Posts by Amelia Frost
In India’s Congested Cities, Delivery Apps Cash In
In India’s sprawling financial hub of Mumbai armies of “dabbawalas” have for decades crisscrossed the city by foot and bicycle, delivering home-cooked food to office workers who are keen to avoid the searing heat and traffic-snarled streets. Now, across the country, young entrepreneurs are taking that tradition to the next level with the explosion of…
Read MoreAt 2nd Inauguration, Noboa Vows To ‘Save’ Ecuador From Gangs
Daniel Noboa was sworn in Saturday for a second term as Ecuadoran president, promising to “save” his South American country from narco-traffickers allied with foreign criminal gangs. The 37-year-old leader, speaking after his installation ceremony at the National Assembly in capital Quito, promised a “direct confrontation with organized criminal structures.” “There will be no truce…
Read MoreDissident Iranian Filmmaker Panahi Wins Top Prize At Cannes
“It Was Just an Accident” by dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d’Or for best film at the Cannes Festival on Saturday. The highly political but wry film tells the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronted with a man they believed tortured them in jail. Panahi, who has been imprisoned twice in his…
Read MoreOnly Margaret Qualley Could Have Walked the Cannes Red Carpet in These Ballet Flats
Margaret Qualley always makes a splash with her looks, and her appearance at the 78th Cannes Film Festival to present her upcoming film was no exception. While just a few days ago her mother, Andie MacDowell, dominated the Croisette in barely any makeup a tuxedo, it was now Qualley’s turn to impress, wearing a very…
Read MoreMusk Mocked After X Experiences Days-Long Outage: ‘Everything This Man Touches Burns’
After a fire at a data center leased by X triggered a multi-day outage for the social media platform, CEO Elon Musk is getting heat for the system failure. Fire crews responded to the Hillsboro, Oregon facility on Thursday morning, where the fire was traced to a room housing lithium batteries, WIRED reported. The room…
Read MoreMiss England Quits Miss World Pageant, Says She Felt Like a ‘Prostitute’ for Wealthy Male Sponsors
Miss England dropped out of the 72nd Miss World pageant in Telangana, India, criticizing the “outdated” competition for exploiting and objectifying its contestants. 24-year-old Milla Magee originally attributed her May 16 departure to “personal reasons,” but revealed exactly why she “couldn’t take it anymore” in a bombshell interview with The Sun. “I went out to…
Read MoreSyria Hails US Lifting Of Assad-era Sanctions
Syrian authorities on Saturday announced an interior ministry restructuring that includes fighting cross-border drug and people smuggling as they seek to improve ties with Western nations that have lifted sanctions. Keen to reboot and rebuild after 14 years of devastating civil war, the new authorities in Damascus have hailed Washington’s lifting of US sanctions. The…
Read MoreHighlights From Cannes As Film Festival Wraps Up
As the Cannes film festival hands out its prizes, AFP looks back at some of the highlights of a politically charged fortnight of screenings and celebrity sightings. The festival began on May 13 with a flap about a new dress code which states that extravagantly large dresses are prohibited on the red carpet, as well…
Read MoreUAE Hits Record May Temperature Of 51.6C
The United Arab Emirates breached its May temperature record for the second day in a row, hitting 51.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday, within touching distance of the highest ever temperature recorded in the country. “The highest temperature recorded over the country today is 51.6C in Sweihan (Al Ain) at 13:45 UAE local time (0945 GMT),”…
Read MoreSexually Assaulted And Smeared In Excrement: Uganda Activist Details Torture In Tanzania
Stripped naked, beaten until she could no longer walk, sexually assaulted and covered in excrement: award-winning Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire told AFP of the torture she suffered at the hands of security forces in Tanzania this week. Atuhaire, who won an International Women of Courage Award from the United States last year, was arrested on…
Read MoreBangladesh Govt Calls For Unity To Stop ‘Return Of Authoritarianism’
Bangladesh’s interim government, which took over after a mass uprising last year, warned on Saturday that unity was needed to “prevent the return of authoritarianism”. The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted by student-led protests in August 2024, ending her iron-fisted…
Read MoreGaza Civil Defence Says 15 Killed In Israeli Strikes
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 15 people on Saturday across the Palestinian territory, where Israel has ramped up its military offensive in recent days. Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the dead included a couple who were killed with their two young children in a pre-dawn strike on…
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