rights

Abortion access under threat in Milei's Argentina

BY SONIA AVALOS

  • REDAAS, a network of health professionals and rights experts that monitors access to abortion, warned of growing disinformation and stigmatization of women who seek terminations, as well as the health professionals who perform them.
  • Four years after Argentina became the first big Latin American country to legalize abortion, women are finding it hard to access terminations due to President Javier Milei's "chainsaw" economics and anti-feminist diatribes, critics say.
  • REDAAS, a network of health professionals and rights experts that monitors access to abortion, warned of growing disinformation and stigmatization of women who seek terminations, as well as the health professionals who perform them.
Four years after Argentina became the first big Latin American country to legalize abortion, women are finding it hard to access terminations due to President Javier Milei's "chainsaw" economics and anti-feminist diatribes, critics say.
At a women's sexual health NGO in the town of Chivilcoy, 160 kilometers (about 100 miles) west of Buenos Aires, abortion pills are handed out sparingly because of reduced state-sponsored supplies.
Each week, about 15 women in Chivilcoy request misoprostol and mifepristone -- two medications used to end pregnancy -- but some now leave empty-handed, Cecilia Robledo, a local councilor who runs the organization, told AFP by telephone. 
Health centers and family planning clinics in several provinces have reported shortages of abortion pills and condoms following drastic cuts to the national sexual health program.
Supplies fell nearly 65 percent in the 12 months to September 2024, official statistics show.
In the 11 years that she has been advising women about unplanned pregnancies, Robledo said she has had to navigate "a lot of obstacles, but never such brutal cuts."
Milei, a fervent admirer of US counterpart Donald Trump, has also cut funding for a program credited with halving the number of teen pregnancies between 2017 and 2023, especially in the poorer provinces of Argentina's northwest.
Provincial governments were left to pick up the tab for the program, despite their own funding from the central government being reduced.
The result, according to Robledo, has been an increase in the number of women requesting repeat abortions.

'No hay plata'

Milei, who campaigned for the presidency with a chainsaw in hand to show his determination to slash public spending, has a stock response to complaints about budget cuts.
"No hay plata (there's no money)," says the maverick economist, who prides himself on taming inflation and turning Argentina's first budget surplus in more than a decade last year.
But he has also been vocal in his opposition to abortions.
At the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos in January, he lashed out at "radical feminism" and "wokeism," accusing "these groups" of being "promoters of the bloody, murderous abortion agenda."
His government insists it has no plans to repeal the 2021 abortion law, and a bill proposed by a member of Milei's party last year received no backing.
But as Lala Pasquinelli, a lawyer and feminist activist, pointed out, even if the law remains on the statute books, Argentines could lose the right to end a pregnancy "in practice" because of a lack of funding.
REDAAS, a network of health professionals and rights experts that monitors access to abortion, warned of growing disinformation and stigmatization of women who seek terminations, as well as the health professionals who perform them.
Robledo said the stigma was evident in the reasons women cite for requesting abortions. 
Until 2023, most cited life choices, but now put forward economic reasons, she said.
Doctors in several cities already refuse to perform abortions on conscience grounds, as allowed by law. 

Ideological battle

Activists say the scrapping of price controls on medicine is further squeezing women who increasingly have to pay out of pocket for abortion pills.
"This government's policies are hitting women the hardest," said Patricia Luppi, one of hundreds of feminists who attended a meeting this week to plan an International Women's Day march in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Beyond reduced abortion access, feminists also reject government cuts to programs to protect victims of gender violence, and plans to scrap stiffer jail terms for murders qualified as femicides.
"This is not an economic issue, it's an ideological issue," activist Marta Alanis said.
"They are against all the strides made by feminists."
sa-pblc/cb/mlr/des

assault

Gisele Pelicot's daughter says has filed sex abuse case against father

BY MARINE PENNETIER

  • Caroline Darian, whose parents are now divorced, filed the complaint on Wednesday, accusing Dominique Pelicot of drugging her and committing "sexual abuse" against her, she told AFP in an interview.
  • The daughter of convicted French rapist Dominique Pelicot said Thursday she had filed a complaint against her father accusing him of sexual abuse, after he was jailed for repeatedly sedating and raping her mother Gisele Pelicot along with dozens of strangers.
  • Caroline Darian, whose parents are now divorced, filed the complaint on Wednesday, accusing Dominique Pelicot of drugging her and committing "sexual abuse" against her, she told AFP in an interview.
The daughter of convicted French rapist Dominique Pelicot said Thursday she had filed a complaint against her father accusing him of sexual abuse, after he was jailed for repeatedly sedating and raping her mother Gisele Pelicot along with dozens of strangers.
Caroline Darian, whose parents are now divorced, filed the complaint on Wednesday, accusing Dominique Pelicot of drugging her and committing "sexual abuse" against her, she told AFP in an interview.
She said she took legal action as a "message to all victims" of sexual abuse who were drugged not to give up.
Darian has said she suspects Dominique Pelicot abused her too after pictures of her naked and unconscious body were found among the detailed records he kept of his crimes.
Dominique Pelicot, 72, has always denied he abused his daughter.
"Yes, he denied it, but he also lied several times and gave different versions of the story during the two and a half years of the investigation," Darian said.
Gisele Pelicot, 72, last year became a feminist icon for her courage during trial of her former husband for mass rape while they were married.
She had insisted that the trial be held in public and waived her right to anonymity.
A court in southern France in December sentenced him to 20 years for drugging and raping her and inviting dozens of men to do the same for almost a decade.
His 50 co-defendants were also found guilty and handed various sentences of between three and 15 years.
"We clearly saw in court that at no time was Dominique capable of telling the whole truth about what happened," Darian added.
Darian has campaigned for awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, and in 2022 wrote a book about the family's ordeal, "Et j'ai cesse de t'appeler papa" ("And I stopped calling you dad").
Her new book about victims of sexual abuse, titled "For us to remember" ("Pour que l'on se souvienne"), hit bookstands on Wednesday.

'Message to all victims'

In the latest book, she recalls her time in court at her father's trial, describing it as "the worst experience of my life" and her feeling of having been "the person who was most forgotten at the trial".
She says that since the trial she has been plunged into "abyssal void" and a "feeling of injustice" which "crushes" her. She wants more than ever to be a voice for the victims who are sexually abused after being drugged, she writes.
"Rebuilding requires recognition of my status as a victim," she told AFP, adding: "I know that the road is still long".
Beyond "my personal case", the complaint filed this week represents "a message sent to all victims", she said.
"It is important for me to convey this message so that other victims" of chemical sedation can "tell themselves that there are things to do, there are remedies, and we must never give up".
She has stepped up her public activities since the trial, notably through an NGO she has set up called M'endors pas (Don't fall asleep).
"It's a fight that requires a lot of time, brainpower and a certain form of mental load, but it's really worth it," she told AFP. 
"Things are moving and I want to believe that this will allow us to set up real initiatives and real avenues for improvement to support victims who really need it."
mep-ah-sjw/giv

execution

US to carry out first firing squad execution since 2010

BY CHRIS LEFKOW

  • There have been five executions in the United States this year and there were 25 last year.
  • A South Carolina man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend's parents is to be put to death by firing squad on Friday in the first such execution in the United States in 15 years.
  • There have been five executions in the United States this year and there were 25 last year.
A South Carolina man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend's parents is to be put to death by firing squad on Friday in the first such execution in the United States in 15 years.
Brad Sigmon, 67, is to be executed at a prison in Columbia, the South Carolina capital, for the 2001 murders of David and Gladys Larke, who were beaten to death with a baseball bat.
Sigmon, who confessed to the murders and admitted his guilt at trial, had a choice between lethal injection, firing squad or the electric chair as his manner of execution.
Gerald "Bo" King, one of his lawyers, said Sigmon had chosen the firing squad after being placed in an "impossible" position, forced to make an "abjectly cruel" decision about how he would die.
"Unless he elected lethal injection or the firing squad, he would die in South Carolina's ancient electric chair, which would burn and cook him alive," King said.
"But the alternative is just as monstrous," he said. "If he chose lethal injection, he risked the prolonged death suffered by all three of the men South Carolina has executed since September."
The last US firing squad execution in the United States was in Utah in 2010. Two others have also been carried out by firing squad in the western state -- in 1996 and in 1977.
The 1977 execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was the basis for the 1979 book "The Executioner's Song" by Norman Mailer.
The vast majority of executions in the United States have been done by lethal injection since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Alabama has carried out four executions recently using nitrogen gas, which has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane. The execution is performed by pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.
Three other US states -- Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma -- have joined South Carolina and Utah in authorizing the use of firing squads.

Death chamber renovated

According to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), the death chamber at the prison where Sigmon is to be executed has been renovated to accommodate a firing squad.
Bullet-resistant glass has been placed between the witness room and execution chamber.
Sigmon will be restrained in a metal chair with a hood over his head 15 feet (five meters) away from a wall with a rectangular opening.
A three-person firing squad of SCDC volunteers will shoot through the opening.
All three rifles will have live ammunition.
An "aim point" will be placed above Sigmon's heart by a member of the execution team.
There have been five executions in the United States this year and there were 25 last year.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others -- California, Oregon and Pennsylvania -- have moratoriums in place.
Three states -- Arizona, Ohio and Tennessee -- that had paused executions have recently announced plans to resume them.
President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in the White House he called for an expansion of its use "for the vilest crimes."
cl/md

rights

UN report finds women's rights weakened in quarter of all countries

  • "The weakening of democratic institutions has gone hand in hand with backlash on gender equality," the report said, adding that "anti-rights actors are actively undermining long-standing consensus on key women's rights issues."
  • Women's rights regressed last year in a quarter of countries around the world, according to a report published by UN Women on Thursday, due to factors ranging from climate change to democratic backsliding.
  • "The weakening of democratic institutions has gone hand in hand with backlash on gender equality," the report said, adding that "anti-rights actors are actively undermining long-standing consensus on key women's rights issues."
Women's rights regressed last year in a quarter of countries around the world, according to a report published by UN Women on Thursday, due to factors ranging from climate change to democratic backsliding.
"The weakening of democratic institutions has gone hand in hand with backlash on gender equality," the report said, adding that "anti-rights actors are actively undermining long-standing consensus on key women's rights issues."
"Almost one-quarter of countries reported that backlash on gender equality is hampering implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action," the report continued, referring to the document from the 1995 World Conference on Women.
In the 30 years since the conference, the UN said that progress has been mixed.
In parliaments around the world, female representation has more than doubled since 1995, but men still comprise about three-quarters of parliamentarians.
The number of women with social protection benefits increased by a third between 2010 and 2023, though two billion women and girls still live in places without such protections.
Gender employment gaps "have stagnated for decades." Sixty-three percent of women between the ages of 25 and 54 have paid employment, compared to 92 percent of men in the same demographic.
The report cites the Covid-19 pandemic, global conflicts, climate change and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) as all new potential threats to gender equality.
Data presented by the UN Women report found that conflict-related sexual violence has spiked 50 percent in the past 10 years, with 95 percent of victims being children or young women.
In 2023, 612 million women lived within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of armed conflict, a 54-percent increase since 2010.
And in 12 countries in Europe and Central Asia, at least 53 percent of women have experienced one or more forms of gender-based violence online.
"Globally, violence against women and girls persists at alarming rates. Across their lifetime, around one in three women are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner," the report said.
The report sets out a multi-part roadmap to address gender inequality, such as fostering equitable access to new technologies like AI, measures toward climate justice, investments to combat poverty, increasing participation in public affairs and fighting against gendered violence.
af-arb/sha/jgc/aha

Japan

Frenchman's mislabelled war photos donation sparks China controversy

BY TOMMY WANG

  • After state broadcaster CGTN reported Detrez "expressed an intention to donate them to Chinese institutions", a Shanghai Sino-Japanese War memorial hall told CCTV that his photos had been received and were "pending professional appraisal".
  • A Frenchman's donation of vintage conflict photographs to China offers insight into the 1930-1940s Sino-Japanese War -- even if some images are not the unique family heirlooms he believed them to be.
  • After state broadcaster CGTN reported Detrez "expressed an intention to donate them to Chinese institutions", a Shanghai Sino-Japanese War memorial hall told CCTV that his photos had been received and were "pending professional appraisal".
A Frenchman's donation of vintage conflict photographs to China offers insight into the 1930-1940s Sino-Japanese War -- even if some images are not the unique family heirlooms he believed them to be.
Marcus Detrez landed in Beijing last month with a leather briefcase that he said contained hundreds of his grandfather's pictures from the conflict, which ended in 1945 after widespread atrocities in China.
State-run media outlets such as China Daily and CCTV reported that the 26-year-old found the yellowed images while rummaging through the garage of his family home in 2021.
"All of them were taken by my grandfather Roger-Pierre Laurens in Shanghai," says text over a video featuring Detrez and his companions on Douyin, China's version of TikTok.
Detrez's claims spread quickly, racking up tens of thousands of shares on Douyin ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II later this year.
However, an AFP digital investigation found many of the pictures were taken by other people.
Two photos have been attributed to the Associated Press, while some digital copies of the images were published years ago by Chinese media outlets.
Jamie Carstairs, former manager of the Historical Photographs of China (HPC) project at Britain's University of Bristol, said that Detrez should be "congratulated for his kind donation" but that "care should be taken".
"It is not correct to say that the photos were purportedly taken by Roger-Pierre Laurens," Carstairs said. "Some of them might have been, but others were not."

'Return the truth'

Japan's early 20th-century imperial ambitions resulted in military occupations across large parts of Asia, including China.
After invading in the 1930s, Japanese soldiers committed atrocities like the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, a six-week spree of mass murder, rape and looting that killed tens if not hundreds of thousands of the city's inhabitants.
Detrez said in a May 2024 Douyin video that his grandfather "came to Shanghai in 1930 as an entrepreneur" and "took these photos fearlessly" despite two of his sons being killed by the Japanese.
He later told a Beijing broadcaster he wanted to "return the truth to the Chinese".
After state broadcaster CGTN reported Detrez "expressed an intention to donate them to Chinese institutions", a Shanghai Sino-Japanese War memorial hall told CCTV that his photos had been received and were "pending professional appraisal".

'Duplicate prints'

However, AFP found several inconsistencies.
A photo featuring a Japanese naval parade through a Shanghai street traces back to online archives from the US Naval History and Heritage Command, which told AFP it was taken by a chief warrant officer in 1937.
Carstairs said the HPC database, which includes a large collection of original materials and digitised versions of historic images, indicates a few of the pictures appear in an album from Chinese photographer Ah Fong, who was active in the 1930s.
Most of those images were taken between August and November 1937 by two photographers, identified only as "S.S." and "S.C.S".
"Copies of the album of photos sold by Ah Fong come up for sale from time to time," Carstairs told AFP, adding that Detrez appears to have "duplicate prints of some photos".
Carstairs said that while the source of historic images is "often quite difficult to find out", it is "easy to find out who compiled albums or collected photographic prints".
Despite the mostly positive reaction in China, some social media users questioned Detrez's claims.
"The French guy and his companions... used these photos to steal traffic and engagement, thinking all Chinese are fools," one WeChat user wrote in a post.
Detrez did not respond to an AFP request for comment, but on Douyin called challenges to the authenticity of the photographs "malicious speculation".
tw/df/mjw/je/pjm/sco

museum

Egypt's gem of a museum gears up for grand opening

BY MENNA FAROUK

  • You are reminded of the place where this all happened," she told AFP. An 11-metre (36-foot) statue of Ramses II greets visitors, leading to a grand staircase lined with statues of pharaohs, gods and sarcophagi, and ending at a window framing the pyramids.
  • Nestled near the iconic Giza pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is preparing for a lavish opening, featuring a towering statue of Ramses II and more than 100,000 artefacts, including Tutankhamun's golden treasures.
  • You are reminded of the place where this all happened," she told AFP. An 11-metre (36-foot) statue of Ramses II greets visitors, leading to a grand staircase lined with statues of pharaohs, gods and sarcophagi, and ending at a window framing the pyramids.
Nestled near the iconic Giza pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is preparing for a lavish opening, featuring a towering statue of Ramses II and more than 100,000 artefacts, including Tutankhamun's golden treasures.
After two decades of planning, the GEM is set to open fully on July 3, following a partial opening in October. 
Its long-awaited debut comes after years of delays caused by political instability, economic crises, and the global pandemic.
Ahmed Ghoneim, the museum's director, said the inauguration could span several days, with celebrations extending beyond the museum and pyramids to sites across Egypt and even abroad.
"It will be a spectacular showcase of Egypt's historical and touristic potential," Ghoneim told Egypt's ON TV.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has invited US President Donald Trump and Spain's King Felipe VI to attend the ceremony.
"This museum is the (world's) largest museum for a single civilisation, which is the Pharaonic civilisation," Sisi said in December.
Spanning 50 hectares (120 acres), the GEM is twice the size of both Paris's Louvre and New York's Metropolitan, and two and a half times the British Museum, according to its director.

Stepping into history

"The landscape of Egypt contributed to this rich civilisation and we wanted to reflect that in the design," said Roisin Heneghan, co-founder of Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects -- the firm behind the museum's design.
"You see the pieces in the museum in the context of the pyramids. You are reminded of the place where this all happened," she told AFP.
An 11-metre (36-foot) statue of Ramses II greets visitors, leading to a grand staircase lined with statues of pharaohs, gods and sarcophagi, and ending at a window framing the pyramids.
Currently, 12 galleries display around 15,000 artefacts arranged chronologically from prehistory to the Greco-Roman period.
They include Queen Hetepheres's treasures, such as her intricately carved armchair, in sophisticated lighting after years of being tucked away in the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square.
Even before the official opening, the museum left some of its first visitors awestruck.
"I cannot get over how the lighting is. It is just atmospheric and helpful, and you end up just drawn to everything that is around," said Philippa Hunt, a tourist from the United Kingdom.
South African visitor Leon Wolmarans said the GEM was a significant upgrade from the old one. 
"This is much better organised, much better lit. The architecture is impressive," he told AFP.
Among the most anticipated displays for the grand opening are the treasures of Tutankhamun, including his iconic gold mask, which will take pride of place in a dedicated gallery. 

Boost for the economy

More than 5,000 Tutankhamun artefacts have been transferred to the GEM, though his full collection, including his sarcophagus and the embalmed remains of his daughters, will be revealed at the official opening. 
The GEM will also showcase the 44-metre-long cedarwood solar barque, buried near the Great Pyramid around 2,500 BC. 
Another boat, still being restored, will offer an immersive experience, with visitors watching conservators at work over the next three years.
With cutting-edge technology such as virtual reality and interactive exhibits, the GEM promises a fresh take on storytelling, making history come alive for younger generations.
The museum website lists entry prices starting at 200 Egyptian pounds (about $4) for adult nationals, and 1,200 pounds for foreigners.
Beyond archaeology, the GEM is central to Egypt's efforts to revive an economy battered by inflation and debt.
With tourism recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, the GEM is expected to attract five million visitors annually, adding to a record 15.7 million tourists in 2024.
Elhamy al-Zayat, former chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, said the museum's proximity to the newly opened Sphinx International Airport, the pyramids and a growing number of nearby hotels will be a game-changer for Egypt's tourism sector. 
"There will be easy transportation options to and from the museum, making it accessible from anywhere," he told AFP.
"This will definitely transform Egypt's tourism industry."
maf/ysm/dv/srm/fox

fashion

New faces at Tom Ford, Dries Van Noten make debuts in Paris

  • At Tom Ford, which is showing at Paris Fashion Week for the first time, new creative director Haider Ackermann was also under scrutiny, having taken over recently.
  • Tom Ford and Dries Van Noten revealed the first collections from their new chief designers at Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday, with the two labels among many in the luxury clothing industry that are in transition. 
  • At Tom Ford, which is showing at Paris Fashion Week for the first time, new creative director Haider Ackermann was also under scrutiny, having taken over recently.
Tom Ford and Dries Van Noten revealed the first collections from their new chief designers at Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday, with the two labels among many in the luxury clothing industry that are in transition. 
Julian Klausner, a 33-year-old Belgian, took over at Dries Van Noten last September and his catwalk debut was one of the most hotly anticipated moments of the Fall-Winter womenswear 2025 shows.
Having vowed to do things differently to founder Dries Van Noten, who stepped back last year, observers were watching to see how much Klausner diverged from the house's characteristic bold prints and colours.
Fashion website WWD noted "loud applause" at the end of the show in the Garnier opera house in central Paris, headlining that Klausner had "brought the brand to the next gen (generation) in opulent style".
At Tom Ford, which is showing at Paris Fashion Week for the first time, new creative director Haider Ackermann was also under scrutiny, having taken over recently.
The 53-year-old Frenchman, who has previously worked at Berluti and his own brand, has made headlines by dressing celebrity power couple Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner.
His collection featured long dresses and over-sized softly tailored suits in monochromatic black, white or bright primary colours.
Alix Morabito, chief womenswear buyer at French department store Galeries Lafayette, told AFP it was interesting that the label chose Paris for the show "because it's a brand with a very international and American aura". 
She said it reflected a desire to be "closer to French fashion".
Friday will see British designer Sarah Burton take her first bow as chief creative at Givenchy after taking over the reins of the acclaimed French house in September. 
Other major international labels that are either bedding in new designers or looking for fresh talent include Chanel, Dior menswear, Bottega Veneta, Celine, Martin Margiela and most recently Gucci.
Dior womenswear creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri is also widely rumoured to be on her way out.
The luxury clothing market as a whole is struggling with slackening demand, most significantly in China, but also in developed markets, due to economic uncertainty.  

'Rely on me'

Elsewhere on Wednesday, British designer Stella McCartney showcased her first collection since she bought back full control of her brand from luxury conglomerate LVMH in January.
It took place on the fifth floor of an office building in the north of the capital and saw models walk the runway among chairs, computers and photocopiers.
The daughter of Beatles legend Paul McCartney said she wanted "to bring the sexy back" to office with clothes that featured power dressing and oversized suits as well as a delicate strawberry-pink, ultra-short dress for a night out.
"I want to be women's friends and I want them to rely on me, and I want them to wear that suit out to a club," she said.
The collection was titled "from laptop to lapdance" and the show finished with a brief pole dance routine. 
Among the high-profile guests were French First Lady Brigitte Macron and actors Cameron Diaz and Olivia Colman.
McCartney sounded delighted at buying back the 49-percent stake in her brand owned by LVMH.
"It was always the goal, always the dream. And it's the right time," she told reporters.
Consultants Bain & Company estimates that only about a third of the world's luxury brands experienced growth in 2024 due to "macroeconomic uncertainty and continued price elevation by brands". 
mdv-adp/rmb

agriculture

Mind the wage gap: China's subway farmers highlight inequality

BY JING XUAN TENG

  • Braving persistent drizzle, a group of farmers began waiting at Shichuan station in northeast Chongqing more than two hours before the first train at 6:30am on Wednesday.
  • Elderly Chinese farmers carrying enormous baskets of vegetables squeezed into a subway station as its doors opened before dawn on Wednesday, on the outskirts of megacity Chongqing.
  • Braving persistent drizzle, a group of farmers began waiting at Shichuan station in northeast Chongqing more than two hours before the first train at 6:30am on Wednesday.
Elderly Chinese farmers carrying enormous baskets of vegetables squeezed into a subway station as its doors opened before dawn on Wednesday, on the outskirts of megacity Chongqing.
As the economy took centre stage at a key political meeting in the capital Beijing thousands of kilometres away, the pensioners went about their daily rush into the city centre to sell chives, lettuce and goose eggs for meagre earnings.
Despite a persistent property sector crisis, weak consumer demand and geopolitical turmoil, China's leaders announced a growth target for this year of around five percent on Wednesday.
But the incongruous image of farmers hauling their wares on foot past Chongqing's futuristic skyscrapers is a reminder that for many -- especially rural residents and the elderly -- making a living is still a struggle in the world's number two economy.
Wu Baixing, a 71-year-old villager from the city's outskirts, told AFP she often walks for an hour to the nearest subway station in order to sell vegetables in the city centre.
"I believe that God sees everything we do," Wu, a devout Christian, said of the physically strenuous task of dragging dozens of kilograms of vegetables on and off public transport.
Wu's trips into the city supplement her monthly pension of under 200 yuan ($27.53) -- a typical amount for someone classified as a rural resident, and much lower than that received by urban retirees under the country's two-tier household registration system.
But selling vegetables has been far from lucrative, she said, because "there are a lot of vegetables and a lot of farmers selling them".
Braving persistent drizzle, a group of farmers began waiting at Shichuan station in northeast Chongqing more than two hours before the first train at 6:30am on Wednesday.
While many carried woven baskets on their backs or pushed them on carts, others balanced two baskets on bamboo yokes on their shoulders.
As the sleek subway train made its way from the farmland to the city's densely populated urban core, dozens of farmers took over the carriages, their produce filling up the aisles.

 'Nobody wants us'

Those aged 65 or over ride for free on the subway, making it an affordable alternative to hiring or owning a car.
However, trips to market often involve changing between lines and can be up to two hours long.
Xiong, a 69-year-old farmer, was part of a group who took three different trains on Wednesday to reach Minsheng Market in central Chongqing.
The group squeezed through station crowds as their journey stretched into rush hour, running between escalators to make connecting trains.
After arriving at their destination, they wove through traffic to reach the indoor market, where Xiong quickly laid out his harvest of Chinese lettuce.
Liu Guiwen, 72, told AFP she makes only around 30 yuan a day selling produce in the city.
"When I was young I didn't grow vegetables, when I was young I worked," she said. 
In the work report released at Wednesday's Two Sessions political meeting, China's leaders pledged to "take solid steps to advance rural reform and development" and "provide multi-tiered, categorized assistance for low-income rural residents". 
Urbanisation has been increasing, but rural residents still made up 33 percent of China's population last year, according to the government.
Liu Lu'an, 63, said he was glad his children had escaped their farming background, and now worked in factories in the city. 
"Young people nowadays wouldn't want to come back to work as farmers. They have jobs with benefits," Liu said.
He used to make more doing odd jobs, but "now I'm over 60, and no one wants to hire us for labour anymore".
Liu and his wife lugged about 40 kilograms of vegetables to market that day.
"I just do it as long as I don't owe any debts and there is food to eat," he said. 
"I don't want to get rich from work."
tjx/reb/dhw

economy

Trump tariffs leave Mexican tequila producers with sour taste

  • More than two-thirds of tequila produced last year was exported to the United States -- 335 million liters of almost 500 million, according to Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council.
  • Mexico's booming tequila industry was left reeling Wednesday after US President Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on the Central American nation that producers say threaten the popularity of its most famous liquor.
  • More than two-thirds of tequila produced last year was exported to the United States -- 335 million liters of almost 500 million, according to Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council.
Mexico's booming tequila industry was left reeling Wednesday after US President Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on the Central American nation that producers say threaten the popularity of its most famous liquor.
Trump imposed 25 percent levies on Mexico and Canada, and doubled tariffs on China, prompting jitters on global markets and fears the spat is devolving into a brutal trade war.
More than two-thirds of tequila produced last year was exported to the United States -- 335 million liters of almost 500 million, according to Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council.
The US market makes up 83.6 percent of tequila exports, representing $4.5-billion worth of liquor.
"The possible increase in tequila prices in the United States could encourage substitution with other alcoholic drinks," said Ana Cristina Villalpando Fonseca, head of the National Chamber of the Tequila Industry (CNIT). 
The tariffs risk affecting the whole supply chain, from producers of agave -- the plant used to make tequila -- to bottlers and transporters, the CNIT added in a statement.
The industry employs more than 100,000 people in Mexico, Villalpando said.
Fast-rising demand for tequila has seen American celebrities cash in on the tipple in recent years -- and in 2020 tech billionaire Elon Musk joined the party with the launch of a limited edition Tesla Tequila.
In January 2025, tequila exports jumped 34.6 percent compared to the same month the previous year, although the CNIT attributed the rise to stockpiling ahead of Trump's anticipated tariffs.
The CNIT said it would promote expansion to other international markets and that it was confident the Mexican government's efforts will help mitigate the effects of the tariffs.
President Claudia Sheinbaum pushed back on Trump's duties saying her government would retaliate with unspecified tariff and non-tariff measures of its own.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said however that Trump could dial down hefty levies on Mexico and Canada this week, while maintaining pressure on China.
str/st/phs/cms/sn

migration

'We're all afraid': Austria moves to deport Syrian refugees

BY JULIA ZAPPEI

  • Ahmed Elgrk, a 37-year-old food delivery rider in Vienna, last saw his wife and five kids four years ago when he fled Syria.
  • Syrian refugee Khaled Alnomman said he made a big effort to integrate since he fled to Austria 10 years ago, learning to speak German fluently, getting a job as a bricklayer and applying for citizenship. 
  • Ahmed Elgrk, a 37-year-old food delivery rider in Vienna, last saw his wife and five kids four years ago when he fled Syria.
Syrian refugee Khaled Alnomman said he made a big effort to integrate since he fled to Austria 10 years ago, learning to speak German fluently, getting a job as a bricklayer and applying for citizenship. 
The youngest of his four children was born in Austria and the others feel more Austrian than Syrian having grown up in the Alpine country.
But as they celebrated the fall of the Assad regime in January, their lives were turned upside down when they received a letter from the Austrian authorities saying they wanted to revoke their refugee status.
"It's like a knife stab to the heart," the 42-year-old told AFP, visibly holding back the emotion.
Anti-migrant feeling has been surging in Austria, further fuelled when a Syrian was arrested last month for killing a 14-year-old boy in a suspected Islamist stabbing attack in the southern city of Villach.
Even though another Syrian refugee was hailed a hero for driving his car at the knifeman to stop the attack, Alnomman said it was a "catastrophe" for Syrians in the EU country. "It is really bad for us. Because of this idiot, now we all have to pay."

Mass random checks

Several European countries froze asylum requests from Syrians in December after the Assad dynasty was ousted after almost 14 years of bloody civil war that drove 12 million people from their homes.
But Austria -- which hosts almost 100,000 Syrians -- went even further. It halted family reunifications and started procedures to revoke the refugee status of some 2,900 people, according to the latest figures.
The interior ministry said it is preparing "an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria" while admitting that it is currently impossible and unlawful. 
Conservative Interior Minister Gerhard Karner even said he wanted to legalise "random mass checks" on Afghan and Syrian asylum seekers' homes in the wake of the Villach attack.
And he has vowed to work "around the clock" to curb migration.
The new government coalition is under pressure from the opposition far-right Freedom Party, which emerged as the biggest party after the EU country's September election. 
It has also pledged to expand the suspension of family reunifications to refugees of all nationalities.

'Can't sleep at night'

Asylum experts say that the letters to revoke refugee status do not mean Syrians will be stripped of their right to stay any time soon. But they said it has hugely unsettled the community.
"We can't sleep at night. All Syrians are afraid now," said Alnomman.
"I'm under constant pressure since getting this letter," he added.
"They don't want us. What have we done wrong?"
The halting of family reunions has already hit many hard.
Ahmed Elgrk, a 37-year-old food delivery rider in Vienna, last saw his wife and five kids four years ago when he fled Syria.
He had high hopes of bringing them to Austria after gathering the necessary paperwork last year.
He had already bought beds for his children, aged four to 14, when he received the letter to initiate the revoking of his refugee status. He was later told that his family would not get visas.
"I laughed -- not for joy, but from pain. It hurts my whole family," Elgrk told AFP.
"For four years I have told my family, 'Just have a little bit more patience, we are almost there.' I prepared everything," said the Idlib native, who said he fears persecution by the country's new Islamist leadership if he returns to Syria.
Meanwhile, Syrians are being offered 1,000 euros ($1,050) to go back voluntarily. So far, almost 100 have taken the offer up, according to the latest government figures.
jza/kym/gv/fg

internet

Tech giants object as YouTube set to dodge Australian social media ban

  • While a host of countries from France to China have mooted similar measures, Australia's looming ban would be one of the strictest in the world. 
  • Australia's plan to exempt YouTube from a world-leading teen social media ban is "illogical" and a "mockery", rival tech giants Meta and TikTok said Wednesday. 
  • While a host of countries from France to China have mooted similar measures, Australia's looming ban would be one of the strictest in the world. 
Australia's plan to exempt YouTube from a world-leading teen social media ban is "illogical" and a "mockery", rival tech giants Meta and TikTok said Wednesday. 
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year unveiled landmark laws that will ban under-16s from social media by the end of 2025. 
While popular platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram face heavy fines for flouting the laws, Australia has proposed an exemption so children can use YouTube for school. 
TikTok's Australian policy director Ella Woods-Joyce said YouTube had been handed a "sweetheart deal" that gave it an unfair advantage. 
"Handing one major social media platform a sweetheart deal of this nature -- while subjecting every other platform in Australia to stringent compliance obligations -- would be illogical, anti-competitive, and shortsighted," said Woods-Joyce. 
"The government's arguments citing unique educative value do not survive even the most cursory of closer examinations," she added in a submission to a government agency released Wednesday.
It would "further entrench Google's market dominance", she said, referring to YouTube's parent company. 
Meta -- the parent company of Facebook and Instagram -- made similar arguments against the exemption. 
"This proposed blanket exception makes a mockery of the government's stated intention, when passing the age ban law, to protect young people," Meta said in its own submission to the communications department.
"YouTube has the very features and harmful content that the government has cited as justifying the ban." 
Both companies argued they produced video content that was virtually indistinguishable from YouTube's.
While a host of countries from France to China have mooted similar measures, Australia's looming ban would be one of the strictest in the world. 
Firms face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$31.3 million) for failing to comply. 
Albanese has painted social media as "a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators". 
But officials are yet to solve basic questions surrounding the laws, such as how the ban will be policed.
The ban is set to come into effect by December 2025.
sft/djw/sco

Pritzker

China's Liu Jiakun wins Pritzker Prize, 'Nobel' for architecture

  • Liu, who is the 54th recipient of the Pritzker Prize, will be honored at a celebration in Abu Dhabi in spring, award organizers said.
  • The Pritzker Prize, dubbed the "Nobel" for architecture, was awarded Tuesday to China's Liu Jiakun, who was recognized for designs that celebrate "everyday lives."
  • Liu, who is the 54th recipient of the Pritzker Prize, will be honored at a celebration in Abu Dhabi in spring, award organizers said.
The Pritzker Prize, dubbed the "Nobel" for architecture, was awarded Tuesday to China's Liu Jiakun, who was recognized for designs that celebrate "everyday lives."
"In a global context where architecture is struggling to find adequate responses to fast evolving social and environmental challenges, Liu Jiakun has provided convincing answers that also celebrate the everyday lives of people as well as their communal and spiritual identities," the award's jury wrote in a statement.
Born in 1956, Liu has worked on more than 30 projects in China ranging from academic and cultural institutions to civic spaces and commercial buildings.
"Architecture should reveal something -- it should abstract, distill and make visible the inherent qualities of local people," Liu said in the statement, evoking his craft's capacity to create "a sense of shared community."
Liu lives and works in his birth city of Chengdu, where he prioritizes the use of local materials and traditional building techniques.
His projects include the Museum of Clocks in Chengdu, a large circular structure with a skylight that illuminates an interior strip of photographs.
Alejandro Aravena, who won the award in 2016 and is chair of the jury, said Liu's works offer "clues on how to confront the challenges of urbanization" especially because they are sometimes "a building, infrastructure, landscape and public space at the same time."
"Cities tend to segregate functions, but Liu Jiakun takes the opposite approach and sustains a delicate balance to integrate all dimensions of the urban life," Aravena said.
Liu, who is the 54th recipient of the Pritzker Prize, will be honored at a celebration in Abu Dhabi in spring, award organizers said.
Last year's prize went to Japan's Riken Yamamoto, whose projects are credited with promoting human contact and who said at the time his objective was to "design architecture that can bring joy to people around it."
sha-af/bfm/bjt/dw

justice

US Supreme Court looks set to shoot down Mexico suit against gunmakers

BY CHRIS LEFKOW

  • Mexico, which is under mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to curb drug trafficking, accuses the firearms makers of "aiding and abetting" illegal gun sales because they allegedly know that some of their products are being unlawfully sold to the drug cartels.
  • The US Supreme Court appeared poised on Tuesday to toss out a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Mexico accusing American gun manufacturers of fueling drug trafficking and violence.
  • Mexico, which is under mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to curb drug trafficking, accuses the firearms makers of "aiding and abetting" illegal gun sales because they allegedly know that some of their products are being unlawfully sold to the drug cartels.
The US Supreme Court appeared poised on Tuesday to toss out a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Mexico accusing American gun manufacturers of fueling drug trafficking and violence.
Smith & Wesson and US gun distributor Interstate Arms are seeking dismissal of the Mexican government's suit, which has been winding its way through US courts since 2021.
Mexico, which is under mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to curb drug trafficking, accuses the firearms makers of "aiding and abetting" illegal gun sales because they allegedly know that some of their products are being unlawfully sold to the drug cartels.
A federal judge tossed out the case in 2022 saying Mexico's claims failed to overcome the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which was passed by Congress in 2005 and shields US gunmakers from liability for criminals misusing their products.
An appeals court revived the case citing an exception to the law, and Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms sought relief from the Supreme Court.
A majority of the justices on the conservative-dominated top US court appeared to side with the firearms companies during more than 90 minutes of oral arguments.
Noel Francisco, representing Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms, said gun companies cannot be held accountable for the misuse of their products.
"If Mexico is right, then every law enforcement organization in America has missed the largest criminal conspiracy in history," Francisco said.
"And Budweiser is liable for every accident caused by underage drinkers since it knows that teenagers will buy beer, drive drunk and crash."
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative, questioned what consequences an expanded theory of aiding and abetting liability would have for the American economy.
"That's a real concern," Kavanaugh said. "Lots of sellers and manufacturers of ordinary products know that they're going to be misused by some subset of people."
Justice Samuel Alito, also a conservative, raised what he said was a "question that may be on the minds of ordinary Americans."
"Mexico says that US gun manufacturers are contributing to illegal conduct in Mexico," Alito said. 
"There are Americans who think that Mexican government officials are contributing to a lot of illegal conduct here."

'Rogue dealers'

Catherine Stetson, representing the Mexican government, was careful to steer the arguments away from any discussion of the US Constitution's Second Amendment, which protects the rights of Americans to bear arms.
"Mexico is not trying to legislate gun use in the United States," Stetson said.
She said up to 600,000 US guns are illegally trafficked into Mexico every year and "manufacturers know that they are selling a dangerous product to specific rogue dealers who are selling to straw purchasers for the cartels."
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative, and Justice Elena Kagan, a liberal, expressed concern, however, that the suit does not identify particular retailers accused of selling guns illegally to the cartels.
"You haven't sued any of the retailers that were the most proximate cause of the harm," Barrett said.
Making her case, Stetson said some companies are even "designing certain guns to target the Mexican market," giving them Spanish names such as "El Jefe."
Francisco pushed back.
"The notion that selling a Spanish-named firearm is what gives rise to joint purpose with cartels under the aiding and abetting statute is as wrong as it is offensive," he said.
Mexico maintains that 70-90 percent of the weapons recovered at crime scenes have been trafficked from the United States.
Mexico tightly controls firearms sales, making them practically impossible to obtain legally.
Even so, drug-related violence has seen around 480,000 people killed in Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.
The case comes against a backdrop of US-Mexico trade tensions.
Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico on Tuesday, citing a lack of progress in stemming the flow of drugs such as fentanyl into the United States.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed to hit back with retaliatory duties.
cl/mlm

health

Pope stable, no repeat of breathing crisis: Vatican

BY ALICE RITCHIE WITH ISABELLE TOURNE IN PARIS

  • On Tuesday morning, a Vatican spokesman said Francis had switched from an oxygen mask to high-flow oxygen delivered through a cannula, a plastic tube inserted through the nostrils.
  • Pope Francis passed a calm day in hospital Tuesday with no repeat of the previous day's respiratory crises, but the 88-year-old will wear an oxygen mask overnight, the Vatican said.
  • On Tuesday morning, a Vatican spokesman said Francis had switched from an oxygen mask to high-flow oxygen delivered through a cannula, a plastic tube inserted through the nostrils.
Pope Francis passed a calm day in hospital Tuesday with no repeat of the previous day's respiratory crises, but the 88-year-old will wear an oxygen mask overnight, the Vatican said.
The head of the Catholic Church has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital since February 14 for treatment of double pneumonia in both lungs.
Francis had suffered Monday "two episodes of acute respiratory failure", the Vatican said, his third breathing crisis since February 22.
"Today the clinical conditions of the Holy Father remained stable. He did not present episodes of respiratory failure or bronchospasm," the Vatican said in its regular evening update Tuesday.
Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio in Argentina, had no fever and was "alert" and cooperating with his treatment, the Vatican said, but as in previous days it said the prognosis "remains reserved", an indication that doctors cannot predict the likely outcome.
On Tuesday morning, a Vatican spokesman said Francis had switched from an oxygen mask to high-flow oxygen delivered through a cannula, a plastic tube inserted through the nostrils.
But "tonight, as planned, non-invasive mechanical ventilation will be resumed until tomorrow morning", the statement said, referring to the mask.
The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, who had part of a lung removed as a young man, spent the day in prayer and rest, it added.

'Very bad sign'

Francis had been breathless and struggled to read his texts in the days leading up to his admission to the Gemelli hospital, which has a special papal suite on the 10th floor.
On February 22, he suffered a "prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis", followed on February 28 by "an isolated crisis of bronchospasm" -- a tightening of the muscles that line the airways in the lungs.
Then on Monday, he "experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm", according to the Vatican.
Acute respiratory failure, which can be life-threatening, occurs when the lungs cannot pass enough oxygen into the blood or when carbon dioxide builds up in the body. 
Medical experts said Francis's continued stay in hospital and the repeated crises were alarming.
"At 88 years old, being in the hospital for two weeks and having repeated episodes of respiratory discomfort is a very bad sign," Bruno Crestani, head of the pulmonology department at the Bichat hospital in Paris, told AFP.
Herve Pegliasco, head of pulmonology at the European Hospital in Marseille, added that with double pneumonia, "there is the issue of exhaustion, because he is forced to make much more effort to breathe".
The Vatican said Monday that his latest crisis had required two separate bronchoscopies, where doctors look into the air passages using a small camera at the base of a flexible tube.

No visits

Francis has been working during his time in hospital, talking on the telephone and receiving some officials, according to Vatican sources.
No visits were planned for Tuesday, the Vatican press office said.
Francis has not been seen in public for almost three weeks and the last photos taken of him were from his private audiences on the morning of his admission to hospital.
The Argentine missed his traditional Angelus prayer for a third straight Sunday and the Vatican issued a written text instead.
In it, the pope thanked well-wishers around the world who have been holding prayers for his recovery, including outside the hospital and every evening at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.
"I feel all your affection and closeness and, at this particular time, I feel as if I am 'carried' and supported by all God's people. Thank you all," he said.
Francis has suffered numerous health issues in recent years, including colon surgery in 2021 and a hernia operation in 2023, and uses a wheelchair due to hip and knee pain.
He has always left open the option of resigning if his health declined, following the example set by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, but had repeatedly dismissed the idea before his admission to hospital.
burs-ar/js

economy

China's elite don traditional garb for annual 'Two Sessions' talking shop

BY MARY YANG

  • But that was punctuated with the occasional pop of colour and traditional dress from representatives of China's 55 officially recognised minority groups.
  • Sporting military uniforms and multi-coloured traditional garb, delegates from all four corners of China descended on the capital on Tuesday for the country's largest annual political event -- a red-carpet cameo for the ruling elite.
  • But that was punctuated with the occasional pop of colour and traditional dress from representatives of China's 55 officially recognised minority groups.
Sporting military uniforms and multi-coloured traditional garb, delegates from all four corners of China descended on the capital on Tuesday for the country's largest annual political event -- a red-carpet cameo for the ruling elite.
China's "Two Sessions" kick off this week, with thousands of representatives of the country's top consultative political body and its rubber-stamp parliament gathering to talk about everything from economic policy to social issues.
Security was tight around Beijing, with plainclothes police officers and elderly volunteers in red armbands monitoring for anything that could spoil the tightly choreographed conclave.
On nearby Chang'an Avenue, cars trudged along in traffic and pedestrians were stopped for security checks.
Many delegates sported the typical dark suit and tie of career Communist officials.
But that was punctuated with the occasional pop of colour and traditional dress from representatives of China's 55 officially recognised minority groups.
Yang Xiaohua, a delegate from southwestern Yunnan province, was wearing the intricately embroidered dress of her Naxi minority group as she arrived in the stately Great Hall of the People for her third year.
A delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the middle school teacher said she planned to propose education-related policies.
She said she thought the ruling Communist Party was giving "more and more weight" to delegates' opinions.
"There are surprises every time," she told AFP.
"I think there's not much to say about China's overall direction, we are very satisfied."
"Life has got better and better for ethnic minorities, so we hope the country will prosper and flourish, so that people can work and exist in peace."

'Challenges'

Handfuls of representatives dressed in dark green uniforms of China's military brushed past journalists in the Great Hall.
But other delegates were more keen to chat as they made their way to the assembly room.
Wu Haiying, of northeastern Jilin province, said she hoped to work with the party to provide women with a better "childbearing environment".
But she acknowledged the country was facing difficulties -- particularly in the economy.
"But even so, in the process of national development and progress, we will still experience challenges – in economic development, individual development, career development," she said.
Attending the two sessions as a CPPCC representative for the third year, Wu said "the feeling of seeing old friends is very good".
Outside the theatre-like assembly room was an elaborate floral display in different shades of pink, with pots around the hall.

Optimistic delegates

Inside, delegates including President Xi Jinping and his top brass stood to sing a rendition of China's national anthem.
Tuesday's CPPCC was low-stakes compared to the almost simultaneous gathering of China's legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), which starts on Wednesday.
That meeting is widely expected to see Beijing hash out plans for a response to the many economic headwinds China is facing, from trade war threats abroad to sluggish consumption and a proper crisis at home.
Delegates, unsurprisingly, put on an optimistic face when asked for comment by journalists.
"I believe that in dealing with global and domestic economic development, China's economy will escape this puzzle," Ruan Hongxian, from southwestern Yunnan province, told AFP.
"And I believe that China's economy will be even better developed in the future."
mya-oho/je/dhw

diplomacy

Chinese lessons in Saudi schools show growing ties

BY HAITHAM EL-TABEI

  • I know Arabic, English and Chinese, which is a great asset for my future," Shaalan told AFP. In August, Saudi Arabia introduced China's official language as a compulsory second foreign language after English in six of its 13 administrative regions' schools.
  • With a map of China on the wall behind him, 14-year-old Yasser al-Shaalan studied the names of professions in a Chinese textbook, one of thousands of Saudi children now learning the language at school.
  • I know Arabic, English and Chinese, which is a great asset for my future," Shaalan told AFP. In August, Saudi Arabia introduced China's official language as a compulsory second foreign language after English in six of its 13 administrative regions' schools.
With a map of China on the wall behind him, 14-year-old Yasser al-Shaalan studied the names of professions in a Chinese textbook, one of thousands of Saudi children now learning the language at school.
Mandarin's entry into public schools is the latest sign of growing ties between Saudi Arabia and China, as the oil-rich Gulf kingdom pushes to diversify its economy and strategic alliances.
"The pupils at the other schools are proficient in English. I know Arabic, English and Chinese, which is a great asset for my future," Shaalan told AFP.
In August, Saudi Arabia introduced China's official language as a compulsory second foreign language after English in six of its 13 administrative regions' schools.
Shaalan and his classmates have three Mandarin lessons a week, taught by their teacher Ma Shuaib, a Chinese national and Muslim who is fluent in Arabic.
In their classroom in northern Riyadh, close to the Saudi headquarters of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Shaalan and his classmates learn Chinese characters shown on an electronic whiteboard.
"At first it was difficult, but now it has become easy and fun," the teenager told AFP.
Mandarin is one of the world's most widely spoken languages, and the overwhelming majority of its speakers live in China.

'Language of the future'

After a visit to China in 2019, Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman announced a plan to introduce Chinese throughout the education system.
Since then, several Saudi universities have opened programmes in Chinese. In 2023, Prince Sultan University in Riyadh inaugurated the kingdom's first branch of the Confucius Institute.
Following China's emergence as a major economic power, Mandarin teaching has become increasingly popular around the world, including in Europe.
However, in 2022 Germany warned the Confucius Institute language centres were being "used by the Communist Party for political ends".
Dozens have closed in the United States, Sweden, France, Australia and Canada in recent years, following similar accusations.
In Saudi Arabia, no such fears have been expressed.
In Riyadh, Ma said that while "Chinese is one of the most difficult languages", he uses "modern methods" to make it easier. 
"I use a digital board, gestures and interactive games to motivate the students," he explained.
While learning Chinese is compulsory, marks for the course do not count towards the students' overall grades.
"At the beginning, we focus on listening, speaking and reading, then we move on to writing," added Ma, who teaches five classes a week at the Yazeed bin Abi Othman School.
Sattam al-Otaibi, the school's director, said: "Chinese is the language of the future for economic communication. The world depends on China for many industries."
Thousands of Chinese people work in Saudi Arabia, particularly in Riyadh, where the airport now displays trilingual signs in Arabic, English and Chinese.

'Changing global order'

Saudi Arabia is a long-standing partner of the United States but has also strengthened its relations with China and Russia.
The Middle East's largest economy is the world's leading exporter of crude oil, with China taking about a quarter of its shipments.
That has helped China become Saudi Arabia's leading trade partner, with two-way trade exceeding $100 billion in 2023, according to official figures.
Ties with Beijing have flourished during Prince Mohammed's "Vision 2030" project to diversify his country's oil-dominated economy and improve its image abroad.
At the same time, US-Saudi relations have fluctuated in recent years. 
Former US president Joe Biden once pledged to make Saudi Arabia "a pariah" over the 2018 murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, before later changing course.
A geopolitical rival to the United States, China has worked to strengthen its influence in the Middle East. 
In 2023, it brokered a stunning rapprochement between heavyweight rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran after years of no ties between them.
"For Saudi Arabia, the relationship with China has become one of the most important," said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy at the University of Birmingham.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has twice visited Riyadh, participating in Gulf-China and Arab-China summits attended by regional leaders.
Riyadh also hosted a Sino-Arab Investment Forum in 2023, where more than $10 billion of investment agreements were signed with Chinese companies.
As economic exchanges step up, hundreds of Chinese teachers have already arrived in Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh plans to send Saudi teachers to learn Mandarin in China.
"The move to teach kids Chinese is again in line with the changing global order dynamics where China has emerged as the global economic powerhouse," Karim said. 
ht/sar/csp/dcp/th/ser

research

60% of adults will be overweight or obese by 2050: study

  • Without a serious change, the researchers estimate that 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years -- -- or around 60 percent of the global adult population in 2050.
  • Nearly 60 percent of all adults and a third of all children in the world will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless governments take action, a large new study said Tuesday.
  • Without a serious change, the researchers estimate that 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years -- -- or around 60 percent of the global adult population in 2050.
Nearly 60 percent of all adults and a third of all children in the world will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless governments take action, a large new study said Tuesday.
The research published in the Lancet medical journal used data from 204 countries to paint a grim picture of what it described as one of the great health challenges of the century.
"The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure," lead author Emmanuela Gakidou, from the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said in a statement.
The number of overweight or obese people worldwide rose from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021, the study found.
Without a serious change, the researchers estimate that 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years -- -- or around 60 percent of the global adult population in 2050.
The world's health systems will come under crippling pressure, the researchers warned, with around a quarter of the world's obese expected to be aged over 65 by that time.
They also predicted a 121-percent increase in obesity among children and adolescents around the world.
A third of all obese young people will be living in two regions -- North Africa and the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean -- by 2050, the researchers warned.
But it is not too late to act, said study co-author Jessica Kerr from Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia.
"Much stronger political commitment is needed to transform diets within sustainable global food systems," she said.
That commitment was also needed for strategies "that improve people's nutrition, physical activity and living environments, whether it's too much processed food or not enough parks," Kerr said.
More than half the world's overweight or obese adults already live in just eight countries -- China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Egypt, the study said.
While poor diet and sedentary lifestyles are clearly drivers of the obesity epidemic, "there remains doubt" about the underlying causes for this, said Thorkild Sorensen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen not involved in the study.
For example, socially deprived groups have a "consistent and unexplained tendency" towards obesity, he said in a linked comment in The Lancet.
The research is based on figures from the Global Burden of Disease study from the IHME, which brings together thousands of researchers across the world and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
ref-dl/tw/rmb

theatre

Lights out for landmark Hong Kong theatre

  • Crowds packed onto the streets of Hong Kong's North Point district after dark on Monday, eager to snap pictures of Sunbeam Theatre -- recognisable from its brightly lit marquee and red neon signs looming over a busy intersection.
  • A landmark Hong Kong venue that became synonymous with Cantonese opera for more than half a century closed its doors in the early hours of Tuesday, with hundreds gathering to watch its neon signs going dark.
  • Crowds packed onto the streets of Hong Kong's North Point district after dark on Monday, eager to snap pictures of Sunbeam Theatre -- recognisable from its brightly lit marquee and red neon signs looming over a busy intersection.
A landmark Hong Kong venue that became synonymous with Cantonese opera for more than half a century closed its doors in the early hours of Tuesday, with hundreds gathering to watch its neon signs going dark.
Crowds packed onto the streets of Hong Kong's North Point district after dark on Monday, eager to snap pictures of Sunbeam Theatre -- recognisable from its brightly lit marquee and red neon signs looming over a busy intersection.
Established in 1972, the ornate venue was the proving ground for generations of performers in the city and mainland China, and was lauded as the "palace" of Cantonese opera.
Its lobby was adorned with calligraphy, a gong and drum for good luck -- as well as 108 round lamps suspended from the ceiling. A coin-operated weighing machine added a dash of whimsy.
"This theatre grew up with us," said neighbourhood resident Franklin Mui, who recalled watching shows there as a teen.
"I never thought it would close down."
Cantonese opera originated in southern China and became a staple of post-war Hong Kong's cultural life, with its popularity peaking around the 1960s.
A 68-year-old retiree surnamed Pang travelled across town to pay tribute late on Monday, saying the theatre should have been conserved.
"Watching shows at (Sunbeam), you feel close to the actors on stage," she said.
But with changing tastes, Sunbeam ran into repeated financial trouble and nearly closed in 2012 before playwright Edward Li took it over.
The theatre tried to win over younger audiences with modern takes on the art form, including an absurdist tale about US President Donald Trump told in Cantonese opera style.
"(Sunbeam) is a collective memory that Hong Kongers don't want to give up," Li told AFP in January.
But he acknowledged that the theatre's heyday was behind it, adding that the government could have done more to support it.
"We live in an era when Cantonese opera is at its lowest and closest to death."
At 15 minutes after midnight, following a farewell ceremony in the 1,000-seat auditorium, the lights went out.
The new owners, who acquired the premises last year, plan to convert it into an evangelical church.
hol/aha

Hisahito

Teen heir to Japanese throne says marriage not on his mind

  • Lawmakers last year began discussing possible relaxations to the strict succession rules, and a Kyodo News poll found 90 percent public support for female succession.
  • Prince Hisahito, the Japanese imperial family's last hope for the monarchy's long-term survival -- unless succession rules change -- said marriage is not on his mind yet in his first press conference on Monday.
  • Lawmakers last year began discussing possible relaxations to the strict succession rules, and a Kyodo News poll found 90 percent public support for female succession.
Prince Hisahito, the Japanese imperial family's last hope for the monarchy's long-term survival -- unless succession rules change -- said marriage is not on his mind yet in his first press conference on Monday.
Only males can ascend the ancient Chrysanthemum Throne and women leave the imperial family if they marry a commoner, with their offspring having no royal status.
But Hisahito, who turned 18 in September and is second in line to become emperor after his father, said it was much too early for him to consider tying the knot.
"Regarding marriage, I have not yet thought deeply about the ideal time or partner," Hisahito told reporters. 
Hisahito is the only son of Crown Prince Akishino, 59 -- the brother of Emperor Naruhito, 65 -- and Crown Princess Kiko, 58.
Naruhito's daughter, Aiko, 23, cannot succeed her father under the Imperial Household Law, in place since 1947, because of her gender.
Hisahito also told his first news conference -- foreign media were excluded -- that he enjoys observing insects and plants as well as growing vegetables and rice in his private time. 
He is also "concerned about the impact (of climate change) on people's lives".
"I feel nervous talking to you all," he said, adding he will consider the possibility of studying abroad like his family members have done. 
"As a young member of the Imperial Family, I am determined to fulfil my role," Hisahito said.
The imperial family, whose history according to legend goes back 2,600 years, formally renounced its divine status after Japan's defeat in World War II and it has no political power.
Akihito, who abdicated in 2019 due to his age and poor health, is credited with modernising the institution.
Lawmakers last year began discussing possible relaxations to the strict succession rules, and a Kyodo News poll found 90 percent public support for female succession.
"Stabilising the number of members of the imperial family is a particularly urgent issue," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in October, calling for active debate on the issue.
But resistance among conservative MPs, who revere the royals as the perfect example of a patriarchal Japanese family, makes that change unlikely any time soon.
In October, a UN committee said Japan should "guarantee the equality of women and men in the succession to the throne" in line with "good practices" in other monarchies.
Japan demanded that the committee withdraw its recommendation, saying that the right to succeed the throne was unrelated to human rights and gender discrimination.
In January it said it would not fund a UN women's rights committee and suspended a member's visit over the issue.
nf/stu/dhc

carnival

First Oscar for Brazil adds zest to Rio Carnival extravaganza

  • At Rio's Sambadrome, the top 12 samba schools will compete from Sunday until Tuesday, in a new three-day format instead of the traditional two.
  • Rio de Janeiro's massive Sambadrome erupted in noisy celebrations Sunday as the news broke that Brazil won its first Oscar, in the middle of the first day of its famous samba parades.
  • At Rio's Sambadrome, the top 12 samba schools will compete from Sunday until Tuesday, in a new three-day format instead of the traditional two.
Rio de Janeiro's massive Sambadrome erupted in noisy celebrations Sunday as the news broke that Brazil won its first Oscar, in the middle of the first day of its famous samba parades.
"I'm Still Here" earned Brazil's first Oscar in the best international film category, sparking a national fervor usually reserved for the Rio Carnival or the football World Cup.
"The Oscar is ours," an announcer shouted over the loudspeakers, news greeted with screaming and hugs from some 70,000 people who packed the legendary catwalk, the symbol of the world's most famous carnival.
A screen broadcast the news, and colorful sparklers lit up in the stands.
The expectation for the possibility of winning a golden statuette had grown in recent weeks, and the coincidence of the Hollywood gala with the carnival celebrations doubled the enthusiasm.
"It's really crazy. We were at the parade when we found out we had won, and it was a very big thing. Long live Brazilian cinema," said Brazilian actor Wesley Torquato.
The film, directed by Walter Salles, tells the story of former congressman Ruben Paiva's disappearance in 1971, and the actions by his widow Eunice during the country's military dictatorship, which lasted from 1964-1985.
It also earned nominations for best picture and best lead actress for Fernanda Torres, who already won a Golden Globe award for her performance.
"Today is a day to be even more proud to be Brazilian. Proud of our cinema, of our artists and, above all, proud of our democracy," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a post on social platform X after the award was announced in Los Angeles.
Oscars buzz was all over the streets of Rio, as billboards and posters touting support for Torres were displayed alongside revelers dressed up as her in the carnival parades -- with some displays dedicated entirely to the actor.
Among the crowds, many attendees wielded plastic golden statuettes sold by street vendors.
Similar celebratory scenes were seen in others cities such as Recife, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo. 
"There is no better day than a carnival Sunday to win the Oscar," Rebecca Maria Darakjian Batoni, a 25-year-old celebrant in the northeast city of Olinda, told AFP.
"Fernanda is an example, an idol for all of Brazil, and today we're all going to stop to see her win the Oscar," said Cristina Leite de Moraes, a 25-year-old doctor.
Torres, 59, has said she felt "very proud" that the streets were filled with her image.
At Rio's Sambadrome, the top 12 samba schools will compete from Sunday until Tuesday, in a new three-day format instead of the traditional two.
The change will give each group a little more time, up to 80 minutes, for its thousands of dancers and musicians to go down the catwalk in front of some 70,000 attendees and millions of television viewers around the world.
Authorities said that excitement over the Oscars win could help amplify economic activity generated by the carnival, with estimates for the festival approaching the $1 billion dollar mark.
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