Mexico will commemorate World Day for Audiovisual Heritage with a special program organized by cultural institutions, including film screenings, premieres, and activities to promote the preservation of the nation’s film heritage.
RELATED: Mexico Launches Film Educational Program for Elementary and Middle Schoolers
Between October 27 and November 3, seven films from the collection of the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE) will be screened in eleven independent venues across nine states.
The selected productions will also screen on public television and the digital platform Nuestro Cine MX, expanding public access to materials considered part of Mexico’s audiovisual heritage.
One of the program’s main attractions will be the screening of the restored version of “Valle de Mexico” (1976), a short documentary by Ruben Gamez that portrays the region’s rapid urban growth during the 1970s.
Celebramos el Día Mundial del Patrimonio Audiovisual con una programación dedicada a la preservación de la memoria fílmica mexicana. 🎞️
— Cineteca Nacional (@CinetecaMexico) October 21, 2026
La función reunirá cortometrajes restaurados y materiales digitalizados que forman parte de nuestro acervo. Entre ellos, se proyectará por… pic.twitter.com/sh3TBUb206
The text reads, “We celebrate World Audiovisual Heritage Day with a program dedicated to the preservation of Mexican filmic memory. The screening will feature restored short films and digitized materials that are part of our collection.”
The restoration of this film was carried out by IMCINE in collaboration with Estudios Churubusco, using a positive print preserved in the archives of the National Film Archive (Cineteca Nacional).
The program also includes outstanding Mexican films such as “Un cuento de ciudad,” “Amada,” “El héroe,” “Hasta los huesos,” “El fantasma del convento,” and “Cronos,” works by renowned Mexican filmmakers.
Secretary of Culture Claudia Curiel said these activities reflect the institution’s commitment to preserving audiovisual heritage, as well as to encouraging new generations to learn about their history through Mexican cinema.
Crisis Unleashes Deadly Floods Across Latin America and Europe
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 21, 2026
Deadly floods strike three continents: at least 3,000 families are affected in Paraguay; 10 people have died in Mexico due to Cold Front 2; and six have been killed in Spain by Storm Adam, which has forced more than… pic.twitter.com/XMZ0nC3qo4
teleSUR: JP
Source: Prensa Latina
The missile landed between the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Holy Presentation (Sviato-Vvedenskyi) Monastery. Monastery buildings, homes, shops, cafés and other civilian infrastructure sustained damage in the surrounding area.
Zelenskyy disclosed that Russian forces had used three cluster-equipped ballistic missiles during the assault. Ukrainian authorities described weapons designed to explode in the air as they approach their targets, distributing explosive submunitions over an area approximately 400 metres in diameter.
After receiving reports from officials overseeing emergency operations across Ukraine, the president accused Moscow of deliberately choosing a weapon capable of inflicting extensive civilian casualties in a densely populated district.
“This was a deliberate choice of weapon and area of deployment,” Zelenskyy said.
He maintained that there were no military installations in the vicinity and that the attack had been intended to inflict maximum damage on civilians and their property.
Pecherskyi is one of Kyiv’s oldest districts, containing religious institutions and architectural monuments associated with centuries of Ukrainian history.
Among them is the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, established in the 11th century and subsequently developed into an important centre of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
The complex includes historic churches, monasteries and an extensive system of underground caves. Together with Saint Sophia Cathedral and its related buildings, it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage property that has appeared on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2023.
Thursday’s explosion occurred in the area separating the Lavra from the Holy Presentation Monastery. Ukrainian authorities identified damage to buildings belonging to the latter, alongside neighbouring residential and commercial premises. Assessments of the destruction across the historic district were continuing.
This was not the first occasion in 2026 on which Russian weapons had damaged the area’s religious heritage.
On 15 June, a Russian drone struck the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra complex, causing severe damage to the Dormition Cathedral. Its roof and structural elements suffered extensive destruction, prompting UNESCO to undertake emergency stabilisation measures.
Ukraine’s Security Service subsequently published evidence identifying fragments of a Russian Geran-2 drone recovered from the site.
The October strike has again exposed the vulnerability of the capital’s historic religious buildings, as well as the civilian neighbourhoods surrounding them.
The reported choice of ammunition has particular implications for the investigation into the attack.
Whereas a conventional missile warhead delivers its explosive force around a principal impact point, cluster munitions release numerous smaller explosive devices capable of striking separate locations across a broad area.
In an urban environment, such weapons can cause casualties and destruction well beyond an intended target. Unexploded submunitions may remain dangerous after the initial attack, posing further risks to residents and emergency workers.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that deploying cluster munitions in populated areas creates a high likelihood of indiscriminate effects.
Under international humanitarian law, military operations must distinguish between civilian persons and objects and legitimate military targets. Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited.
The reported deployment of cluster warheads in central Kyiv therefore raises questions about whether those requirements were observed. Zelenskyy’s account of the three missiles had not, at the time of reporting, been independently established through publicly available forensic evidence.
The Pecherskyi explosion was one incident in a much larger attack on the Ukrainian capital.
According to Zelenskyy, Russia launched 21 ballistic missiles against Kyiv in three successive waves overnight. Ukrainian authorities reported at least two people killed and more than 30 wounded, with strikes damaging apartment buildings, commercial premises, transport infrastructure and energy facilities.
The bombardment took place shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin met US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Wednesday, 21 October.
During their discussions, Putin indicated that Russia was prepared in principle to resume negotiations with Ukraine and the United States, potentially in November. However, no confirmed timetable emerged.
Witkoff’s visit followed consultations in Norway between American, Ukrainian and European representatives over possible arrangements to end the war.
The renewed diplomatic activity has done little to resolve the underlying disagreements. As EU Today has previously examined, Moscow continues to advance territorial demands while the parties remain divided over Ukraine’s future security guarantees.
Meanwhile, Kyiv faces an immediate requirement for additional air-defence ammunition.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed for more Patriot interceptor missiles capable of engaging ballistic targets. Difficulties surrounding American military assistance and intelligence cooperation have increased tensions between Washington and Kyiv at a time when Russia is intensifying attacks against Ukrainian cities.
The latest strike also presents Ukrainian investigators with the task of establishing whether the reported use of cluster munitions against a historic civilian district constituted an unlawful attack.
For Zelenskyy, the bombardment following Putin’s latest diplomatic discussions demonstrates that Moscow’s military conduct remains unchanged. He has argued that Russia’s actions provide no evidence of a genuine intention to bring the war to an end.
The 9th edition of Drawing Room Lisboa, an international contemporary art fair dedicated to drawing, opens today and runs until Sunday at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes (SNBA), in Lisbon,
The post Drawing fest returns to Lisbon for 9th edition appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Inside a displacement tent in al-Mawasi, a crowded camp on Gaza’s southern coast, Yahya Abu Lahia sits on a plastic chair, holding a small brush and sweeping dust and sand off a piece of mosaic.
"We extracted this piece of mosaic from under the rubble of Youssef al-Astal’s house, which held dozens of valuable artefacts before the war on Gaza," Yahya told The New Arab, referring to a farmer who spent a lifetime gathering Byzantine and Islamic antiquities, including column capitals, tombstones and pottery.
Youssef fled his home in eastern Khan Yunis at the start of Israel's genocide in Gaza. Heavy bombardment later hit the area, and his house was partially destroyed by Israeli occupation forces' operations.
"During the search, I found pieces of mosaic, and I rescued them and put them together," said the 28-year-old. "It was one of the happiest moments of my life."
Yahya is a field technician with Guardians of Heritage, a volunteer team of about 20 men and women that digs for artefacts in bombed buildings across Gaza, then cleans, photographs and catalogues them.
The group launched in 2024 under the Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts, a Gaza-based nonprofit.
It won the 2026 PNT Heritage Award for Community Engagement and Social Inclusion, a regional prize run by the Petra National Trust — a Jordanian heritage group, with the European Union’s delegation to Jordan.
Volunteers recovered the pieces from Youssef's house in al-Qarara near Khan Younis — where he had collected antiquities since childhood and amassed about 74 historical pieces — by digging through the rubble and sifting sand by hand with basic tools.
"Our work under the rubble isn’t a traditional archaeological excavation," said Shaimaa al-Natour, assistant coordinator of Mayasem’s heritage protection programme.
"We work in exceptional conditions that demand extreme caution, because we may come across unstable stones, concrete blocks and fragile pieces that can be damaged simply by moving them."
She said items are bagged or boxed and taken to a storeroom, a corner of the tent, for cleaning, photographing, and archiving.
The team is building a digital archive of every rescued item, backed by the ALIPH Foundation, a fund for heritage in conflict zones, and The Palestinian Museum.
It has documented more than 1,000 pieces of movable heritage so far, Shaimaa said, and the work continues.
One mission was the destroyed al-Qarara Cultural Museum, which held 3,500 pieces before Israel's war on the besieged enclave.
Storing the finds is a challenge in itself.
The team faces a shortage of suitable packing and conservation materials, and struggles to provide a stable environment that protects the artefacts from humidity, dust and temperature fluctuations.
"My belief in the need to protect our cultural heritage is what drove me to volunteer and work with my own hands in the middle of this war," said Yahya.
"With every piece we find and restore, I feel I have saved part of my city’s memory."
The Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory on the ancient trade route between Egypt and the Levant, was home to about 130 archaeological sites and at least a dozen local museums before Israel's genocide began, spanning the Bronze Age to the Ottoman era, along with museums, mosques and churches that held centuries of Palestinian history.
As of March 2026, UNESCO had verified damage to 164 sites in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including 14 religious sites, 128 buildings of historical or artistic interest, three depositories of movable cultural property, nine monuments, two museums and eight archaeological sites.
It used satellite imagery analysed by UNOSAT, the UN’s satellite agency, and, since an October 2025 ceasefire, rapid on-site assessments where access allows.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said in February that Israeli occupation forces had destroyed 835 mosques completely, damaged 180 partly and destroyed 40 of the Strip's 60 cemeteries.
The office and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities say 12 local and private museums have been destroyed and looted.
Itimad Abu Amra, 23, joined the Guardians of Heritage team at its launch, after working at the al-Qarara museum since 2018.
Her most recent mission was the Abu Salim Mosque in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, which was built in 1951 and used for Quran memorisation circles and community activities. Israeli warplanes struck it on August 25, causing widespread destruction, she said.
"When conditions allowed, we went straight to the Abu Salim Mosque, and we found historic limestone blocks and a collection of important and valuable books," she said.
"The moment you find an artefact in the rubble, you feel you are facing a trust that must be handled responsibly."
Hamouda al-Dahdar, a cultural heritage expert, called the volunteers "the first and courageous line of defence of human heritage," but said such groups are "in dire and urgent need of institutional and international support."
He called on UNESCO and other UN bodies to go beyond statements and provide direct funding, technical help, damage assessments and missions of international experts.
Hamouda also described the destruction of Gaza’s heritage as "a clear attempt to erase the living material evidence of the identity and historical memory of the Palestinian people."
UNESCO says it is already working on the ground. Together with the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, it has stabilised five heritage sites in Gaza’s Old City, has seven more underway, and has trained local professionals in damage assessment and emergency stabilisation.
The agency has also called on the international community to "increase support and investment" to scale up the work.
"The Gaza Strip is a unique historical bridge of civilisations," Hamouda said, pointing to Gaza’s Bronze and Iron Age, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic layers.
"Heritage is the living memory of existence. The work continues from within the rubble to protect our identity and pass it on to future generations."
For the team, Shaimaa said, the tent is a symbol.
"It’s a message to the community that a museum isn’t just a building or exhibition hall,” she said, adding that its role can continue in the simplest spaces, as long as people protect its collections and pass their stories on.
"Gaza isn’t only the destruction we see today," she said.
"It’s thousands of years of history, civilisation and human memory, and protecting it is a collective responsibility."
Ismail Nofal is a Gaza-based journalist specialising in human interest stories
This article was published in collaboration with Egab
Author withdrawn from France’s Prix Goncourt last month has repeatedly denied using artificial intelligence to write novel
The publisher of top-selling Haitian Canadian writer Thélyson Orélien, who was removed from France’s most prestigious literary prize list last month, has confirmed the author used artificial intelligence to help write his novel C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That or Die).
Orélien has denied allegations that he used AI on his breakthrough novel and, last week, Canadian publisher Les Éditions du Boréal said it was standing by the 38-year-old writer.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images
Questioning the prevailing narrative about the "Cornell seven" case is bound to create controversy. And at Columbia University, two student journalists drew condemnation for their views on the case from the unlikeliest of places: a college free speech group.
On October 13, Barnard junior Christina Ma and Columbia junior Nikos Mohammadi published an article called "The 'Cornell Seven' Is Really About Liberalism" in the Columbia Sundial, an independent student publication. The piece argued that the discourse surrounding the alleged rape at Cornell University infantilizes women by omitting the possibility that in a post–sexual revolution, liberal society, women may make regrettable but consensual choices.
"In the world that, for better or worse, follows from it, we cannot claim to stand for sexual freedom and then recoil in disgust when there's a possibility that a young woman simply chose to exercise it," Mohammadi and Ma wrote.
The piece also argues that the "collective frenzy" over the Cornell case has created a climate on campus that makes it "difficult to disagree with the maximalist position on what happened" the night of the alleged rape.
As Mohammadi wrote in UnHerd, the piece caused immense backlash. He said he received an onslaught of messages urging him to commit suicide and demanding that his "career and life be destroyed." But the criticism went beyond threatening DMs and comments.
The day after the article's publication, the Columbia Open Discourse Alliance (CODA) canceled an event about press freedom because the Sundial's editor in chief, Nick Baum, had been slated to speak at the event. Although Baum did not author the piece, CODA wrote in an Instagram post that the free speech group "refused" to be affiliated with the Sundial's article "in any way."
CODA also claimed that the event, ironically called "Who Gets to Tell the Story? Press Freedom and the Public Square," could not take place at a time when "many survivors in our community feel that their stories are under attack and are not being believed."
The group added that the Sundial's article "promotes rape culture and works to silence survivors of sexual assault."
The group's president, Aum Desai, told Columbia's student newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator, that the group canceled the event "not in spite of, but because of [CODA's] commitment to free expression."
Columbia graduate Clayton Smith, who founded CODA in 2025, quickly commented that he was "shocked" by CODA's statements on Instagram. Smith started the organization to create a central hub for groups hosting events promoting free speech and open discourse, including the Sundial and Columbia's Heterodox Academy chapter.
He tells Reason that CODA's rationale for canceling the event was "ironic" and "hypocritical," and he believes the group should have collaborated with the Sundial if there were legitimate safety concerns at the event. He says he was particularly disturbed by the group's condemnation of the article and CODA's claim that it promotes "rape culture."
"They don't argue or explain how it works to silence survivors of sexual assault. It is a baseless slander that they use to condemn the article because it promoted an opinion they do not like," Smith says.
Smith says he spoke to Desai on the phone after CODA posted the statements, and Desai tried to reassure him that CODA would uphold the principle of free speech. But Smith says he did not leave the phone call feeling "very confident at all" in Desai's commitment.
Desai did not respond to Reason's requests for comment.
CODA faculty adviser and Columbia Business School professor emeritus Eli Noam was traveling in China during the fallout from the Sundial article and was not involved in CODA's decision.
After speaking with members of both CODA and the Sundial, Noam tells Reason that he thinks CODA "made some proper decisions, some correct decisions, and some mistakes."
"I think we're dealing here with…a group of college students who kind of were confronted with a crisis at 2 a.m.," Noam says. "And kind of [made] some judgments that they now regret, and they do."
He tells Reason that it was not "unreasonable to assume there would be a disruption" at the event, given the climate at Columbia and "about this rape allegation." He says the group suddenly "had an event where they needed college security" and could not organize in time. CODA, Noam says, is not yet recognized by the university, and he thinks the group was likely fearful of jeopardizing its recognition.
Still, Noam says CODA's statements condemning the article were "unreasonable," and it was "disappointing that they kind of lost their nerve here."
Although he was not involved in planning the panel, Mohammadi says, to his knowledge, there were no credible threats of violence to the panel. He understood there may have been "disgruntled students" and an "environment CODA did not want to deal with." But instead of simply canceling the event or working with the Sundial to find a solution, Mohammadi says CODA overstepped by condemning the Sundial piece.
James Applegate, an astronomy professor who serves on Columbia's Academic Freedom Council (CAFC) alongside Noam, tells Reason that he disagreed with CODA's decision to cancel the event.
Applegate tells Reason he was considering attending the event, and he was "rather surprised and disappointed" when it was canceled.
He recalled that when he was a professor in 2000, he objected to changes to the school's sexual misconduct policy on the University Senate floor. He says his statements were "similar to what was said in the Sundial article" and there was a "level of emotion in this debate."
"Nonetheless, we had the debate. I was in it, and the degree to which it was civil is shocking when you look at where we are now. And it's sad."
Applegate said he does not condemn CODA, however, "for the simple reason that the atmosphere on college campuses and on the left wing of politics in general in the United States is quite vicious."
CODA's honorary faculty fellow John McWhorter tells Reason he interpreted CODA's statement as "saying that an event about who gets to tell the story is untenable when or if a critical mass of people with such stories don't even feel comfortable telling them— i.e.being a participant in the event." He added, "I imagine some might think of that as cutting the salami a little thin, but then I highly suspect that Desai is equally worried about the event becoming a physical melee of some kind. In that, let's face it, he is hardly unreasonable."
Still, McWhorter said that he would have chosen to have the event himself, "especially as in the likely case that some people did talk about their experiences without any particular repercussions, it may have made the more reluctant people less apprehensive about doing so in the future."
According to Mohammadi, as of Tuesday, the Sundial, College Republicans, Platypus Affiliated Society at Columbia (which discusses leftist thought and history), and Columbia's Heterodox Academy chapter have left CODA.
CODA was not the only group to condemn the Sundial's piece. On October 14, the Columbia Political Review's editorial board wrote that Mohammadi and Ma's piece "violates standards of integrity" and "perpetuates a culture of campus violence, rape, and assault." The editorial board of the Columbia Political Review, which purports to publish "multipartisan political discourse," stated that it would refuse to publish "any article that upholds or recreates cultures and systems of rape, sexual assault, or violence" and it urged "all campus publications to do the same."
And on Monday, Columbia's main newspaper, the Spectator, published a staff editorial accusing the Sundial of violating journalistic ethics by "its page to disparage survivors of sexual violence."
Mohammadi tells Reason the piece underwent "far more editorial scrutiny than any other piece" the Sundial had published given the sensitive nature of the topic.
Free speech student organizations are necessary on Columbia's campus, especially as the school's free speech climate continues to crumble; it recently received a failing grade from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. And while upholding free speech principles may have become more fashionable among those resisting the Trump administration's pressures on academic freedom or those defending pro-Palestinian speech, it is clear that some topics remain taboo in the public square. College is supposed to be a place where students debate controversial topics, form their own beliefs and opinions, and learn from mistakes. Hopefully, the students who demanded condemnation instead of debate will be forgiven for their perversion of free speech ideals, and they will learn to afford such grace and open-mindedness to classmates with whom they disagree.
The post A Free Speech Group at Columbia Canceled an Event About Free Speech Over 'Cornell 7' Article Controversy appeared first on Reason Magazine.
Palmeros harvest medjool dates by hand by leaping into the crown of a tree “full of thorns sharp enough to puncture a tire—or, say, a human limb.” For Offrange, Ashley Stimpson introduces us to the workers who carry on a proud, 6,000-year-old farming tradition that’s in danger of dying out, just as date sales take off in the United States. (Photos by Siri Kaur.)
As far as harrowing job descriptions go, the palmero is up there with trapeze artist and surgeon. Must like heights, must work well in punishing heat, must feel comfortable yielding lethally sharp hand tools. In addition to brute labor, the job also requires an aptitude for botanical minutiae: the pungency of a ripening spadix, the dusky translucency of a perfectly ready date.
Palmeros spend most of their year in the top of the palm trees, which are dioecious plants, meaning male and female reproductive organs grow on separate trees. While the wind can carry pollen from tree to tree, it results in an unpredictable and uneven yield. Around 4000 BC in the Persian Gulf, our ancestors got wise and started cultivating the date palm by hand, kicking off a tradition Medina and Patino still carry out today.
On Tuesday, the Alhambra Monument in Granada began hosting the digital exhibition “The Dream of a Renaissance Princess: Mary of Hungary,” which runs until November 20th.
RELATED:
Spanish Museum to Inaugurate Colombian Archaeological Exhibition
The exhibition honors one of the most influential women in 16th-century Europe, exploring the historical and cultural ties between Spain and Belgium through the life of Mary of Hungary, sister of Emperor Charles V and governor of the Netherlands from 1531 to 1555.
The exhibition uses virtual reconstructions and audiovisual resources to showcase the “artistic splendor” of Mary of Hungary’s court, renowned for her political and diplomatic role and her cultural patronage during the Renaissance.
Alhambra Trust Director Rodrigo Ruiz-Jimenez presented the exhibition as part of an international project to recover lost historical heritage. One of the main attractions is the digital recreation of the now-vanished palace of Binche, which Mary of Hungary transformed into a prominent center of cultural and artistic activity.
✳️ La @alhambracultura redescubre el legado de María de Hungría, una de las grandes mujeres del Renacimiento europeo.
— Cultura Junta de Andalucía (@CulturaAND) October 20, 2026
🎦 Una exposición audiovisual recupera el esplendor de la corte de la hermana de Carlos V y los vínculos entre España y Bélgica.
ℹ️🔗 https://t.co/vdoyvJMw8x pic.twitter.com/PDPBGPuQI9
The text reads, “The Alhambra Monument rediscovers the legacy of Mary of Hungary, one of the great women of the European Renaissance. An audiovisual exhibition recovers the splendor of the court of the sister of Charles V and the ties between Spain and Belgium.”
The organizers emphasize that the Binche Palace played a symbolic role similar to the Palace of Charles V in Granada, both conceived as expressions of the power and prestige of the Habsburg dynasty.
The experience invites visitors to tour different palace rooms virtually, learn about the Renaissance court life, and explore music and celebrations characteristic of the period.
The itinerary also includes content dedicated to the Mariemont hunting lodge and the performance of the motet Sancta Maria, a composition created in 1548 in honor of Mary of Hungary. The exhibition is part of the European project MARY4ALL and involves institutions from Spain, Belgium, and France.
#Spain | Madrid's public school teachers have launched an indefinite strike, demanding smaller classes, reduced teaching hours, and increased education funding.
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 19, 2026
Thousands marched under the “Marea Verde” banner, calling for negotiations with regional authorities.#TeachersStrike… pic.twitter.com/L9nYBiDnGs
teleSUR: JP
Source: EFE
Shot by Sofia’s mother Eleanor this documentary shows something of the strain of shooting a period piece, but is a far cry from the tumultuous portrait of her husband in Hearts of Darkness
It is 20 years since the release of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst; it is a supportively unjudging, unironised study of the queen’s early years before the 1789 revolution, lavishly and accurately costumed, shot on location at Versailles and based on the Antonia Fraser biography – but also subversively and amusingly using pop tracks from the 70s and 80s on the soundtrack. It got a storm of booing from French critics, reportedly annoyed at the way their history had been reduced to a music video and fashion shoot with no French actors involved. Or hardly any.
In fact, for all the lack of political grit, the film was interesting and accomplished, and deservedly has a fanbase – and it is to that constituency that this making-of documentary from the director’s mother Eleanor Coppola is really addressed. It is basically a sweet family home movie on digital video which shows something of the strain and the longueurs of shooting a demanding period picture, but tactfully not seeing anything really explosive or bad-tempered. It is very far from Eleanor Coppola’s sensational behind-the-scenes film Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse about the tumultuous creation of Apocalypse Now, directed by her husband Francis Ford Coppola.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Sofia Coppola
© Photograph: Sofia Coppola
© Photograph: Sofia Coppola
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would "make $8 billion available for one-time payments to American farmers this harvest season to provide relief during temporary market disruptions and increased input costs."
Using a formula derived from the USDA's production, yield, and price estimates, the Harvest Fuel Relief program will "provide simple, proportional support to producers." It will only cover a "portion of modeled losses during the 2026 crop year." The Farm Service Agency—an office within the USDA that administers credit and loan programs—will administer the $8 billion in one-time payments using funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a federal entity authorized to draw up to $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury to fund agricultural initiatives. Payment rates won't be released until November, and the USDA's notice leaves open the possibility of additional payments for "non-Title I commodities, including specialty crop growers and fishermen."
A fiscally questionable decision, the program comes at a time when farmers are feeling a significant price pinch. The dyed diesel American farmers and ranchers use is exempt from state and federal highway taxes, but that has done little to offset skyrocketing fuel prices. In September, the American Farm Bureau Federation projected that fuel expenses would reach $22 billion this year, up 29 percent from 2025. The Farm Bureau estimates that total production expenses will reach nearly $500 billion in 2026. According to its own predictions, the USDA doesn't expect the situation to improve anytime soon.
In its latest Commodity Costs and Returns report, released in June, the USDA projects farmers and ranchers will face record production costs in 2027—higher than during the COVID-19 supply chain disruptions—driven by higher prices for necessary inputs such as fuel, fertilizer, seeds, machinery, and labor.
While the USDA has blamed "temporary market disruptions" for these cost hikes, the blame more accurately falls to President Donald Trump, thanks to his illegal war in Iran. As of Tuesday, Trump's war—and the subsequent shocks it has caused to the global diesel supply—have pushed the national average price in the U.S. up $2.70 per gallon from a year ago, a 74.6 percent increase, according to AAA data.
Unfortunately, the war in Iran is just one of several Trump administration policies making life more expensive for everyone, including the nation's farmers and ranchers. Tariffs on imported fertilizer, which began in 2020 during the first Trump administration, have made it difficult for American farmers to afford what they need. By the Farm Bureau's estimates, fertilizer costs for 2026 are projected to reach a record $40 billion, up 15 percent from the previous year.
The $8 billion program is part of a windfall of taxpayer money the Trump administration has sent to farmers as relief for harms caused by the president's actions. Last December, the USDA sent $11 billion in one-time bridge payments to more than half a million farmers nationwide. Earlier this month, the USDA announced it would provide a record $13.8 billion in gross payments to agricultural producers to cover revenue losses.
In a speech in Kansas touting the program, Trump claimed that the state's residents would see a "plunge" in prices once the war ends. That's likely an exaggeration, given the host of questionable economic policies he seems hell-bent on implementing.
Still, that shouldn't discredit the president's suggestion. Ending the war would benefit farmers, ranchers, and consumers, without doling out billions in another government bailout for a favored industry.
The post Trump's $8 Billion Diesel Bailout Pays Farmers for a Problem He Created appeared first on Reason Magazine.
On Monday, a group of students from the University of Chicago stood outside the Chicago Mercantile Exchange—one of the world's largest and most diverse derivatives marketplaces—and called for the repeal of an obscure 1958 law that bans onions as futures products traded on U.S. exchanges.
Attracting an audience with a humorous jingle and amusing signs that included "Onions Deserve a Future," "Honk If You Want Free Onions," "Hot Girls Hedge Onions," and "Free Markets Feed Families," the student group, named For Our Futures, has a simple platform: a repeal of the 1958 Onion Futures Act, which prohibits anyone from trading in onion futures on commodity exchanges. (The law was amended in 2010 to ban motion picture box office receipts from being traded on commodity exchanges.) The viral campaign drew enough attention that Mike Selig—chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a proponent of expanding the list of commodities traded on futures markets—was asked about the law in a media appearance.
American farmers produce about 6.75 billion pounds of onions a year, according to the National Onion Association, an industry trade group. While peers who grow cotton, wheat, corn, and soybeans can hedge against price swings by trading futures contracts, onion farmers have no such recourse under federal law. But, as the Agriculture Department's daily National Potato and Onion Report shows, onion prices are highly volatile and subject to wild swings, making them an ideal market for futures trading.
In its latest report, released Monday, the agency shows that onion prices have roughly doubled since this time last year. If onion futures contracts were legal, farmers could rely on market expectations instead of planting crops based on last year's prices. It would also let buyers potentially cut costs by locking in lower prices to protect against spikes. Trading onion futures contracts would give the industry a useful price-discovery tool, one that the student group aptly notes is "crucial for price stability and for hedging risks associated with weather and market fluctuations."
It's not For Our Futures' first time trying this gambit. The student group staged similar protests at college campuses in April and May, armed with bags of raw onions to entice passersby into signing their petition to legalize onion futures. The students' crusade might be comical, but after a recent Gallup poll found that 57 percent of Americans age 18–34 have a positive image of socialism, it's encouraging to see college-age students stand up for free markets.
A protest over onions sounds absurd, but it's a viral reminder to others in that age cohort of how far governments can go when given the slightest leeway to regulate an industry.
Instead of relying on outdated price points when planning future harvests, American onion producers could use resources like futures contracts that offer real-time market signals. All that would require—as the college kids state—is for federal lawmakers to "let the free market reign supreme."
The post You Can Trade Contracts on Elections, but Not on Onions. These College Students Want To Fix That. appeared first on Reason Magazine.
The highly coveted Michelin Guide stars, shining over Athens and Santorini, have just been announced. Greece now boasts a total of 21 stars across the regions currently covered by the guide. The prestigious Michelin stars for Greece have been announced. Beyond Athens, the famous guide’s inspectors have now also visited Santorini and Thessaloniki. In fact, […]
The post Michelin stars: Greece’s gastronomy boasts with 21 stars in three regions appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.
Olivia Colman goes vulpine, Rupert Grint’s newborn is a monster and Joko Anwar makes a warmhearted violent ghost story set in an Indonesian prison
If I’d ever wanted children, the films showing at the 59th edition of the International Fantastic film festival of Catalonia in the coastal town of Sitges, south of Barcelona, would have soon set me straight. This year’s recurring themes were explosive parturition, chewed-up nipples and the fruit of the womb turning out to be at best sociopathic, at worst inhuman.
The theme was celebrated in an evil-kiddy exhibition at the Miramar Cultural Centre, marking the 50th anniversary of Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s “fantaterror” classic Who Can Kill a Child?, some of which was filmed in Sitges itself. The expo traced the subgenre from 1956’s The Bad Seed, via Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, to this year’s Nightborn, in which poor Rupert Grint, as the hapless husband, is no match for the developing folk-horror bond between his depressed wife, their newborn “child”, and the spooky forest surrounding their house. Finnish director Hanna Bergholm, in her introduction, confessed it was inspired by her experiences of motherhood. Only up to a point, one hopes.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Andrea Miconi
© Photograph: Andrea Miconi
© Photograph: Andrea Miconi
Login
