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By MARCO UGARTE and LISSETTE ROMERO Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico returned Sunday to mass commemorations of the Day of the Dead, after traditional visits to graveyards were prohibited last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the one-year hiatus showed how the tradition itself refuses to die: Most families still celebrated with home altars to deceased loved ones, and some snuck into cemeteries anyway.
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By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian Outback town of Quilpie hoped its offer of free residential land to anyone who would make it their home might attract five new families to the remote community of 800. But authorities have been overwhelmed by more than 250 inquires in less than two weeks from around Australia and internationally.
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Photo taken by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra https://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/44326168410
By SYLVIE CORBET and THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — In a move with potential ramifications for other European museums, France is displaying 26 looted colonial-era artifacts for one last time before returning them to Benin — a decision authorities in the West African country described as “historic.”
The wooden anthropomorphic statues, royal thrones and sacred altars were pilfered by the French army 129 years ago. The French will have a final glimpse of the objects, from the collection known as the “Abomey Treasures,” in the Musée du quai Branly–Jacques Chirac from Tuesday through Sunday.
Calixte Biah, curator of the Museum of History of Ouidah, Benin, where the artefacts will first be exhibited, said the occasion was historic. Continue reading
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By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV AND HRVOJE HRANJSKI Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) — The Nobel Peace Prize sometimes recognizes groundbreaking efforts to resolve seemingly intractable conflicts, such as once-sworn enemies who sat down and brokered an end to war. In other years, the recipient is someone who promoted human rights at great personal cost.
The prestigious award also can serve as a not-so-subtle message to authoritarian governments and leaders that the world is watching.
What does the selection of two journalists, Maria Ressa, 58, of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov, 59, of Russia, say about freedom of expression and the history of dissent in the countries of the 2021 peace prize winners?
“It is a battle for facts. When you’re in a battle for facts, journalism is activism,” Ressa said Friday. Continue reading
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Level : Intermediate
UNICEF: Battered by pandemic, kids need mental health help
By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — Governments must pour more money and resources into preserving the mental well-being of children and adolescents, the U.N.’s child protection agency urged in a report Tuesday that sounded alarms about blows to mental health from the COVID-19 pandemic that hit poor and vulnerable children particularly hard.
The United Nations Children’s Fund said its “State of the World’s Children” study is its most comprehensive look so far this century at the mental health of children and adolescents globally. The coronavirus crisis, forcing school closures that upended the lives of children and adolescents, has thrust the issue of their mental well-being to the fore.
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By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) — After being slowed by the pandemic, the race among 17 U.S. cities to land a coveted spot hosting the 2026 World Cup is back on.
Two FIFA inspectors were in Atlanta Friday to get a look at 72,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of a record-setting Major League Soccer team and centerpiece of the city’s bid.
FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani, who also leads regional governing body CONCACAF, joked that Atlanta is now “a football city, as in the real football that is played globally.”
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By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer
LONDON (AP) — Tiziana Di Costanzo makes pizza dough from scratch, mixing together flour, yeast, a pinch of salt, a dash of olive oil and something a bit more unusual — ground acheta domesticus, better known as cricket powder.
Di Costanzo is an edible insect entrepreneur who holds cricket and mealworm cooking classes at her West London home, where she also raises the critters in a backyard shed with her husband, Tom Mohan.
Her startup, Horizon Insects, is part of Europe’s nascent edible insect scene, which features dozens of bug-based businesses offering cricket chips in the Czech Republic, bug burgers in Germany and Belgian beetle beer. The European Union headquarters in Brussels is also backing research into insect-based proteins as part of a broader sustainable food strategy.
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By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Civic leaders in Liverpool expressed outrage Wednesday after the English port city was stripped of its World Heritage status by the United Nations’ culture organization.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee voted in a secret ballot to remove the designation because of developments in the city center and on its historic River Mersey waterfront. The committee said the projects, including a planned new stadium for soccer team Everton, were “detrimental to the site’s authenticity and integrity” and had caused “irreversible loss of attributes.”
Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson called the decision “incomprehensible.”
“I’m hugely disappointed and concerned by this decision to delete Liverpool’s World Heritage status, which comes a decade after UNESCO last visited the city to see it with their own eyes,” she said.
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By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer
Reeling from massive cutbacks in volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and grappling with high construction costs, Habitat for Humanity leaders would be the first to admit they’re struggling.
The past year has felt like one punch after the other, they say. First hit: Habitat’s local affiliates had to limit volunteers over virus concerns, forcing them to fork over more money to hire contractors. Second hit: Revenue was dented by temporary closures of ReStores, the reuse stores operated by local Habitat organizations. The third: Construction delays caused by pandemic-induced kinks in the supply chain, which make affiliates wait longer for supplies.
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By DEBORAH GOUFFRAN and SYLVIE CORBET undefined
PARIS (AP) — Paris on Saturday was the only place to be for die-hard Jim Morrison fans.
Fifty years after his death at age 27, rock music lovers from France and across the world came to the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in eastern Paris where The Doors’ frontman is buried. Many brought candles and pictures, and some burned incense sticks near his grave as police watched nearby.
“Jim and The Doors have been heroes of ours since we were kids. It’s an honor to be here and celebrate the 50th anniversary of his death today,” said Dutuar Platzek.
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