him any medication," she added.
She teared up recounting her father's condition, describing how he remained "an optimist" in a recent letter.
"He was just telling his family members to not worry about him and that he is feeling comforted to be able to suffer with Christ."

Basic dignity

"My father started Zion Church to be an independent church away from being controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)," Jin Drexel said.
"It's not that we were against the government. We just wanted to have our own decision-making power for simple things like, how many people can attend?"
She moved to the United States for studies shortly after, and regularly visited her family in China.
But things changed in 2018, a few years after President Xi Jinping assumed top office.
Officials tightened oversight on religious and other groupings, calling for the "Sinicization" of religious practice.
China's officially atheist government has been wary of organized movements outside its control, and the country's Christians had been split among those attending unofficial "house" or "underground" churches and those visiting government-sanctioned places of worship.
Around September 2018, authorities shuttered Zion Church and froze its assets, Jin Drexel said, months after its leadership resisted installing facial recognition cameras.
Her family relocated abroad but her father returned to China to be with the church -- and has since faced a travel ban.
He has not seen most of his family, including two young sons, for seven years, she said.
She last saw Jin in 2020, after a visit that extended to 11 months as authorities, too, restricted her movements.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized the crackdown, and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced a resolution condemning the CCP for the detentions.
Growing up Christian in China, Jin Drexel has wondered how she would act if she is detained one day.
But when it happened to her father, the weight of facing the power of China's government hit her: "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."
"This is a religious freedom issue," she said. "It is about basic human dignity, and that the Chinese government wants to control everything about everyone, including what is so intimate -- like your own beliefs."
bys/jgc

television

US Navy veterans battle PTSD with psychedelics

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • For their part, the veterans hope their stories can convince US politicians to change regulations that currently impede the study of these drugs.
  • Suicide is a tragic epidemic among US military veterans, but a new documentary charts how psychedelic drugs offer a glimmer of hope to elite soldiers battling post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
  • For their part, the veterans hope their stories can convince US politicians to change regulations that currently impede the study of these drugs.
Suicide is a tragic epidemic among US military veterans, but a new documentary charts how psychedelic drugs offer a glimmer of hope to elite soldiers battling post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
"We're not scientists, we don't know exactly what's happening," said Jon Shenk, who co-directed "In Waves and War" with his wife Bonni Cohen.
"But it does seem like there's something to it," he told AFP.
Streaming on Netflix from Monday, the documentary follows three retired US Navy SEALs coping with the invisible scars of their many tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.
After years spent under enemy fire, the veterans have become trapped on an altogether different battlefield, contending with PTSD, brain injuries, depression and alcoholism.
They have been prescribed cocktails of antidepressants, which not only fail to help, but leave them unrecognizable to their loved ones, and bring their families to "a breaking point in their treatment of their own trauma," says Cohen.
The trio head to Mexico for an experimental treatment, which offers an unexpected lifeline via two psychedelic drugs: ibogaine, extracted from an African shrub, and 5-MeO-DMT, derived from the secretions of the Colorado River toad.

'Reboot'

"It's like a complete reboot," Marcus Capone, a former soldier and subject of the film, told AFP.
"It kind of brings you back to your truer self, before you had any real struggles or real issues in your life."
According to his wife Amber, the treatment "is bringing hope to the hopeless."
With their organization Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, the couple have taken some 1,200 US veterans to Mexico for treatment since 2019.
Once there, they can receive substances that are illegal in the United States and most other countries.
By gaining the Capones' trust, the documentary makers were able to infiltrate and spotlight a community where secrecy and moral rectitude are musts.
At first, many patients are skeptical about substances historically associated with the excesses of the American sub-culture.
Among them is veteran Matty Roberts, another of the film's subjects.
"If this crazy hippie-ass shit helps, if it helped my friends, then maybe I should do it," he says with a sigh in one scene from the film.
His transformation is all the more dramatic. The documentary shows Roberts groaning with nausea and breaking down in tears from the drugs, before emerging with a new perspective on life.
These intimate moments are accompanied with animated sequences, illustrating the veterans' inner journeys through the dark corners of their unconscious and their deepest wounds.

'Expand'

In recent years, the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances like psilocybin -- the active ingredient of magic mushrooms -- as well as LSD and MDMA has sparked renewed interest among scientists for treating depression and addiction.
The documentary shows Stanford University researchers intrigued by the veterans' sudden mental improvement after treatment. But it does not delve into how exactly these drugs rewire the brain, or their potential dangers -- ibogaine, for example, can damage the heart.
"We wanted to make an emotional film that drew you in," said Cohen.
"Also the studies are really exciting, but they're just at the beginnings."
For their part, the veterans hope their stories can convince US politicians to change regulations that currently impede the study of these drugs.
"We need all these medicines to be researched more," said Marcus Capone.
His wife Amber said they are not calling for these drugs to be legalized.
"What we're saying is, let's expand the data. Let's reduce the barriers to research so that we can grow the data set and better understand if these therapies are viable," she said.
It is a plea that resonates across party lines in the United States.
Democratic-led Oregon and Colorado have recently allowed the supervised use of psilocybin. And this summer, Republican-controlled Texas passed a law to invest $50 million of public funds for research into ibogaine.
According to the most current data available from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, there were 6,407 veteran suicides in 2022 -- more than 17 a day.
If you are a US veteran in need of help, or concerned about one, you can dial 988 and press 1, or visit www.veteranscrisisline.net.
rfo/amz/sst/ami

demographics

Death becomes a growing business in ageing, lonely South Korea

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • Students at the Busan Institute of Science and Technology carefully draped a mannequin in traditional Korean funeral cloth, smoothing the fabric as if over real skin, before gently lowering it into a coffin.
  • Rows of coffins line a university classroom in the South Korean port city of Busan, ready for use in training the funeral directors of the future in a rapidly ageing country.
  • Students at the Busan Institute of Science and Technology carefully draped a mannequin in traditional Korean funeral cloth, smoothing the fabric as if over real skin, before gently lowering it into a coffin.
Rows of coffins line a university classroom in the South Korean port city of Busan, ready for use in training the funeral directors of the future in a rapidly ageing country.
Growing numbers are finding work in the business of death as South Korea undergoes massive demographic change, with birth rates among the lowest in the world and almost half the population aged 50 or older.
Students at the Busan Institute of Science and Technology carefully draped a mannequin in traditional Korean funeral cloth, smoothing the fabric as if over real skin, before gently lowering it into a coffin.
"With our society ageing, I thought the demand for this kind of work would only grow," said Jang Jin-yeong, 27, a funeral administration student.
Another student, 23-year-old Im Sae-jin, decided to enter the field after his grandmother died.
"At her funeral, I saw how beautifully the directors had prepared her for the final farewell," he said.
"I felt deeply grateful."

'Like portraits'

More and more South Koreans are also living -- and dying -- alone.
Single-person households now account for around 42 percent of all homes in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
A new profession has emerged reflecting that statistic: cleaners who are called in to tidy up homes after their occupants, most of whom lived alone, have died.
Former classical musician Cho Eun-seok has cleaned many homes where people were found dead, sometimes months after their passing.
Their homes are "like their portraits", Cho, 47, told AFP.
He described heartbreaking traces: hundreds of neatly capped soju bottles and dusty boxes of gifts that were never opened.
South Korea has the highest suicide rate among developed nations, and these "lonely deaths" include those who died alone by their own hand.
Cho recently began receiving calls from used-car leasing companies to clean vehicles later found to be where clients ended their lives.
He is also developing a device to detect signs of unattended deaths that he said can harm the environment, causing pest infestations and forcing the disposal of belongings from entire households.
In summer, the smell spreads fast, he said, "and nothing can be saved".
The home of a woman who had died recently in her late eighties was still filled with traces of her life when AFP visited -- an old air conditioner, bottles of cosmetics and a portable toilet, while several walking sticks stood by the door.

'Everything must be cleared away'

The work sometimes requires more than just cleaning.
Kim Seok-jung once cleared the home of a late lyricist and found a set of songs she had not shared with her relatives. He turned them into a song for the bereaved family.
And Cho remembered a high school girl who lived alone in a gosiwon -- a cramped room typically less than five square metres -- after she escaped domestic violence.
He visited once a month to clean. The teenager, suffering from depression, had been unable to tidy up herself. 
Piles of belongings and rotting food covered the bed and the air was thick with flies.
But she carefully looked after a small box, insisting Cho never throw it away. 
She took her own life in that small room a year later.
When Cho returned to clean, he found that a hamster had been living in the box all along. 
Beside it sat her guitar -- she had dreamed of becoming a musician.
"The moment I saw the hamster, all I could think was that I had to save it and keep it alive," Cho said.
Kim Doo-nyeon, a veteran in the funeral business, said he has a growing number of recruits in their twenties.
"When people live together, they share things... even if one person dies, those items remain," he said.
"But when someone dies alone, everything must be cleared away."
Back at class in Busan, Im admitted to some trepidation about his chosen career path. 
"I am scared," he said.
"No matter how much you prepare, facing a deceased person is frightening."
cdl/oho/pbt

Texas

'I can't eat': Millions risk losing food aid during US shutdown

BY MOISéS ÁVILA

  • Since the federal government shuttered on October 1 due to ongoing budget disagreements between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, President Donald Trump's administration has announced it would no longer be able to fund SNAP as of Saturday -- the first cessation since the program began six decades ago.
  • Approximately one in eight Americans receive food stamp benefits from the US government, a program at risk of losing its funding as of Saturday due to the government shutdown.
  • Since the federal government shuttered on October 1 due to ongoing budget disagreements between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, President Donald Trump's administration has announced it would no longer be able to fund SNAP as of Saturday -- the first cessation since the program began six decades ago.
Approximately one in eight Americans receive food stamp benefits from the US government, a program at risk of losing its funding as of Saturday due to the government shutdown.
One such beneficiary is Eric Dunham, a 36-year-old man who became disabled after an accident and needs help from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to live.
"If I don't get food stamps I can't eat," Dunham told AFP, explaining that after all his expenses, he has just $24 left over per month.
"That's it," the father of two teenagers said. "The rest goes to child support."
Since the federal government shuttered on October 1 due to ongoing budget disagreements between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, President Donald Trump's administration has announced it would no longer be able to fund SNAP as of Saturday -- the first cessation since the program began six decades ago.
A federal judge stepped in Friday and ordered the government to use emergency funds to keep SNAP running, and Trump said he aimed to comply. But many recipients have had their aid disrupted amid the bureaucratic tug-of-war.
Dunham -- who works in the service industry, though in a reduced capacity since his accident -- was able to receive some sandwiches and drinks on Saturday afternoon distributed by Petit Beignets and Tapioca, a restaurant in northwest Houston.
"There's a lot of layoffs going around, and on top of that, we have the government shutdown and the SNAP benefits -- nobody knew what was going to happen, and I made sandwiches for someone who comes and has SNAP benefits, and at least can have one meal for sure," the restaurant's owner Nhan Ngo, 37, said.
Though Dunham could not use his SNAP card to repay Ngo, he gave him a surprise hug as a show of thanks. 

'Not something extraordinary or luxurious'

Elsewhere in the city, thousands of people who did not receive their food stamps or fear they will not get them in the near future lined up in cars outside NRG Stadium, where the Houston Food Bank is distributing fruit and non-perishable food items.
The food bank's president Brian Greene told AFP that the SNAP stoppage affects "about 425,000 households just in the Houston area."
"So every community is trying to step up to help these families get by in the meantime."
Despite the judicial order to resume funding SNAP during the shutdown, "it would take several days for the states to restart the program," Greene explained. "They all had to stop because they were out of money."
The gap in benefits impacted Sandra Guzman, a 36-year-old mother of two, who had placed an order for her food stamps last week but was told there were none available. She had to seek food aid elsewhere in the meantime.
"This is not something extraordinary or luxurious, this is something basic as getting food for my kids," Guzman told AFP. "I'll say food stamps represent 40 percent... of my expenses."

Trump's ballroom or food aid

Mary Willoughby, a 72-year-old Houston resident, waited in line outside the stadium with her granddaughter to receive food. She thinks if the aid freeze lasts, it could cause widespread chaos.
"We need our food stamps. We need our social security. We need our Medicare... If you cut all that out, it's going to be nothing but a big war right now because people are gonna start robbing," she said. 
"We need the help."
Another person in line, Carolyn Guy, 51, said she found it absurd that the Trump administration was paying millions to build a new White House ballroom while claiming there was no money to fund SNAP benefits. 
"Why are you taking our stuff from us? We work hard," she said. "You can take our food stamps, but here you're getting ready to build a ballroom? Doesn't make sense to me."
mav/jgc/mlm

internet

High price of gold inspires new rush in California

BY PAULA RAMON

  • "My social media channels are definitely seeing an uptick in traffic right now," James told AFP during one of his expeditions in northern California, where the Gold Rush first erupted in the mid-1800s.
  • Matt James has collected gold nuggets for years from the hills and riverbeds of California, but as the precious metal's price soars, he has found an unexpected El Dorado: on social media.
  • "My social media channels are definitely seeing an uptick in traffic right now," James told AFP during one of his expeditions in northern California, where the Gold Rush first erupted in the mid-1800s.
Matt James has collected gold nuggets for years from the hills and riverbeds of California, but as the precious metal's price soars, he has found an unexpected El Dorado: on social media.
Though the value has fluctuated, it has effectively doubled in the last two years, reaching an all-time high of more than $4,380 an ounce in October.
"My social media channels are definitely seeing an uptick in traffic right now," James told AFP during one of his expeditions in northern California, where the Gold Rush first erupted in the mid-1800s.
The rise in clicks on his posts -- and the related increase in commissions he makes on sales of products he uses in his prospecting -- has generated a new income source for James.
"I'm not getting rich by it, from it, by any means. But I'm certainly paying for myself to maintain my hobby and my passion and pay for the equipment," he said.
The 34-year-old project manager is the host of the Mountaineer Matt channel on YouTube. His videos typically earn tens of thousands of views.
"The question everybody always asks is 'Where (does one) find gold?' Unfortunately, that's the question that nobody wants to answer," James explained.
"Gold is very, very hard to find, and everyone wants to kind of keep it to themselves."
"Mountaineer Matt" has never lost hope of discovering "The Big Nugget" -- the one that will make him rich.
But he is well aware that today's finds bear little resemblance to those in the early days of the Gold Rush in 1849, when men came to mine the Mother Lode in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
James nevertheless says there is gold to be had -- you just need very specialized equipment to find it.
- 'Tremendous growth' -  
Cody Blanchard is hoping his Heritage Gold Rush can serve the niche market -- and help him turn a hobby into a thriving business.
The store offers everything from basic tools to pan for gold in the river, such as pickaxes and scoops, to pinpointers and high-tech metal detectors that can cost thousands of dollars.
The 35-year-old sanitation worker -- who organizes paid gold-digging tours -- says he had tripled his yearly average find from one ounce a year to three using the gadgets.
"As a business, I've seen tremendous growth in a very short amount of time," he said, referring to sales of top-priced items.
For Blanchard, if people find more gold using his products, it is the best kind of advertising. 

'Great hobby'

The Gold Rush transformed California, known as the Golden State, and many towns in the Sierra Nevada are working to keep that moment in history alive.
Columbia State Historic Park is a preserved Gold Rush settlement that allows local and foreign tourists to try and strike it rich at the Matelot Gulch Mining Company.
Nikaila DeLorenzi, whose family has operated the attraction within the park for more than 60 years, says there has been an uptick in both visitors and equipment sales in recent weeks.
"There's a lot of burn scar areas from our local fires and surrounding areas which are good for erosion. There's a lot of sediment that is falling down," DeLorenzi explained.
"So, all good opportunities to pan for gold -- and now that gold's at $4,000 an ounce, people are thinking this is a great hobby" that might pay off, she added.
Charlene Hernandez, who was panning for gold with her family, says she hopes California is on the cusp of a modern-day Gold Rush.
"With all the money changing and the currency changing, it seems like the gold is really something you can count on that's been kind of solid," Hernandez said.
"When people are more educated and understand the importance and the security in gold, it could be a different kind of Gold Rush than what we actually read about in history, right?"
pr/sst/mlm

results

Tanzania president wins 98% in election as opposition says hundreds killed

  • The main opposition party, Chadema, told AFP "no less than 800 people" have been killed by security forces since Wednesday. 
  • Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan condemned protests around the election in which she was declared winner on Saturday with almost 98 percent of the vote, while the opposition said hundreds have been killed by security forces. 
  • The main opposition party, Chadema, told AFP "no less than 800 people" have been killed by security forces since Wednesday. 
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan condemned protests around the election in which she was declared winner on Saturday with almost 98 percent of the vote, while the opposition said hundreds have been killed by security forces. 
The electoral commission said Hassan won 97.66 percent of the vote, with turnout at 87 percent, despite reports from AFP journalists and other observers that polling stations were largely empty.
Hassan, 65, had sought to cement her position and silence critics in her party with an emphatic victory, helped by the main opposition candidates being either jailed or disqualified.
But a heavy crackdown and the lack of options sparked mass protests around the country. 
"The government strongly condemns and denounces those incidents," said Hassan as she accepted a winner's certificate on state television. 
"When it comes to the national security... there is no alternative but to employ all defence measures."
The main opposition party, Chadema, told AFP "no less than 800 people" have been killed by security forces since Wednesday. 
A security source and a diplomat in Dar es Salaam both told AFP that deaths were "in the hundreds", but verifying information remained difficult as an internet blackout was still in place Saturday.
The election result is a "mockery of the democratic process", Chadema spokesman John Kitoka told AFP, calling for a "fresh election".
"We are going to announce our reaction that could also include calling for national protests," he added.
Father Charles Kitima, secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference in Dar es Salaam said Tanzania has become a "totalitarian regime". 
"It's a very sad event. For the first time in our country, we are experiencing the mass killing of people protesting," he told AFP by phone.
The African Union chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf congratulated Hassan in a statement, but said he "deeply regrets the loss of human life".
Tourists have been stranded by cancelled flights, and the main port at Dar es Salaam -- a major economic lifeline for the country -- was shuttered, according to data from tracker Vessel Finder and Dutch shipping firm C. Steinweg.
There were reports Saturday of spiking food prices as shops ran low on supplies, petrol stations were closed and public transport halted.
"I have been staying in the mosque since Wednesday when the violence erupted," Mohamed Rajab, a 52-year-old in Dar es Salaam, told AFP.
"There is no transport. I’m not sure when I'm going back home."

'Wave of terror'

Hassan was elevated from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021.
Rights groups say she oversaw a "wave of terror" in the east African nation ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.
Chadema was barred from taking part in the election and its leader put on trial for treason.
Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets across the country, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.
Hassan's government denies using "excessive force". 
But UN chief Antonio Guterres was "deeply concerned" about the situation in Tanzania, "including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations", according to his spokesman.
Much public anger has been directed at Hassan's son, Abdul Halim Hafidh Ameir, accused of overseeing the pre-election crackdown.
There have been unconfirmed reports of the army siding with protesters in some places, but army chief Jacob Mkunda came out strongly on Hassan's side on Thursday, calling the protesters "criminals".
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo said Friday that his government had "no figures" on any dead.
"Currently, no excessive force has been used," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. "There's no number until now of any protesters killed."
str-er/yad

smoking

Maldives begins 'generational ban' on smoking

  • "Under the new provision, individuals born on or after January 1, 2007 are prohibited from purchasing, using, or being sold tobacco products within the Maldives," it added.
  • The Maldives began implementing a smoking ban Saturday on anyone born after January 2007, becoming the only nation with a generational prohibition on tobacco, the Health Ministry said.
  • "Under the new provision, individuals born on or after January 1, 2007 are prohibited from purchasing, using, or being sold tobacco products within the Maldives," it added.
The Maldives began implementing a smoking ban Saturday on anyone born after January 2007, becoming the only nation with a generational prohibition on tobacco, the Health Ministry said.
The move, initiated by President Mohamed Muizzu earlier this year -- which came into effect on November 1 -- will "protect public health and promote a tobacco-free generation", the ministry said.
"Under the new provision, individuals born on or after January 1, 2007 are prohibited from purchasing, using, or being sold tobacco products within the Maldives," it added.
"The ban applies to all forms of tobacco, and retailers are required to verify age prior to sale."
The measure also applies to visitors to the nation of 1,191 tiny coral islets scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator and known for its luxury tourism.
The ministry said it also maintains a comprehensive ban on the import, sale, distribution, possession, and use of electronic cigarettes and vaping products, applicable to all individuals regardless of age.
Selling tobacco products to an underage person carries a penalty of 50,000 rufiyaa ($3,200), while using vape devices carries a fine of 5,000 rufiyaa ($320).
A similar generational ban proposed in Britain is still going through the legislative process, while New Zealand -- the first country to enact such a law against smoking -- repealed it in November 2023, less than a year after it was introduced.
aj/pjm/fox

drugs

After the tears, anger on Rio's blood-stained streets

BY LOUIS GENOT

  • The boy was one of hundreds of people who marched Friday through the streets of Vila Cruzeiro, one of the Rio favelas where the raids claimed over 120 lives in an hours-long crackdown just three days earlier.
  • In a Rio de Janeiro favela, a little boy wore a T-shirt stained with red paint mimicking the blood spilled this week in Brazil's deadliest-ever police operation.
  • The boy was one of hundreds of people who marched Friday through the streets of Vila Cruzeiro, one of the Rio favelas where the raids claimed over 120 lives in an hours-long crackdown just three days earlier.
In a Rio de Janeiro favela, a little boy wore a T-shirt stained with red paint mimicking the blood spilled this week in Brazil's deadliest-ever police operation.
He held up a sign reading: "Children should be able to play, the favela wants to live in peace."
The boy was one of hundreds of people who marched Friday through the streets of Vila Cruzeiro, one of the Rio favelas where the raids claimed over 120 lives in an hours-long crackdown just three days earlier.
Favelas are low-income and crowded neighborhoods that are often built on steep hillsides in Brazil.
"Tuesday was the day of horror. What we saw here was a massacre," said Ana Maria Pereira, 18, a resident of the neighborhood that is home mainly to Black and mixed-race people, and whose narrow alleys are overhung by tangles of electric wires.
Friday's demonstration set out from the football field in Rio where Adriano, former star of Inter Milan and Brazil's national team, had kicked his first balls as a youngster.
"Out with Castro, stop the massacres!" the protesters chanted, referring to Rio state's rightwing Governor Claudio Castro, who deemed the deadly operation a "success" against "narcoterrorists."
"120 lives lost is not a success," read one sign. "Castro has blood on his hands," said another.
Dozens of motorcycle taxis, a common form of transport through the shantytown's steep, winding streets, also joined the procession with engines roaring.
"On the day of the operation, the police prevented us from moving, they shot at us and threw tear gas," moto-taxi driver Lucas Azevedo, 32, told AFP.
Residents from other, more upscale neighborhoods also joined the march, including Miguel Rabelo, a 30-year-old musician.
"It's important for me to come here, listen to people, share this moment with them, look them in the eyes," he said.

'Pain, indignation'

The police raid, said to have targeted Rio's Comando Vermelho (Red Command) drug gang, has drawn condemnation from human rights organizations. The United Nations has called for an investigation.
Relatives of some of the victims denounced summary executions. An AFP journalist on the scene saw a decapitated body.
"There is a lot of pain, indignation, but we are gathered here to ensure that this never happens again," said Monica Benicio, widow of Marielle Franco, a Rio city councilor assassinated in 2018 in a crime that shocked Brazil and the world.
"The most terrifying thing is to see that part of society applauds, saying that the only good criminal is a dead criminal," lamented the 39-year-old, herself now a city councilor.
In a statement Friday, advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced the police's actions since the raid, charging "police did not preserve crime scenes for analysis" or establish a rigorous chain of custody for evidence.
"The families of the people killed in the October 28 raid, including those of police officers, deserve to know the circumstances of their loved ones' deaths," said Cesar Munoz, Brazil director for HRW.
Despite widespread outrage, opinion polls in recent days found a majority of Brazilians approve of the bloody operation.
"A national mobilization is needed to combat this organization, which is no longer just a criminal organization but a terrorist organization...employing guerrilla tactics and oppressing community residents," Felipe Curi, the head of Rio's Civil Police force told reporters Friday.
He said police had so far identified the bodies of 99 "criminals" among the dead -- 42 of them subject to arrest warrants and 78 with extensive criminal records.
Amid criticism that his administration is too lenient on crime, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on X Friday he had submitted a bill to parliament proposing a minimum 30-year prison sentence for gang members.
lg/mlr/iv/sla

death

In the black: the business of mourning Thailand's queen mother

  • Some clothing stores in shopping malls and wholesale vendors have switched their stock to sombre hues, seeking to capitalise on the nation's grief.
  • In a bustling Bangkok market, hundreds of wholesale vendors have been selling black clothing since dawn -- several with hefty discounts -- in honour of Thailand's late former queen.
  • Some clothing stores in shopping malls and wholesale vendors have switched their stock to sombre hues, seeking to capitalise on the nation's grief.
In a bustling Bangkok market, hundreds of wholesale vendors have been selling black clothing since dawn -- several with hefty discounts -- in honour of Thailand's late former queen.
Rows of black T-shirts at a small stall hang near a banner reading "black shirts 40 baht" -- a fraction of the usual price of 200 to 500 baht ($6-15) -- drawing a steady stream of shoppers.
"We sell at this price so all Thais can wear black to pay respect to the queen mother," said the business's owner, Thanachote Siripadungdech, who launched the promotion shortly after the palace announced former queen Sirikit's death.
Sirikit, the mother of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, died on Friday last week at the age of 93.
The royal family holds a central place in Thai society, with portraits of its members seen in homes, offices and public spaces across the country.
Since Sirikit's death, the government has declared a year-long mourning period for officials and urged the public to wear traditional Thai mourning colours of black or white for 90 days.
The commerce ministry also has warned businesses against price gouging and set up a hotline for complaints.
Some clothing stores in shopping malls and wholesale vendors have switched their stock to sombre hues, seeking to capitalise on the nation's grief.
But Thanachote, 53, said he had lost a significant sum in the past week by selling shirts at least 100 baht a piece below cost.
"I am stable in life now and I have no debts so selling at a loss is fine by me," he told AFP.
"I just want to do something for the queen mother and the royal family," added the vendor, dressed head-to-toe in black while fielding calls from suppliers in Thailand and China.
"They had worked so hard for Thailand. Now it's my time to pay back," he said.
Thanachote said he was giving away 200 shirts to senior citizens and low-income families.
Nupap Khiaochaiyaphum, a 57-year-old farmer from northeastern Khon Kaen province, said she was grateful for the two free black polo shirts she got from his stall.
"I have black shirts back in my hometown, but not here (in Bangkok)," she told AFP.
"I love the monarchy so I will wear this to mourn the queen mother."

'Selling at a loss'

At another stall nearby, vendor Anut Pormsri and his assistant sat scrolling on their phones beneath a sign offering two black shirts for 100 baht.
He said sales have plummeted compared to past royal mourning periods.
"I used to sell a lot more," Anut told AFP. "Now I am selling at a loss and hardly get any customers."
He said the low prices are both "a tribute and a clearance (discount)" on a large backstock of black shirts emblazoned with the Thai character for number nine which were made to mourn the late king Bhumibol Adulyadej, known as "Rama IX".
When Bhumibol, King Vajiralongkorn's father and one of the world's longest-reigning monarchs, died in 2016, the country observed a full year of mourning.
At another stall, shop worker Chit Sopheak was selling shirts in various colours, including black, at regular prices, starting from 199 baht.
He also said sales have dropped this year, and has recently only sold around 50 shirts a day, compared to up to 400 daily during the previous royal mourning period.
"There is competition from online vendors," he told AFP. "The economy also isn't good now."
Analyst Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a former Thai diplomat and academic who studies the monarchy, noted a difference between the public mourning for Sirikit and the grief expressed for the late king, calling it "the clearest measure of how drastically Thailand's political landscape has shifted".
"Older generations and state employees maintain dutiful compliance -- observing government mandates for black attire and periods of official grief," he told AFP.
But the national mood in the past week has reflected "institutional observance" more than "organic, profound sorrow", according to Pavin.
Some vendors who spoke with AFP said their discounts were meant to express their personal appreciation and respect for the royal family.
"I am thankful to be born in their majesties' era," said Thanachote.
"I wasn't born rich, but this kingdom gave me the chance to prosper."
bur/sco/dhw

politics

UK's Andrew in freefall, stripped of queen's protection

BY ALEXANDRA DEL PERAL

  • And the queen was no longer around to protect him.
  • For the longest time Andrew was shielded by Queen Elizabeth II's steadfast protection.
  • And the queen was no longer around to protect him.
For the longest time Andrew was shielded by Queen Elizabeth II's steadfast protection. But her death in 2022 left him exposed, as he hurtled towards his downfall.
Rumours had long swirled around the questionable behaviour of the 65-year-old royal but, basking in the queen's favour, he emerged bruised though not down-and-out from each lurid, headline-hitting scandal over the years.
After the disastrous 2019 television interview in which he sought and failed to explain his ties to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was forced to give up his HRH title, and banished from life as a working royal.
But he kept the rich trappings afforded by royal life, including his coveted title as Duke of York, and his home in the luxury 30-room mansion Royal Lodge nestled on the secluded Windsor estate, for which he paid only a token rent.
"People complained about him for years and nothing was done. I think also she (the queen) just had a complete blind spot about him," said biographer Andrew Lownie.
It was the queen who bestowed on Andrew and his then-new wife Sarah Ferguson the title of Duke and Duchess of York -- a title steeped in history which once belonged to Elizabeth II's beloved father, George VI, before he ascended to the throne.

'Deep bond'

It was just one of the signs of the strong ties between Elizabeth and Andrew, her third child after King Charles III and Princess Anne.
"The queen was deeply fond of Andrew. They really had a deep bond," said royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams.
But the explosive revelations in the posthumous memoir of Epstein victim, Virginia Giuffre, in which she reiterated in shocking detail allegations that she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, opened the floodgates to further outrage.
And the queen was no longer around to protect him.
Under pressure from his older brother, Andrew agreed to relinquish his cherished title as Duke of York, as well as the prestigious Order of the Garter this month.
On Thursday, the king went even further, moving to strip his younger brother of all his titles, and ousting him from his home of two decades on the Windsor estate.
Andrew "lost his protector" when Elizabeth died in 2022 and the king should have been "far more ruthless" sooner, said Lownie.
Charles is almost 12 years older than Andrew, and the two brothers have never been close.
But it seems that Prince William, Charles's oldest son and the heir to the throne, has been leading the charge.
UK media have reported that once William succeeds his father he plans to deepen Andrew's banishment, even forbidding him from attending his coronation.
Moves to oust Andrew from Royal Lodge have gathered pace in the past week, given new urgency by the pending move of William, and his wife Kate and three young children, into a new home not far away from the lodge on the Windsor estate. 
Andrew had dug his heels in, reportedly demanding to move into Frogmore Cottage, the former home of his nephew Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.
He was also reportedly demanding that Ferguson, his ex-wife with whom he shared the lodge for two decades, be allowed to move into Adelaide Cottage, once it is vacated by William and his family.
The BBC reported this week that Andrew hosted Epstein, his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell -- imprisoned for trafficking -- and former US film producer Harvey Weinstein, now in prison for sexual assault, at the Lodge in 2006 for his daughter Beatrice's 18th birthday.

Threat to the Crown

Public anger has grown at Andrew's privileged lifestyle, and on Monday the king was heckled during a visit to a cathedral when a man in the crowd shouted out: "How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?"
Buckingham Palace is acutely aware of the reputational damage posed to the Crown by the scandal.
And now Andrew will be surrendering the lease on Royal Lodge as soon as possible. It is understood he will be moving to the king's Sandringham estate in eastern Norfolk. Ferguson will make her own arrangements.
The decisive action could have been taken to stave off MPs, who appeared ready to break a long-standing taboo on questioning the royals, by holding a parliamentary debate and demanding proper scrutiny of the secretive finances of the family, dubbed The Firm.
One palace source told the Sunday Times that some of the blame lay at the late queen's feet, saying she left "an unexploded bomb for Charles".
"This was a terrible dereliction of duty. She indulged Andrew all the time and always avoided confrontation."
adm-har/cat/jkb/gv

agriculture

Growing rice in the UK 'not so crazy' as climate warms

BY MARIE HEUCLIN

  • As rice grows in eastern England, lemons groves and chickpeas are also cropping up in the south.
  • Wearing large rubber boots, Nadine Mitschunas joyfully handled mature rice plants peeking through the water of her small plot growing in the fertile soil of eastern England.
  • As rice grows in eastern England, lemons groves and chickpeas are also cropping up in the south.
Wearing large rubber boots, Nadine Mitschunas joyfully handled mature rice plants peeking through the water of her small plot growing in the fertile soil of eastern England.
Growing rice "has not been done before in the UK", said Mitschunas, a field ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).
But as temperatures warm due to climate change, "it's not such a crazy idea because it seems to work", she added.
As rice grows in eastern England, lemons groves and chickpeas are also cropping up in the south.
A warmer climate and changing rainfall patterns have made planning ahead essential, and British researchers are embarking on a journey of agricultural transformation.
Mitschunas is leading research with a project that tests new crops in the flat Fens of Cambridgeshire by rewetting peatlands.
Its rich soil has facilitated high production levels, and the region now cultivates one third of England's vegetables and 20 percent of its potatoes and beetroots.
But soil drainage gradually impoverishes the land, posing a threat to local farmers and releasing the CO2 captured by the peatland which are important carbon sinks.

Farming for the future

Craig and Sarah-Jane Taylor, the landowners participating in the UKCEH scheme, are conscious of the issue.
"We recognise that our soils are depleting and that we need to change to secure the future," said Sarah-Jane Taylor, underlining the question of "water availability... and that's only going to get worse".
The United Kingdom, like the rest of the world, is affected by climate change. It now has to contend with more frequent extreme weather, rising temperatures, and drier soil in some areas.
A recent UKCEH study suggested that the growth of popular crops such as wheat and strawberries would become much more difficult over the coming decades if the climate warms by 2C. If temperatures rise by 4C, onion and oat crops would be hit.
On the other hand, crops such as sunflower, durum wheat, soybean, chickpeas, lemon and okra could become more viable, particularly in southwestern England or near the Scottish coast.
China and India are the world's leading producers of rice.
And in the Fens, Mitschunas has tested nine rice varieties regularly grown in the United States, the Philippines, Macedonia and Japan -- four of them show promise, particularly one that originates from Colombia.
Once the grains germinated in a laboratory, the seedlings were planted in water in June, and harvesting began in early October.
"I am not eating my own rice yet," the ecologist joked. But such a scenario could become a reality within 10 years.
"The suitable climate for rice is moving more northwards" in Europe, she said, pointing to successful initiatives in the Netherlands and Germany.
Mitschunas is also testing everything from lettuce and celery to pumpkins and strawberries -- and even aromatic plants.
Along with crop experimentation, her project aims to regenerate peatlands and improve the country's CO2-capturing capacities.

No time to waste

She is not the only British researcher testing new crops.
At the University of Southampton in southern England, professor of biological sciences Mark Chapman is leading a study on different crops, including chickpea cultivation.
"If we wait until 20 or 30 years, and then realise that we can't grow wheat... like we always have done, we've then got (a) problem," he said.
He emphasised the need to "smooth the transition" by prioritising which future crops to grow and ensuring consumers are ready to change their habits.
"I think we're at that point where we just need to try more things," he said. "We need to get farmers involved, who are actually going to plant the crops."
The pioneers in the Fens, Sarah-Jane and Craig Taylor, have noted other farmers' growing interest in the project following their initial surprise.
"Once upon a time potatoes and sugar beet weren't grown here and now they're one of the main crops in the area," said Sarah-Jane Taylor. 
"So why couldn't rice potentially be an option here? And why shouldn't we look at it?"
mhc/cc/jkb/jj

culture

After delays, Egypt set for lavish opening of grand museum

BY SOPHIE PONS

  • Following years of instability, Egypt's tourism industry -- which accounts for about 10 percent of the country's workforce -- has been recovering.
  • With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is due to inaugurate on Saturday the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, widely presented as the crowning jewel on authorities' efforts to overhaul the country's vital tourism industry.
  • Following years of instability, Egypt's tourism industry -- which accounts for about 10 percent of the country's workforce -- has been recovering.
With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is due to inaugurate on Saturday the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, widely presented as the crowning jewel on authorities' efforts to overhaul the country's vital tourism industry.
With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the GEM houses thousands of artefacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of over $1 billion.
More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates five million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display.
In the run-up to the grand opening, Egyptian media and official statements have hailed the "historic moment", describing the museum as "Egypt's gift to the world" and a "new chapter in the history of Egyptian civilisation".
Preparations for the much-delayed inauguration have been shrouded in secrecy.
Authorities have not named the dignitaries expected to attend, but have promised "kings, princes, heads of state and government leaders".
Organisers have also been tight-lipped on the new display for the iconic gold mask of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Starting Tuesday, the museum will be open to regular visitors who can view 4,500 of about 5,000 funerary objects previously scattered across the country, including at the colonial-era Egyptian Museum in central Cairo.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday held a high-level meeting "dedicated to advancing preparations" for the inauguration, according to an official statement.

'Symbolic dimension'

During the meeting, Sisi urged enhanced coordination to ensure the opening ceremony is held "in a manner befitting Egypt's position, reflecting its leadership in the field of museums and global culture, and contributing to the promotion of tourism in the country".
"Emphasis was placed on the symbolic dimension of GEM, which is set to become an international cultural and scientific hub, contributing to enhancing tourism promotion in Egypt," the statement added.
During a final inspection visit to the site on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the event reflected Egypt's role "as a cradle of civilisation and a global leader in culture and museum innovation".
The inauguration had been set for July 3, but was postponed when Israel attacked Iran on June 13, sparking a 12-day war that closed airspace across much of the Middle East. 
Even before that, the project had faced a series of setbacks, including political unrest and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a bid to reach the widest audience possible, Egyptian state-linked conglomerate United Media Services announced a strategic partnership with TikTok seeking to "share Egypt's unparallelled civilisational story with audiences across the globe".
Following years of instability, Egypt's tourism industry -- which accounts for about 10 percent of the country's workforce -- has been recovering.
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, tourism revenues stood at $14.4 billion, up 34.6 percent compared to the previous year.
Around 15 million tourists have visited Egypt in the first nine months of 2025, accounting for $12.5 billion in revenues and marking a 21 percent increase on the same period last year.
sof/jsa/smw

politics

King Charles strips Andrew of royal titles, Windsor home

BY JO BIDDLE AND ALEXANDRA DEL PERAL

  • "Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor," Buckingham Palace said, adding Charles had begun the formal process to remove all his brother's titles.
  • King Charles III is stripping his younger brother Andrew of his royal titles and ousting him from his long-term residence on the Windsor estate, the palace said on Thursday, the latest fallout to hit the scandal-plagued royal over the Jeffrey Epstein affair.
  • "Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor," Buckingham Palace said, adding Charles had begun the formal process to remove all his brother's titles.
King Charles III is stripping his younger brother Andrew of his royal titles and ousting him from his long-term residence on the Windsor estate, the palace said on Thursday, the latest fallout to hit the scandal-plagued royal over the Jeffrey Epstein affair.
"Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor," Buckingham Palace said, adding Charles had begun the formal process to remove all his brother's titles.
Andrew has also been told to move out of his long-time home on Windsor Castle's sprawling grounds, and he will move "to alternative private accommodation" as soon as possible.
The announcement followed a torrent of outrage at renewed accusations of sexual assault made by one of Jeffrey Epstein's main accusers against the 65-year-old, who has denied the charges.
"These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him," the palace said.
"Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse," it added.
It comes days after the posthumous publication of Virginia Giuffre's memoir, in which the victim of US sex offender Epstein reiterated in shocking detail allegations that she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including twice when she was only 17.
It is understood that Andrew did not object to the king's decision, and that the UK government has been consulted.
Giuffre took her own life in April, aged 41, while Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Giuffre's family, which had pushed for Andrew's title of prince to be removed, hailed the move Thursday, saying in a statement to the BBC that "today, she declares a victory".
"Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage," they said.
"Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and countless other survivors like her."
Andrew, who is the second son of the late queen Elizabeth II, has repeatedly denied the allegations.
But he had agreed to pay US and Australian citizen Giuffre millions of dollars in 2022 to end her civil sexual assault case against him.

Public anger

Adding to the outcry following Giuffre's bestselling memoir, The Times revealed last week that the prince had only paid a minimal rent for the past two decades on his Royal Lodge home in the Windsor estate, where he lives with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The arrangement stems from a seemingly favourable 2003 deal for the mansion owned by the Crown Estate, the royal family's independently run land and property holdings.
Moves to oust Andrew from Royal Lodge have gathered pace in the past days, given new urgency by the pending move of Charles's son Prince William, heir to the throne, his wife Kate and their children, into a new home not far away from the lodge.
In yet another revelation, the BBC reported this week that Andrew hosted Epstein, his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell -- who is imprisoned for trafficking -- and former US film producer Harvey Weinstein, now jailed for rape, at the Lodge in 2006 for his daughter Beatrice's 18th birthday.
Meanwhile, public anger has grown. On Monday the king was heckled during a visit to a cathedral when a man in the crowd shouted out: "How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?"
Andrew however had dug his heels in, and was reportedly only prepared to leave the Royal Lodge if he could move into Frogmore Cottage, the former home of his nephew Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.
Andrew was also reportedly demanding that Ferguson be allowed to move into Adelaide Cottage, once it is vacated by William and his family.
It was understood Thursday that Andrew will move to the king's estate in Sandringham, eastern Norfolk, and will be privately funded by Charles.
Ferguson will make her own arrangements.
His daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, will retain their titles as princesses.
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treaty

Indigenous Australians celebrate historic state treaty

  • - 'Appalling legislation' - Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said the landmark treaty would redefine the relationship between Indigenous Australians and the state government. 
  • Australia's state of Victoria has passed the country's first treaty with Indigenous peoples, a landmark act of recognition long denied to the nation's first inhabitants. 
  • - 'Appalling legislation' - Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said the landmark treaty would redefine the relationship between Indigenous Australians and the state government. 
Australia's state of Victoria has passed the country's first treaty with Indigenous peoples, a landmark act of recognition long denied to the nation's first inhabitants. 
Cheers and applause rang through Victoria's parliament as lawmakers passed the bill late on Thursday night, a deeply symbolic moment that caused many onlookers to burst into tears. 
The treaty will establish an elected assembly of Indigenous representatives, support a truth-telling process to address past grievances, and form an advisory body focused on erasing health inequalities. 
"This is a historic moment for our people," said Ngarra Murray from the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria.
"We will tell our children about today, and they will tell their children, passing down to future generations the story of how decades of Aboriginal resilience and activism led to Australia's first treaty."
Making up less than four percent of the current population, Indigenous peoples still have lives about eight years shorter than other Australians and are far more likely to be imprisoned or die in police custody.
Indigenous leader Jill Gallagher, who spent years working towards the treaty, said that "history was made".
"I feel like my people have some hope now," she told national broadcaster ABC. 
Generations of Indigenous Australians have tried, and failed, to strike similar treaties with Australia's federal government. 
It is seen as a crucial act of recognition that Aboriginal Australians held sovereignty over the continent long before the arrival of the colonial fleet in 1788. 
Australians in 2023 overwhelmingly voted "no" in a national referendum that sought to better recognise Indigenous peoples in the country's constitution. 

'Appalling legislation'

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said the landmark treaty would redefine the relationship between Indigenous Australians and the state government. 
"Treaty gives Aboriginal communities the power to shape the policies and services that affect their lives." 
But even as many Indigenous Australians lined up to praise the bill, some right-leaning politicians were quick to condemn it. 
"I think it's appalling legislation," said federal Senator Bridget McKenzie.
"This treaty in Victoria is giving certain rights and privileges to one group of Australians over another," she told Sky News Australia.  
A government inquiry in Victoria found earlier this year that colonial settlers committed genocide against Indigenous people.
Mass killings, disease, sexual violence, child removal, and assimilation had led to the "near-complete destruction" of Indigenous people in the state, it said. 
The arrival of 11 British ships to set up a penal colony in Sydney Cove in 1788 heralded the long oppression of Indigenous peoples, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years. 
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conflict

'Better to go to prison': Israeli ultra-Orthodox rally against army service

BY MICHAEL BLUM AND LUANA SARMINI-BUONACCORSI

  • - Vital support for coalition - The issue has placed Netanyahu's coalition -- one of the most right-wing in the country's history -- under severe strain.
  • Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men rallied in Jerusalem on Thursday to protest against military conscription in their community, an issue that has caused a major strain in Israel's right-wing ruling coalition.
  • - Vital support for coalition - The issue has placed Netanyahu's coalition -- one of the most right-wing in the country's history -- under severe strain.
Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men rallied in Jerusalem on Thursday to protest against military conscription in their community, an issue that has caused a major strain in Israel's right-wing ruling coalition.
The vast crowd were demonstrating to demand a law guaranteeing their right to avoid Israel's mandatory military service -- long promised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Crowds of men set fire to pieces of tarpaulin as hundreds of police officers cordoned off several roads across the city, AFP correspondents reported.
Demonstrators packed onto the tops of buildings, petrol stations, bridges and balconies above a sea of fellow protesters, some of whom held signs declaring: "Better to go to prison than to the army."
A helicopter flew overhead as people gathered to take part in collective prayers.
Abraham, 27, who studies in a Jerusalem religious seminary known as a yeshiva and declined to give his full name, said the goal was to preserve a lifestyle lived according to the Torah, the Jewish holy text. 
"We don't go to the army not because we are selfish, but because we try to preserve ourselves, what the Torah tells us and the rabbis tell us," he told AFP.
"There were hostages, and we mourned their deaths, we prayed for them three times a day, and for the soldiers," he said, referring to the captives abducted during Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza. 
Israeli police said one man fell from a height during Thursday's rally and was subsequently pronounced dead by medical personnel.

Crackdown

The mass demonstration follows a recent crackdown on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, with thousands of call-up notices ignored and several deserters imprisoned.
Under a ruling established at the time of Israel's creation in 1948, when the ultra-Orthodox were a small community, men who devote themselves full-time to the study of sacred Jewish texts are given a de facto pass from army service.
This exemption has come under mounting pressure since the start of the war in Gaza, as the military struggles to fill its ranks.
In June 2024, the supreme court ruled that the state must draft ultra-Orthodox men, declaring their exemption had expired.
A parliamentary committee is now discussing a bill expected to end the exemptions and encourage young ultra-Orthodox men who are not studying full-time to enlist.
"The Israeli government, the supreme court and the attorney general have turned against them and want to put them in prison -- but it will not happen," Rabbi Avraham Bismut, a resident of Beit Shemesh, told AFP.
Whether the exemption should be scrapped has been a long-running point of contention in Israeli society, with Netanyahu pledging that his government would pass a law enshrining the waiver.
But he has so far failed to deliver.
"We feel that a decree from above has been placed upon us: such severe persecution of the world of Torah and its scholars," said protester Arik, who also gave only his first name.
Responding to the call of two ultra-Orthodox parties -- one of which forms a key part of the ruling coalition -- men travelled from all over Israel to join Thursday's rally.
Police announced the mobilisation of 2,000 officers in Jerusalem and, later in the evening, moved to disperse the crowds.
Knesset member and opposition figure Avigdor Liberman denounced the rally, writing on X that it was a "spit in the face of our heroic soldiers!"

Vital support for coalition

The issue has placed Netanyahu's coalition -- one of the most right-wing in the country's history -- under severe strain.
In July, ministers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party resigned from the cabinet over the issue, though the party has not formally left the coalition.
The other ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism, has already quit both the government and the coalition.
The Sephardic Shas, which holds 11 seats in the 120-member Knesset, has warned that unless military service exemptions are anchored in law, it will withdraw its support -- a move that could topple Netanyahu's fragile coalition, now down to 60 seats.
Some ultra-Orthodox rabbis fear that conscription will make young people less religious, but others accept that those who do not study holy texts full-time can enlist. 
Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up 14 percent of Israel's Jewish population, or about 1.3 million people, and roughly 66,000 men of military age currently benefit from the exemption.
According to an army report presented to parliament in September, there has been a sharp increase in the number of ultra-Orthodox Jews enlisting, but the numbers still remain low, at a few hundred over the past two years.
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