Lights! Camera! Culinary School Will Teach Instagram Skills

Students practice their Instagram shots at a June event at the Culinary Institute of America campus in Hyde Park, NY. The institute is developing new courses in food photography and styling. Credit Phil Mansfield
Students practice their Instagram shots at a June event at the Culinary Institute of America campus in Hyde Park, NY. The institute is developing new courses in food photography and styling. Credit Phil Mansfield
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Lights! Camera! Culinary School Will Teach Instagram Skills

Students practice their Instagram shots at a June event at the Culinary Institute of America campus in Hyde Park, NY. The institute is developing new courses in food photography and styling. Credit Phil Mansfield
Students practice their Instagram shots at a June event at the Culinary Institute of America campus in Hyde Park, NY. The institute is developing new courses in food photography and styling. Credit Phil Mansfield

Check out the tray liners at Martina, Danny Meyer’s new pizzeria in the East Village, which were designed as branded Instagram bait. Each has what the executive chef, Nick Anderer, calls “a frenetic doodle” of contemporary Roman slang phrases, images of wineglasses and pizza, and at the bottom left, the restaurant’s name.

And if you wonder why your Instagram shots of Martina’s pies look so good, credit the lighting system, which allows the staff to adjust bulbs individually, with “a warmer hue in the dining room than in the kitchen,” Mr. Anderer said, “so it doesn’t cast too much shade against the pizza.”

Almost two miles and a degree of insecurity to the south, the chef Gerardo Gonzalez relies on Instagram to sustain his first restaurant, Lalito, which he opened 10 months ago in Chinatown. He said a lunch special sells out immediately if he posts an Instagram photo of the new dish.

Seven years after its founding, Instagram announced last week that it has 800 million monthly users, and the camera-ready restaurant dish has become a cultural commonplace. High-quality images are as essential to a chef’s success these days as knife skills.

The people who teach those knife skills know it — which is why the venerable Culinary Institute of America will introduce two new elective courses in May, one in food photography and the other in food styling, to help students develop sophisticated skills not only for the plate but also for the app.

The classes will teach students how to work with digital cameras and lighting, how to compose and edit a shot, and how to cook for the still camera, “with the same values as if you were eating it, evoking the feeling that it’s going to be luscious,” said Kersti Bowser, a food stylist and institute alumna who is working to develop the courses with Phil Mansfield, a staff photographer at the school.

They hope to replace the excess they see on social media, with photos that communicate flavor. Ms. Bowser thinks people are becoming “numb to the shock value” of much of what they see. “It seems so fabulous, much of it,” she said. “I want food to keep its integrity.”

Students may start out with the same raw ingredients they use in cooking class, but the rules are different in the photo class: They may want to undercook chicken or fish to keep the skin from looking tired, and vegetables may be burned on purpose to better convey texture.

The students see proof every day of how important visuals have become. Jason Potanovich, an assistant professor and the executive chef at the institute’s showcase Bocuse Restaurant, monitors diners’ reactions from his glass-walled kitchen, as do the students who work there. Bocuse serves steak tartare on a small plate over a moat of herb tea, fresh herbs and dry ice, and the swirling cloud that surrounds the dish inspires many customers to reach for their phones before they reach for their forks.

A photogenic dish, Mr. Potanovich said, is “absolutely” likelier to stay on the menu.

But there’s another reason for the new classes: The goal of becoming a restaurant chef and owner is increasingly elusive, thanks to competition for top jobs and a stagnant restaurant market. So schools like the culinary institute hope to prepare their students for a broader range of careers. In the current job market, an expanded skill set can make the difference between being employed and still looking.

“We see a small but steady increased interest in careers specifically in beverages and wine, food education, nutrition and wellness, food media,” said Denise Bauer, dean of the institute’s three-year-old School of Liberal Arts and Food Studies. Students “want to prepare for a food career that might not focus on food service alone,” she said, but could also involve the creation of photos for a variety of businesses, from restaurants to media outlets to cookbooks.

Mr. Mansfield stressed that the photo and styling classes would not be Instagram-for-credit; real food photography requires many more skills and thoughtful judgment calls. The photographer has to decide how to position a pot of ratatouille in a shot, what bowls and utensils to use and which napkin evokes a rustic feel.

In one recent class-development session in the school’s photography studio, Mr. Mansfield tried a test shot, checked his computer monitor, adjusted the lighting equipment, tried again and still wasn’t satisfied. Ms. Bowser moved in with tweezers to rearrange some of the vegetables — which she had cooked one ingredient at a time, rather than as a stew, to get them ready for their close-up.

The institute is not the only culinary school thinking visually. At Johnson & Wales University’s main campus in Providence, RI, about 70 culinary arts students belong to a faculty-advised food photography club, and many keep digital portfolios during their four years at school.

“Our students have coined the term ‘plate-y,’ as in, ‘I’m taking a plate-y,’” said Susan Marshall, interim dean of the university’s College of Culinary Arts. “They’re proud of their work and want to share it,” which they do on the school’s multiple Instagram and Facebook accounts. Students can take an elective food-photography course through three other colleges within the university.

The Institute of Culinary Education, in Lower Manhattan, offers food photography and styling electives, said Michael Laiskonis, the school’s creative director and a former pastry chef at Le Bernardin. He estimates that “maybe only half” of the students he encounters aspire to a career in restaurant kitchens, and he anticipates more curriculum changes in the next five to 10 years to reflect that.

But for the die-hards who intend to open restaurants, mastering images is imperative — even if the definition of mastery is a moving target.

Mr. Gonzalez admits to being tired of the Instagram photo feed because, he said, “just food can get boring.” He thinks that the key to his restaurant’s survival is the Instagram Story, either photo or video, that disappears after 24 hours and encourages people to take a look more often.

He uses the feed like a bulletin board, to announce daily specials and events, but he also relies on the stories to provide a “visual cue” about Lalito’s personality by showing the scene inside the restaurant.

“The stories are not ‘here’s how to plate a dish,’ but ‘the people here are amazing,’” he said. “I understand that photography drives traffic, but I’m interested in having people feel part of something. I want to build regulars.”

(The New York Times)



GCC, Jordan Citizens to Access ETA System for Only 10 Pounds

Travelers are seen at Heathrow Airport. Reuters file photo
Travelers are seen at Heathrow Airport. Reuters file photo
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GCC, Jordan Citizens to Access ETA System for Only 10 Pounds

Travelers are seen at Heathrow Airport. Reuters file photo
Travelers are seen at Heathrow Airport. Reuters file photo

Nationals from the GCC countries and Jordan will soon be required to pay £10 only to apply for an ETA permit, which allows them to visit the UK multiple times over a two-year period.

Before the recent decision, GCC citizens and Jordanians paid 30 and 100 sterling pounds respectively to visit the UK in accordance with the current electronic visa waver (EVA).

The new project includes citizens from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, and Jordan.

The ETA system is expected to launch for Qatari citizens in October 2023, and for citizens of the rest of the GCC countries and Jordan in February 2024.

Earlier this year, the British government announced the launch of the new ETA system in light of its efforts to digitize UK border crossings by 2025 to enhance border security and visiting experience.

The ETA is a digital pass for travelers visiting the UK or transiting through the UK who don’t hold a short-visit visa or another type of UK visa.

Gulf visitors are of high importance for the UK economy. The latest figures showed that over 790,000 travelers from the GCC countries visited the UK and spent two billion sterling pounds last year.


Report: King Charles Visit to France Envisaged for September

Britain's King Charles III salutes people as he exits the fortified evangelical church in in the village of Viscri, central Transylvania, Romania on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
Britain's King Charles III salutes people as he exits the fortified evangelical church in in the village of Viscri, central Transylvania, Romania on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
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Report: King Charles Visit to France Envisaged for September

Britain's King Charles III salutes people as he exits the fortified evangelical church in in the village of Viscri, central Transylvania, Romania on June 6, 2023. (AFP)
Britain's King Charles III salutes people as he exits the fortified evangelical church in in the village of Viscri, central Transylvania, Romania on June 6, 2023. (AFP)

Britain's King Charles may travel to France in September after a planned state visit in March was cancelled because of sometimes-violent protests over reforms to the French pension system, BFM TV reported.

Charles had planned a three-day visit to France in late March in what would have been his first state visit since succeeding his mother Queen Elizabeth as British monarch in September.

But the visit was cancelled after social unrest over President Emmanuel Macron's new pension law erupted into some of the worst street violence seen in years across the country.

Instead, he visited Germany on his first overseas trip as monarch.

Reuters could not immediately confirm BFM's report.


Self-Made Millionaire Sits China’s University Exams for 27th Time 

Students leave after their first exam during the first day of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), known as “gaokao”, in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on June 7, 2023. (AFP)
Students leave after their first exam during the first day of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), known as “gaokao”, in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on June 7, 2023. (AFP)
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Self-Made Millionaire Sits China’s University Exams for 27th Time 

Students leave after their first exam during the first day of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), known as “gaokao”, in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on June 7, 2023. (AFP)
Students leave after their first exam during the first day of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), known as “gaokao”, in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on June 7, 2023. (AFP)

Among the millions of fresh-faced high schoolers sitting China's dreaded "gaokao" college entrance exam on Wednesday, Liang Shi sticks out like a sore thumb -- a grey-haired, self-made millionaire stubbornly taking the test for the 27th time.

Liang, 56, is no fool. He worked his way up from a menial job on a factory floor to establishing his own successful construction materials business.

But one dream has always eluded him: getting a high enough score on the notoriously grueling gaokao to study at the top-tier Sichuan University.

To compete with the nearly 13 million high school seniors taking the exam this year, Liang said he has been living "the life of an ascetic monk" for the past few months, rising just after dawn to furiously study textbooks for 12 hours a day.

"It's an uncomfortable thought that I didn't manage to get a college education," Liang told AFP.

"I really want to go to university and become an intellectual."

Over the past four decades, the Sichuan native has taken the gaokao 26 times but has consistently failed to get the required result to send him to his chosen university.

"They call me 'the gaokao holdout'," he said, proudly owning a mocking nickname given to him by local media.

For students, a good gaokao result can decide one's life trajectory, with a degree from an elite university conferring respect, status and better job opportunities.

Liang took the exam for the first time in 1983, when he was only 16.

He kept trying to boost his score for the next decade -- until he had to give up in 1992, as the test at that time was restricted to single people aged under 25.

As soon as those limits were lifted in 2001, Liang's desire for a prestigious college education was rekindled.

He has since taken the gaokao another 16 times, including every year since 2010 -- even when harsh zero-Covid restrictions made taking the exam more challenging than normal.

Online, some have questioned whether his apparent obsession is merely a publicity stunt.

"What for?" Liang retorted.

"No one in their right mind would spend decades taking the gaokao for a stunt."

He had to give up drinking and playing mahjong during the preparation period, he jokingly pointed out.

Liang's quest hasn't got much support from his son, who took the gaokao himself in 2011.

"At first he didn't approve, and now, he's just indifferent," Liang said.

Asked how he would celebrate once the test is over this weekend, he said he was planning to make up for lost fun.

"I'm going to play mahjong with my friends for three days and three nights."


Pope Francis to Undergo Intestinal Surgery Under General Anesthesia 

Pope Francis reacts as he meets faithful during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, June 7, 2023. (Reuters)
Pope Francis reacts as he meets faithful during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, June 7, 2023. (Reuters)
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Pope Francis to Undergo Intestinal Surgery Under General Anesthesia 

Pope Francis reacts as he meets faithful during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, June 7, 2023. (Reuters)
Pope Francis reacts as he meets faithful during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, June 7, 2023. (Reuters)

Pope Francis went to the hospital Wednesday to undergo abdominal surgery to treat an intestinal blockage, two years after he had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed because of a narrowing of the large intestine.

The Vatican said Francis, 86, would be put under general anesthesia for the procedure Wednesday afternoon and would be hospitalized at Rome's Gemelli hospital for several days.

Francis' Fiat 500 car pulled out of the Vatican shortly after 11 a.m. with an escort, and arrived at the Gemelli some 20 minutes later.

The pope is undergoing what the Vatican said was a "laparotomy and abdominal wall plastic surgery with prosthesis" to treat a "recurrent, painful and worsening" constriction of the intestine.

A laparotomy is open abdominal surgery. It can help a surgeon both diagnose and treat issues. The statement said Francis was suffering from a blocked laparocele, which is a hernia that formed over a previous scar.

"The stay at the health facility will last several days to allow for the normal post-operative course and full functional recovery," the statement said. An update was not expected until after the procedure.

Francis remains in charge of the Vatican and the 1.3-billion strong Catholic Church, even while unconscious and in the hospital.

In July 2021, Francis spent 10 days at Gemelli to remove 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his large intestine. He had suffered what the Vatican said was a severe inflammation and narrowing of the colon. In an interview with The Associated Press in January, Francis said the diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, that had prompted the 2021 surgery, had returned.

Francis had come out of the 2021 surgery saying he could eat whatever he wanted, but he lamented that he hadn’t responded well to the general anesthetic used in the longer-than-expected procedure. That reaction in part explained his refusal to have surgery to repair strained knee ligaments that have forced him to use a wheelchair and walker for over a year.

The fact that he is going back for surgery suggests he had little choice but to treat the intestinal issue, especially given the rigorous upcoming travel schedule this summer.

The Argentine pope had part of one lung removed when he was a young man. He also suffers from sciatica nerve pain. In late March, Francis spent three days at Gemelli for an acute case of bronchitis, during which he was treated with intravenous antibiotics. He emerged April 1 saying "Still alive!"

Francis initially went to the Gemelli on Tuesday for what the Vatican said were medical tests. It revealed no details at the time.

The 86-year-old had appeared in good form Wednesday morning at his audience in St. Peter’s Square, zipping around the square in his popemobile greeting the faithful. He also had two meetings beforehand, the Vatican said.

Francis has had a packed schedule of late, with multiple audiences each day. The Vatican has recently confirmed a travel-filled August, when the Holy See and Italy are usually on vacation, with a four-day visit to Portugal the first week of August and a similarly long trip to Mongolia starting Aug. 31.

In a sign that the trips were very much on, the Vatican on Tuesday released the planned itinerary for Francis’ visit to Portugal for World Youth Day events from Aug. 2-6. The itinerary confirms a typically busy schedule that includes all the protocol meetings of an official state visit plus multiple events with young people.


Spain Registers Hottest Spring Temperatures on Record

A woman using a fan to cool-off walks past a man lying in the shade in Seville on April 26, 2023 as Spain is bracing for an early heat wave. (AFP)
A woman using a fan to cool-off walks past a man lying in the shade in Seville on April 26, 2023 as Spain is bracing for an early heat wave. (AFP)
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Spain Registers Hottest Spring Temperatures on Record

A woman using a fan to cool-off walks past a man lying in the shade in Seville on April 26, 2023 as Spain is bracing for an early heat wave. (AFP)
A woman using a fan to cool-off walks past a man lying in the shade in Seville on April 26, 2023 as Spain is bracing for an early heat wave. (AFP)

Spain registered its hottest spring on record this year, and its second driest ever, the state meteorological agency said Wednesday.

Rubén Del Campo, spokesman for the Aemet weather agency, said the latest data showed a continuation of the extremely high temperatures the country suffered in 2022, which was the hottest year ever recorded in Spain.

The spring heat was accompanied by a scarcity of rain that will exacerbate Spain's long-term drought, despite some rainfall over the last month. Spain's Ecological Transition Ministry reported Tuesday that the country's reservoirs are at 47.4% of their capacity, consolidating a downward trend.

Del Campo noted knock-on effects for the Mediterranean country's ecosystem. “Surface water temperatures recorded in 2022 were the highest since at least 1940,” he told a press conference, warning that the phenomenon endangered marine life and its ability to reproduce.

The situation inland was also made much more precarious. “These high temperatures have repercussions on both human health and ecosystems in terms of increased likelihood of forest fires,” the spokesman added.

Del Campo also issued predictions for the summer ahead, which he said would likely be “extremely hot,” though with a probability of some rainstorms. The Aemet spokesman said it was not clear that the El Niño weather phenomenon would contribute to the expected high temperatures in Spain. El Niño is a cyclical warming of the world's oceans and weather, which is forecast to return later this year.

The Spanish government announced 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) worth of drought response measures last month, including funding for urban water reuse and further aid for struggling farmers.

Spain is Europe’s leading producer and exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables. The country requested emergency funds from the European Union in April given the dire prognosis for this year’s crops.


Short of Animals, Gaza Zoo Fights to Survive

A lion is seen inside an enclosure at NAMA Zoo in Gaza June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
A lion is seen inside an enclosure at NAMA Zoo in Gaza June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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Short of Animals, Gaza Zoo Fights to Survive

A lion is seen inside an enclosure at NAMA Zoo in Gaza June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
A lion is seen inside an enclosure at NAMA Zoo in Gaza June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Large paintings of a bear, an elephant and a giraffe decorate the outer walls of NAMA Zoo in Gaza City, but none of these wild creatures is represented live among those caged inside.

Six years ago, the lone tiger died, and despite visitors' frequent demands for a replacement, the owners have not been able to afford to buy or feed a new one.

There were once six zoos in Gaza. But with the economy crippled, two of the zoos have closed, Reuters reported.

"Because of the lack of resources and capabilities and the high prices of animals it is difficult to replace an animal you lose," said Mahmoud Al-Sultan, the medical supervisor of the NAMA zoo.

The original animals at the zoo were smuggled through tunnels over a decade ago.

As well as four pairs of lions, each of which gets through 60 kilograms of meat a week, the zoo has crocodiles, hyenas, foxes, deer and monkeys, as well as a lone ibex and a solitary wolf.

At the lions' cages, children stand to take pictures from a distance and giggle as they touch the bars on the cages of deer and birds. A ticket costs less than $1 because people can't afford more, Sultan said.

"I come here to have some fun, but I see the same animals every time," said nine-year-old Fouad Saleh. "I wish I could see an elephant, a giraffe or a tiger."

For the moment, that appears unlikely. Gaza lacks the medical facilities to treat animals like lions and tigers.

In the past, the Four Paws international animal welfare group has had to rescue animals and find them new homes in Israel, Jordan or as far away as South Africa.

"We struggle to afford the food," said Sultan. "Sometimes we provide frozen food, chicken, turkeys, and sometimes if a donkey is injured we have it slaughtered and shared out between the lions."


Former FBI Agent Robert Hanssen, Who Was Convicted of Spying for Russia, Dies in Prison 

The identification and business card of former FBI agent Robert Hanssen are seen inside a display case at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on May 12, 2009. (AFP)
The identification and business card of former FBI agent Robert Hanssen are seen inside a display case at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on May 12, 2009. (AFP)
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Former FBI Agent Robert Hanssen, Who Was Convicted of Spying for Russia, Dies in Prison 

The identification and business card of former FBI agent Robert Hanssen are seen inside a display case at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on May 12, 2009. (AFP)
The identification and business card of former FBI agent Robert Hanssen are seen inside a display case at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on May 12, 2009. (AFP)

Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who took more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds to trade secrets with Moscow in one of the most notorious spying cases in American history, died in prison Monday. 

Hanssen, 79, was found unresponsive in his cell at a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, and later pronounced dead, prison officials said. He is believed to have died of natural causes, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of Hanssen's death and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. 

He had been serving a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole since 2002, after pleading guilty to 15 counts of espionage and other charges. 

Hanssen had divulged a wealth of information about American intelligence-gathering, including extensive detail about how US officials had tapped into Russian spy operations, since at least 1985. 

He was believed to have been partly responsible for the deaths of at least three Soviet officers who were working for US intelligence and executed after being exposed. 

He got more than $1.4 million in cash, bank funds, diamonds and Rolex watches in exchange for providing highly classified national security information to the Soviet Union and later Russia. 

He didn't adopt an obviously lavish lifestyle, instead living in a modest suburban home in Virginia with his family of six children and driving a Taurus and minivan. 

Hanssen would later say he was motivated by money rather than ideology, but a letter written to his Soviet handlers in 1985 explains a large payoff could have caused complications because he could not spend it without setting off warning bells. 

Using the alias “Ramon Garcia,” he passed some 6,000 documents and 26 computer disks to his handlers, authorities said. They detailed eavesdropping techniques, helped to confirm the identity of Russian double agents, and spilled other secrets. Officials also believed he tipped off Moscow to a secret tunnel the Americans built under the Soviet Embassy in Washington for eavesdropping. 

He went undetected for years, but later investigations found missed red flags. After he became the focus of a hunt for a Russian mole, Hanssen was caught taping a garbage bag full of secrets to the underside of a footbridge in a park in a “dead drop” for Russian handlers. 

The story was made into a movie titled “Breach” in 2007, starring Chris Cooper as Hanssen and Ryan Phillippe as a young bureau operative who helps bring him down. 

The FBI has been notified of Hanssen’s death, according to the Bureau of Prisons. 


Prince Harry Gets His Day in Court against Tabloids He Accuses of Blighting His Life

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 file photo, Britain's Prince Harry gestures in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 file photo, Britain's Prince Harry gestures in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
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Prince Harry Gets His Day in Court against Tabloids He Accuses of Blighting His Life

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 file photo, Britain's Prince Harry gestures in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 file photo, Britain's Prince Harry gestures in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Prince Harry is due at a London court Tuesday to testify against a tabloid publisher he accuses of phone hacking and other unlawful snooping.

Harry alleges that journalists at the Daily Mirror and its sister papers used unlawful techniques on an “industrial scale” to get scoops, The Associated Press said.

Publisher Mirror Group Newspapers is contesting the claims. Harry faces cross-examination by the company’s lawyer when he enters the witness box at the High Court in London.

The 38-year-old son of King Charles III will be the first British royal since the 19th century to face questioning in a court. An ancestor, the future King Edward VII, appeared as a witness in a trial over a gambling scandal in 1891.

Harry has made a mission of holding the UK press to account for what he sees as its hounding of him and his family.

Setting out the prince’s case in court Monday, his lawyer, David Sherborne, said that from Harry's childhood, British newspapers used hacking and subterfuge to mine snippets of information that could be turned into front-page scoops.

He said stories about Harry were big sellers for the newspapers, and some 2,500 articles had covered all facets of his life during the time period of the case — 1996 to 2011 — from injuries at school to experimenting with marijuana and cocaine to ups and downs with girlfriends.

“Nothing was sacrosanct or out of bounds” for the tabloids, the lawyer said.

Mirror Group's attorney, Andrew Green, said there was “simply no evidence capable of supporting the finding that the Duke of Sussex was hacked, let alone on a habitual basis.”

Green said he plans to question Harry for a day and a half.

Harry has been expected in court Monday for the opening of the hacking case, the first of his several lawsuits against the media to go to a full trial.

He was absent because he’d taken a flight Sunday from Los Angeles after the birthday of his 2-year-old daughter Lilibet, Sherborne said — to the evident chagrin of the judge, Timothy Fancourt.

“I’m a little surprised,” said Fancourt, noting he had directed Harry to be prepared to testify.

Harry’s fury at the UK press — and sometimes at his own royal relatives for what he sees as their collusion with the media — runs through his memoir, “Spare,” and interviews conducted by Oprah Winfrey and others.

He has blamed paparazzi for causing the car crash that killed his mother, Princess Diana, and said harassment and intrusion by the UK press, including allegedly racist articles, led him and his wife, Meghan, to flee to the US in 2020 and leave royal life behind.


Indonesian Scientist Works with Poachers to Restore Coral Reefs 

Scientist and lecturer Syafyudin Yusuf, 54, dives as he investigates coral in the waters of Badi Island, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, May 29, 2023. (Reuters)
Scientist and lecturer Syafyudin Yusuf, 54, dives as he investigates coral in the waters of Badi Island, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, May 29, 2023. (Reuters)
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Indonesian Scientist Works with Poachers to Restore Coral Reefs 

Scientist and lecturer Syafyudin Yusuf, 54, dives as he investigates coral in the waters of Badi Island, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, May 29, 2023. (Reuters)
Scientist and lecturer Syafyudin Yusuf, 54, dives as he investigates coral in the waters of Badi Island, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, May 29, 2023. (Reuters)

For nearly two decades, Indonesian marine scientist Syafyudin Yusuf has worked with former poachers to rehabilitate coral reefs destroyed by their use of dynamite for fishing.

They have restored to health 11.5 hectares (roughly 30 acres) of corals around a group of 120 islands known as the Spermonde archipelago in the Makassar Strait off Sulawesi.

Fifteen years ago, only 2% of the area's original reef area remained undamaged, according to research by Makassar's Hasanuddin University, as fisherfolk used explosives and chemicals, which have now been banned.

"We enter their lives and try to influence their... mindsets to be able to change from destructive fishing to being conservationists," Syafyudin said, adding that his team anchors frames into the seabed to allow corals to grow undisturbed.

Indonesia's roughly 5 million hectares of coral reefs account for a fifth of the world's total, according to Greenpeace.

Experts say coral reefs are crucial to coastal and marine ecosystems, playing a role in preventing erosion and flooding. They are increasingly at risk of dying with oceans warming as they absorb greenhouse gas emissions.


Jill Biden Stresses from Cairo Support for Youth Education, Women Empowerment

Jill Biden toured the landmarks of Al-Azhar Mosque (Al-Azhar)
Jill Biden toured the landmarks of Al-Azhar Mosque (Al-Azhar)
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Jill Biden Stresses from Cairo Support for Youth Education, Women Empowerment

Jill Biden toured the landmarks of Al-Azhar Mosque (Al-Azhar)
Jill Biden toured the landmarks of Al-Azhar Mosque (Al-Azhar)

First Lady Jill Biden stressed the importance of supporting youth education and empowering women, during her first visit to Egypt on Friday.

Biden landed in Cairo Friday, on the second leg of her six-day trip across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe that seeks to promote empowerment for women and education for young people.

The First Lady visited Al-Azhar Mosque, inspected its historical features and corridors, and listened to an explanation by the President of Al-Azhar University, Salama Daoud, about the history of the mosque.

“Al-Azhar Mosque is one of the most important mosques in Egypt, and one of the most famous ancient mosques in the Islamic world. It was established more than 1083 years ago, to be the most important institution for spreading and teaching moderate and enlightened Islam,” Daoud said.

According to an official statement, “women received great attention from Al-Azhar during the era of the sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayyib, who was keen to support and empower women” working in the mosque.

The American First Lady expressed her happiness at her visit to Egypt and the Al-Azhar Mosque, thanking Daoud for his warm reception.

She also stressed “the importance of supporting youth education and empowering women, and the need for peoples strengthen relations between them.”

Jill Biden also visited the pyramids area in Giza, and stopped in front of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

She was accompanied during the visit by the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Issa, the Chargé d’Affaires of the US Ambassador to Cairo, John Desrocher, and the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, Mostafa Waziri.

Issa granted a pharaonic necklace-shaped souvenir to Biden at the end of her tour at the Giza Pyramids.

The First Lady also visited a technical school in Cairo, accompanied by the Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education, Reda Hegazy, and a number of Egyptian officials.

“Together, the United States and Egypt are working with local companies to bring on-the-job training to the classroom,” she said on Twitter.