film

Time of the sign: Hollywood landmark hits 100

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • But, said Zarrinnam, it might start shining again.
  • The landmark word has loomed over Tinseltown since before movies started talking, becoming a symbol of the entire film industry.
  • But, said Zarrinnam, it might start shining again.
The landmark word has loomed over Tinseltown since before movies started talking, becoming a symbol of the entire film industry.
For the first time in decades, the Hollywood sign -- at least a little bit of it -- was illuminated on Friday to celebrate its 100th birthday.
The nine-letter sign is officially a centenarian but, as with many an aging grande dame in Hollywood, looks as fresh as ever.
Like the actors and actresses it looks down on, the sign has been in its fair share of films.
Directors who want to let their audience know a movie is set in Los Angeles have an easy establishing shot, while a filmmaker who wants to signify the destruction of America can set their special effects team loose on the sign.
It has also seen real life tragedy: British-born actress Peg Entwistle took her own life by plunging from the top of the letter H in 1932.

Hooray for... realtors?

The sign, a must-see for any film buff or tourist visiting Los Angeles, initially read "HOLLYWOODLAND", having been constructed in 1923 as an advertisement for an upscale real estate development.
During its first decade, it was routinely lit by thousands of bulbs, with "HOLLY", "WOOD" and "LAND" illuminated in turn as a beacon of the desireable homes on offer below.
By the 1940s, the letters were looking a little ragged.
The Los Angeles Times reported vandals or windstorms had damaged the H, before locals decided they had had enough and asked the city to tear it down.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, recognising that they had a blockbuster trademark on their hands, stepped in and offered to fix it up.
But the last four letters had to go -- the sign was to represent the whole town, not just a fashionable property patch, and by 1949, the newly restored sign simply read "HOLLYWOOD".

Mr Nice Guy

Three decades of baking sun and occasional storms took their toll on the 50-foot (15-meter)-high wooden letters.
Eventually, the first O reduced to a lower case "u" and the final O toppled down completely.
Enter one Alice Cooper -- the chicken-bothering father of shock rock -- who led a campaign to restore the sign to its former glory, donating $28,000.
Eight others, including actor Gene Autry, Playboy founder Hugh Heffner and singer Andy Williams, kicked in the same, each sponsoring a letter.
(Cooper is the first O, Autry has the second L, Heffner got the Y and Williams snagged the W).
The replacement letters are a tad more compact, just 44 feet high, but made of steel, although they remain characteristically off-kilter.
The Hollywood Sign Trust said last year the repainting it carried out in time for the 100th anniversary used almost 400 gallons (1,500 liters) of paint and primer.
Friday night's lighting was purely symbolic, Hollywood Sign Trust chairman Jeff Zarrinnam said, with just a little stretch of the second L cutting through the gloom.
Unlike most global landmarks, the Hollywood sign is not usually lit up at night, partially because of objections from people who live nearby.
But, said Zarrinnam, it might start shining again.
"What we are working on is a plan to hopefully light the sign on very special occasions," he said.
"We have some very important sporting events that are coming to Los Angeles like the FIFA World Cup, we have the Olympics coming (in 2028) so those are the types of events that we would probably want to light the Hollywood sign in the future."
hg/dhw

politics

Texas high court halts ruling allowing abortion under strict law

  • The Texas Supreme Court ordered a stay late Friday, according to a copy of the ruling released by Cox's lawyers, temporarily halting the district court's decision.
  • The Supreme Court of Texas late Friday temporarily blocked an emergency abortion for a woman whose fetus was determined to be not viable, in a closely watched case underlining the legal perils facing both doctors and patients when it comes to the procedure.
  • The Texas Supreme Court ordered a stay late Friday, according to a copy of the ruling released by Cox's lawyers, temporarily halting the district court's decision.
The Supreme Court of Texas late Friday temporarily blocked an emergency abortion for a woman whose fetus was determined to be not viable, in a closely watched case underlining the legal perils facing both doctors and patients when it comes to the procedure.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton petitioned the high court to block Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, from terminating her pregnancy after a district judge ruled a woman with a potentially life-threatening pregnancy can obtain an abortion.
Texas has some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, prohibiting it even in cases of rape or incest.
District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble on Thursday said that Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant, should be permitted to have an abortion under a medical exception provision of the Texas law that allows the procedure when a woman's health is at risk.
But Paxton, a conservative Republican, objected to the finding, saying the "activist" judge's order does "not insulate hospitals, doctors or anyone else, from civil and criminal liability for violating Texas' abortion laws."
The Texas Supreme Court ordered a stay late Friday, according to a copy of the ruling released by Cox's lawyers, temporarily halting the district court's decision.
CNN, the Houston Chronicle and the New York Times reported on the high court ruling.
"While we still hope that the Court ultimately rejects the state's request and does so quickly, in this case we fear that justice delayed will be justice denied," attorney Molly Duane from the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented Cox, said in a statement following the high court's stay.
"We are talking about urgent medical care. Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant. This is why people should not need to beg for healthcare in a court of law."
The Centre for Reproductive Rights said it believed the Texas case was the first in which a woman was asking a court for an emergency abortion since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.

District case

"All of her doctors have told her that the baby will be stillborn or will live for only minutes, hours or days," attorney Molly Duane said during the lower court emergency hearing held over Zoom.
Duane said the pregnancy poses multiple health risks to Cox and her future fertility and falls within the medical exception to Texas's abortion laws.
"In the state's eyes, Ms. Cox simply isn't sick enough, isn't close enough to death, to qualify for the exception," Duane said.
"It is clear that the attorney general of Texas thinks he is better suited to practice medicine than the physicians of his state."
Johnathan Stone, an attorney who represented Texas in the hearing, argued that the abortion should not be allowed until a full hearing of the medical evidence is held.
"The abortion once performed is permanent and cannot be undone," he said.
That was met with a blistering reply from Duane.
"I would just note that the harm to Ms. Cox's life, health and fertility are very much also permanent and cannot be undone," she said.

'Miscarriage of justice'

District Judge Gamble had granted Cox the right to an abortion, saying the risk her pregnancy posed to her fertility was such that blocking the termination would be "a genuine miscarriage of justice". 
Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, accused Paxton, the attorney general, of "fear-mongering" with his threats of legal action against a doctor or hospital that performs Cox's abortion.
Texas physicians found guilty of providing abortions face up to 99 years in prison, fines of up to $100,000 and the revocation of their medical license.
While the state's law does allow abortions in cases where the mother's life is in danger, physicians have said the wording is unclear, leaving them open to legal consequences.
Texas also has a law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs or aids an abortion.
The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case brought on behalf of two doctors and 20 women who were denied abortions even though they had serious -- in some cases life-threatening -- complications with their pregnancies.
The lawsuit argues that the way medical exceptions are defined under the state's abortion restrictions is confusing, stoking fear among doctors and causing a "health crisis."
cl/dw/dhw/ssy

ultra-processed

How unhealthy are ultra-processed foods?

BY DANIEL LAWLER

  • According to the NOVA scale, nearly 60 percent of the calories eaten in the United States and UK are from UPFs. - 'Confused' - In recent years, dozens of studies have found that people who eat lots of UPFs have a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, asthma, depression and other illnesses.
  • Ultra-processed foods are commonly portrayed as a modern health scourge: a threat lurking on the shelves of every supermarket linked to obesity, heart disease, cancer and early death.
  • According to the NOVA scale, nearly 60 percent of the calories eaten in the United States and UK are from UPFs. - 'Confused' - In recent years, dozens of studies have found that people who eat lots of UPFs have a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, asthma, depression and other illnesses.
Ultra-processed foods are commonly portrayed as a modern health scourge: a threat lurking on the shelves of every supermarket linked to obesity, heart disease, cancer and early death.
Researchers warning of their dangers have called for taxation and even bans of products which make up a huge proportion of the food eaten worldwide.
However some nutrition experts have started to push back against such all-encompassing claims, saying the definition can be vague. They say more research is needed and that some ultra-processed foods, or UPFs,  can actually be healthy.
The concept was first introduced in 2009 by Carlos Monteiro, a nutrition and health researcher at Brazil's University of Sao Paulo.
His NOVA classification system for UPFs was unusual in nutrition because it ignored the level of nutrients such as fat, salt, sugar and carbohydrates in food.
Instead, it splits food into four groups, ranked by the level of processing involved in their creation. Everything in the fourth group is considered ultra-processed.
Monteiro said that UPFs "aren't exactly foods".
"They're formulations of substances derived from foods," he told AFP.
"They contain little or no whole foods and are typically enhanced with colourings, flavourings, emulsifiers, and other cosmetic additives to make them palatable."
Examples include crisps, ice cream, soft drinks and frozen pizza. But items not traditionally considered junk food are also included, such as non-dairy milks, baby formula and supermarket bread.
According to the NOVA scale, nearly 60 percent of the calories eaten in the United States and UK are from UPFs.

'Confused'

In recent years, dozens of studies have found that people who eat lots of UPFs have a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, asthma, depression and other illnesses.
But these studies have almost entirely been observational, which means they cannot show that UPFs directly cause these health problems.
Monteiro pointed to a US-based randomised-controlled trial, which is considered the gold standard of research.
For the 2019 trial, 20 people were fed either ultra-processed or unprocessed food for two weeks, then the opposite for the following two weeks.
The diets were matched for things like fat, sugar and overall calories. Those eating UPFs gained an average of nearly a kilo (2.2 pounds), while those on the unprocessed diet lost the same amount.
However, there was no limit on how much the trial participants ate, including snacks. Those on the UPF diet ate much more food, and their weight gain roughly matched how many more calories they consumed, the researchers said.
Monteiro said the study showed how big companies make food "hyperpalatable" in a way that "leads to overconsumption and even poses risks of addiction".
But one of the study's co-authors, Ciaran Forde of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, rejected the idea that there is something unique about UPFs that makes them irresistible.
Forde, a critic of NOVA who has disclosed he worked for food giant Nestle nearly a decade ago, said it was not just the public who was "confused".
In a French study published last year nearly 160 nutrition experts were asked to put 231 different foods into the four NOVA categories -- they only unanimously agreed about four.

A healthy UPF diet?

This potential for confusion was why US researchers brought in NOVA experts to help them develop a healthy diet in which 91 percent of calories were from UPFs.
Their week-long menu scored 86/100 on the US Healthy Eating Index -- far higher than the average American diet of 59/100.
Julie Hess, a nutritionist at the US Department of Agriculture who led the study, told AFP they sought out fruits and vegetables such as dried blueberries or canned beans deemed ultra-processed because of additives like preservatives.
"There may really be something here, but right now the scale puts gummy candies and sodas in the same category as oranges and raisins," she said.
Both Hess and Forde pointed out that many people do not have the time or money to cook every meal from fresh ingredients. 
"Taxing processed foods in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis will be regressive and is likely to affect the most vulnerable groups," Forde said.
Robin May, the chief scientific adviser at the UK's Food Standards Agency, earlier this year warned against a "knee-jerk reaction" that treats all UPFs the same, "when we clearly know that everything is not the same".
Monteiro dismissed criticism of the NOVA scale.
"Those who profit from the sale of ultra-processed foods naturally dislike the NOVA classification and often sow doubts about its functioning," he said.
He called for ultra-processed foods to be treated like tobacco, praising a recent ban on UPFs in schools in Rio de Janeiro.
So where does this debate leave people who simply want to have a healthy diet?
Hess felt that most people already know what food is good for them: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, some lean protein and low-fat dairy.
Even "some delicious, full-fat cheeses" are allowed sometimes, she added.
dl/fg/leg

shooting

Life sentence for Michigan teen who shot dead four classmates

  • - Parents facing charges - While school shootings carried out by teens have become a sadly familiar part of American life, it is highly unusual for parents to face charges.
  • An American teenager was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for shooting dead four students at his Michigan high school, with the case drawing additional attention because his parents are also facing charges.
  • - Parents facing charges - While school shootings carried out by teens have become a sadly familiar part of American life, it is highly unusual for parents to face charges.
An American teenager was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for shooting dead four students at his Michigan high school, with the case drawing additional attention because his parents are also facing charges.
Ethan Crumbley was 15 years old at the time of the November 30, 2021 shooting at Oxford High School, north of Detroit, but was charged as an adult.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwame Rowe sentenced Crumbley, now 17, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Crumbley, who was wearing large black glasses and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, addressed the court before the sentencing, saying he was a "really bad person."
Parents of the victims and survivors of the mass shooting also spoke about the impact of the murders on their lives.
"For the past two years our family has been navigating our way through complete hell," said Buck Myre, whose son Tate was among those killed.
"We miss Tate," Myre said. "Our family has a permanent hole in it that can never be fixed. Ever."
Crumbley pleaded guilty in October of last year to bringing a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun to school and opening fire on fellow students.
Four classmates between the ages of 14 and 17 were killed and six other students and a teacher were wounded.

Parents facing charges

While school shootings carried out by teens have become a sadly familiar part of American life, it is highly unusual for parents to face charges.
Crumbley's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
They are accused not only of supplying their son with a weapon, but of ignoring escalating warnings that he appeared to be on the brink of violence.
James Crumbley allegedly bought the handgun for his son and his wife took the boy to a shooting range just days before the attack.
The Crumbleys were summoned to the school on the day of the shooting after a teacher was "alarmed" by a note she found on Ethan's desk.
The parents were shown the drawing and advised they needed to get the boy into counseling.
They allegedly resisted taking their son home and he returned to class.
He later entered a bathroom, emerged with the gun which had been concealed in his backpack and fired more than 30 shots.
The father of an Illinois man accused of killing seven people in July 2022 pleaded guilty in November to "reckless conduct" for helping his son obtain the assault rifle used in the mass shooting.
cl/des

Canada

US, UK, Canada sanction dozens on human rights anniversary

  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "with today's actions, the United States is addressing some of the most challenging and harmful forms of human rights abuses in the world, including those involving conflict-related sexual violence, forced labor, and transnational repression."
  • Dozens of alleged human rights abusers around the world face new sanctions Friday under a coordinated action by the United States, Britain and Canada to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "with today's actions, the United States is addressing some of the most challenging and harmful forms of human rights abuses in the world, including those involving conflict-related sexual violence, forced labor, and transnational repression."
Dozens of alleged human rights abusers around the world face new sanctions Friday under a coordinated action by the United States, Britain and Canada to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The long list of targets ranges from human traffickers in Southeast Asia involved with "scam farm" operations, Taliban officials responsible for rights abuses in Afghanistan and leaders of gangs ravaging Haiti's population.
London said it was hitting 46 individuals and entities with asset freezes and travel bans ahead of the December 10 landmark, recognized annually as International Human Rights Day.
The United States for its part targeted 37 people in 13 countries, while Canada imposed sanctions on seven people as part of the joint action.
"We will not tolerate criminals and repressive regimes trampling on the fundamental rights and freedoms of ordinary people around the world," said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
"I am clear that 75 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UK and our allies will continue to relentlessly pursue those who would deny people their freedom."
The landmark 30-article document, which outlines fundamental rights and freedoms for all of humanity, was adopted on December 10, 1948 during the early days of the United Nations.
The UK's list of targets include 17 members of the Belarusian judiciary, including prosecutors in charge of politically motivated cases against activists, journalists and rights defenders.
Five individuals in Iran face curbs for imposing and enforcing the country's mandatory hijab law, while nine people were targeted for trafficking people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to work for online "scam farms."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "with today's actions, the United States is addressing some of the most challenging and harmful forms of human rights abuses in the world, including those involving conflict-related sexual violence, forced labor, and transnational repression."
Among those facing US sanctions are a senior Taliban official who participated in the decision-making to ban women and girls from school after the group's 2021 takeover of Afghanistan.
Blinken said that in addition to the US sanctions imposed Friday, Washington would recommend UN Security Council designations for four Haitian gang leaders and five armed group chiefs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Canada for its part included in its list four Russians responsible for LGBTQ rights violations in Chechnya as well as the leader of the junta in Myanmar.
"Our actions to promote respect for human rights are stronger and more durable when done in concert with allies committed to the international rules-based order," Blinken said of the coordinated action with Ottawa and London.
srg/phz/rox/des/md

conflict

Harvard president apologizes for remarks on campus anti-Semitism

  • "I am sorry," Gay said in an interview published by her university's student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
  • The president of Harvard publicly apologized in an interview published Friday for remarks she made during a congressional hearing about anti-Semitism on US campuses amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
  • "I am sorry," Gay said in an interview published by her university's student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
The president of Harvard publicly apologized in an interview published Friday for remarks she made during a congressional hearing about anti-Semitism on US campuses amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Claudine Gay, a professor who has led the prestigious US university since July 2023, was asked Tuesday whether calls for "genocide" against Jews would violate Harvard's code of conduct, to which she did not respond with a direct affirmative.
"I am sorry," Gay said in an interview published by her university's student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
"What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community -- threats to our Jewish students -- have no place at Harvard, and will never go unchallenged."
Gay and the two other participants at the five-hour-long hearing -- her counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) -- have faced a backlash for their responses to Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik's questioning.
Stefanik, who studied at Harvard, has called for the presidents to resign and on Wednesday announced that the House Education and Workforce Committee would be "launching an official congressional investigation with the full force of subpoena power" into the three universities, and others.
The rebukes have been bipartisan, with Democrat Joe Biden's White House issuing a statement saying "calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country."
Israel has been pressing for the destruction of Hamas over its October 7 attack, when militants broke through Gaza's militarized border to kill around 1,200 people and seize hostages, 138 of whom remain captive, according to Israeli figures.
The bloodiest-ever war between Israel and Hamas is now in its third month, with the death toll in Gaza soaring above 17,000 according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The conflict has ignited tensions on many American college campuses, with protests flaring.
Stefanik, during her line of questioning, likened calls by some student protesters for a new intifada -- an Arabic word for uprising that harks back to the first Palestinian revolt against Israel in 1987 -- to inciting "genocide against the Jewish people in Israel and globally."
When asked if "calling for the genocide of Jews" violates their universities' codes of conduct, the three presidents said it would depend on the context.
Gay said that "when speech crosses into conduct that violates our policies, including policies against bullying, harassment or intimidation, we take action."
In her comments published Friday by the Crimson, Gay said she had gotten "caught up in what had become at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures."
"When words amplify distress and pain, I don't know how you could feel anything but regret," she added.
abd-des/bgs

court

Verdict due in landmark Japan army sexual assault case

BY KYOKO HASEGAWA

  • Rina Gonoi, 24, won praise but also hate when she went public last year -- after a military probe found insufficient evidence -- accusing fellow soldiers of assaulting her while others watched and laughed.
  • A Japanese court is due Tuesday to give a verdict in the landmark trial of three ex-soldiers accused of sexual assault in a country where still very few victims come forward.
  • Rina Gonoi, 24, won praise but also hate when she went public last year -- after a military probe found insufficient evidence -- accusing fellow soldiers of assaulting her while others watched and laughed.
A Japanese court is due Tuesday to give a verdict in the landmark trial of three ex-soldiers accused of sexual assault in a country where still very few victims come forward.
Rina Gonoi, 24, won praise but also hate when she went public last year -- after a military probe found insufficient evidence -- accusing fellow soldiers of assaulting her while others watched and laughed.
Her YouTube video went viral and more than 100,000 people signed a petition she submitted to the defence ministry, which then acknowledged the assault and apologised.
In March, prosecutors reversed an earlier decision and charged the three men, since dismissed from the military, who face two years in prison if convicted.

Childhood dream

It had been Gonoi's childhood dream to join the military after she saw female soldiers helping in the wake of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the Fukushima region where she grew up.
So going public was an agonising choice, she told AFP in an interview in February.
"It was the last resort," she said, describing herself as "desperate rather than brave".
Gonoi said she experienced harassment daily after enlisting in 2020.
"When walking down the hallway, someone slaps you on your hip, or holds you from behind," she told AFP.
"I was kissed on the cheek, and my breasts were grabbed."
Then, during a drill in 2021, she says three colleagues pressed her to the ground, forced apart her legs and each repeatedly pressed their crotches against her.

'Rape myth'

Women are rare in the upper echelons of Japanese politics, business and government -- and military -- and the gender pay gap is the worst among the G7 group of advanced economies.
The global #MeToo movement met a muted response in Japan, and prominent cases such as Gonoi's -- and a handful of others like that of journalist Shiori Ito, who accused a prominent TV reporter of rape -- are rare.
"In Japan, suffering sexual violence brings stigma and shame, often leaving survivors reluctant to come forward," Teppei Kasai from Human Rights Watch told AFP.
A 2021 government survey showed that about six percent of assault victims, both men and women, reported the incidents to police, while nearly half of women respondents said they couldn't because of "embarrassment", Kasai said.
"The 'rape myth' persists in Japan, meaning that there is a widespread assumption that the victims of rape and sexual assault are at fault," said Machiko Osawa, a researcher at Japan Women's University.
"As a result, a vicious cycle of silence, shame, unawareness, and inertia continues to allow this hidden plague to flourish," she said in a research note.

Stricter laws

Chizuko Ueno, professor emerita at the University of Tokyo and president of the Women's Action Network, said the costs of taking legal action, financial and emotional, are also often so high that it is "understandable that many victims hesitate to file suits".
Inspired by Gonoi, however, more than 1,400 women and men submitted their own allegations of sexual harassment and bullying in the military following a special inspection by the defence ministry.
Britain's BBC in November included Gonoi on a list of 100 "inspiring and influential women" for 2023. Time magazine also included her in its "100 Next" list of people to watch.
Japan in 2017 hiked minimum jail terms for rapists and this June removed the requirement that victims prove they had sought to resist their attacker.
- 'It's tough' - 
But Gonoi, who is also suing her alleged attackers and the government in a parallel civil case, became a target of vicious vitriol online by coming forward.
"I was prepared for defamation, but it's tough," she told AFP, saying at one point it got so bad she didn't leave her home for five days.
"There's something wrong with Japan -- people attack victims instead of perpetrators."
kh-tmo-stu/cwl

AI

Learn to forget? How to rein in a rogue chatbot

BY JOSEPH BOYLE

  • With scientific research in its infancy and regulation almost non-existent, Brian Hood -- who is a fan of AI despite his ChatGPT experience -- suggested we were still in the era of old-fashioned solutions.
  • When Australian politician Brian Hood noticed ChatGPT was telling people he was a convicted criminal, he took the old-fashioned route and threatened legal action against the AI chatbot's maker, OpenAI. His case raised a potentially huge problem with such AI programs: what happens when they get stuff wrong in a way that causes real-world harm?
  • With scientific research in its infancy and regulation almost non-existent, Brian Hood -- who is a fan of AI despite his ChatGPT experience -- suggested we were still in the era of old-fashioned solutions.
When Australian politician Brian Hood noticed ChatGPT was telling people he was a convicted criminal, he took the old-fashioned route and threatened legal action against the AI chatbot's maker, OpenAI.
His case raised a potentially huge problem with such AI programs: what happens when they get stuff wrong in a way that causes real-world harm?
Chatbots are based on AI models trained on vast amounts of data and retraining them is hugely expensive and time consuming, so scientists are looking at more targeted solutions.
Hood said he talked to OpenAI who "weren't particularly helpful".
But his complaint, which made global headlines in April, was largely resolved when a new version of their software was rolled out and did not return the same falsehood -- though he never received an explanation.
"Ironically, the vast amount of publicity my story received actually corrected the public record," Hood, mayor of the town of Hepburn in Victoria, told AFP this week.
OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment.
Hood might have struggled to make a defamation charge stick, as it is unclear how many people could see results in ChatGPT or even if they would see the same results.
But firms like Google and Microsoft are rapidly rewiring their search engines with AI technology.
It seems likely they will be inundated with takedown requests from people like Hood, as well as over copyright infringements.
While they can delete individual entries from a search engine index, things are not so simple with AI models.
To respond to such issues, a group of scientists is forging a new field called "machine unlearning" that tries to train algorithms to "forget" offending chunks of data. 

'Cool tool'

One expert in the field, Meghdad Kurmanji from Warwick University in Britain, told AFP the topic had started getting real traction in the last three or four years.
Among those taking note has been Google DeepMind, the AI branch of the trillion-dollar Californian behemoth.
Google experts co-wrote a paper with Kurmanji published last month that proposed an algorithm to scrub selected data from large language models -- the algorithms that underpin the likes of ChatGPT and Google's Bard chatbot.
Google also launched a competition in June for others to refine unlearning methods, which so far has attracted more than 1,000 participants.
Kurmanji said unlearning could be a "very cool tool" for search engines to manage takedown requests under data privacy laws, for example.
He also said his algorithm had scored well in tests for removing copyrighted material and fixing bias.
However, Silicon Valley elites are not universally excited.
Yann LeCun, AI chief at Facebook-owner Meta, which is also pouring billions into AI tech, told AFP the idea of machine unlearning was far down his list of priorities.
"I'm not saying it's useless, uninteresting, or wrong," he said of the paper authored by Kurmanji and others. "But I think there are more important and urgent topics."
LeCun said he was focused on making algorithms learn quicker and retrieve facts more efficiently rather than teaching them to forget.

'No panacea'

But there appears to be broad acceptance in academia that AI firms will need to be able to remove information from their models to comply with laws like the EU's data protection regulation (GDPR).
"The ability to remove data from training sets is a critical aspect moving forward," said Lisa Given from RMIT University in Melbourne Australia.
However, she pointed out that so much was unknown about the way models worked -- and even what datasets they were trained on -- that a solution could be a long way away.
Michael Rovatsos of Edinburgh University could also see similar technical issues arising, particularly if a company was bombarded with takedown requests.
He added that unlearning did nothing to resolve wider questions about the AI industry, like how the data is gathered, who profits from its use or who takes responsibility for algorithms that cause harm. 
"The technical solution isn't the panacea," he said. 
With scientific research in its infancy and regulation almost non-existent, Brian Hood -- who is a fan of AI despite his ChatGPT experience -- suggested we were still in the era of old-fashioned solutions.
"When it comes to these chatbots generating rubbish, users just need to double check everything," he said.
jxb/rl

Global Edition

Fashion world descends on UK's Manchester in Chanel show

BY CAROLINE TAIX

  • Having a Chanel show here is amazing for the city," added Emma Kara, who lives in the region. ctx/imm/md
  • Scintillating colours and celebrities lit up a gloomy Manchester on Thursday as the British city famous for its past textile industry flaunted the latest fashion in a prestigious Chanel show.
  • Having a Chanel show here is amazing for the city," added Emma Kara, who lives in the region. ctx/imm/md
Scintillating colours and celebrities lit up a gloomy Manchester on Thursday as the British city famous for its past textile industry flaunted the latest fashion in a prestigious Chanel show.
Lashed by rain and plunged into winter darkness from 3:30 pm, the city's gritty industrial heritage was not an obvious choice as the setting for the glitz and glamour of the French luxury group's Metiers d'Art event.
But the show proved otherwise as models strutted down the catwalk sporting dazzling bermuda shorts, mini-skirts and eye-catching outfits under a temporary covering in a city-centre street.
Tweed suits -- a quintessential British classic -- pearls and camelia also captured attention.
Actor Hugh Grant, director Sofia Coppola, local football stars Ruben Dias and Luke Shaw as well as brand ambassadors Charlotte Casiraghi and Kristen Stewart were among the celebrities in attendance. 
"I loved the rock attitudes, the 60s looks," British actor Jenna Coleman told AFP.
The northern English city was a hub of the 19th-century industrial revolution, processing half of the world's cotton in 1860.
It has since reinvented itself as a centre for culture and sport, home to Manchester United and Manchester City football clubs and producing music icons including The Smiths, Simply Red, Oasis and Stone Roses.
The English National Opera will soon leave London to call Manchester home.
Chanel's creative director Virginie Viard said Manchester was the starting point for a musical culture that changed the world, inspiring her to bring the show there for its pioneering and creative spirit.
The Manchester City Council welcomed the event as a "fantastic homage" to the city and the regard for it worldwide.
"There are plenty of references to the city. Having a Chanel show here is amazing for the city," added Emma Kara, who lives in the region.
ctx/imm/md

agriculture

'We need information' plead Peru farmers battling drought, climate change

BY HECTOR VELASCO

  • With about 1.2 million inhabitants -- about one in five of whom live in poverty -- the Junin region is one of Peru's main producers of non-genetically modified potatoes.
  • A light rain barely moistens the soil in the drought-stricken region of Junin in central Peru.
  • With about 1.2 million inhabitants -- about one in five of whom live in poverty -- the Junin region is one of Peru's main producers of non-genetically modified potatoes.
A light rain barely moistens the soil in the drought-stricken region of Junin in central Peru. It does nothing to bring relief to farmers in Latin America's biggest potato producer.
"We cannot fight on our own against climate change," said 40-year-old Lidber Ramon, one of about 4,500 crop and livestock farmers around the region.
Once brimful, the lakes dotting this mountainous region -- some 4,700 meters above sea level -- are now depressingly dry -- a "rain deficit" caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, said Luis Romero, climate change advisor for the NGO Save the Children.
El Nino is a naturally-occurring climate pattern characterized by warming Pacific waters and typically associated with increased heat worldwide -- drought in some parts and heavy rains elsewhere.
Climate change, Romero told AFP, "accelerates these processes, reducing intervals" between one extreme event and another.
Citing a study carried out by Save the Children, he said people born in Peru after 2000 will experience nine El Nino events over their lifetime -- three times as many as their parents.
Ramon and other Junin farmers rely heavily on natural indicators such as the migration of birds, the presence of parasites or even cloud movements to plan for planting and harvesting.
But with the fast-changing local conditions, "this knowledge is no longer enough, we need (other) information," he told AFP.
Information in these parts can be as vital as water. And given the difficulties, many farmers have given up and migrated to cities, said Ramon. 

'Word of mouth'

Save the Children is working with the government in Lima to set up a weather warning system updated every ten days with three-month projections for rain, frost or drought.
It will allow farmers like Ramon to "take appropriate steps to cope with weather conditions" -- storing extra water or strengthening animal shelters, said Romero.
But one hurdle is the farmers' limited access to electricity and the internet, which means the information needs to be disseminated by word of mouth, he said.
With about 1.2 million inhabitants -- about one in five of whom live in poverty -- the Junin region is one of Peru's main producers of non-genetically modified potatoes.
The farmers here also raise sheep, alpacas, cows and small camelids called vicunas -- but in this endeavor, too, the lack of rain can be devastating.
In 2022, in a Junin community of 200 people, nearly 400 of a herd of 1,000 alpacas starved to death due to drought, said local leader Jaime Bravo.
Other farmers sold their animals to grow food that the drought also killed, said Naida Navarro, 54, owner of six cows.
Between January and September, Peru's agricultural production plummeted by 3.6 percent compared to the same period in 2022, according to official data.
The Central Bank expects the sector to experience its worst contraction this year since 1997, with potatoes one of the hardest-hit crops.
Manuela Inga, 44, says three years ago a severe drought ruined her potato crops and in 2022 a hail storm destroyed the roof of her house. 
His only son, Keyton, 14, wanted to leave school to work in a restaurant in the city of Jauja.  
"He said: 'The ram dies, the potato yields very little, we work hard for little money. Mom: I'd better go find work'," she recounted.
She managed to persuade him to stay in school.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian organization, some 660,000 people were displaced in Peru between 2008 and 2019 due to natural disasters.
The figure represented about two percent of the country's 33 million inhabitants. 
vel/cm/lbc/sf/mlr/md

television

Norman Lear, sitcom king who changed TV -- and America

BY MICHAEL MATHES

  • In the mid-1970s, at the height of his eight-decade career, Lear had five sitcoms in prime time -- during an era when Americans watched television collectively.
  • Norman Lear was television's prolific genius whose trailblazing sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s revolutionized US entertainment -- and helped change the way a nation saw itself.
  • In the mid-1970s, at the height of his eight-decade career, Lear had five sitcoms in prime time -- during an era when Americans watched television collectively.
Norman Lear was television's prolific genius whose trailblazing sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s revolutionized US entertainment -- and helped change the way a nation saw itself.
With boundary-breaking shows like "All In the Family" and "The Jeffersons," Lear -- who has died aged 101 -- helped millions of viewers confront their deepest fears, frailties and prejudices with humor and humanity.
Among his milestones was creating the first African American nuclear family regularly appearing on television: the Evans clan on "Good Times," beginning in 1974.
He injected the sensitive subjects of race, sexuality, class, inequality and politics into his work, breaking the sitcom mold and beaming modern visions of family life into US households.
Lear abandoned the idealistic representation of American families and adopted a more real-world depiction -- and in so doing, he changed the face of television.
"What was new was that we were engaging in reality," the famed creator said in the 2016 documentary "Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You."
Fellow comedy star Mel Brooks hailed Lear as "the bravest television writer, director and producer of all time."
Lear's family, in announcing his death, said Wednesday their patriarch wrote about real life, "not a glossy ideal."
"At first, his ideas were met with closed doors and misunderstanding. However, he stuck to his conviction that the 'foolishness of the human condition' made great television, and eventually he was heard."
In the mid-1970s, at the height of his eight-decade career, Lear had five sitcoms in prime time -- during an era when Americans watched television collectively.
Broadcaster CBS estimated at the time that a staggering 120 million Americans watched Lear programming each week.
The six-time Emmy Award winner wrote, produced, created or developed roughly 100 specials and shows including 1980s mega-hit "The Facts of Life" and the long-running "One Day at a Time."
Tributes poured in: in an extremely rare collective tribute, five major broadcast networks -- CBS, NBS, ABC, Fox and the CW -- simultaneously aired in memoriam cards Wednesday evening to honor Lear.
One card featured his picture and the other said, "thank you for making us all family."
President Joe Biden also hailed Lear, calling him "a transformational force in American culture, whose trailblazing shows redefined television with courage, conscience, and humor, opening our nation’s eyes and often our hearts."

Blue-collar comedy

Lear's most explosive creation was "All In the Family," a blue-collar comedy so audacious that its first episode, in 1971, came with a disclaimer.
The half-hour show featured Archie Bunker, lovably irascible but bigoted, narrow-minded and clashing with his liberal relatives.
It marked a TV paradigm shift.
"Television can be broken into two parts, BN and AN: Before Norman and After Norman," writer and producer Phil Rosenthal said in the 2016 documentary.
Lear, donning his trademark porkpie hat, also produced or funded such big-screen classics as "The Princess Bride" and "This is Spinal Tap."
But television was his magic medium. 
Never far from the surface in Lear's shows were the issues gnawing at American society: misogyny, racism, homophobia, women's rights and political division.
He dug deep into the exigencies of Black life. And while "Good Times" was intended as a white audience's window into Black America, "The Jeffersons" represented the American Dream for Black people.
From 1975 to 1985, "The Jeffersons" portrayed African American success through an unapologetically Black couple "movin' on up" in New York society. 

Conservative critics

Norman Milton Lear was born on July 27, 1922 into a Jewish family in New Haven, Connecticut. 
His mother emigrated from Russia, and his father was a salesman who served time in jail and had a bigoted streak that embarrassed his son -- but also served as source material.
Lear dropped out of college to enlist in the US Army, flying 37 World War II bombing sorties.
By 1949 he moved to Los Angeles, where he found success writing for TV variety shows.
He also produced films including 1963's "Come Blow Your Horn" starring Frank Sinatra, and in 1967 received an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay for "Divorce American Style."
With "All In the Family" and the TV shows that followed, Lear's influence skyrocketed.
So did his concern about the mix of politics and religion.
Criticism from conservative circles poured in. His revolutionary comedy earned him rebukes from President Richard Nixon and televangelist Jerry Falwell, who called Lear "the number one enemy of the American family."
Lear pushed back against the burgeoning religious right, and in 1981 founded People For the American Way, a group promoting civic engagement and freedom of expression and religion.
Lear's work ethic was legendary. After his 100th birthday, he collaborated with TV host Jimmy Kimmel on specials in which star-studded casts performed remakes of classic Lear shows.
A pioneer on multiple fronts, Lear's portrayal of true-to-life traumas sealed his reputation.
In one watershed 1972 episode of "Maude," the title character agonizes over terminating her pregnancy, a plotline that brought the abortion fight to prime time one year before the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to abortion.
Half a century later, Lear -- who married three times and had six children -- told "E! Insider" the issues his sitcoms addressed still resonate today.
"The culture has shifted and changed... but the way families experience life is pretty much the same," he said.
mlm/sst/bgs/tjj

rights

Pioneering Cuban movie maintains its relevance 30 years later

BY LETICIA PINEDA

  • The International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, which opens Friday in Havana, will pay two tributes to the film, known in Spanish as "Fresa y Chocolate," which received a standing ovation at its premiere in 1993.
  • It has been three decades since the seminal film "Strawberry and Chocolate" generated both ovations and tears, marking a before and an after in Cuban cinema.
  • The International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, which opens Friday in Havana, will pay two tributes to the film, known in Spanish as "Fresa y Chocolate," which received a standing ovation at its premiere in 1993.
It has been three decades since the seminal film "Strawberry and Chocolate" generated both ovations and tears, marking a before and an after in Cuban cinema.
The film was cathartic in a country that only barely had come to recognize the rights of homosexuals.
But the actor who was the protagonist, Jorge Perugorria, says Cuba has moved backward in terms of the freedom of expression also invoked by the movie. 
The International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, which opens Friday in Havana, will pay two tributes to the film, known in Spanish as "Fresa y Chocolate," which received a standing ovation at its premiere in 1993.
Perugorria, 58, talked to AFP about the film along with the rest of its cast in an emotional reunion at La Guarida restaurant, a mansion in central Havana that in the early years of the revolution was subdivided into apartments and served as setting for the movie.
On the terrace of the mansion, Perugorria, recalls the "collective catharsis" that the film provoked.
"It was as if the public had the need to see that film... because it dealt perhaps with what many had in their heads... frustrations" and issues buried and out of reach of the public, he recalls.
At the time, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a severe economic crisis -- called the "special period" -- pummeled the island, and an obscure policy that marginalized homosexuals and dissidents was only beginning to be reevaluated.
In the film, Diego, a refined gay art lover, befriends David, a staunch defender of the ruling Communist Party, in an environment of censorship and homophobia.

'Impossible metaphor'

"That final embrace," between Diego and David at the end of the film, "is a song, a reconciliation between Cubans," but "it is farther away today than it was 30 years ago," says Perugorria, who plays Diego.
"The differences between Cubans have widened," and the embrace "has become an almost impossible metaphor," he adds.
For Vladimir Cruz, 58, who played the role of David, the film identified both the repressed and the repressors.
"We had experiences of people who came out of the cinema and said: 'I have acted like this, I have been intolerant, I have repressed homosexuals,'" Cruz recalls among photos and sculptures preserved from the set.
The story shows how "the right to participate in society was taken away from those who thought differently. And in that sense, I think Cuban society... has progressed, but at the official level we have gone downhill," Cruz says.
He celebrates the legalization of equal marriage in 2022.
"But anyone who thinks differently, (even) one millimeter, with respect to the predominant ideology or the official ideology, continues to suffer the same problems that Diego had and that led him to migrate," Cruz says.
Nearly 500,000 Cubans, or almost 5 percent of the population, left the island left the island since 2021 in an unprecedented wave, according to US immigration figures.
Perugorria agrees: "Today, just as the exhibition of German (another character in the film) was censored 30 years ago, films and exhibitions are still censored."
Cuba needs "a cultural policy that is for everyone in our diversity, our complexity, not just for a group that thinks one way," says Perugorria.

'Cornered and harassed'

"'Strawberry and Chocolate' advocates for that" and is still "current," Perugorria maintains, citing the case of the more than 300 young people who staged an unprecedented protest for freedom of expression in November 2020.
 A good part of them emigrated.
"It's sad to think that there are people who don't just leave, but are thrown out, because they are cornered and harassed," he says.
Behind the cameras, another fraternal story was built between Tomas Gutierrez Alea (1928-1996) and Juan Carlos Tabio (1943-2021), codirectors of the film.
Seriously ill, Gutierrez Alea underwent surgery during filming, but returned to the set four days later. The actors say that he would slowly climb the wide stairs of the mansion to direct in the mornings, then Tabio would follow his friend's recommendations in detail on the set.
"That story of friendship between these two great artists and their love for cinema also had a lot of weight in the film," says Perugorria.
lp/rd/tjj/dw

fashion

New York's Met takes a feminist look at global fashion

BY ANDREA BAMBINO

  • The exhibition, originally scheduled for 2020 to celebrate a century of women's suffrage in the United States but delayed by the pandemic, ends on a more political note, looking at absences and omissions in museum collections.
  • New York's Metropolitan Museum has pulled the curtain back on its latest blockbuster exhibit, showcasing women couturiers many of whom have been kept in the shadows of obscurity until now.
  • The exhibition, originally scheduled for 2020 to celebrate a century of women's suffrage in the United States but delayed by the pandemic, ends on a more political note, looking at absences and omissions in museum collections.
New York's Metropolitan Museum has pulled the curtain back on its latest blockbuster exhibit, showcasing women couturiers many of whom have been kept in the shadows of obscurity until now.
One of the centerpieces of the "Women dressing women" exhibition is a dress by pioneering African-American designer Ann Lowe who was largely ignored in her day, even though she designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding gown in 1953.
The muslin dress is exquisitely detailed, sporting silk roses and intricate taffeta.
Three decades before Jackie O stepped out in Lowe's masterpiece, forgotten French fashion house Premet released a dress designed by Madam Charlotte called "La garconne." 
"This 'little black dress,' predates Chanel's successful take on the garment by three years," said Mellissa Huber, associate curator of the Met's Costume Institute.
Through the 80 pieces by 70 creators, the exhibition also looks at the art of womenswear from the 20th Century up to the modern day, as well as the environmental advocacy of designers like Gabriela Hearst and Hillary Taymour. 
"The biggest overarching takeaway is really to celebrate and demonstrate the incredible range and diversity of women designers who have been present throughout history and who have made so many meaningful contributions to fashion," said Huber.
"We aspire to dispel the stereotypes that women are more practical than men, or that they all designed with themselves in mind."
For women, the story begins in the anonymity of sewing workshops to which they were often relegated. 
But several French women designers made their mark in the early 20th century, including Madeleine Vionnet, Jeanne Lanvin and Gabrielle Chanel
In handpicking outfits designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, Nina Ricci and Vivienne Westwood, the Costume Institute delved into its collection of 33,000 pieces representing seven centuries of clothing. 
The exhibition, originally scheduled for 2020 to celebrate a century of women's suffrage in the United States but delayed by the pandemic, ends on a more political note, looking at absences and omissions in museum collections.
Even as the exhibit gets under way, preparations are also in full swing for the 2024 Met exhibition and Gala, the fashion world's party of the year -- and the theme will be "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion."
The Met Gala, which draws an A list of celebrities, will take place in Manhattan on May 6 to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, which the public can view from May 10 through September 2. Both are cosponsored by popular video sharing app TikTok.
The sweeping and immersive exhibition will feature about 250 garments and accessories spanning four centuries, from the Costume Institute's vast archives of 33,000 pieces -- from a 17th century embroidered jacket to an Alexander McQueen gown from spring-summer 2001 made of shells.
The Met Gala is the primary source of funding for the Costume Institute. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour took over the charity gala in the 1990s and transformed it into one of the world's buzziest fetes.
arb-gw/tjj

economy

Italy's ruling parties kill minimum wage bill

BY BRIGITTE HAGEMANN

  • The EU brought in rules in November 2022 governing the minimum wage, but they are voluntary. bh/ide/ar/rox
  • Italy's governing right-wing parties on Wednesday scuppered an attempt by the opposition to introduce a minimum wage, which would have brought the country into line with the majority of the EU.  Members of parliament voted instead to give Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government six months to enact measures to make pay in Italy "fairer". 
  • The EU brought in rules in November 2022 governing the minimum wage, but they are voluntary. bh/ide/ar/rox
Italy's governing right-wing parties on Wednesday scuppered an attempt by the opposition to introduce a minimum wage, which would have brought the country into line with the majority of the EU. 
Members of parliament voted instead to give Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government six months to enact measures to make pay in Italy "fairer". 
Opposition members shouted "for shame!" as the bill, which would have set a minimum wage of nine euros ($9.7) an hour before tax, was quashed. 
"You are on the side of the exploiters, you slap the exploited in the face!" thundered Elly Schlein, head of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party. 
Italy is one of five countries in the European Union where wages are determined solely by collective bargaining between employers and trade unions. The others are Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.
The centre-left put forward its proposal at ending "poverty wages" in July, but Meloni's coalition says it could make some workers worse off.

'Turn their backs'

The government has proposed extending collective agreements to some 20 percent of workers not covered by existing agreements. 
But many of them remain well below nine euros an hour, such as those for cleaning services (6.52 euros), catering (7.28) or even tourism (7.48). 
As tempers frayed in parliament, former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, head of the once anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), symbolically tore up a copy of the government's bill, to the applause of opposition deputies. 
Those who voted against the minimum wages "have turned their backs on 3.6 million workers", he said.
But Meloni insisted that setting a minimum "paradoxically risks lowering wages, because 95 percent of workers have a higher hourly wage".
"We risk an employer saying 'if I can lower it to nine euros, why do I have to pay more?'", she said Wednesday.
The creation of a "decent salary" does not necessarily involve "setting a figure", insisted Labour Minister Marina Elvira Calderone.

Unions divided

According to polls, 70 percent of Italians -- including those who voted for the government's coalition parties -- are in favour of a minimum wage.
But some, including small traders, restaurant owners and farmers, are opposed to the minimum wage, which they consider too restrictive.
The unions are divided. The biggest, the CGIL, said Wednesday the government had "made a serious error" in opposing the minimum wage.
But the other large union, the CISL, is opposed to it because it worries it would reduce their powers over collective agreements.
According to the OECD, Italy is the only European country where real wages (excluding inflation) decreased between 1990 and 2020 (-2.9 percent).
The EU brought in rules in November 2022 governing the minimum wage, but they are voluntary.
bh/ide/ar/rox

Climate and Environment

Got to have faith: religion finds its moment at COP28

BY NICK PERRY

  • On a recent day at the pavilion, Panamanian indigenous leader Jocabed Solano performed a spiritual song of her Guna people that extols respect and stewardship for the planet.
  • From meditation to spiritual guidance to indigenous hymns, the vibe in the "faith pavilion" at COP28 is a little different to elsewhere at the high-stakes UN climate talks in Dubai.
  • On a recent day at the pavilion, Panamanian indigenous leader Jocabed Solano performed a spiritual song of her Guna people that extols respect and stewardship for the planet.
From meditation to spiritual guidance to indigenous hymns, the vibe in the "faith pavilion" at COP28 is a little different to elsewhere at the high-stakes UN climate talks in Dubai.
Orthodox priests rub shoulders with Emiratis in flowing white robes and Jewish rabbis in the quiet, air-conditioned calm of the pavilion, the first ever dedicated to religion at a COP conference.
Housed in a building of dark glass and geometric triangles, the pavilion offers a space for quiet reflection away from the frenetic diplomacy and flashy business shows that accompany the marathon climate negotiations.
It also offers something else sorely needed at COP -- unity and optimism.
"This testifies to the willingness to work together," Pope Francis said in a video message at the pavilion's inauguration on December 3 in a united call to action with senior Muslim cleric Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al Azhar.
"Today, the world needs alliances that are not against someone, but for the benefit of everyone."
Visitors joining daily "ritual relaxation" sessions or engaging with religious leaders in a lounge room are invited to consider the role of faith in addressing the challenge of global warming.
"For a fairer and more sustainable world, we trust and pray," one visitor wrote on a paper cut-out tree pinned alongside other messages of hope and solidarity to the pavilion wall.

Spiritual crisis

Organisers say more than 300 faith leaders from all major religions and traditional beliefs are expected to participate in the pavilion during the two-week-long conference being held in the glitzy Gulf city.
This is the first time in nearly 30 years of global climate talks that religion has been given its own venue, and the striking space has prime real estate in the buzzing heart of an enormous complex.
This COP is the largest ever and thousands of people walk by the pavilion every day, whether en route to meetings and expo shows, or to buy ice cream from a stall doing brisk trade out front.
The COP can be an overwhelming experience, and faith leaders hope attendees of all creeds embrace the pavilion as a respite from the haggling, heat, and anxiety over the planet's future.
Organisers say attendance at daily meditation sessions has so far been small but could uptick as negotiations toward a final climate deal intensify in the coming days.   
On a recent day at the pavilion, Panamanian indigenous leader Jocabed Solano performed a spiritual song of her Guna people that extols respect and stewardship for the planet.
"It's not only the crisis of the climate, it's a crisis of the spirituality too," she told AFP after enrapturing audiences at the pavilion.

Bridge the gap

Behind the scenes, organisers say the pavilion is supporting progress toward an ambitious pact to limit global warming, that also ensures financial aid for the world's poorest on the frontlines of climate change.
Faith leaders are offering moral and pastoral services to diplomats working around the clock on the agreement, and for the first time have interfaith representatives attending the formal negotiation sessions.
"We want to bring that spiritual understanding to the decision-making process," Iyad Abumoghli, the director for Faith for Earth, an initiative within the UN Environment Programme, told AFP. 
Panels at the pavilion have explored difficult themes including the climate-related loss of homeland, mining in Africa, and ethical investing, and speakers have included government ministers, academics and business leaders.
Faith leaders also issued an interfaith statement in support of reducing and eventually exiting fossil fuels -- a flashpoint issue at the conference overseen by an Emirati oil executive.
The pavilion seeks to foster trust -- a vital element at any COP -- between scientific and religious communities that haven't always seen eye-to-eye.  
"I know it's all about science," Mohamed Bahr from the Muslim Council of Elders, told AFP. "But we're trying here to bridge the gap between science and faith."
np/sah/yad

bolero

The bolero, poetry and love put to song in Cuba and Mexico

BY CON SOFíA MISELEM EN CIUDAD DE MéXICO

  • The candidacy of bolero as intangible heritage of humanity was presented jointly by Cuba and Mexico, which called it "an indispensable element of the sentimental song of Latin America."
  • As one of the greatest living exponents of romantic bolero music, 82-year-old Migdalia Hechavarria was thrilled Tuesday to hear that UNESCO has recognized it as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, calling the musical form "identity, emotion and poetry turned into song."
  • The candidacy of bolero as intangible heritage of humanity was presented jointly by Cuba and Mexico, which called it "an indispensable element of the sentimental song of Latin America."
As one of the greatest living exponents of romantic bolero music, 82-year-old Migdalia Hechavarria was thrilled Tuesday to hear that UNESCO has recognized it as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, calling the musical form "identity, emotion and poetry turned into song."
There was little else for Hechavarria to do except break into song.
So she celebrated with an old bolero standard, "Me faltabas tu."
"I sing it a cappella, I sing it with a tumba (drum), but always my bolero," she tells AFP at her home, because "it is the music that makes you live."
With a voice that delights, Hechavarria has taken bolero around the world, singing with such stars as Omara Portuondo and the late Celia Cruz, Elena Burke, Cesar Portillo and Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve).
"Bolero is a feeling. It's a soft, sweet thing, for people to enjoy, for those who want to fall in love, to fall in love, for those who want to kiss, to kiss," adds Hechavarría, who has been singing for 25 years at the Gato Tuerto, a bolero bastion in Havana.
UNESCO on Tuesday said bolero combines European poetic style with African rhythms and sentiments of native Americans, with songs passed down within families.
On an island with genres such as Cuban son and rumba, singers also live and breathe bolero -- often on street corners for the enjoyment of passersby.
Drummer Pedro Luis Carrillo, 52, has been singing boleros on Havana's seaside esplanade for 30 years, and still admits surprise that the "wonderful music" enthuses tourists.

Cuban and Mexican

As a musical form, bolero was born in Santiago in southeastern Cuba at the end of the 19th century, and later took root as well in all of Mexico. 
The candidacy of bolero as intangible heritage of humanity was presented jointly by Cuba and Mexico, which called it "an indispensable element of the sentimental song of Latin America."
In a popular bar in Mexico City, Jose Antonio Ferrari, 72 years old and half a century singing boleros, performs "Sabor a mí."
"The bolero is the soundtrack that moves the sensations and the most intimate fibers of the human being," he tells AFP.
In 1932 Consuelo Velazquez, known popularly as Consuelito, performed "Besame mucho," a song about unrequited love later sung by such luminaries as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles.
The golden age of Mexican cinema was also key in the diffusion of the genre, with interpretations by the legendary Pedro Infante, while Cuban bolero singers like Benny More and Rita Montaner made their careers in Mexico.

'As long as love exists'

The Mexicano singer Jose Jose, known as the nation's romantic voice, played Alvaro Carrillo, author of the bolero classic "Sabor a mi," in a movie of that name, and his compatriot composer Armando Manzanero played a key role in the albums of popular singer Luis Miguel that won two Grammys.
Since 1987, Cuba has organized the Golden Bolero Festival to promote the genre. In 2001, nearly 600 bolero singers from Cuba and abroad sang for 76 consecutive hours at the festival in what was billed as "the longest bolero in the world." 
Ferrari says that in Mexico, just as in Cuba, most bolero singers are over age 60 and must compete with lots of other musical styles in bars and cantinas. 
Even so, he is confident that "as long as love and heartbreak exist, there will be beautiful things like the bolero."
rd-sem/lp/axm/dga/tjj/dw

strike

Washington Post staff to strike on Thursday

  • The labor action at the Post follows a strike earlier this year at America's largest newspaper publisher, Gannett, and a 24-hour action by New York Times staff a year ago.
  • Hundreds of staff at The Washington Post, one of America's most storied newspapers, will walk off the job for 24 hours Thursday, their union announced, slamming the company for refusing to negotiate a contract "in good faith."
  • The labor action at the Post follows a strike earlier this year at America's largest newspaper publisher, Gannett, and a 24-hour action by New York Times staff a year ago.
Hundreds of staff at The Washington Post, one of America's most storied newspapers, will walk off the job for 24 hours Thursday, their union announced, slamming the company for refusing to negotiate a contract "in good faith."
The strike comes after 18 months of failed talks to reach a new deal over pay, remote work, and other conditions -- and after the daily, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, warned more layoffs were possible.
Labor unions are galvanized in America's tight labor market, with everyone from Hollywood writers and actors to auto workers to baristas taking their grievances to the picket line in recent months.
"Taking this historic action is not a decision we came to lightly," the Washington Post Guild said in a letter to readers announcing the work stoppage.
It said management had "refused to bargain in good faith and repeatedly -- and illegally -- shut down negotiations over key issues" including pay, mental health support for staff and buyouts.
"The Post cannot stay competitive, retain the best talent or produce the kind of elite journalism you rely on without giving its staff a fair deal."
The Post Guild represents about 1,000 staff -- both newsroom and commercial employees, according to its website. In October, a Post report about plans for 240 voluntary buyouts said the company had roughly 2,500 employees.
The union did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the specific number of staff expected to join the picket line. 
The New York Times reported on December 1 that more than 700 members had so signed the strike pledge.
Traditional US media have struggled in recent years as readers turn to social media platforms and advertising revenues have plummeted.
The labor action at the Post follows a strike earlier this year at America's largest newspaper publisher, Gannett, and a 24-hour action by New York Times staff a year ago.
Workers at the Associated Press staged a "short break" last month over their lack of contract. Their guild has rejected a two percent raise offered by management.
sst/dw

hacking

23andMe says hackers saw data from millions of users

  • Of the 6.9 million accounts hacked, 5.5 million contained information on genetic matches and may have also included birth dates and locations if provided by users, according to 23andMe. An additional 1.4 million of the hacked accounts had limited access to some DNA profile information as part of the "Family Tree" feature, the spokesperson said. 23andMe was founded in 2006 and is based in Mountain View, California, where Google also has its headquarters. gc/md
  • Personal genetics firm 23andMe on Tuesday confirmed that hackers using stolen passwords accessed the personal information about 6.9 million of its members.
  • Of the 6.9 million accounts hacked, 5.5 million contained information on genetic matches and may have also included birth dates and locations if provided by users, according to 23andMe. An additional 1.4 million of the hacked accounts had limited access to some DNA profile information as part of the "Family Tree" feature, the spokesperson said. 23andMe was founded in 2006 and is based in Mountain View, California, where Google also has its headquarters. gc/md
Personal genetics firm 23andMe on Tuesday confirmed that hackers using stolen passwords accessed the personal information about 6.9 million of its members.
While the hackers were only able to get into about 14,000 accounts, or 0.1 percent of its customers, they were able to see information shared by genetically linked relatives at 23andMe, a spokesperson said in reply to an AFP inquiry.
23andMe is in the process of notifying affected customers and has hardened account security by requiring users to reset passwords and set up a second authentication method such as sending a temporary code to a mobile phone, according to the spokesperson.
In early October, 23andMe detected that data thieves had gotten into accounts safeguarded by login details recycled from other websites that had been compromised, the company said.
"We do not have any indication that there has been a breach or data security incident within our systems, or that 23andMe was the source of the account credentials used in these attacks," the spokesperson said. 
Of the 6.9 million accounts hacked, 5.5 million contained information on genetic matches and may have also included birth dates and locations if provided by users, according to 23andMe.
An additional 1.4 million of the hacked accounts had limited access to some DNA profile information as part of the "Family Tree" feature, the spokesperson said.
23andMe was founded in 2006 and is based in Mountain View, California, where Google also has its headquarters.
gc/md

Texas

Texas woman whose fetus has fatal condition sues for abortion

  • The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case brought on behalf of two doctors and 20 women who were denied abortions even though they had serious -- in some cases life-threatening -- complications with their pregnancies.
  • A 31-year-old woman sued the state of Texas on Tuesday in order to get an abortion for a pregnancy that she and her doctors say threatens her life and future fertility. 
  • The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case brought on behalf of two doctors and 20 women who were denied abortions even though they had serious -- in some cases life-threatening -- complications with their pregnancies.
A 31-year-old woman sued the state of Texas on Tuesday in order to get an abortion for a pregnancy that she and her doctors say threatens her life and future fertility. 
Kate Cox, a mother-of-two from Dallas-Fort Worth, learned last week that her fetus has full trisomy 18, a genetic condition that means her pregnancy may not survive until birth and if it does her baby would live at most a few days, according to the lawsuit.
Ultrasounds revealed multiple serious conditions including a twisted spine and irregular skull and heart development. 
But because of the way Texas' abortion law is formulated, her physicians told her their "hands are tied" and she will have to wait until her baby dies inside her, the filing brought on Cox's behalf by the Center for Reproductive Rights said.
Should the heart stop beating, they could offer her a labor induction -- but because of her prior C-sections, induction carries a high risk of rupturing her uterus, which could kill her or prevent her from getting pregnant in future if a hysterectomy is needed. 
"It is not a matter of if I will have to say goodbye to my baby, but when. I'm trying to do what is best for my baby and myself, but the state of Texas is making us both suffer," said Cox.
"I do not want to continue the pain and suffering that has plagued this pregnancy," added Cox, who has been to three different emergency rooms in the last month due to severe cramping and unidentified fluid leaks.
Cox is joined in her lawsuit by her husband Justin -- who is seeking a favorable legal ruling to assure he won't be prosecuted for assisting his wife in getting an abortion -- as well as by obstetrician-gynecologist Damla Karsan who says she is willing to terminate the pregnancy with court approval.
The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case brought on behalf of two doctors and 20 women who were denied abortions even though they had serious -- in some cases life-threatening -- complications with their pregnancies.
The lawsuit, also filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, argues that the way medical exceptions are defined under the conservative state's abortion restrictions is confusing, stoking fear among doctors and causing a "health crisis."
The Texas Supreme Court is expected to soon issue a decision whether to block the state's abortion bans in cases such as Cox's.
The US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022.
A Texas state "trigger" ban went into immediate effect, prohibiting abortions even in cases of rape or incest. Texas also has a law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs or aids an abortion.
Texas physicians found guilty of providing abortions face up to 99 years in prison, fines of up to $100,000 and the revocation of their medical license.
ia/st

women

'Turn tragedy into change': Italy mourns femicide victim

BY FRANCESCO GILIOLI WITH ALEXANDRIA SAGE IN ROME

  • Cecchettin, who was studying biomedical engineering at the University of Padua, was stabbed to death last month by her former boyfriend, fellow student Filippo Turetta, who confessed to the murder before a judge, according to his lawyer. 
  • Thousands of Italians paid their last respects Tuesday to Giulia Cecchettin, a university student killed by her ex-boyfriend in a case that has triggered nationwide grief and rage at violence against women. 
  • Cecchettin, who was studying biomedical engineering at the University of Padua, was stabbed to death last month by her former boyfriend, fellow student Filippo Turetta, who confessed to the murder before a judge, according to his lawyer. 
Thousands of Italians paid their last respects Tuesday to Giulia Cecchettin, a university student killed by her ex-boyfriend in a case that has triggered nationwide grief and rage at violence against women. 
The funeral of the 22-year-old at a basilica in Padua, near Venice, attracted fellow students, public officials and ordinary Italians in a show of solidarity against one of the country's most recent and most shocking episodes of femicide. 
Cecchettin, who was studying biomedical engineering at the University of Padua, was stabbed to death last month by her former boyfriend, fellow student Filippo Turetta, who confessed to the murder before a judge, according to his lawyer. 
Under grey skies, pallbearers carried Cecchettin's rose-covered coffin into the Basilica of Santa Giustina, where mourners included Italy's justice minister, as thousands of people gathered in the piazza outside. 
"Giulia's life was cruelly taken, but her death can and must be the turning point to end the terrible scourge of violence against women," her father, Gino, said in his eulogy.  
"In this time of grief and sadness we need to find the strength to react, and turn tragedy into a push for change," he added.  
He implored men to "challenge the culture that tends to minimise violence by men who appear normal". 
The killing of Cecchettin, who was due to graduate just days after her death, was front-page news in Italy and ushered in a period of national reflection on violence against women. 
The couple disappeared on November 11. Turetta was found in Germany a week later, the day after Cecchettin's body was found in a gully near Lake Barcis, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Venice. 
She had been stabbed more than 20 times in the head, neck and body, according to local media, citing the autopsy report. 

Make some noise

Outside the basilica, 29-year-old student Angela Russo said she felt it her duty to pay her respects to Cecchettin and honour all victims of femicide.
"All of us could have been Giulia, me, my sister, a friend. So it's right to take to the streets and make some noise for her too," Russo told AFP. 
"We can't take it anymore... it's not acceptable, almost in 2024, to die like this."
Marking what activists had hoped would be a turning point in Italy, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Rome, Milan and other cities on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, calling for cultural change.
Giorgia Meloni, the country's first woman prime minister, assured women on Facebook "they are not alone," reminding them of the call-centre number for victims of violence or stalking.   
According to the interior ministry, as of November 26, 107 women in Italy were murdered this year, of whom 88 were killed by family members or current or former partners.
Inconsistent official data on femicides makes comparisons with other European countries difficult.
Following Cecchettin's death, Italy's parliament adopted a package of bills to strengthen existing laws to protect women.
But critics say a cultural change is needed in the treatment of women, starting with compulsory education on the topic in schools. 

Cultural problem

Despite the recent attention, many see such crimes continuing unabated in the majority-Catholic country, where traditional gender roles still hold sway in many areas, with fewer women working outside than home than the EU average and where abortion is hard to access. 
A July 2021 report from the government's department of gender equality found that "while violence is unacceptable for more than 90 percent of people, in some regions of Italy up to 50 percent of men consider violence in relationships to be acceptable." 
In a speech last month, the newly appointed president of the Tribunal of Milan, Fabio Roia, who has advocated for better training on gender violence among prosecutors, judges and law enforcement, warned that much was yet to be done. 
"Violence against women that goes as far as femicide is a cultural and social problem, and unfortunately the power imbalance in gender relations is still strong," said the judge. 
A 2020 independent report measuring Italy's compliance with the Council of Europe's convention on preventing violence against women encouraged more extensive awareness campaigns and better training of professionals, among other measures. 
It also recommended Italy "pursue proactive and sustained measures to promote changes in sexist social and cultural patterns of behaviour, especially of men and young boys, that are based on the idea of inferiority of women".
ams/ar/rox