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Portable pasteurizer keeps milk disease-free for Kenyan, Rwandan dairy farmers
Nairobi — Kenyan officials have long pushed for milk to be pasteurized before it reaches the marketplace, but much of the milk sold is not pasteurized because small-scale vendors and producers can’t afford the expensive machines used in the process. Now, Canadian university graduates have developed a portable, affordable pasteurization machine that could help African farmers cheaply sterilize the dairy product and reduce milk-related disease.
In Kenya, smallholder farmers produce 56% of the milk, with five million dairy cattle generating five billion liters annually. According to Kenya’s Dairy Board, only 28% of that milk is processed by dairy companies, which pasteurize it to kill harmful bacteria.
The remaining 72% is sold directly to consumers by vendors who traditionally heat and reheat the milk over a fire, a method that fails to ensure complete safety.
To address the challenge faced by millions of farmers in Africa and around the world, a group of recent university graduates from Canada has developed a portable pasteurizer machine to help farmers sterilize milk cheaply and in a healthy way.
Miraal Kabir is the head of the startup Safi, which means “pure” in Swahili. She said her technology provides health and economic benefits to users and milk consumers.
“It solves two problems. The main one being the problem of unsafe milk. It allows all of the milk being sold in the market to be safe, which isn’t the case right now. That’s leading to a lot of deaths, a lot of diseases, especially for children under five. And then on a secondary problem that it’s solving, right now in the dairy supply chain, the people who are winning the most are these large processors,” she said.
“They sell milk extremely cheap to these processors who then sell it at a huge premium. And so by allowing small scale farmers to pasteurize the milk themselves and earn the premium of pasteurized milk themselves, we’re actually empowering them financially as well.”
The device is placed on top of a pot. It has a whisk to stir the milk and ensure that it is heated uniformly. It also has a screen and LED lights, which guide the user through pasteurization. A temperature sensor tells the user when the milk is ready.
Moses Sitati is a dairy farmer in western Kenya. His cows produce 60 liters of milk per day, of which 10 liters spoil, meaning it is not suitable for human consumption.
The 40-year-old farmer has been using the pasteurizer for the past 12 months.
“I can sell milk, people can just buy milk and take it at the same time without going and boiling it fast. Now you know when you boil, wait until again by tomorrow so you boil, you are losing the milk, the first thing and also the nutrients. Now the pasteurizer helps to at least store the milk, it helps at least to preserve the milk for a long time,” he said.
In addition to farmers losing their income, raw and unpasteurized milk contains harmful bacteria like salmonella, E. coli, Brucella, tuberculosis, and Q fever.
Sitati is among the 20 farmers and vendors in Kenya and Rwanda who have purchased the pasteurizer.
The father of three happened to get the first product developed by the Safi team, which didn’t satisfy him, but he says he is happy with the final product for its safety and energy consumption.
“The first one could pasteurize milk from two to 10 liters, but this one pasteurized milk from two to 20 liters. The first one didn’t have a lid, so when pasteurizing the milk, it could spill out, so they improved this to put a lid so that there is no milk spilling out when you are pasteurizing. The first one used electricity, and this one uses solar energy. When you charge, you can use it for four hours,” he said.
Last month, the Safi company said it partnered with the Rwandan government, which helped them open for commercialization after taking part in pilot programs.
Kabir said the device tracks pasteurization data, letting farmers prove milk safety and helping regulators monitor it.
“We’ve also incorporated the data software side of things. Our device is actually able to capture all the key pasteurization data and provide it to the farmer themselves or the vendors so that they can prove that they have pasteurized their milk to their customers, but then we’re also able to aggregate all of this data and provide it to governments. Governments and regulators, they’re able to see where milk has been pasteurized, when it was pasteurized, where safe milk is being sold,” said Kabir.
The innovators say they hope to find a good manufacturer to start producing the device next year and make billions of liters of milk disease-free.
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In South Korea, egg-freezing gains popularity, giving women more options
Seoul, South Korea — Lee Jang-mi, a 34-year-old Seoul office worker, laughs with a hint of embarrassment as she acknowledges fitting the stereotype of a single, childless South Korean woman.
“I’m one of those people who doesn’t want kids,” says Lee with an exaggerated grin, rolling her eyes and gesturing toward herself.
Though she’s currently in a relationship, Lee is unmarried and hesitant to start a family, citing financial stress as a major concern.
“Raising a child well seems like an enormous burden,” she adds.
But Lee’s perspective changed after stumbling into a pop-up store in Seoul’s trendy Seongsu district, where she learned more about egg-freezing, a medical procedure meant to preserve a woman’s fertility.
“It actually sounds like a good idea,” says Lee, after exploring the exhibits. “Because if you someday regret your decision [to not have kids], then it’s too late to change your mind.”
Egg-freezing is gaining popularity among South Korean women who want to keep their family planning options open.
At Maria Hospital, the Seoul fertility clinic behind the pop-up store, the number of egg-freezing procedures more than tripled from 2019 to 2023 — a trend that mirrors a nationwide surge, according to South Korea’s health ministry.
Birth rate crisis
This rise in demand may be partly because of government subsidies, with the Seoul city government covering about half of egg-freezing costs for women aged 20-49.
It’s one of several steps South Korean officials are taking to address the country’s rapidly declining birth rate, which they have labeled a national emergency.
South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, fell to a record 0.72 last year. This means the average woman is expected to have far fewer children than the 2.1 required to sustain the population.
On its current track, South Korea’s population will be reduced by half by the end of the century. Among other challenges, officials fear the country will not have enough workers to pay for rising health care costs as society rapidly ages.
Preserving fertility
Lim Tae-won, vice president of Maria Hospital, says he hopes egg-freezing becomes part of the solution to South Korea’s demographic crisis.
“Basically, we think that many people would like to have children, just not right now,” says Lim, who says he understands why many young women prioritize their own lives over having kids.
South Korean women often cite high child care costs, demanding work hours, and workplace gender discrimination as barriers to starting families.
“In the end, [women] de-prioritize marriage and childbirth,” says Lim. “And later, when they do want to have children, they’ve become less fertile.”
By freezing eggs at or near peak fertility, women can then use them, at least in theory, to become pregnant later via in vitro fertilization, or IVF.
Lee Chae-rin, a 31-year-old Seoul resident, froze her eggs two years ago and says it has given her greater freedom to enjoy life as a single person.
“Maybe it’s just because I really enjoy my life right now. But I think people naturally want to follow their passions — whether it’s studying, working more, or pursuing hobbies. For me, it’s surfing,” Lee says.
Lee works at Maria Hospital, most recently at the pop-up store, where she provided fertility-related consultations.
Broad appeal
Single women like Lee were the target audience for the pop-up store, which was located in a neighborhood known for its stylish cafes, art galleries, and clothing boutiques.
According to organizers, upwards of 10,000 people visited the store over a two-week period, though many were initially unaware it was run by a fertility clinic.
The store attracted visitors with the appeal of free, customizable ice cream. Visitors could create their own flavors and mix-ins through a multi-station interactive process that highlighted different lifestyle choices.
Only after getting the ice cream were visitors made aware of the egg-freezing sales pitch. Many passersby appeared interested, though some expressed concerns that the procedure was still too expensive.
“I’m not ruling out the possibility of having a baby later, so I would consider doing it — but only if the government provided more support,” said Goh Bo-min, a 32-year-old academic researcher.
Drawbacks
Many experts say egg-freezing alone, however, is unlikely to significantly affect South Korea’s demographic decline.
Jeong Yeon-bo, an associate professor of social sciences at Seoul’s Sungkonghoe University, argues this is because the approach does not address broader, systemic issues in South Korean society.
“The cause of the low birth rate is that young people are experiencing challenges including wealth inequality, sexism, long working hours, and insufficient child care support. But [egg-freezing] doesn’t tackle these underlying problems — it merely offers a medical solution to the problem,” Jeong says.
Additionally, egg-freezing in South Korea is likely only useful for women who eventually marry, as most fertility clinics require a marriage certificate before initiating procedures like IVF.
And since South Korea does not allow sperm donation or surrogate mothers, as Jeong points out, only heterosexual couples may be able to benefit from egg-freezing.
But many women say it can make a difference on an individual level, at least temporarily relieving the pressure to marry and have children.
“I don’t know when I’ll get married, but I can’t turn back the clock on aging,” says Lee, who chose to freeze her eggs. “So, I invested for the future and froze my eggs.”
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New York mayor calls for changes in city’s migrant sanctuary status
Migrant-related crime in New York has many residents on edge, with some blaming the influx of undocumented migrants into the city over the past two years. Aron Ranen and Igor Tsikhanenka spoke to law enforcement officials, politicians, activists and migrants about the controversy in this story narrated by Aron Ranen.
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4 nations launch venture to install power line under Black Sea
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania, Hungary, Georgia and Azerbaijan launched a joint venture Tuesday to install a power line under the Black Sea aimed at bringing more renewable energy into the European Union from the eastern Caucasus.
The project, approved by leaders of the four countries in 2022, gained momentum after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and spotlighted the EU’s reliance on Russian energy as prices sharply rose. The 27-nation bloc has since pushed to wean itself off Russian energy.
The cable would link Azerbaijan, which is seen as having substantial potential to generate power at Caspian Sea wind farms, to EU members Romania and Hungary via Georgia.
Government ministers from the four countries launched the joint venture at a meeting Tuesday in Romania’s capital, saying the project would help strengthen energy security and drive down electricity prices for consumers.
Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said the project was of strategic importance for his country and the EU.
“If you look at the energy map of Europe over the past few months … you see that on the eastern flank essentially we are paying a very high price recently — and that’s because there is not enough diversification,” Burduja said.
Azerbaijanian Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said the harnessing of renewable energy would help tackle climate change issues. The undersea line is important for energy security, he said, “but at the same time it is going to provide the green energy … which is very high on the agenda of the international community.”
Bulgaria’s deputy energy minister also joined Tuesday’s meeting, and there were discussions about the EU member joining the infrastructure project. Burduja and Shahbazov said the next meeting on the project would be at a U.N. climate change meeting later this year in Azerbaijan.
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Report: EU chief to hand economy job to Italy’s far-right
Berlin, Germany — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has made her first picks for her top team, with the key economy vice-president job going to Italy’s far-right nominee, German newspaper Die Welt reported Tuesday.
Von der Leyen, who secured a second term as commission chief in July, is expected to unveil her proposed lineup following a Friday deadline for states to name their nominees.
Die Welt, citing senior EU diplomats and European Commission insiders, said she is set to give Raffaele Fitto from the far-right Brothers of Italy party the executive vice-president portfolio in charge of the economy and post-pandemic recovery.
The job would oversee how the bloc’s pandemic recovery fund worth hundreds of billions of euros is deployed.
Fitto is Rome’s minister for European affairs.
Others to be named EU vice presidents include Valdis Dombrovskis, from Latvia and currently EU’s trade chief. His role will be EU expansion and Ukraine reconstruction, according to the report.
France’s Thierry Breton, the bloc’s internal market commissioner, will take on industry and strategic autonomy according to Die Welt.
Spain’s Environment Minister Teresa Ribera has been chosen for a “transition” portfolio which will include ecology and digital affairs.
The nominee for the EU’s foreign policy chief, Estonia’s outgoing leader Kaja Kallas, will also be named an executive vice president.
Each European member state put forward nominees for von der Leyen’s 26-person team.
Slovakia’s Maros Sefcovic, currently an executive vice president, is set to remain as a commissioner in charge of inter-institutional affairs.
Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela will be in charge of energy, while Poland’s ambassador to the EU, Piotr Serafin, will handle budgetary issues.
After the Commission president names her line-up, the candidates undergo confirmation hearings in the European Parliament in September and October.
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Seeking reelection, Algeria’s Tebboune touts gains
Algiers, Algeria — Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who assumed Algeria’s presidency during mass pro-democracy protests, is touting his achievements as he seeks another term. Yet, five years after the movement faded, some say real change remains elusive.
The Hirak protests, which led to the ousting of longtime autocratic president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019, aimed for a comprehensive political overhaul.
Tebboune, a minister under Bouteflika, took over as president in December that year after widely boycotted elections, as the movement was stifled and its leaders were imprisoned.
Now, as he campaigns for the September 7 election, Tebboune says he has succeeded in rectifying the country’s past wrongs with broad achievements and is promising more if re-elected.
Despite more than 100 weeks of demonstrations, Tebboune “dismissed the democratic transition demanded by millions of citizens”, said Hasni Abidi, an Algeria analyst at the Geneva-based CERMAM Study Center.
Abidi said a change in leadership alone was insufficient to bring about a “new era”, despite Tebboune’s frequent references to a “new Algeria.”
Even as his first term nears its end, Tebboune still faced the “difficulty of bringing about profound change,” he said.
Algeria-based political commentator Mohamed Hennad said this change should primarily be political.
“As long as political questions are not legitimately resolved, any economic, cultural, or diplomatic discourse is pure diversion,” he told AFP.
The Hirak movement withered away with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with a sweeping crackdown on protesters. Hundreds were arrested, and dozens remain behind bars or are still being prosecuted, according to prisoners’ rights group CNLD.
‘We suffered a lot’
Since taking office, Tebboune has claimed to have put Algeria back on track, frequently referring to Bouteflika’s last years in power as the “mafia decade” where control of the oil-rich country was concentrated in the hands of a “gang.”
During his tenure, several businessmen, ministers and political figures from that era, including Bouteflika’s brother Said, were convicted on corruption charges and imprisoned.
Tebboune also says he has successfully transformed Algeria into an emerging economy, now Africa’s third-largest.
Abidi, however, points out that Tebboune’s success has been aided by a “favourable international setting”, with the Ukraine-Russia war driving up natural gas prices to the benefit of Algeria, the continent’s top exporter.
This economic windfall has allowed Tebboune to deliver “local-interest speeches steeped in populism”, said Abidi, with promises of free housing, raising the minimum wage and higher social pensions.
At a recent rally in Oran, Tebboune pledged to create 450,000 jobs and increase monthly unemployment benefits if re-elected.
Launched in 2022, unemployment benefits now provide 13,000 dinars ($97) to people aged 19 to 40, and Tebboune has promised to raise this to 20,000 dinars — currently the minimum wage.
Despite these pledges, critics have said social and economic progress under Tebboune has been slow.
But the president often defends his record by saying his achievements have come despite “a war against Covid-19 and corruption” following the Hirak movement.
Abdelhamid Megunine, a 20-year-old student in Algiers, recalls that period with bitterness.
“We suffered a lot,” he told AFP. “Prices and the cost of living have since increased.”
Although Algeria’s economy has grown at a rate of about 4% over the past two years, with foreign exchange reserves reaching $70 billion, it remains heavily dependent on oil and gas.
Hydrocarbon exports account for about 95% of the North African country’s hard currency revenues, which are crucial for sustaining social assistance programs.
Diplomacy
On foreign policy, Tebboune’s tenure has seen a mix of successes and challenges.
Algeria gained international attention in January when it became a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, where it has been a strong advocate for Palestinian rights.
However, relations with neighboring countries, especially Morocco, have worsened, largely due to the ongoing dispute over Western Sahara.
Algeria, a strong supporter of the territory’s pro-independence Polisario Front, severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in August 2021 following escalating tensions over Western Sahara and Rabat’s decision to normalize relations with Israel.
Similarly, relations with France, already strained due to a history of colonialism, recently suffered a blow.
Last month, French President Macron said Morocco’s autonomy plan was the only solution for Western Sahara, which the United Nations still considers as a “non-self-governing” territory.
In response, Algiers withdrew its ambassador to France, condemning the move as a “step that no other French government had taken before.”
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Decision on major policy shift on marijuana won’t come until after US presidential election
Washington — A decision on whether to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the U.S. won’t come until after the November presidential election, a timeline that raises the chances it could be a potent political issue in the closely contested race.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration last week set a hearing date to take comment on the proposed historic change in federal drug policy for Dec. 2.
The hearing date means a final decision could well come in the next administration. While it’s possible it could precede the end of President Joe Biden’s term, issuing it before Inauguration Day “would be pretty expedited,” said cannabis lawyer Brian Vicente.
That could put a new spotlight on the presidential candidates’ positions on marijuana. Vice President Kamala Harris has backed decriminalizing the drug and said it’s “absurd” to have it in the DEA’s Schedule I category alongside heroin and LSD. The Democratic nominee’s position has shifted over the years; she once oversaw the enforcement of cannabis laws and opposed legalized recreational use for adults in California while running for attorney general in 2010.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, signaled support for a Florida legalization measure on Saturday, following earlier comments that he increasingly agrees that people shouldn’t be jailed for the drug now legal in multiple states, “whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
During his run for president in 2016, Trump said that he backed medical marijuana and that pot should be left up to the states. But during his first term, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions lifted an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on the pot trade in states where the drug is legal.
Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a query about his position on rescheduling the drug.
The Justice Department proposed reclassifying it in May, saying the change would recognize marijuana’s medical uses and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. The proposal, which would not legalize marijuana for recreational use, came after a call for review from Biden, who has called the change “monumental.”
The DEA has said it doesn’t yet have a position on whether to go through with the change, stating in a memo that it would keep weighing the issue as the federal rulemaking process plays out.
The new classification would be the most significant shift in U.S. drug policy in 50 years and could be a potent political issue, especially with younger voters. But it faces opposition from groups such as Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
Its president, Kevin Sabet, argues there isn’t enough data to move cannabis to the less-dangerous Schedule III category, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids. The DEA’s move to hold the hearing is “a huge win in our fight to have this decision guided by medical science, not politics,” he said in a statement, adding that 18 states’ attorneys general are backing his opposition.
The hearing sparked some consternation among pot industry players, though little surprise about the DEA decision to hold one.
“While the result ultimately may be better, I think we’re so used to seeing delays that it’s just a little disappointing,” said Stephen Abraham, chief financial officer at The Blinc Group, supplier of cartridges and other hardware used in pot vapes. “Every time you slow down or hold resources from the legal market, it’s to the benefit of the illicit market.”
The proposal, which was signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland rather than DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, followed a recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Federal drug policy has lagged behind that of many states in recent years, with 38 having already legalized medical marijuana and 24 legalizing its recreational use.
Lawmakers from both major political parties have pushed for the change as marijuana has become increasingly decriminalized and accepted. A Gallup poll last year found 70% of adults support legalization, the highest level yet recorded by the polling firm and more than double the roughly three in 10 who backed it in 2000.
The marijuana industry has also grown quickly, and state-licensed pot companies are keen on rescheduling partly because it could enable them to take federal business-expense tax deductions that aren’t available to enterprises involved in “trafficking” any Schedule I or II drug. For some of Vicente’s clients, the change would effectively reduce the tax rate from 75% to 25%.
Some legalization advocates also hope rescheduling could help persuade Congress to pass legislation aimed at opening banks’ doors to cannabis companies. Currently, the drug’s legal status means many federally regulated banks are reluctant to lend to such businesses, or sometimes even provide checking or other basic services.
Rescheduling could also make it easier to research marijuana, since it’s difficult to conduct authorized clinical studies on Schedule I substances. Some medical marijuana patient advocates fear that the discussion has already become deeply politicized and that the focus on rescheduling’s potential effect on the industry has shifted attention from the people who could benefit.
“It was our hope that we could finally take the next step and create the national medical cannabis program that we need,” said Steph Sherer, founder and president of Americans for Safe Access. The organization advocates for putting cannabis in a drug category all its own and for creating a medical cannabis office within DHS.
The immediate effect of rescheduling on the nation’s criminal justice system, though, would likely be more muted, since federal prosecutions for simple possession have been fairly rare in recent years.
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Party of one: Restaurants cater to growing number of solo diners
NEW YORK — Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher from San Francisco, is married and has a wide circle of friends. But once or twice a week, she goes to a restaurant by herself.
Imanirad said dining alone gives her time to think or read. She tries not to touch her phone and relishes the silence. “It’s like a spa, but a different type,” Imanirad said during a recent solo lunch at Spruce, an upscale restaurant in San Francisco.
Imanirad isn’t alone in her desire to be alone. In the United States, solo dining reservations have risen 29% over the last two years, according to OpenTable, the restaurant reservation site. They’re up 18% this year in Germany and 14% in the United Kingdom.
Japan even has a special term for solo dining: “ohitorisama,” which means “alone” but with honorifics spoken before and after the word to make parties of one feel less hesitant. In a recent survey, Japan’s Hot Pepper Gourmet Eating Out Research Institute found that 23% of Japanese people eat out alone, up from 18% in 2018.
As a result, many restaurants in Japan and elsewhere are redoing their seating, changing their menus and adding other special touches to appeal to solo diners.
“Even so-called family restaurants are increasing counter seats for solitary diners, and restaurants are offering courses with smaller servings so a person eating alone gets a variety of dishes,” said Masahiro Inagaki, a senior researcher at the institute.
OpenTable CEO Debby Soo thinks remote work is one reason for the increase, with diners seeking respites from their home offices. But she thinks there are deeper reasons, too.
“I think there’s a broader movement of self-love and self-care and really … enjoying your own company,” Soo said.
The pandemic also made social interactions less feasible and therefore less important while eating out, said Anna Mattila, a professor of lodging management at Penn State University who has studied solo dining. And smartphones help some restaurant patrons feel connected to others even when they’re by themselves, she said.
“The social norms have changed. People don’t look at solo diners anymore and think, ‘You must be a loner,’” Mattila said.
More people live and travel solo
The growth comes as more people are living alone. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 38% of U.S. adults ages 25 to 54 were living without a partner, up from 29% in 1990. In Japan, single households now make up one-third of the total; that’s expected to climb to 40% by 2040, according to government data.
Increasing interest in solo travel — particularly among travelers ages 55 and over — is also leading to more meals alone.
On a recent solo trip to Lucerne, Switzerland, Carolyn Ray was stunned when the hostess led her to a beautiful lake-view table set for one, complete with a small vase of flowers. Ray, the CEO and editor of JourneyWoman, a website for solo women travelers over 50, said other restaurants have tried to seat her toward the back or pointedly asked if someone will be joining her.
Ray counsels women planning to dine alone to go somewhere else if they’re treated rudely or given a bad table.
“It’s almost like the world hasn’t caught up with this idea that we are on our own because we want to be on our own and we’re independent and empowered,” she said. “We can go into any restaurant we want and have a table for one and feel good about it.”
Shawn Singh, a Houston-based content creator and restaurant reviewer, said he eats alone about 70% of the time. If the idea of venturing out for a solitary meal is intimidating, he suggests going to lunch instead of dinner — when tables are usually more crowded with groups — or going early on a weekday.
“The best way to see a restaurant you’ve been wanting to see for a long time is definitely going solo,” Singh said. “If I go at 5 p.m. and alone, I haven’t been denied at one place ever.”
Restaurants aren’t always thrilled to seat a single diner at a table that could fit more. A Michelin-starred London restaurant, Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal, caused a stir last year when it started charging solo patrons the same price as two customers. Its eight-course dinner tasting menu, which includes caviar and Cornish squid, costs 215 pounds ($280) per person.
The restaurant, which has only 34 seats, didn’t respond to a request for comment. But its website doesn’t allow reservations for fewer than two people.
‘Playing the long game’
Other restaurants say it’s worth seating one person at a table made for two because solo diners tend to be loyal, repeat customers.
“While there may be a short-term loss there, I think we’re kind of playing the long game and establishing ourselves as a place that’s truly special,” said Drew Brady, chief operating officer at Overthrow Hospitality, which operates 11 vegan restaurants in New York.
Brady has seen an increase in solo diners since the pandemic, and says they’re evenly split between men and women. At the company’s flagship restaurant, Avant Garden, they make up as much as 8% of patrons.
In response, the restaurant teamed up with Lightspeed, a restaurant tech and consulting company, to develop a solo dining program. Avant Garden now has a spacious table designed for solo diners, with a $65 four-course menu fashioned like a passport to enhance the sense of adventure. If solo diners order a cocktail, a bartender mixes it tableside.
Mattila, at Penn State, said restaurants might want to consider additional changes. Her research has found that solo diners prefer angular shapes — in lights, tables or plates, for example — to round ones, which are more associated with the connectedness of groups. They also prefer slow-tempo music.
Jill Weber, the founder of Sojourn Philly, a Philadelphia company that owns two restaurants and a wine bar, said she adds a communal table at special events such as wine tastings so individuals have a place to gather. She also doesn’t offer specials designed for two.
Weber, who is also an archaeologist, loves dining alone when she’s traveling.
“There’s something about not having to agree on where to go and everything that goes with that. You have the freedom to stay as long as you want, order what you want and sit with those things,” she said. “It also feels brave sometimes.”
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10 anti-government protesters go on trial for treason in Nigeria
abuja, nigeria — Trial began Monday in Nigeria for 10 people charged with treason in connection with anti-government protests that erupted last month over the high cost of living. The defendants could face the death penalty if convicted.
The defendants are also charged with conspiring to incite the military to mutiny. They pleaded not guilty, and a bail hearing was set for September 11.
In early August, thousands of protesters took to Nigeria’s streets to denounce President Bola Tinubu’s policies and government.
Tinubu scrapped expensive fuel subsidy payments last year upon assuming office and soon afterward floated the national currency, the naira.
Authorities accused protesters of inciting public unrest and burning government buildings but pledged to address the economic hardship.
The case has drawn the ire of human rights group Amnesty International. Isa Sanusi, the country director for Amnesty in Nigeria, said, “What they’re doing is just a deliberate effort to psychologically and physically break down these people, who are resilient people and came out to express their anger over the way the nation is being run as a result of corruption and mismanagement. So the trial is a sham; it does not meet all the international standards of fair trial.”
Amnesty also called the trial a mockery of Nigeria’s rule of law. The group said the government was attempting to stifle dissent, and it called for the protesters to be released and charges withdrawn immediately.
The 10 defendants are among hundreds of protesters who were arrested during last month’s demonstrations, which came amid Nigeria’s worst economic crisis in a generation.
In the nationwide protests, tagged “Ten Days of Rage,” demonstrators demanded better governance and a reversal of government reforms, including the scrapping of the fuel subsidy.
During the demonstrations, protesters in northern Nigeria hoisted Russian flags as they marched and chanted for President Vladimir Putin to come to their aid.
The protests were met with a fierce crackdown by security forces. Amnesty International said 13 people were killed, and Amnesty’s Sanusi said Nigerian authorities should focus on investigating these killings.
Sanusi also said Nigerian authorities have been denying the detained protesters access to family and legal representation.
“These people have not been allowed to have access to adequate legal representation or assistance,” he said. “Treason carries the death penalty, according to the Nigerian laws. … So that is the tactic they use – they use this ambiguity, suspense of being taken to court just to break down the spirit of these protesters, and we condemn this misuse of the Nigerian judicial system to suppress people.”
The government has not responded to Amnesty International’s statement. But in the past, the government has often said it works in the interest of national security.
The legal counsel for the protesters, Deji Adeyanju, said a team of lawyers has been working to secure their release.
“The charge against the protesters is completely unacceptable because it’s an attempt to criminalize freedom of assembly,” Adeyanju said. “The criminalization will be resisted.”
On Monday, Nigerian police also declared British national Andrew Wynne wanted for allegedly plotting to topple the Nigerian government. The Associated Press said the British high commissioner had not responded to a request for comment.
Police also said nine suspects have been arrested in connection with allegedly receiving monies from foreign sources to destabilize the country.
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Turkey arrests 15 accused of assaulting US servicemen
Ankara, Turkey/Washington — A nationalist Turkish youth group physically assaulted two U.S. soldiers Monday in western Turkey, the U.S. Embassy in Turkey and the local governor’s office said, adding that 15 assailants had been detained over the incident.
In a statement, the Izmir governor’s office said members of the Turkey Youth Union (TGB), a youth branch of the nationalist opposition Vatan Party, “physically attacked” two U.S. soldiers dressed in civilian clothes in the Konak district.
It added that five U.S. soldiers joined in after seeing the incident, and that police intervened. All 15 attackers had been detained and an investigation was launched into the matter, it said.
A White House spokesperson said Monday, Washington was “troubled” by the assault but added it was “appreciative that Turkish police are taking this matter seriously and holding those responsible accountable.”
The U.S. Embassy to Turkey also confirmed the attack and said the U.S. soldiers were now safe.
“We can confirm reports that U.S. service members embarked aboard the USS Wasp were the victims of an assault in Izmir today, and are now safe,” it said on social media platform X.
Earlier, the TGB posted a video on X showing a group holding down a man on the street and putting a white hood over his head, while shouting slogans.
The group said the man was a soldier on board the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship. The U.S. Embassy in Ankara had said earlier Monday that the ship was carrying out a port visit to the Aegean coastal town of Izmir this week.
“U.S. soldiers who carry the blood of our soldiers and thousands of Palestinians on their hands cannot dirty our country. Every time you step foot in these lands, we will meet you the way you deserve,” TGB said.
U.S.-Turkey ties have been strained in recent years by the U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds that Turkey deems extremists, and over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 defenses that prompted U.S. sanctions and removal from a F-35 jet program.
There has also been divergence over Israel’s war in Gaza, where over 40,000 people have been killed according to Gaza authorities, and over which Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has sharply criticized Washington’s ally.
Earlier this month, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey said U.S.-Turkey relations are now “in a better place than we’ve been in a while” and noted the “useful role” Turkey played in a recent prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia.
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Papal visit brings new attention to church sex abuse scandals in East Timor
dili, east timor — When the Vatican acknowledged in 2022 that Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning East Timorese independence hero, had sexually abused young boys, it appeared that the global clergy sexual abuse scandal that has compromised the Catholic Church’s credibility around the world had finally arrived in Asia’s newest country.
And yet, the church in East Timor today is stronger than ever, with most downplaying, doubting or dismissing the claims against Belo and those against a popular American missionary who confessed to molesting young girls. Many instead focus on their roles in saving lives during the country’s bloody struggle against Indonesia for independence.
Pope Francis will come face to face with the Timorese faithful on his first trip to the country, a former Portuguese colony that makes up half of the island of Timor off the northern coast of Australia. But so far, there is no word about whether he will meet with victims or even mention the sex abuse directly, as he has in other countries where the rank-and-file faithful have demanded an accounting from the hierarchy for how it failed to protect their children.
Even without pressure from within East Timor to address the scandals, it would be deeply meaningful to the victims if Francis did, said Tjiyske Lingsma, the Dutch journalist who helped bring both abuse cases to light.
“I think this is the time for the pope to say some words to the victims, to apologize,” she said in an interview from Amsterdam.
The day after Lingsma detailed the Belo case in a September 2022 report in De Groene Amsterdammer magazine, the Vatican confirmed that Belo had been sanctioned secretly two years earlier.
In Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni’s statement, he said the church had been aware of the case since 2019 and had imposed disciplinary measures in 2020, including restrictions on Belo’s movements and a ban on voluntary contact with minors.
Despite the official acknowledgement, many in East Timor still don’t believe it, like Dili university student Martinha Goveia, who is still expecting Belo will show up to be at Francis’ side during his upcoming visit.
Vegetable trader Alfredo Ximenes said the allegations and the Vatican’s acknowledged sanctions were merely rumors, and that he hoped Belo would come to welcome the pope and refute the claims in person.
“Our political leaders should immediately meet him to end the problem and persuade him to return, because after all he has contributed greatly to national independence,” Ximenes said.
Timorese officials refused to answer questions about the Belo case, but there’s been no attempt to avoid mentioning him, with a giant billboard in Dili welcoming Pope Francis, whose visit starts September 9, placed right above a mural honoring Belo and three others as national heroes.
Only about 20% of East Timor’s people were Catholic when Indonesia invaded in 1975, shortly after Portugal abandoned it as a colony.
Today, 98% of East Timor’s 1.3 million people are Catholic, making it the most Catholic country in the world outside the Vatican.
A law imposed by Indonesia requiring people to choose a religion, combined with the church’s opposition to the military occupation and support for the resistance over years of bloody fighting that saw as many as 200,000 people killed, helped bring about that flood of new members.
Belo won the Nobel Peace Prize for his bravery in drawing international attention to Indonesian human rights abuses during the conflict, and American missionary Richard Daschbach was widely celebrated for his role in helping save lives in the struggle for independence.
Their heroic status and societal factors in Asia, where the culture tends to confer much power on adults and authority figures, help explain why the men are still revered while elsewhere in the world such cases are met with outrage, said Anne Barrett Doyle of the online resource Bishop Accountability.
“Bishops are powerful, and in developing countries where the church is dominant, they are inordinately powerful,” Barrett Doyle said.
“But no case we’ve studied exhibits as extreme a power differential as that which exists between Belo and his victims. When a child is raped in a country that is devoutly Catholic, and the sexual predator is not only a bishop but a legendary national hero, there is almost no hope that justice will be done.”
In 2018, as rumors built against Daschbach, the priest confessed in a letter to church authorities to abusing young girls from at least 1991 to 2012.
“It is impossible for me to remember even the faces of many of them, let alone the names,” he wrote.
The 87-year-old was defrocked by the Vatican and criminally charged in East Timor, where he was convicted in 2021 and is now serving 12 years in prison.
But despite his confession and court testimony from victims that detailed the abuse, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, an independence hero himself, has visited Daschbach in prison — hand-feeding him cake and serving him wine on his birthday — and has said winning the ex-priest’s early release is a priority for him.
In Belo’s case, six years after winning the Nobel Prize, which he shared with current East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, he suddenly retired as the head of the church in East Timor in 2002, citing health reasons and stress.
Not long after his retirement, Belo, today 76, was sent by the Vatican and his Salesian missionary order to another former Portuguese colony, Mozambique, to work as a missionary priest.
There, he has said, he spent his time “teaching catechism to children, giving retreats to young people.” Today he lives in Portugal.
Suspicion arose that Belo, like others before him, had been allowed to quietly retire rather than face any reckoning, given the reputational harm to the church that would have caused.
In a 2023 interview with The Associated Press, Pope Francis suggested that indeed was the case, reasoning that was how such matters were handled in the past.
“This is a very old thing where this awareness of today did not exist,” Francis said. “And when it came out about the bishop of East Timor, I said, ‘Yes, let it go in the open.’ … I’m not going to cover it up. But these were decisions made 25 years ago when there wasn’t this awareness.”
Lingsma said she first heard allegations against Belo in 2002, the same year East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, won its formal independence after the Indonesian occupation ended in 1999. She said she wasn’t able to investigate the case and build enough evidence to publish her story on him until two decades later.
Her story garnered international attention, as well as the Vatican’s acknowledgement of the case, but in East Timor was primarily met with skepticism and negative reactions toward her reporting. Her 2019 story exposing the Daschbach case eventually prompted authorities to charge him, but also did not lead to the outpouring of anger that she had anticipated.
“The reaction was silence,” she recalled.
During the fight for independence, priests, nuns and missionaries put themselves at great risk to help people, like “parents wanting to save their children,” helping form today’s deep connection between the church and people of East Timor, said Timorese historian Luciano Valentim da Conceixao.
The church’s role is even enshrined in the preamble to the young country’s constitution, which says that the Catholic Church “has always been able to take on the suffering of all the people with dignity, placing itself on their side in the defense of their most fundamental rights.”
Because so many remember the church’s significant role during those dark days, it has fostered an environment where it is difficult for victims of abuse to speak out for fear of being labeled anti-church, and where men like Belo and Daschbach continue to receive support from all walks of society.
“Pedophilia and sexual violence are common enemies in East Timor, and we should not mix them up with the struggle for independence,” said Valentim da Costa Pinto, executive director of the Timor-Leste NGO Forum, an umbrella organization for 270 NGOs.
The chancellor of the Dili Diocese today, Father Ludgerio Martins da Silva, said the cases of Belo and Daschbach were the Vatican’s jurisdiction, and that most people consider the sex abuse scandals a thing of the past.
“We don’t hear a lot of people ask about Bishop Belo because he left the country … 20 years ago,” da Silva said.
Still, Lingsma said she knew of ongoing allegations against “four or five” other priests, including two who were now dead, “and if I know them, I’m the last person to know.”
“That also shows that this whole reporting system doesn’t work at all,” she said.
Da Conceixao, the historian, said he did not know enough about the cases against Daschbach or Belo to comment on them, but that he was well acquainted with their role in the independence struggle and called them “fearless freedom fighters and clergymen.”
“Clergymen are not free from mistakes,” da Conceixao conceded. “But we, the Timorese, have to look with a clear mind at the mistakes they made and the good they did for the country, for the freedom of a million people, and of course the value is not the same.”
Because of that prevailing attitude, Barrett Doyle said “the victims of those two men have to be the most isolated and least supported clergy sex abuse victims in the world right now. ”
For that reason, Francis’ visit to East Timor could be a landmark moment in his papacy, she said, if he were to denounce Daschbach and Belo by name and praise the courage of the victims, sending a message that would resonate globally.
“Given the exalted status of the Catholic Church in East Timor, just imagine the impact of papal fury directed at Belo, Daschbach and the yet unknown number of other predatory clergy in that country,” she said.
“Francis could even address the country’s hidden victims, promising his support and urging them to contact him directly about their abuse — he literally could save lives.”
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