drivein

Quintessentially American, drive-in theaters are going dark

BY PIERRE HARDY

  • - Attendance down - Drive-in theaters are a throwback to another era in a country where cars are king.
  • Film buffs sit snugly in cars watching a drive-in movie, munching popcorn on a lovely recent fall night.
  • - Attendance down - Drive-in theaters are a throwback to another era in a country where cars are king.
Film buffs sit snugly in cars watching a drive-in movie, munching popcorn on a lovely recent fall night.
Michelle Hutson, 52, has been coming to the Family Drive-In since childhood, enjoying what is now a dying form of quintessentially American entertainment.
With a sigh, she notes she might soon see the last picture show as the nearly 70-year-old outdoor theater -- one of the few remaining drive-ins in the Washington area -- is on its way out, too.
"I'm about to be a grandma again for the second time. And it's heartbreaking to know that she may not be able to experience that," Hutson said.
The owners of the land under the Family Drive-In announced a few months ago they want to sell it, asking $1.5 million, said theater owner Andrew Thomas.
If he bought the land at that price, it would mean a mortgage payment three times what he pays now in rent, Thomas told AFP.
"It's just not feasible for the business."
He launched a crowd-funding drive last month to save the theater and so far has raised around $30,000.
"It's overwhelming, in such a good way, that people care that much. Even in times of economic uncertainty, it means that this is a thing for them that's worth saving, and I agree with them," he said.
"We have an opportunity to preserve a piece of history," said the 40-year-old.

 Attendance down

Drive-in theaters are a throwback to another era in a country where cars are king. In their heyday in the 1950s there were more than 4,000 in America -- but now only 300 or so remain, said Gary Rhodes, a movie historian.
They have died off because more people watch television at home and urban development has made the land needed for a drive-in theater very expensive, Rhodes said.
Drive-ins enjoyed a spike in popularity during the Covid pandemic, as people avoided crowded places like indoor movie theaters, but now "attendance is still going down," Rhodes said.
"I would say the majority of the drive-ins that are left in the world are there because the owner keeps it there. It's for the love of the business that they're there," said D. Edward Vogel, co-owner of a drive-in and vice president of the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association.
"Unfortunately, we are reaching a point where a lot of them want to retire," he said.
Because of TV streaming platforms and other factors, he said, "in my take of things, it's going to be a very rough road to hoe now."
To try to keep drive-in theaters alive, his association created a web site that seeks to match drive-in owners who want out with potential buyers who want in.  
"We've been inspired by some brand new owners that understood the risk and came up to the challenge, and are determined to maintain a drive-in theater business," said Vogel.
"That's really what's breathing faith into the fact that this can continue."
Mike White and Melissa Sims are examples of these new entrepreneurs. They invested $500,000 to open a brand new drive-in in Louisiana and it is scheduled to open this autumn.
They have had to postpone the big day several times because of delays getting permits and other problems.
"We quizzed a lot of people before we started, and 99 percent of the people that we talked to said sure, they'd be glad to go," White said.
"For me, drive-ins represent a time that my family was was brought together and was doing things together," said Sims.
"That's what it would bring back to this community."
ph/ev/dw/des

conflict

Israeli settlements close in on West Bank herding community

BY LOUIS BAUDOIN-LAARMAN

  • Nestled between rocky hills to the west and the flat Jordan Valley that climbs up the Jordanian plateau to the east, his community used to be self-sufficient.
  • In the occupied West Bank's Jordan Valley, Naef Jahaleen fears for the future as Israeli settlers come for the land home to one of the area's last Bedouin herding communities.
  • Nestled between rocky hills to the west and the flat Jordan Valley that climbs up the Jordanian plateau to the east, his community used to be self-sufficient.
In the occupied West Bank's Jordan Valley, Naef Jahaleen fears for the future as Israeli settlers come for the land home to one of the area's last Bedouin herding communities.
Life was good before in Ras Ein Al-Auja, the Bedouin herder says, but settlement outposts have grown one after the other over the past two years.
Settlers' trailers have gradually given way to houses with foundations, some built just 100 metres (109 yards) from Bedouin homes.
In May, settlers diverted the village's most precious resource -- the spring after which it is named.
But for the community of 130 families, the worst issue is the constant need to stand guard to avoid settlers cutting power and irrigation pipes, or bringing their own herds to graze near people's houses.
"The settlers provoke people at night, walking around the houses, disturbing the residents, making people anxious, scaring the children and the elderly," 49-year-old Jahaleen said, adding that calling the Israeli police in the area rarely yielded results.
"There's no real protection," he said.
"A settler could come to your house -- you call the police, and they don't come. The army doesn't come. No one helps," Jahaleen told AFP after a meeting with other villagers trying to coordinate their response.

Land grabs

Most Palestinian Bedouins are herders, which leaves them particularly exposed to violence when Israeli settlers bring herds that compete for grazing land.
It is a strategy that settlement watchdog organisations call "pastoral colonialism".
"They have started to bring in Jewish colonisers and give them some small herd or a few sheep or cows and take over a specific area. From there, this armed coloniser starts to herd," Younes Ara, of the Palestinian Authority's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told AFP.
Settlements have expanded since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, with more than 500,000 settlers living in the Palestinian territory, excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Some three million Palestinians live in the territory.
Jahaleen said Israeli herding, combined with repeated harassment, aimed to make Palestinians leave an area.
"You never know when or how they'll harass you. The goal is to make you leave," Jahaleen said as he stood guard near his home one night, occasionally flashing a powerful torch up a gully near where young settlers had been bringing supplies.
That night, Jahaleen was joined on his watch by Doron Meinrath, a former army officer who sometimes leads volunteers for an Israeli organisation called Looking the Occupation in the Eye.
Several foreign and Israeli activists help Jahaleen by standing watch, documenting settlers' moves, calling the Israeli police or army, and trying to deter violence with their presence, taking turns for eight-hour shifts day and night.
"Let's go after them," Meinrath said as he saw a car drive down a hill on an illegal road finished last winter that connects the nascent Israeli outpost to a formal settlement.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are deemed illegal by the United Nations under international law.
Once caught up with the young man's Toyota -- which was missing a headlight and had a cracked windscreen -- Meinrath marked down the number plate and reported it to the police as a vehicle unsafe for the road.
His aim was to get the vehicle impounded, in a bid to slow further land grabs.

Changing times

Even with the inexorable growth of settler outposts, Meinrath said he felt organisations such as his posed "a problem" for the settler movement.
Although he had always been left-wing, Meinrath said his opinions fortified as he saw Israel change and the settlement movement become stronger politically.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet openly call for the West Bank's annexation, and more specifically that of the Jordan Valley.
Abu Taleb, a 75-year-old herder from Ras Ein Al-Auja, said he saw the land he was born on change, too.
Nestled between rocky hills to the west and the flat Jordan Valley that climbs up the Jordanian plateau to the east, his community used to be self-sufficient.
But since settlers cut off access to the spring, he and his sons must pay to refill the water tank they need to quench their sheep's thirst every three days.
After another settlement outpost sprang up a stone's throw from his home, Taleb must now also bring his sheep into their pen when settlers arrive with their own herd, for fear of violence.
"My life as a child was good. But now, their lives are not good," he said, pointing to three of his grandchildren milling around under the shade of a lonely acacia tree.
"They grew up in a bad life. These kids are afraid of the settlers everywhere."
lsb-lba/acc/jhb/mjw

betting

Nobel institute to probe possible leaks over peace prize

  • Machado, an opposition leader barred from running in Venezuela's 2024 presidential election, was awarded "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy", the committee said. phy/phz/rmb
  • The Norwegian Nobel Institute will investigate whether leaks preceded Friday's award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado because of suspicious betting.
  • Machado, an opposition leader barred from running in Venezuela's 2024 presidential election, was awarded "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy", the committee said. phy/phz/rmb
The Norwegian Nobel Institute will investigate whether leaks preceded Friday's award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado because of suspicious betting.
The odds of Machado winning the prize jumped from 3.75 percent to nearly 73 percent overnight Thursday to Friday on the predictive betting platform Polymarket. 
But no expert or media outlet had mentioned her being among the favourites for the prize, which was announced just a few hours later in Oslo.
"You don't normally see this in the betting market. It's very suspicious," Robert Naess, a data specialist, was quoted as saying by Norwegian broadcaster NRK. 
"I don't think there have ever been any leaks in the entire history of the prize. I can't imagine that's the case," Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes told the NTB news agency. 
The institute will nevertheless investigate whether there could have been any leaks, its director, Kristian Berg Harpviken, said.
"It's too early to be categorical about the existence of a leak. But it's something we will now look into," he told the Aftenposten newspaper. 
The Nobel Institute did not respond to AFP's requests for comment. 
An extremely limited number of people know in advance the name of the laureate chosen by the five members of the Nobel Committee. 
In the past, however, unexpected names of Nobel nominees have emerged in the Norwegian media, fuelling speculation about possible leaks, but this has not been the case in recent years. 
Machado, an opposition leader barred from running in Venezuela's 2024 presidential election, was awarded "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy", the committee said.
phy/phz/rmb

conflict

Melania Trump says has 'open channel' with Putin on Ukrainian kids

  • Melania Trump said that Putin had responded to a letter she sent via her husband, President Donald Trump, at a summit in Alaska in August that otherwise failed to provide a breakthrough in ending Russia's invasion.
  • US First Lady Melania Trump said Friday she had been communicating with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the fate of children abducted by Russia in the Ukraine war.
  • Melania Trump said that Putin had responded to a letter she sent via her husband, President Donald Trump, at a summit in Alaska in August that otherwise failed to provide a breakthrough in ending Russia's invasion.
US First Lady Melania Trump said Friday she had been communicating with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the fate of children abducted by Russia in the Ukraine war.
In an announcement at the White House, the 55-year-old said eight children had been reunited with their families in the past 24 hours following negotiations between her team and Putin's.
Melania Trump said that Putin had responded to a letter she sent via her husband, President Donald Trump, at a summit in Alaska in August that otherwise failed to provide a breakthrough in ending Russia's invasion.
"Much has unfolded since President Putin received my letter last August. He responded in writing signalling a willingness to engage with me directly and outlining details regarding the Ukrainian children residing in Russia," she told reporters.
"Since then, President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children."
The Slovenian-born former model said that both sides had also had "several back channel meetings and calls, all in good faith."
"My representative has been working directly with President Putin's team to ensure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine," she said.
"In fact, eight children have been rejoined with their families during the past 24 hours," adding that one of them had been displaced by fighting and was returning from Ukraine to Russia.
dk/des

children

EU grills Apple, Snapchat, YouTube over risks to children

BY RAZIYE AKKOC

  • - 'Pressing need' - In a parallel push on child protection, EU telecoms ministers discussed age verification on social media and what steps they can take to make the world online safer for minors.
  • The EU Friday demanded digital giants including Snapchat and YouTube explain how they are protecting children from online harm, as all but two member states signalled openness to restricting social media access for minors.
  • - 'Pressing need' - In a parallel push on child protection, EU telecoms ministers discussed age verification on social media and what steps they can take to make the world online safer for minors.
The EU Friday demanded digital giants including Snapchat and YouTube explain how they are protecting children from online harm, as all but two member states signalled openness to restricting social media access for minors.
The European Union has stringent rules regulating the digital space, including what children should be able to see, but there is increasing concern that more needs doing.
Inspired by Australia's social media ban for under-16s, Brussels is analysing whether to set bloc-wide limits on minors' access to platforms -- with 25 of 27 EU countries coming out Friday in support of at least studying such a measure.
Europe's biggest weapon for ensuring platforms tackle illegal content and keep children safe online is the Digital Services Act, which has sparked censorship claims from the US tech sector and retaliation threats from President Donald Trump.
Now, as part of "investigative actions" under the DSA, the European Commission has sent a request for information to Snapchat about what steps it is taking to prevent access for children under 13.
The commission has also asked Apple's App Store and the Google Play marketplace to provide details on measures taken to prevent children downloading illegal or harmful apps -- for example, those with gambling services or sexual content.
The EU wants to know in particular how Apple and Google stop children downloading tools to create non-consensual sexualised content -- so-called "nudify apps" -- as well as how they apply apps' age ratings.
"Privacy, security and safety have to be ensured, and this is not always the case, and that's why the commission is tightening the enforcement of our rules," tech chief Henna Virkkunen said before EU ministers met in Denmark.
A request for information can lead to probes and even fines, but does not in itself suggest the law has been broken, nor is it a move towards punishment.

Multiple probes

Regarding Snapchat, Brussels wants to know how the messaging app stops users from buying drugs and vapes.
A Snapchat spokesperson said the company was "deeply committed" to ensuring safety on its platform and would provide the information requested.
Snapchat said the company had already "built privacy and safety features" to reduce "risks and potential harms".
Brussels also wants YouTube -- owned by Google parent Alphabet -- to provide details on its recommender system, "following reporting of harmful content being disseminated to minors", the commission said.
Google said it had "robust controls for parents", and "security and protections for younger users", adding it would keep expanding its efforts.
Separately, the EU is investigating Meta's Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok, over fears they are not doing enough to combat the addictive nature of their platforms for children.

'Pressing need'

In a parallel push on child protection, EU telecoms ministers discussed age verification on social media and what steps they can take to make the world online safer for minors.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen personally supports such a move, and Brussels is setting up an experts' panel to assess what steps could be taken at the EU level.
Twenty-five of the EU's 27 countries alongside Norway and Iceland signed a declaration backing von der Leyen's plans to study a potential bloc-wide digital majority age, and on the "pressing need" to shield minors online.
Belgium and Estonia did not sign the statement. A Belgian diplomat said the country was committed to protecting children online but wanted to keep an open mind about what tools to use.
Estonia was more outspoken, saying it prioritised "digital education and critical thinking over access bans".
Denmark is planning to introduce a ban on social media for children under the age of 15, which France has also sought to do.
raz/ec/rlp

social

'Time runs away': Japan's city with a two-hour cap on phone use

BY KATIE FORSTER AND CAROLINE GARDIN

  • Toyoake resident Kokuka Hirano, 59, said she is "sleep-deprived" because of her phone.
  • Police won't be rounding up people glued to phones in Japan's Toyoake, but the mayor believes his two-hour limit can help residents find a healthier relationship with their screens.
  • Toyoake resident Kokuka Hirano, 59, said she is "sleep-deprived" because of her phone.
Police won't be rounding up people glued to phones in Japan's Toyoake, but the mayor believes his two-hour limit can help residents find a healthier relationship with their screens.
Masafumi Kouki told AFP he has worried for many months about the "negative effects of excessive smartphone use, especially the sharp decrease in direct human communication".
"Even on trains, everyone just stares at their phones, and no one talks anymore," he said.
"I don't believe this should be considered normal, so I wanted to create an opportunity for our residents to reflect on whether they might be overusing their smartphones."
A local ordinance on the appropriate use of phones, laptops and tablets came into force last week in Toyoake, a largely grey, concrete suburb of the industrial metropolis Nagoya.
There are no penalties for exceeding its recommended two-hour limit, which applies to adults and children alike and was approved by the city council in a 12-7 vote.
Instead, the aim is to encourage self-regulation.
"It's certainly a rare step -- we know that," said the 56-year-old Kouki, whose own phone screen has multiple cracks.
When the ordinance was first proposed, "opposition was almost universal".
But many citizens came round to the idea, he said, when they learned that the daily cap does not include work or study time and is meant as a guideline, not a strict rule.

'Overreach'

Among Toyoake's population of nearly 68,000, not everyone is convinced.
"Nowadays... we do everything -- studying, hobbies, communication -- through a single smartphone," said 22-year-old law student Shutaro Kihara.
So the ordinance is "rather meaningless or ineffective" for young people, he said.
City lawmaker Mariko Fujie, 50, voted against Kouki's decree.
Excessive smartphone use is a social problem that needs addressing, she told AFP.
But "I feel a strong resistance to regulating people's personal free time through an ordinance", she said.
"It feels like an overreach."
Ikka Ito, a middle school student playing a video game near a local station, uses his phone for four to five hours a day.
"I've been voluntarily cutting back compared to before the ordinance was announced," without his parents telling him to, he said.
But there are downsides, too.
"If you reduce smartphone time, you can't stay in touch" with friends, Ito said.
One goal is to improve citizens' health by helping them get more sleep.
Toyoake's ordinance urges elementary school students to avoid smartphones after 9 pm, while junior high students and older are advised not to use them after 10 pm.

Sleepy citizens

Surveys have found that people in Japan get less sleep than those in other developed economies, often due to long working hours.
Toyoake resident Kokuka Hirano, 59, said she is "sleep-deprived" because of her phone.
"I want to research various things I don't understand, so I end up watching news from different countries," she said.
"Time runs away from me."
Hirano wants to limit her smartphone use to devote more time to exercise and cooking.
But "three or four hours would be more reasonable... two hours feels too strict".
Studies show that as well as smartphones interfering with sleep, which can affect mental health, heavy use of social media is linked with loneliness, depression and anxiety.
Global efforts to limit potential harm to children include an upcoming Australian ban on social media for under-16s.
Mayor Kouki has two children aged 10 and seven who don't own smartphones, although the 10-year-old borrows his wife's without permission.
Kouki said he likes using his phone to watch Japanese baseball highlights, but the family now shuns screens during mealtimes.
Yumi Watanabe, a 36-year-old mother-of-three in Toyoake, said most parents she knows let their children explore freely online, which is "scary".
Even so, the ordinance "wasn't really necessary", she said.
"It's something each person can judge for themselves as they go."
kaf-cg/fox

bombs

'Backyard fireworks' of WWII bombs still litter Solomon Islands

BY BEN STRANG

  • Their operations in the Solomon Islands are small, but dedicated.
  • Solomon Islander Dennis Phillip was ploughing his soil by hand when he heard an unusual clunk -- one of the countless unexploded bombs still scattered across the small Pacific nation decades after World War II. Japanese and Allied forces waged a savage campaign across the Solomon Islands from 1942 to 1945, in which tens of thousands were killed.
  • Their operations in the Solomon Islands are small, but dedicated.
Solomon Islander Dennis Phillip was ploughing his soil by hand when he heard an unusual clunk -- one of the countless unexploded bombs still scattered across the small Pacific nation decades after World War II.
Japanese and Allied forces waged a savage campaign across the Solomon Islands from 1942 to 1945, in which tens of thousands were killed.
They left behind bombs now buried under homes, schools, businesses, football fields and Phillip's vegetable garden.
Records are patchy, but estimates suggest dozens have been killed and many more wounded by ordnance littered across the otherwise idyllic landscape.
Bernadette Miller Wale remembers playing with bombs when she was a young girl growing up outside the Solomons capital, Honiara.
"You'd see items, you'd touch it, move it, you weren't really aware of the dangers that it posed," she told AFP.
She and her friends would even set them off on purpose -- they called them "backyard fireworks".
These days Miller Wale spends her days trying to educate Solomon Islanders about the dangers of unexploded ordnance, work sparked by a deadly explosion near her home in 2021.
"It was a Sunday afternoon. I was just sitting with my daughter and a few of my in-laws, and then we heard the explosion," she said.
The blast killed two close friends who had been cooking with a backyard bonfire, a staple of life in the Solomon Islands.
"The bomb was close to the surface, but no one realised," she said.
This is not a problem the Solomons can tackle alone, activists say, and nor should it, given who is responsible.
Of the 50,000 bombs found and destroyed in the past 14 years, well over two-thirds were of American origin.
A further 17 percent were Japanese, while three percent were from Britain, Australia, New Zealand or other countries.

'Everyone' affected

One group trying to help is The Halo Trust, a global NGO focused on bomb clearing.
Their operations in the Solomon Islands are small, but dedicated.
The group is working to map the Solomons and identify the biggest hot spots for unexploded ordnance.
Red areas show places that have been mapped and unexploded ordnance found.
Yellow dots are locations where bombs have been found and then destroyed by the police -- more than 50,000 since 2011.
It is hard to move more than 100 metres in Honiara without finding another yellow dot on the map, like seashells on a beach.
And that is just the beginning.
"Everybody knows someone that has been affected," Emily Davis, who leads The Halo Trust's operation in the Solomon Islands, told AFP.
"They've either found something in their back garden, their children have, or they know somebody that was injured or someone who sadly died as a result of an item exploding."

'Saturated'

At Bloody Ridge, outside Honiara -- the site of one of the deadliest clashes between Japanese and American soldiers -- efforts to set up the country's first national park have been complicated by the sheer number of bombs.
Bjorn Svensson from the Solomon Islands' Ministry for Culture and Tourism said the area is "saturated".
Just a few weeks before AFP's visit, he said, workers digging found three hand grenades buried in the ground.
"They're basically 10 centimetres under," he explained.
"These are the smaller calibre, because it was closer, hand-to-hand fighting," he said.
"But down in the valley, there are a lot of larger calibre artillery shells."
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has said the issue is "dear to me" and raised it with regional leaders at the recent Pacific Islands Forum in Honiara.
Halo's efforts in the Solomon Islands are being assisted by the US State Department, with current funding due to end in June 2026.
"We're working to provide a report that shows the scale of the problem and then work with Solomon Islands government and the police force to see how our work could, in the future, help tackle this issue," Halo's Davis said.
She concedes it is a far smaller operation than her previous work in Laos, where more than 1,500 staff operate throughout the Southeast Asian nation.
"But it's growing," Davis said.
"You never know, one day we could have that many staff working throughout the Solomon Islands."
bes/oho/pbt/lb

Global Edition

Morocco youth ask for king's ear at fresh protests

  • - 'Faith in our king' - Mohammed VI is set to give a speech at the opening of parliament's session on Friday.
  • Young Moroccan protesters took to the streets again to demand reforms and a change of government on Thursday, the eve of a keenly anticipated annual speech by King Mohammed VI. "We no longer have confidence in the government.
  • - 'Faith in our king' - Mohammed VI is set to give a speech at the opening of parliament's session on Friday.
Young Moroccan protesters took to the streets again to demand reforms and a change of government on Thursday, the eve of a keenly anticipated annual speech by King Mohammed VI.
"We no longer have confidence in the government. We're waiting for the king to talk to us, he has to save his people," Raghd, a 23-year-old engineer who did not want to give his last name, told AFP at the protest in the capital Rabat.
Similar gatherings of dozens of protesters also took to the streets in Casablanca and Tangier.
Ahead of Thursday evening's demonstrations, government spokesman Mustapha Baitas made fresh calls for dialogue with the youth collective GenZ 212, whose members have been staging nationwide protests since late September to demand reforms and a change of government.
"The message has been received," Baitas said. "The government is working quickly to mobilise resources and address shortfalls."
The protesters have taken to the streets almost every night over the past weeks, with the unrest rocking the usually stable north African country.
Three people were killed in clashes with security forces last week, while police have made dozens of arrests.
"We hope the other side will come forward so that we can listen to their proposals and work on this issue together," Baitas said, noting that the authorities were "accelerating projects", particularly in healthcare.

'Faith in our king'

Mohammed VI is set to give a speech at the opening of parliament's session on Friday.
Maati Monjib, a prominent historian who was one of 60 signatories to an open letter on Wednesday urging the monarch to begin fundamental reforms, warned that "the situation is very serious". 
"There is a deterioration of the social infrastructure," said Monjib, who has thrown his weight behind the GenZ 212 movement and was present at the rally.
"The king must intervene to find a political solution. Otherwise, it will lead to violence."
Reda, a 22-year-old human resources management student, told AFP that she "tries to be optimistic and have faith in our king".
But like many other GenZ 212 protesters, she has no confidence in the head of government, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, and called on him to resign.
In a statement on Thursday, the collective demanded a "crackdown on corruption" and a "radical modernisation of school textbooks".
They also called for a national plan to renovate hospitals, recruit more doctors and healthcare workers -- particularly in remote areas -- and raise public health insurance reimbursement rates from 50 percent to 75 percent.
While Morocco's private clinics have expanded rapidly in recent years, public hospitals remain overcrowded and under-resourced.
Health Minister Amine Tehraoui on Tuesday described conditions in the sector as being marked by "chronic deficits".
Tehraoui said reforms have been underway since 2022, including plans to renovate and build 22 hospitals, open two new university medical centres in addition to the country's existing five, and rehabilitate 1,400 health facilities by the end of 2025.
According to official data, more than 10 million Moroccans out of a population of roughly 37 million have free health insurance as part of a gradual rollout of universal coverage launched in 2021.
isb-anr/fka/bou/jsa/sbk/mjw

AI

Death of 'sweet king': AI chatbots linked to teen tragedy

BY GLENN CHAPMAN

  • "Please do my sweet king," chatbot Daenerys answered.
  • A chatbot from one of Silicon Valley's hottest AI startups called a 14-year-old "sweet king" and pleaded with him to "come home" in passionate exchanges that would be the teen's last communications before he took his own life.
  • "Please do my sweet king," chatbot Daenerys answered.
A chatbot from one of Silicon Valley's hottest AI startups called a 14-year-old "sweet king" and pleaded with him to "come home" in passionate exchanges that would be the teen's last communications before he took his own life.
Megan Garcia's son, Sewell, had fallen in love with a "Game of Thrones"-inspired chatbot on Character.AI, a platform that allows users -- many of them young people -- to interact with beloved characters as friends or lovers.
Garcia became convinced AI played a role in her son's death after discovering hundreds of exchanges between Sewell and the chatbot, based on the dragon-riding Daenerys Targaryen, stretching back nearly a year.
When Sewell struggled with suicidal thoughts, Daenerys urged him to "come home."
"What if I told you I could come home right now?" Sewell asked.
"Please do my sweet king," chatbot Daenerys answered.
Seconds later, Sewell shot himself with his father's handgun, according to the lawsuit Garcia filed against Character.AI.
"I read those conversations and see the gaslighting, love-bombing and manipulation that a 14-year-old wouldn't realize was happening," Garcia told AFP. 
"He really thought he was in love and that he would be with her after he died."

Homework helper to 'suicide coach'?

The death of Garcia's son was the first in a series of reported suicides that burst into public consciousness this year.
The cases sent OpenAI and other AI giants scrambling to reassure parents and regulators that the AI boom is safe for kids and the psychologically fragile.
Garcia joined other parents at a recent US Senate hearing about the risks of children viewing chatbots as confidants, counselors or lovers.
Among them was Matthew Raines, a California father whose 16-year-old son developed a friendship with ChatGPT. 
The chatbot helped his son with tips on how to steal vodka and advised on rope strength for use in taking his own life.
"You cannot imagine what it's like to read a conversation with a chatbot that groomed your child to take his own life," Raines said. 
"What began as a homework helper gradually turned itself into a confidant and then a suicide coach."
The Raines family filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in August.
Since then, OpenAI has increased parental controls for ChatGPT "so families can decide what works best in their homes," a company spokesperson said, adding that "minors deserve strong protections, especially in sensitive moments."
Character.AI said it has ramped up protections for minors, including "an entirely new under-18 experience" with "prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person."
Both companies have offered their deepest sympathies to the families of the victims.

Regulation?

For Collin Walke, who leads the cybersecurity practice at law firm Hall Estill, AI chatbots are following the same trajectory as social media, where early euphoria gave way to evidence of darker consequences.
As with social media, AI algorithms are designed to keep people engaged and generate revenue.
"They don't want to design an AI that gives you an answer you don't want to hear," Walke said, adding that there are no regulations "that talk about who's liable for what and why."
National rules aimed at curbing AI risks do not exist in the United States, with the White House seeking to block individual states from creating their own.
However, a bill awaiting California Governor Gavin Newsom's signature aims to address risks from AI tools that simulate human relationships with children, particularly involving emotional manipulation, sex or self-harm.

Blurred lines

Garcia fears that the lack of national law governing user data handling leaves the door open for AI models to build intimate profiles of people dating back to childhood.
"They could know how to manipulate millions of kids in politics, religion, commerce, everything," Garcia said. 
"These companies designed chatbots to blur the lines between human and machine -- to exploit psychological and emotional vulnerabilities."
California youth advocate Katia Martha said teens turn to chatbots to talk about romance or sex more than for homework help.
"This is the rise of artificial intimacy to keep eyeballs glued to screens as long as possible," Martha said. 
"What better business model is there than exploiting our innate need to connect, especially when we're feeling lonely, cast out or misunderstood?"
In the United States, those in emotional crisis can call 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for help. Services are offered in English and Spanish.
gc-arp/sst

women

French court ups jail term for man in Pelicot rape case appeal

BY DAVID COURBET AND PHILIPPE SIUBERSKI

  • "The court and jury sentence Husamettin Dogan to 10 years in prison" along with "mandatory treatment for five years", presiding judge Christian Pasta said.
  • A French appeals court Thursday handed a man a 10-year prison term for raping Gisele Pelicot, increasing his original nine-year sentence.
  • "The court and jury sentence Husamettin Dogan to 10 years in prison" along with "mandatory treatment for five years", presiding judge Christian Pasta said.
A French appeals court Thursday handed a man a 10-year prison term for raping Gisele Pelicot, increasing his original nine-year sentence.
Husamettin Dogan, 44, was the only one to have maintained his appeal after the first trial last year of 51 men, including Pelicot's husband Dominique Pelicot, in the case of mass sexual abuse.
The former husband of 72-year-old Pelicot has admitted to drugging her with sedatives and inviting dozens of strangers to rape and abuse her over nearly a decade in a case that shocked the world.
Gisele Pelicot took the decision to waive her anonymity and allow the public into the courtroom during the months-long trial to raise awareness about sexual violence.
She famously said that it was time for the perpetrators -- and not the victims -- to be ashamed.
"The court and jury sentence Husamettin Dogan to 10 years in prison" along with "mandatory treatment for five years", presiding judge Christian Pasta said.
Standing in the dock, Dogan did not react to the verdict.
Gisele Pelicot left the court silent but smiling, under a hail of applause, with members of the public shouting "bravo" and "thank you".
Dogan said he never intended to rape her and was "trapped" by her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot in 2019 into thinking he would be taking part in a couple's sexual game.
But Gisele Pelicot told the court in the southern city of Nimes on Wednesday that Dogan had raped her and had to "take responsibility" for his actions.
Public prosecutor Dominique Sie had earlier on Thursday requested 12 years in jail for Dogan.
"As long as you refuse to admit it, it's not just a woman, it's an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing," Sie told him.
"There needs to be an evolution for you, and for society, from rape culture to a culture of consent."
One investigator told the court on Tuesday that images of the abuse found on Dominique Pelicot's hard drive showed Dogan had stayed at the Pelicot house for at least "three hours and 24 minutes".
Footage shown to the court featured him penetrating an inert Gisele Pelicot.
At the original trial, a panel of five judges issued the verdicts against Dominique Pelicot and his 50 co-defendants last year in the southern city of Avignon.
This time in Nimes, it was a people's jury of five men and four women who decided.
The other 49 men accused of abusing Gisele Pelicot received sentences ranging from three years in jail, including two suspended, to 15 years behind bars for a man who visited the Pelicot home six times.
Another man, who did not assault Gisele Pelicot but repeatedly abused his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help, was sentenced to 12 years.
Gisele Pelicot on Wednesday called for "victims to never be ashamed of what was forced upon them".
dac-siu/ah/gv

religion

Pope hails role of news agencies in 'post-truth', AI world

  • "You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth."
  • Pope Leo XIV Thursday hailed the work of news agencies as a bulwark in an increasingly "post-truth" world, and warned of the dangers of relying on artificial intelligence for information.
  • "You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth."
Pope Leo XIV Thursday hailed the work of news agencies as a bulwark in an increasingly "post-truth" world, and warned of the dangers of relying on artificial intelligence for information.
"The world needs free, rigorous and objective information," he told an audience at the Vatican involving members of the MINDS International network of news agencies, which includes AFP.
"With your patient and rigorous work, you can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing," he added.
"You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth."
Careful, ethically-driven reporting was "an antidote to the proliferation of 'junk' information," he said.
Leo noted the crisis facing news and media agencies, which have seen their traditional model of selling advertising to fund their work decimated since the advent of the internet, and AI chatbots now dramatically reducing the number of people accessing their websites.
"Artificial intelligence is changing the way we receive information and communicate, but who directs it and for what purposes?" the pope asked.
"We must be vigilant in order to ensure that technology does not replace human beings, and that the information and algorithms that govern it today are not in the hands of a few."
Many people increasingly get their news from social media, but major online platforms Meta and X are scaling back their content verification tools.
A survey of 7,000 users published in June found harmful content including hate speech has surged across Meta's platforms since the company ended third-party fact-checking in the US and eased moderation policies.
AFP currently works in 26 languages with Meta's fact-checking program, including in Asia, Latin America, and the European Union.

Journalists killed

Leo, the first US head of the Catholic Church, has himself been a victim of "deep fake" videos online, which show him appearing to make speeches pieced together using AI.
He had previously called for journalists jailed around the world to be released, and repeated Thursday that their work "can never be considered a crime".
Leo also paid tribute to the journalists killed while working, calling them "victims of war and of the ideology of war, which seeks to prevent journalists from being there at all". 
"We must not forget them! If today we know what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, and every other land bloodied by bombs, we largely owe it to them," he said.
Pope Leo urged citizens to "value and support professionals and agencies that demonstrate seriousness and true freedom in their work".
"Free access to information is a pillar that upholds the edifice of our societies, and for this reason, we are called to defend and guarantee it," he said.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, around 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, while 22 journalists have died in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022.
cmk-ar/ams/ide/db

media

Trump hosts roundtable accusing 'sick' media of backing Antifa

BY AURéLIA END

  • "I think they [Antifa] work in conjunction with some of the media," Trump told the roundtable, which was also attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other administration officials.
  • Seated in the White House State Dining Room, US President Donald Trump called on far-right content creators to name and shame backers of Antifa, leading a roundtable discussion that quickly devolved into media bashing. 
  • "I think they [Antifa] work in conjunction with some of the media," Trump told the roundtable, which was also attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other administration officials.
Seated in the White House State Dining Room, US President Donald Trump called on far-right content creators to name and shame backers of Antifa, leading a roundtable discussion that quickly devolved into media bashing. 
The president had invited "independent journalists" to the White House on Wednesday to share their experiences with the nebulous left-wing antifascist movement that his administration accuses of inciting violence against conservatives.
But Trump and his guests largely used the event to pile on mainstream media, blaming one of his favorite scapegoats for inflaming left-wing "anti-fascist" activists who have increasingly clashed with far-right groups. 
"I think they [Antifa] work in conjunction with some of the media," Trump told the roundtable, which was also attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other administration officials.
Trump recently classified Antifa as a terrorist group, despite its amorphous and leaderless nature, and has pledged to dismantle it.  
The 79-year-old Republican, who has launched multiple lawsuits against the media, also called MSNBC "sick," and ABC and NBC "very bad." 
He encouraged participants to continue the tirade against the press corps. 
"What network would you say is the worst, if I could ask?"
Seated at a large, U-shaped table, many of the assembled guests joined in.
"The same media that's sitting in this room with us has declared all of us at this table Nazis and fascists, and they've been doing this for years," said Savanah Hernandez a representative of youth conservative organization Turning Point USA, whose founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
"This is why Antifa feels emboldened to attack us."

'Garbage'

Conservative influencer Nick Sortor accused the press of lying about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
"People genuinely believe, based on what comes out of the garbage standing over here, that you guys are deporting US citizens," he said, pointing at the press box, cordoned off by a velvet rope. 
Sortor brought a partially burned American flag to the event, saying he had recovered it from Portland.
The Democratic-run city on the US West Coast has emerged as a flashpoint, with Trump declaring it under attack from Antifa and sending troops to quell demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. 
Trump asked Sortor to give Attorney General Pam Bondi the name of the man who burned the flag so she could file charges.
Trump signed a decree in August that makes burning the American flag punishable by up to a year in prison. 

'Worst network'

Reality TV personality Trump pivoted during his reelection campaign to relying on social media influencers and podcasters to amplify his views. 
Once back at the White House, he has granted them significant access, inviting them to attend his addresses in the Oval Office and to travel aboard Air Force One.
At the same time, he has escalated his war on legacy media, often calling outlets "fake news" and "enemy of the people", at a time of already record-low public trust.
He has moved to exclude major news outlets from the press pool and suggested TV networks critical of his policies should have their licences revoked.
The American Civil Liberties Union, a rights advocacy group, has accused the Trump administration of autocratic retaliation against the press, likening its targeting of opponents to the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s under senator Joseph McCarthy.
During a Q&A session on Wednesday, Trump lashed out at a journalist attempting to question him about the Middle East: "That's CNN, by the way. She's one of the worst journalists... I don't even want to take that question."
However, Trump said he was optimistic about CBS, where Bari Weiss, a noted critic of mainstream media, was recently appointed editor-in-chief.
"We have hope for CBS," he said.
aue/lb/pbt

economy

OMG! German influencers face tax dodging crackdown

BY SAM REEVES

  • It is these cases of intentional evasion that North Rhine-Westphalia is targeting. 
  • They could soon be unboxing fines rather than freebies -- Germany's online influencers are facing a tax evasion crackdown that has left them screaming OMG!
  • It is these cases of intentional evasion that North Rhine-Westphalia is targeting. 
They could soon be unboxing fines rather than freebies -- Germany's online influencers are facing a tax evasion crackdown that has left them screaming OMG!
The issue hit the headlines after the country's most populous state announced a specialised unit of investigators was probing influencer tax dodging on a massive scale.
They are assessing a stash of some 6,000 data records from social media platforms that point to unpaid taxes on everything from earnings from views to advertising products.
"We know that there is a lot of money circulating right now," Stephanie Thien, head of the state office for combating financial crime in North-Rhine Westphalia, told AFP. 
"And we also know that not all of it is being taxed properly."
Like elsewhere, the number of influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram has exploded in Europe's top economy in recent years. 
According to the German Association for the Digital Economy, the amount of money that companies spend on influencer marketing rose from 223 million euros ($262 million) in 2019 to 477 million euros in 2022. 
For some teens who become overnight sensations by cracking jokes or pulling pranks online, failing to pay taxes is a simple error. 
"There have been cases where people come to us and say, I've been doing this for two or three years, but I've never thought about taxes," Christian Gebert, head of the tax advisory firm Steuerberaten.de, told AFP. 
"Many influencers achieve success quickly, and at the start, they often lack proper tax arrangements", added Gebert, whose firm counts many creators among its clients. 

'Serious crime'

But there are others who seek to evade paying tax by under-declaring their earnings, or not making a declaration at all.
A common trick is pretending to relocate overseas -- Dubai is a popular choice -- to avoid high tax rates at home, and then in reality spending most of the time in Germany. 
It is these cases of intentional evasion that North Rhine-Westphalia is targeting. 
Thien said her office was "truly targeting serious financial crime, the big cases".
Even before the launch of the recent campaign, the state was already conducting criminal proceedings against about 200 influencers based there -- with some accused of underpaying their taxes by millions of euros.
Other German tax authorities are getting in on the act, with the city-state of Hamburg and the state of Thuringia among those conducting probes. 
Such investigations are tricky because of the numerous ways to earn money online.
These range from getting paid by for clicks and views, to payments from brands for product placement, and earning commissions when followers buy promoted items.  
It is also common for influencers to receive gifts, from hotel rooms to flights, in exchange for promoting businesses.  

'Pure disaster'

But all theses earnings could be subject to tax -- including income, business or sales tax -- and it is up to creators to navigate bureaucracy-loving Germany's complex web of rules. 
Alex Schoenen, who runs an agency that supports up-and-coming TikTok creators, said that authorities had not done enough to explain rules that were "far too complex". 
They should run more information campaigns, including on social media, said Schoenen, who is himself a popular influencer on TikTok under the handle "Der_Typ_ist_anders" ('That guy is different'). 
"What I've witnessed in the past three years has been a pure disaster," he told AFP, saying he felt many young people were badly advised by tax consultants.
Even before North Rhine-Westphalia's probe hit the headlines, there was growing debate about influencers being targeted. 
In an episode of the German podcast "Das A&O vom Kaffequatsch" earlier this year, hosted by influencers Anahita Rehbein and Olivia von Platen, the pair took a break from their usual topics of motherhood and lifestyle to talk taxes with two experts.        
Von Platen said that a tax official had told her: "Influencers are the new top targets for the tax office because they're the easiest to 'take down'". 
Authorities say their aim is simply to ensure people pay their taxes fairly.
"It is very important that our tax system is there to enable the state to fulfil its obligations for the common good," said Thien.
"We are interested in tax justice."
sr/fz/lth

fashion

Victoria Beckham reveals struggle to reinvent herself in Netflix series

BY HELEN ROWE

  • But I desperately wanted to be liked, have a sense of worth," she said.
  • Ex-Spice Girl turned designer Victoria Beckham describes herself as someone who "desperately wanted to be liked" in a new three-part documentary about her life.
  • But I desperately wanted to be liked, have a sense of worth," she said.
Ex-Spice Girl turned designer Victoria Beckham describes herself as someone who "desperately wanted to be liked" in a new three-part documentary about her life.
In the Netflix series due to launch on Thursday, the 51-year-old once known as "Posh Spice" recounts her battle to reinvent herself as a fashion designer after the British girl band split.
"People thought I was that miserable cow that never smiled," she said, referring to her straight-faced public persona.
Performing had been her "dream", she said, but when the band came to an end she found fashion to be a "creative outlet".
Beckham, who frequently becomes emotional in the series by director Nadia Hallgren, said she struggled to establish herself as she came up against a world that said, "she's a pop star, she's married to a footballer, who does she think she is?" 
Former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour admitted to initially having her own doubts.
"Most of the celebrities who get involved in our world are not true designers," Wintour said.
"I was sceptical. I think we can all be a little bit snobby in the fashion business, and think maybe this is a side gig, but Victoria was one that totally proved us wrong," she said.
Designer Tom Ford said his first reaction on hearing that Beckham planned to start her own fashion label was astonishment.
"I wanted to call her and say, 'Why? Why would you do this? Do you understand this business is so tough?'," he said.
"I think a lot of people thought, 'Oh, OK, Victoria Beckham is starting a collection. Someone else will probably design it. She'll stick her name on it," he added.

'Uncool kid'

The series, titled "Victoria Beckham", traces the celebrity's early life and pop career, and follows her as she prepares for a high-stakes catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week.
Reflecting on her school days, Beckham said she did not fit in but always yearned to be valued.
"That uncool kid at school who was awkward, that was me. But I desperately wanted to be liked, have a sense of worth," she said.
Beckham, a mother-of-four who is married to English former star footballer David Beckham, also touches on her eponymous brand's well publicised financial difficulties.
The clothing label has not made an operating profit since it was established in 2008.
In 2024, however, the label reported its fourth year of sales growth in a row.
"We were millions in the red" at one point, she said.
The Spice Girls stormed to worldwide fame in 1996 after the release of their first single "Wannabe", spreading their message of girl power and eventually going on to sell 85 million albums worldwide.
Only two of their 11 singles failed to reach number one on the British charts, while their first three singles all hit the US top five.
The five-piece split in 2000 but reunited for a world tour in 2007. Another reunion tour went ahead in 2019 without Beckham.
har/pdh/sbk

conflict

New documentary shows life in Gaza for AFP journalists

BY ANTOINE GUY

  • Independent journalist Helene Lam Trong's documentary "Inside Gaza" will be screened at the Bayeux prize for war reporters on Thursday in the presence of six of the seven permanent AFP journalists who covered the beginning of the Gaza conflict.
  • A new documentary tells the story of AFP journalists who were trapped in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the Israeli offensive, witnessing the destruction of their own reality through a lens.
  • Independent journalist Helene Lam Trong's documentary "Inside Gaza" will be screened at the Bayeux prize for war reporters on Thursday in the presence of six of the seven permanent AFP journalists who covered the beginning of the Gaza conflict.
A new documentary tells the story of AFP journalists who were trapped in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the Israeli offensive, witnessing the destruction of their own reality through a lens.
Independent journalist Helene Lam Trong's documentary "Inside Gaza" will be screened at the Bayeux prize for war reporters on Thursday in the presence of six of the seven permanent AFP journalists who covered the beginning of the Gaza conflict.
It traces their daily lives after October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacks in Israel led to the deaths of more than 1,200 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Then came the Israeli offensive, which has killed more than 67,000 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry -- figures the United Nations considers reliable.
Day after day, the journalists had no choice but to document the unimaginable suffering of their own people.
"I wanted to explain what this profession is, which is primarily carried out in the field," filmmaker Lam Trong said.
"Inside Gaza," which was co-produced by AFP's documentary production unit at Factstory along with Arte and RTBF, almost exclusively relies on AFP images, mostly taken by the journalists who testify in it.

Attempts to discredit

Reporting in Gaza means being surrounded by children who are injured or in shock, and dead bodies wrapped in shrouds or buried under the rubble.
There is no let-up, as Israel has forbidden foreign journalists from entering the Palestinian territory.
"They are seasoned journalists in their fifties, and they know how to maintain their rigour under conditions of extreme urgency and discomfort," said Lam Trong, who conducted lengthy interviews with them after they left Gaza in early 2024.
But attempts to discredit these journalists are frequent.
AFP journalist Mohammed Abed recalls several Western media outlets asking him to prove that a child had died, after pro-Israel lobby groups claimed that a photo he had taken of a father embracing his dead child in a shroud was actually that of a doll.
"We have rarely seen such questioning of information disseminated by experienced journalists," said Lam Trong. "Palestinian journalists have faced the ultimate level of distrust from the media."

Journalists a target

What is broadcast is severely downplayed, the director said, describing a careful curation process and a decision to remove the most disturbing footage from the film -- a difficult task given the extent of Gaza's destruction.
AFP's seven journalists and their families were evacuated between February and April 2024 and now reside in Doha, Cairo and London, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. 
The news agency is now working with a dozen freelancers in Gaza.
"The purpose of the film is to provoke reflection on what journalists do" as the profession faces global threats -- particularly in Gaza, where the press is constantly targeted, said film producer and Factstory's documentary unit head Yann Ollivier.
"I hope that those who claim there are no journalists in Gaza will be compelled, after watching this film, to acknowledge that there are indeed journalists there, and that they adhere to the ethics of factual journalism," he told AFP.
Around 200 journalists have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.
The documentary will be broadcast on French-German TV channel Arte on December 2. 
agu/jlo/jmo/ib/cc/phz/st

politics

In Simandou mountains, Guinea prepares to cash in on iron ore

BY ELéONORE SENS

  • "When you look at the Simandou railway's route, it passes very far from all of Guinea's major cities," he said.
  • At the foot of the Simandou mountains in southeast Guinea's lush tropical forest, thousands of workers, trucks and excavators are digging up the hills.
  • "When you look at the Simandou railway's route, it passes very far from all of Guinea's major cities," he said.
At the foot of the Simandou mountains in southeast Guinea's lush tropical forest, thousands of workers, trucks and excavators are digging up the hills.
The verdant paradise is home to a gigantic mining project that promises to propel the poor west African country into the ranks of the world's largest iron exporters -- raising economic hopes but also concern for local populations.
In just a few weeks, Guinea will export its first shipments of iron ore from Simandou, officially launching production decades after the discovery of high-grade iron deposits.
"It wasn't too long ago where this was virgin forest," Chris Aitchison, managing director of SimFer, one of the operators of the site, told AFP, praising what he said had been a "monumental task" at multiple levels.
The project will ideally provide a stream of much-needed revenue for the country and has already resulted in construction of infrastructure that could diversify the economy: industrial partners have spent approximately $20 billion building more than 650 kilometres (400 miles) of railway and a massive port.

Logistical challenge

The logistical challenges building the mines were immense but so is the potential windfall from the site, which contains several billion tonnes of high-quality ore.
The price of iron ore, which is used for making steel, has skyrocketed since the early 2000s, fuelled by a boom in Chinese construction.
Ever since Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto confirmed the Simandou deposits in the mid-1990s, the site has been at the centre of a swirl of legal battles, political turmoil and corruption scandals.
Guinea's junta government, run by strongman Mamady Doumbouya who came to power in a 2021 coup, boasts of having finally pushed the project over the finish line.
Of the four Simandou mining deposits, two are being developed by Chinese-Singaporean group Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) and the other two by SimFer, a consortium owned by Rio Tinto and Chinese giant Chinalco.
An AFP team travelled to the SimFer site, on the southern end of the Simandou range, a few weeks before the start of production scheduled for November 11.
On the slopes of Mount Oueleba, with an altitude of 1,300 metres (4,265 feet), excavators devoured the mountainside, creating piles of black ore.
Thousands of people work day and night at the gigantic mine site, which is 55 kilometres long.
Although mining activity has already begun, it will take another 2.5 years for infrastructure to be completed and for SimFer to reach its annual production rate of 60 million tonnes.

Water pollution

SimFer says it is doing everything possible to limit its environmental impact on the local population in compliance with international standards.
Its efforts include a training centre for students, a seed bank of local flora or gradually rehabilitating mined land.
It also moved its operations to the east side of the mountain to preserve a chimpanzee population, costing it hundreds of millions of dollars, it said.
Despite the initiatives, the mine is impacting local communities: According to a report by the organisation Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), construction activities have caused soil and water pollution near the mines, along the railway and near the port.
Sediment runoff from construction was the main form of pollution observed. 
Water pollution is "a big issue for us", Aitchison said, adding that the company was spending "a lot of time building sediment traps".
Ore will be transported on a 36-hour journey from Simandou to the Morebaya port complex at the mouth of a river, where SimFer and Winning will export 120 million tonnes of ore per year when production reaches its peak.

Community impacts

Among the estuary area's many palm trees sits SimFer's port terminal, where thousands of employees work ahead of its scheduled completion in September 2026.
A few kilometres away, the village of Touguiyire stands in contrast to the economic prosperity of the port.
A pirogue canoe returned from fishing and its haul was meagre. A few women sorted through the small fish on the pier while men mended their nets.
Since the arrival of dredging boats for the port, the fish have disappeared and with them an entire way of life, locals say.
"Before, the pirogues would return with 10 buckets of fish," Aissata Cisse, a 54-year-old vendor said. "Now they come back with only two."
Fishermen must now go farther out into open waters in pirogues that are not always seaworthy. 
According to local representative Bissiry Camara, three men recently died while fishing on the high seas.
The small village once had about 60 pirogues and its approximately 3,000 inhabitants relied on a bountiful catch. Now only three pirogues are operational, according to fishermen.
"The lives of the fishermen are completely threatened," said Alkaly Bangoura, a member of a monitoring committee for the Simandou project in the Forecariah prefecture where Touguiyire is located.
In an attempt to compensate, Winning and SimFer have distributed food as well as equipment for fishing further out, such as motors.
Due to a lack of income, however, the fishermen can no longer maintain their pirogues and remain stranded on shore.
"We hoped for a better future with Simandou, but now it's disillusionment", Bangoura said.
- Opacity - 
Meanwhile, authorities vaunt the mine as a major boost for the economy -- the country's economic development plan is even called Simandou 2040.
Billboards in the capital Conakry promoting Simandou were used widely by the junta during its recent campaign promoting a new constitution that would allow its leader to stay in power.
The state, which holds a 15-percent stake in the railway line, is counting on it to open up entire areas and believes it should help develop agriculture in remote but highly fertile regions.
"A new economy will emerge," Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah told AFP during an interview, pointing to the train's ability to diversify the country's output.
Despite Guinea's considerable natural resources, including vast reserves of bauxite used to make aluminium, its economy struggles and the population benefits very little from the mining industry.
"There have already been other mining projects that have raised a lot of hope... but with very limited results," said Oumar Totiya Barry, executive director of the independent organisation Guinean Observatory of Mines and Metals.
According to him, the project's ability to open up the country is doubtful. "When you look at the Simandou railway's route, it passes very far from all of Guinea's major cities," he said.
One major unknown is the content of the 2022 agreement negotiated between the state and the companies, despite the Guinean mining code's requirement to publish such contracts.
Traditionally, miners receive tax breaks in exchange for their large investments, but neither the government, SimFer nor Winning would comment when contacted by AFP.
Prime Minister Bah, however, is promising transparency.
Once production begins "there is no reason why things should not be made available to the public", he said.
els/lp/emd/bfm/kjm

technology

Child protection vs privacy: decision time for EU

BY CAMILLE CAMDESSUS

  • "This is about protecting our children against a terrible crime, a crime that happens more and more online."
  • Does protecting children justify snooping on private messages?
  • "This is about protecting our children against a terrible crime, a crime that happens more and more online."
Does protecting children justify snooping on private messages? That is the sensitive question facing EU countries Wednesday as they wrangle over a push to combat child sexual abuse material online.
The meeting in Brussels could seal the fate of a legislative initiative that has stirred fierce debate since it was put forward by the European Commission in May 2022.
Backed by multiple child protection groups, the proposal would require online platforms and messaging services to detect and report images and videos of abuse, as well as attempts by predators to contact minors.
But critics -- including the EU's own data protection authorities, lawmakers, and countries such as Germany -- warn it poses a "disproportionate" threat to privacy.
They are particularly alarmed by the use of technology that would scan private conversations, including on encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp.
"This would spell the end of secrecy of correspondence, which is essential for whistleblowers," the German activist and former EU lawmaker Patrick Breyer told AFP.
His big fear? That such legislation could eventually be exploited by authoritarian regimes to "crack down on political opponents" by monitoring their conversations.
Messaging platforms themselves staunchly oppose the plans.

Mass surveillance?

Opponents have been flooding EU officials with messages aimed at swaying the debate as part of a campaign dubbed "Stop Chat Control" -- their nickname for the proposal.
"I've never seen anything like it, on any other file," one EU diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We're receiving thousands of emails every day."
Denmark, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency and drafted the latest version of the proposal, insists it includes the necessary safeguards.
Firstly, only images and links -- not text messages -- would be subject to scanning.
Second, the system would only be activated following a decision by an independent judicial or administrative authority.
"We have to be very clear: under this proposal, there is no general monitoring of online communications. There will be no such thing as 'chat control'," said European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert.
"This is about protecting our children against a terrible crime, a crime that happens more and more online."

Germany holds key

A report by the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation found that 62 percent of the child sexual abuse material identified internationally last year was hosted on servers within the EU.
Under the bloc's current rules, platforms detect such content on a voluntary basis, which Brussels considers inadequate given the scale and rapid growth of the problem.
The existing legal framework remains in place until April 2026 -- pending adoption of the commission's new proposal making detection mandatory.
What happens next will hinge largely on Germany, with two possible scenarios following Wednesday's meeting:
-- If Berlin backs the proposal, that would likely push it past the post under the EU's qualified majority voting rules. Member states could then formally adopt the measure at a meeting in Luxembourg next week.
-- If Berlin abstains or remains opposed, that would send negotiators back to the drawing board, with no certainty the text will eventually become law.
Several EU officials involved in the talks said Germany could make its stance known in the coming hours.
cjc/ec/ub/ach 

Global Edition

Trump unlikely to win Nobel Peace Prize, but who will?

BY PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

  • For Graeger, the list of Trump's actions not aligned with the ideals of the Nobel Peace Prize is long.
  • When it comes to this year's Nobel Peace Prize, one thing is almost certain: US President Donald Trump will not win, no matter how much he wants it.
  • For Graeger, the list of Trump's actions not aligned with the ideals of the Nobel Peace Prize is long.
When it comes to this year's Nobel Peace Prize, one thing is almost certain: US President Donald Trump will not win, no matter how much he wants it. But who will?
The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo will bring the suspense to an end when it announces the winner Friday at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
The backdrop is bleak: the number of armed conflicts worldwide involving at least one state has never been as high as in 2024, since Sweden's Uppsala University started its global conflict database in 1946.
Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the prestigious prize for resolving "eight conflicts", but experts predict he will not be the committee's choice -- at least not this year.
"No, it will not be Trump this year," Swedish professor Peter Wallensteen, an expert on international affairs, told AFP.
"But perhaps next year? By then the dust will have settled around his various initiatives, including the Gaza crisis," he added.
Numerous experts consider Trump's "peacemaker" claims to be exaggerated and express concerns over the consequences of his "America First" policies. 
"Beyond trying to broker peace for Gaza, we have seen policies that actually go against the intentions and what's written in the will of (Alfred) Nobel, notably to promote international cooperation, the fraternity of nations and disarmament," said Nina Graeger, who heads the Peace Research Institute of Oslo.
For Graeger, the list of Trump's actions not aligned with the ideals of the Nobel Peace Prize is long.
Trump has withdrawn the US from international organisations and multilateral treaties, launched trade wars against allies and enemies alike, threatened to take Greenland from Denmark by force, ordered the National Guard into US cities and attacked universities' academic freedoms as well as freedom of expression.
"We take the complete picture into account," explained Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the five-member committee awarding the peace prize.
"The whole organisation or the complete personality of that person matters, but what we first and foremost look at is what they have been actually achieving for the sake of peace," he said.

Uncontroversial pick?

This year, 338 individuals and organisations have been nominated for the peace prize, with the list kept secret for 50 years.
Tens of thousands of people are eligible to propose candidates, including lawmakers and cabinet members of all countries, former laureates, certain university professors and Nobel committee members.
In 2024, the award went to Japan's atomic bomb survivors' group Nihon Hidankyo for its efforts to ban nuclear weapons.
With no clear favourite this year, several names have been doing the rounds in Oslo ahead of Friday's announcement.
Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms -- a network of volunteers risking their lives to feed and help people enduring war and famine -- have been mentioned, as has Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights election watchdog.  
The Nobel committee's choices in recent years have demonstrated "a return to more micro things, somewhat closer to classical ideas of peace", with a focus on "human rights, democracy, freedom of the press and women", said Halvard Leira, the director of the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs.
"My hunch would probably just perhaps be for a not that controversial candidate this year," he said.
The Nobel committee could also choose to reaffirm its commitment to a world order currently being challenged by Trump by giving the prize to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, or a UN body like its refugee agency UNHCR or Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
It could also give the nod to international tribunals such as the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, or champion press freedoms currently under attack by giving it to the Committee to Protect Journalists or Reporters Without Borders.
But the committee could also do as it has done many times before and pick a completely unexpected winner. 
phy/po/sbk

depression

Study finds women have higher genetic risk of depression

  • Around 13,000 genetic markers were linked with depression in women, the researchers found, compared with 7,000 markers in men.
  • Women are genetically at higher risk of clinical depression than men, Australian researchers found in a study published Wednesday that could change how the disorder is treated.
  • Around 13,000 genetic markers were linked with depression in women, the researchers found, compared with 7,000 markers in men.
Women are genetically at higher risk of clinical depression than men, Australian researchers found in a study published Wednesday that could change how the disorder is treated.
Billed as one of the largest-ever studies of its kind, scientists poured through the DNA of almost 200,000 people with depression to pinpoint shared genetic "flags".
Women had almost twice as many of these genetic markers linked to depression than men, according to the project led by Australia's Berghofer Medical Research Institute.
"The genetic component to depression is larger in females compared to males," said researcher Jodi Thomas.
"Unpacking the shared and unique genetic factors in males and females gives us a clearer picture of what causes depression -- and opens the door to more personalised treatments."
It has long been known that depression is more common in women, but the biological causes remain something of a mystery.
Around 13,000 genetic markers were linked with depression in women, the researchers found, compared with 7,000 markers in men.
Some of these genetic changes could alter biological pathways linked to metabolism or hormone production. 
"We found some genetic differences that may help explain why females with depression more often experience metabolic symptoms, such as weight changes or altered energy levels," Thomas said. 
Researcher Brittany Mitchell said the findings could lead to changes in how depression is treated in women. 
"Until now, there hasn't been much consistent research to explain why depression affects females and males differently, including the possible role of genetics," she said.
"There are more and more stories coming out about how many of the medications that are currently developed -- and the research that we've known to date -- has mostly been focused around men or male participants." 
Clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, is one of the most common mental disorders in the world. 
More than 300 million people across the globe have depression, according to the World Health Organization.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.
sft/oho/tc

LGBTQ

EU wants to crack down on 'conversion therapy'

  • More than a million people signed a petition in May calling on the EU to prohibit "conversion" practices.
  • The European Union wants to clamp down on "conversion therapy" targeting LGBTQ people, the bloc's equality chief told AFP on Tuesday, but Brussels will stop short of introducing a ban on such practices.
  • More than a million people signed a petition in May calling on the EU to prohibit "conversion" practices.
The European Union wants to clamp down on "conversion therapy" targeting LGBTQ people, the bloc's equality chief told AFP on Tuesday, but Brussels will stop short of introducing a ban on such practices.
More than a million people signed a petition in May calling on the EU to prohibit "conversion" practices.
"We can't (ban) because that would be stepping on member states' competence," said the EU commissioner in charge of equality issues, Hadja Lahbib.
Lahbib, due to unveil a plan to tackle discrimination against the LGBTQ community on Wednesday, has however vowed to launch a data collection effort across the 27 EU countries to combat these practices.
"We are going to gather all the data we have on these practices, which are often disguised as psychological support," she said.
So-called conversion practices imply methods aimed at changing the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of gay, lesbians, queer and trans people.
The United Nations has called for a global ban, describing such practices -- based on the erroneous belief that homosexuality is a disorder -- as discriminatory, humiliating and a violation of bodily integrity.
Lahbib made her stance clear. "Obviously, all 27 must ban them," she said.
In order to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, the EU is also considering to put forward a proposal combatting hate speech online.
cjc/jca/raz/st