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UK's Catherine Turns 43 Hoping for Better Year

Catherine, Princess of Wales, walks to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the Royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain December 25, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Catherine, Princess of Wales, walks to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the Royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain December 25, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville
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UK's Catherine Turns 43 Hoping for Better Year

Catherine, Princess of Wales, walks to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the Royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain December 25, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Catherine, Princess of Wales, walks to attend the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the Royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain December 25, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Catherine, Princess of Wales celebrates her 43rd birthday on Thursday, seeking to turn the page on a turbulent year which saw her retreat from public life to fight cancer.

Kate, as she is commonly known, is expected to step up her royal engagements in 2025 after announcing in September that she had completed chemotherapy for an unspecified cancer, AFP reported.

Kensington Palace has not said where the Princess of Wales plans to mark the start of her 44th year but she usually spends it surrounded by family in Norfolk.

Her husband Prince William, heir to the British throne, was regularly photographed alone last year as both Kate and his father King Charles III received treatment for the disease.

But the royal couple are set to make more appearances together over the next 12 months as they eye a return to normality, with William suggesting that an overseas trip may even be on the cards.

The princess has not taken part in an official foreign visit since she attended the Rugby World Cup in France in October 2023.

"I think hopefully Catherine will be doing a bit more next year, so we'll have some more trips maybe lined up," William said during a visit to Cape Town in November.

Catherine's birthday comes almost a year since she was admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery on January 16, 2024.

She spent nearly two weeks in the London Clinic after her operation, and was recuperating at home when she discovered that she had cancer and had to begin chemotherapy.

Her lack of public appearances sparked wild speculation online about her condition and whereabouts, which Kate finally put to bed with a video message on Instagram in March revealing her diagnosis.

She won plaudits for her openness and received an outpouring of support, but the announcement also plunged the monarchy into crisis given that her father-in-law Charles was battling the disease as well.

Catherine received further praise following the release of a new video in September, in which she said that the previous nine months had been "incredibly tough".

'Brutal' year
In a touching video that featured William and their three children -- George, 11, Charlotte, 9, and Louis, 6 -- Catherine said that she was cancer free and looking forward to undertaking more engagements "when I can".

Her gradual return to public life late last year included attending the Emir of Qatar's state visit to Britain and the annual Remembrance Day ceremonies honouring the UK's war dead.

She also visited Southport in northwest England to meet people affected by a knife attack in July that killed three young girls.

Catherine reflected on "the most difficult times" as she hosted a Christmas service at Westminster Abbey last month, which came after William described the "brutal" year as the "hardest" of his life.

Catherine, hugely popular in Britain since her marriage to William in 2011, is adored by UK newspapers, who praise her elegance and warm attitude to the public during royal engagements.

The future queen is the daughter of a flight attendant and air traffic controller who went on to make a fortune from a business supplying party items.

Catherine met William in the early 2000s at the University of St Andrews in Scotland where she studied art history, before they wed in 2011.

She is seen as a key figure in maintaining the royals' position and relevance in a changing Britain.

Her public engagements this year are likely to feature the various charities she supports in early years education.

Catherine and William may also be called upon to attend the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day on May 8 and Victory over Japan Day on August 15, which mark the end of World War II.

The royal couple also have their daughter's milestone 10th birthday to look forward to in May.

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Varieties

Coffee Regions Hit by Extra Days of Extreme Heat, Say Scientists 

17 April 2012, North Rhine-Westphalia, Vluyn: A general view of Arabica Coffee beans. (dpa)
17 April 2012, North Rhine-Westphalia, Vluyn: A general view of Arabica Coffee beans. (dpa)
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Coffee Regions Hit by Extra Days of Extreme Heat, Say Scientists 

17 April 2012, North Rhine-Westphalia, Vluyn: A general view of Arabica Coffee beans. (dpa)
17 April 2012, North Rhine-Westphalia, Vluyn: A general view of Arabica Coffee beans. (dpa)

The world's main coffee-growing regions are roasting under additional days of climate change-driven heat every year, threatening harvests and contributing to higher prices, researchers said Wednesday.

An analysis found that there were 47 extra days of harmful heat per year on average in 25 countries representing nearly all global coffee production between 2021 and 2025, according to independent research group Climate Central.

Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia and Indonesia -- which supply 75 percent of the world's coffee -- experienced on average 57 additional days of temperatures exceeding the threshold of 30C.

"Climate change is coming for our coffee. Nearly every major coffee-producing country is now experiencing more days of extreme heat that can harm coffee plants, reduce yields, and affect quality," said Kristina Dahl, Climate Central's vice president for science.

"In time, these impacts may ripple outward from farms to consumers, right into the quality and cost of your daily brew," Dahl said in a statement.

US tariffs on imports from Brazil, which supplies a third of coffee consumed in the United States, contributed to higher prices this past year, Climate Central said.

But extreme weather in the world's coffee-growing regions is "at least partly to blame" for the recent surge in prices, it added.

Coffee cultivation needs optimal temperatures and rainfall to thrive.

Temperatures above 30C are "extremely harmful" to arabica coffee plants and "suboptimal" for the robusta variety, Climate Central said. Those two plant species produce the majority of the global coffee supply.

For its analysis, Climate Central estimated how many days each year would have stayed below 30C in a world without carbon pollution but instead exceeded that level in reality -- revealing the number of hot days added by climate change.

The last three years have been the hottest on record, according to climate monitors.

Varieties

Dog Gives Olympics Organizers Paws for Thought

A dog wanders on the ski trail during the women's team cross country free sprint qualification event of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Lago di Tesero (Val di Fiemme), on February 18, 2026. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
A dog wanders on the ski trail during the women's team cross country free sprint qualification event of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Lago di Tesero (Val di Fiemme), on February 18, 2026. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
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Dog Gives Olympics Organizers Paws for Thought

A dog wanders on the ski trail during the women's team cross country free sprint qualification event of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Lago di Tesero (Val di Fiemme), on February 18, 2026. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
A dog wanders on the ski trail during the women's team cross country free sprint qualification event of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Lago di Tesero (Val di Fiemme), on February 18, 2026. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

A dog decided he would bid for an unlikely Olympic medal on Wednesday as he joined the women's cross country team free sprint in the Milan-Cortina Games.

The dog ran onto the piste in Tesero in northern Italy and gamely, even without skis, ran behind two of the competitors, Greece's Konstantina Charalampidou and Tena Hadzic of Croatia.

He crossed the finishing line, his moment of glory curtailed as he was collared by the organizers and led away -- his owner no doubt will have a bone to pick with him when they are reunited.

Varieties

Olives, Opera and a Climate-Neutral Goal: How a Mural in Greece Won ‘Best in the World’ 

A building with the mural entitled “Kalamata” depicting opera legend Maria Callas by artist Kleomenis Kostopoulos is seen in Kalamata town, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Athens, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP) 
A building with the mural entitled “Kalamata” depicting opera legend Maria Callas by artist Kleomenis Kostopoulos is seen in Kalamata town, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Athens, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP) 
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Olives, Opera and a Climate-Neutral Goal: How a Mural in Greece Won ‘Best in the World’ 

A building with the mural entitled “Kalamata” depicting opera legend Maria Callas by artist Kleomenis Kostopoulos is seen in Kalamata town, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Athens, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP) 
A building with the mural entitled “Kalamata” depicting opera legend Maria Callas by artist Kleomenis Kostopoulos is seen in Kalamata town, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Athens, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP) 

Long known for its olives and seaside charm, the southern Greek city of Kalamata has found itself in the spotlight thanks to a towering mural that reimagines legendary soprano Maria Callas as an allegory for the city itself.

The massive artwork on the side of a prominent building in the city center has been named 2025’s “Best Mural of the World” by Street Art Cities, a global platform celebrating street art.

Residents of Kalamata, approximately 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Athens, cultivate the world-renowned olives, figs and grapes that feature prominently on the mural.

That was precisely the point.

Vassilis Papaefstathiou, deputy mayor of strategic planning and climate neutrality, explained Kalamata is one of the few Greek cities with the ambitious goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2030. He and other city leaders wanted a way to make abstract concepts, including sustainable development, agri-food initiatives, and local economic growth, more tangible for the city’s nearly 73,000 residents.

That’s how the idea of a massive mural in a public space was born.

“We wanted it to reflect a very clear and distinct message of what sustainable development means for a regional city such as Kalamata,” Papaefstathiou said. “We wanted to create an image that combines the humble products of the land, such as olives and olive oil — which, let’s be honest, are famous all over the world and have put Kalamata on the map — with the high-level art.”

“By bringing together what is very elevated with ... the humbleness of the land, our aim was to empower the people and, in doing so, strengthen their identity. We want them to be proud to be Kalamatians.”

Southern Greece has faced heatwaves, droughts and wildfires in recent years, all of which affect the olive groves on which the region’s economy is hugely dependent.

The image chosen to represent the city was Maria Callas, widely hailed as one of the greatest opera singers of the 20th century and revered in Greece as a national cultural symbol. She may have been born in New York to Greek immigrant parents, but her father came from a village south of Kalamata. For locals, she is one of their own.

This connection is also reflected in practice: the alumni association at Kalamata’s music school is named for Callas, and the cultural center houses an exhibition dedicated to her, which includes letters from her personal archive.

Artist Kleomenis Kostopoulos, 52, said the mural “is not actually called ‘Maria Callas,’ but ‘Kalamata’ and my attempt was to paint Kalamata (the city) allegorically.”

Rather than portraying a stylized image of the diva, Kostopoulos said he aimed for a more grounded and human depiction. He incorporated elements that connect the people to their land: tree branches — which he considers the above-ground extension of roots — birds native to the area, and the well-known agricultural products.

“The dress I create on Maria Callas in ‘Kalamata’ is essentially all of this, all of this bloom, all of this fruition,” he said. “The blessed land that Kalamata itself has ... is where all of these elements of nature come from.”

Creating the mural was no small feat. Kostopoulos said it took around two weeks of actual work spread over a month due to bad weather. He primarily used brushes but also incorporated spray paint and a cherry-picker to reach all edges of the massive wall.

Papaefstathiou, the deputy mayor, said the mural has become a focal point.

“We believe this mural has helped us significantly in many ways, including in strengthening the city’s promotion as a tourist destination,” he said.

Beyond tourism, the mural has sparked conversations about art in public spaces. More building owners in Kalamata have already expressed interest in hosting murals.

“All of us — residents, and I personally — feel immense pride,” said tourism educator Dimitra Kourmouli.

Kostopoulos said he hopes the award will have a wider impact on the art community and make public art more visible in Greece.

“We see that such modern interventions in public space bring tremendous cultural, social, educational and economic benefits to a place,” he said. “These are good springboards to start nice conversations that I hope someday will happen in our country, as well.”