Tokyo cherry blossoms
Tokyo: Tourists and Japanese locals marvelled at Tokyo's cherry trees on Monday at the peak of the annual blossom season that traditionally represents fresh starts but also life's fleeting impermanence.
Crowds flocked to the city's top locations to take photos and hold picnics under the elegant dark branches bursting with pink and white flowers, known as 'sakura' in Japanese. 'Honestly it feels pretty amazing to be here. It's honestly better than we expected. And it only comes around every once in a while and only for a short span of time,' said Christian Sioting, a tourist from the Philippines. 'It's an ephemeral experience and we're pretty happy that we got to be here and to witness it in full bloom too.' — AFP
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Observer
9 hours ago
- Observer
Trump travel ban in effect, citizens from 12 nations barred from US
Washington: President Donald Trump's sweeping new travel ban came into effect early Monday immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term. The move is expected to disrupt refugee pathways and further restrict immigration as the Trump administration expands its crackdown on illegal entries. Many of the nations covered by the restrictions have adversarial relations with the United States, such as Iran and Afghanistan, while others face severe crises, like Haiti and Libya. In announcing his restrictions last week, Trump said the new measure was spurred by a recent "terrorist attack" on Jews in Colorado. The group had been protesting in solidarity with hostages held in Gaza when they were assaulted by a man the White House said had overstayed his visa. That attack, Trump said, "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted" or who overstay their visas. The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House. Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed. New countries could be added, Trump warned, "as threats emerge around the world." Mehria, a 23-year-old woman from Afghanistan who applied for refugee status, said the new rules have trapped her and many other Afghans in uncertainty. "We gave up thousands of hopes and our entire lives... on a promise from America, but today we are suffering one hell after another," she told AFP. - World Cup, Olympics, diplomats excluded - The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, or in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump's order said. Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries. United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that "the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law." US Democratic lawmakers and elected officials blasted the ban as draconian and unconstitutional. "I know the pain that Trump's cruel and xenophobic travel bans inflict because my family has felt it firsthand," congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is Iranian-American, posted Sunday on X. "We will fight this ban with everything we have." Rumors of a new travel ban had circulated following the Colorado attack, with Trump's administration vowing to pursue "terrorists" living in the United States on visas. US officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022. Trump's new travel ban notably does not include Egypt. His proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting. Iran was included because it is a "state sponsor of terrorism," the order said. For the other countries, Trump's order cited an above-average likelihood that people would overstay their visas.
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
Saudis use AI, drones and thousands of cameras to keep Haj pilgrims safe
MECCA: Working day and night in front of maps, screens and seemingly endless data, Saudi officials have harnessed artificial intelligence to help manage the million-strong sea of pilgrims during the Haj. The technology has proven pivotal to track the overwhelming amount of footage from more than 15,000 cameras in and around the holy city of Mecca. The systems are tuned to spot abnormal crowd movements or predict bottlenecks in foot traffic — a potential life-saver at a packed event with a history of deadly stampedes. Software is also used to help guide more than 20,000 buses deployed to transport pilgrims between holy sites during one of the world's biggest annual religious gatherings. Muslims participate in a prayer around the Kaaba. — AFP It is all part of the tech arsenal that Saudi Arabia is deploying as 1.4 million faithful from across the globe descend on Mecca and its surrounds. "In our traffic control room, we use specialised cameras that have AI layers to analyse movements, crowded areas" and predict behaviours, said Mohamed Nazier, chief executive officer for the General Transport Centre at the Royal Commission for Mecca. The centre has a main control room in Mecca filled with screens and maps, where staff use high-tech tools including AI for round-the-clock monitoring. About a dozen staff members sit in rows before desktop computers with a large display at the front, zooming in on crowd movements around the holy sites. On hillsides nearby, cameras that resemble little white robots film buildings, roads and pathways along the Haj route, which winds more than 20 kilometres between Mecca and Mount Arafat. Nazier said the constant monitoring is aimed at averting traffic collisions with pedestrians on crowded routes while also making sure there are buses available to minimise walking time in the desert heat. It is a decade since the Haj suffered its worst disaster, a stampede that killed up to 2,300 people during the "stoning of the devil" ritual. Hundreds also died in stampedes in 2006, 1998 and 1994. In 1990, 1,426 pilgrims were trampled to death or asphyxiated when a tunnel ventilation system failed. With its cutting-edge technology, "the control room is our eye on the ground," said Mohammed al Qarni, who oversees the Haj and the year-round Umrah pilgrimage at the transport centre. A young boy is lifted up to touch the Kaaba, in the holy city of Mecca. — AFP Artificial intelligence helps to determine "the flow on the roads to the holy sites, and detects emergency situations even before they occur", he said, adding that the technology can help assess the number of people in a single place. Cameras and AI can estimate if a site has reached maximum capacity, allowing authorities to divert the flow of pilgrims, Al Qarni said. During the holy month of Ramadhan this year, the system spotted when the Grand Mosque had reached full capacity. "The flow to the Haram (Grand Mosque) was stopped and the process controlled," he said. The use of advanced technology extends beyond logistics, also tracking unregistered pilgrims, who accounted for most of the 1,301 deaths in sweltering conditions last year. As temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius last year, unauthorised worshippers who lack access to air-conditioned tents and buses bore the brunt. Temperatures are forecast to top 40C this week. Muslim worshippers make their way towards the Kaaba. — AFP The Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be completed by all Muslims with the means at least once. Yet not everyone is able to secure or afford one of the official permits, which are allocated to countries by quota. To try to stop anyone sneaking in this year, a fleet of camera-equipped drones is monitoring entrances into Mecca. "We use artificial intelligence and other tools like drones and thermal imaging cameras," the director-general of public security, Lieutenant General Mohammed bin Abdullah al Bassami, told reporters. Meanwhile, the Saudi Special Forces for Roads Security said it was using "smart thermal imaging" to monitor the perimeter of Mecca and the holy sites. — AFP
Observer
4 days ago
- Observer
Albania town where everything's coming up roses
In Permet, deep in the spectacular Vjosa Valley of southern Albania, roses rule supreme, whether used to make perfumes, flavoured water or the Turkish delights sought out by thousands of sweet-toothed tourists. "Here everything revolves around roses, from cooking with them to their medicinal virtues" -- everything is seen through rose-tinted glasses, joked biology teacher Ariana Nikolla. Since she was little, the 57-year-old has been delicately picking the petals of her favourite variety, "the Groom's Rose", named for its delicate scent. In Permet roses are a ritual -- the first gift to a would-be lover. And they have to be pink, symbolising love and fidelity. Ariana Nikolla (L) and Resmie Tuci prepare rose water in the traditional way in Permet, some 250km Southwest of the capital Tirana, on May 28, 2025. In Permet, deep in the spectacular Vjosa Valley of southern Albania, roses rule supreme, whether used to make perfumes, flavoured water or the Turkish delight sought out by thousands of sweet-toothed tourists. (Photo by Adnan Beci / AFP) Every family cultivates dozens of rose varieties in their garden, including the highly perfumed Damask and Provence roses, making the town famous across the Balkans for its artisanal rose water. Yet it is almost impossible to buy -- it is just too valuable, say locals, who gift a few drops from time to time and jealously guard their reserves. - 'Rose water is like love' - "Rose water is like love, it must be carefully tended," said veteran maker Resmie Tuci. "The process of making high-quality rose water is difficult and meticulous. It requires very particular copper containers and you also have to use the right roses and select the ones with the most fragrant petals," said the 70-year-old. The traditional method, passed from one generation to the next, is listed in Albania's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage. First you stretch a cloth over a copper bowl laced with thread, itself placed inside a large, flat-bottomed basin filled with water. Eftali Qerimi (L) and Odeta Nasi, prepare traditional Albanian sweets with rose water in their workshop in Permet, some 250km Southwest of the capital Tirana, on May 28, 2025. In Permet, deep in the spectacular Vjosa Valley of southern Albania, roses rule supreme, whether used to make perfumes, flavoured water or the Turkish delight sought out by thousands of sweet-toothed tourists. (Photo by Adnan Beci / AFP) Then the hand-picked rose petals are carefully placed on the cloth and covered with a flat stone topped with hot ashes from a fire. The petals sweat underneath and yield up their precious rose water through condensation. "It's a process that takes hours," Tuci told AFP. "But every drop is precious," chimes in Nikolla, filling a small bottle with rose water, which she will put in a sunny spot for several weeks before it is ready. "It's as precious as gold," she added. - Sweet delights - Locals use it for its supposed benefits, from soothing irritated eyes to an anti-inflammatory cream to help calm itching. And, of course, in cooking. Eftali Qerimi, 63, swears by it. The almond rose water cakes she bakes in her workshop are unlike any other local "llokums". Made with only almond powder, sugar and rosewater, the rose-shaped fancies mark important events for families in the region. Ariana Nikolla prepares rose water in the traditional way in Permet, some 250km Southwest of the capital Tirana, on May 28, 2025. In Permet, deep in the spectacular Vjosa Valley of southern Albania, roses rule supreme, whether used to make perfumes, flavoured water or the Turkish delight sought out by thousands of sweet-toothed tourists. (Photo by Adnan Beci / AFP) Considered lucky charms, they are served at birthdays, weddings and baby showers. With the women in her workshop, Qerimi produces up to 10 kilos of Turkish delights a day, which she sells at 50 euros a kilo. Occasionally she makes small ones shaped like baby feet -- a way, according to tradition, to wish newborns a long life. Between batches, the women make rose petal jam, its fragrance filling the workshop. "The rose is everything for us; it symbolises the heart, love and life's happiness," said Qerimi, who is hard at work with the tourism high season about to begin. "Tourists flock to the town and after the natural beauties" of the valley, with its famous gorges and natural park, "they also want to taste its culinary delights", she smiled. —AFP Ariana Nikolla (L) and Resmie Tuci prepare rose water in the traditional way in Permet, some 250km Southwest of the capital Tirana, on May 28, 2025. In Permet, deep in the spectacular Vjosa Valley of southern Albania, roses rule supreme, whether used to make perfumes, flavoured water or the Turkish delight sought out by thousands of sweet-toothed tourists. (Photo by Adnan Beci / AFP)
