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Libya Couscous Dish Eyes Guinness Book of World Records

More than 15 Libyan chefs came together to prepare the largest plate of couscous in the hope of entering the Guinness Book of Records. (218TV via Twitter)
More than 15 Libyan chefs came together to prepare the largest plate of couscous in the hope of entering the Guinness Book of Records. (218TV via Twitter)
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Libya Couscous Dish Eyes Guinness Book of World Records

More than 15 Libyan chefs came together to prepare the largest plate of couscous in the hope of entering the Guinness Book of Records. (218TV via Twitter)
More than 15 Libyan chefs came together to prepare the largest plate of couscous in the hope of entering the Guinness Book of Records. (218TV via Twitter)

More than 15 Libyan chefs and several of their assistants came together on Friday to prepare the largest plate of couscous in the hope of entering the Guinness Book of Records.

The dish has a diameter of 4.5 meters, weighs 1,200 kilograms and contains 375 kilograms of dried meat, in addition to large quantities of butter, chickpeas, onions, spices, almonds, raisins and coconut.

This event, in Ghadames, southern Libya, was launched in the hope of making Libyan couscous part of the World Intangible Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).

The took place after a wave of popular anger erupted in Libya over UNESCO’s inclusion of couscous from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania on the World Intangible Heritage List in January, while Libyan couscous was excluded.

According to Africa Gate News, the dish cost around 95,000 Libyan dinars, and it was funded by a local food and beverage company.

Ali Masoud Al-Fateeni, the event organizer, pointed out that the dish, the largest of its kind, can serve 5,000 people. It was distributed to attendees.

The couscoussier, which was made with galvanized iron and then wrapped and decorated with inscriptions reflecting the Libyan identity, was designed by the engineer Jalal Al-Rumaili.

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From Homeless to Tour Guide: Londoners Lead the Way Round the Streets They Know Best 

Unseen Tours guide Stefan Gordon, leads a tour around Canary Wharf's West India Quay in London, Britain, June 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Unseen Tours guide Stefan Gordon, leads a tour around Canary Wharf's West India Quay in London, Britain, June 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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From Homeless to Tour Guide: Londoners Lead the Way Round the Streets They Know Best 

Unseen Tours guide Stefan Gordon, leads a tour around Canary Wharf's West India Quay in London, Britain, June 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Unseen Tours guide Stefan Gordon, leads a tour around Canary Wharf's West India Quay in London, Britain, June 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Stefan Gordon spent three years in a homeless shelter in London after a family rift left him without a roof over his head. Now he is using his past experience to tell the often hidden story of one of the capital's wealthiest areas.

Gordon, 31, is one of several formerly homeless people trained by Unseen Tours to lead guided walks in different London neighborhoods. The charity's aim is to reduce the stigma around homelessness and value people's potential.

"My view of homelessness is a person without a home... (but) just because they don't have a home, we can still do stuff," Gordon told Reuters as he led a group tour of Canary Wharf and West India Quay in east London.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the area, now the capital's business hub, was home to a large dock complex built to receive products such as sugar from the Caribbean, where enslaved people were forced to work on plantations.

The docks were created by and for merchants, but many of those who worked there were often badly paid and lived in poor conditions, something Gordon says he can relate to.

"Lots of people used to sleep in lodging houses and the hostel where I slept was an emergency lodging house so I kind of related a lot to that," Gordon said. "It was very, very tough back then... It's still tough now."

Gordon, who has autism, is now living with his mother and has been a guide since February. He gets paid 60% of the value of each tour ticket while the remainder is reinvested into Unseen Tours to cover operating costs and train new guides.

Unseen Tours' director of communication, Charlotte Cassedanne, said the guides, with help from the organization, research and design their own tours, and can incorporate their personal stories into their walks if they wish to do so.

They have been running for more than a decade, and 30,000 visitors have taken part in their tours. With six guides trained so far, Unseen Tours is currently fundraising to train three more.

"When you experience homelessness, you become sort of less than human... People ignore you daily... Putting them at the center of the storytelling really helps them have agency again," Cassedanne said.