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+"Rus­sia is in­creas­ing its in­flu­ence in Burk­i­na Faso, where dis­il­lu­sion­ment with French pol­i­tics has left a void.",What's happening?
+An In­di­an gov­ern­ment com­mit­tee has rec­om­mend­ed that polls for lo­cal bod­ies to par­lia­ment be held to­geth­er.,What's the latest?
+"At least two In­di­ans have died on Ukrain­ian front lines, re­veal­ing the des­per­a­tion caused by wide­spread job­less­ness.",What's the scoop?
+"Mah­moud Dar­wish’s po­ems are ever rel­e­vant to the con­di­tions of Pales­tini­ans, par­tic­u­lar­ly now in Gaza.",Anything noteworthy?
+"Rights groups ac­cuse for­mer po­lice of­fi­cer’s G9 gang al­liance of com­mit­ting atroc­i­ties, in­clud­ing killings and rape.",What's going on?
+Video Duration 24 minutes 06 seconds ,Any new developments?
+From: The Bottom Line,What's the buzz?
+Professor Jeffrey Sachs: ‘‘US is complicit in Israeli genocide’,Got any headlines?
+Columbia University’s Jeffrey Sachs says the war in Gaza could end today if the US stopped supplying weapons to Israel.,Got any news?
+"Live updates, ",Any updates?
+"Children among those wounded after Israeli jets targeted house in Deir el-Balah, southern Gaza.",What's happening?
+"Rafah, Gaza – The loss of nine-year-old Yazan, or Yazouna as his mother called him, hangs like a dark cloud over the el-Kafarna family’s tiny living space.",What's the latest?
+"They huddle together in a shelter that Sharif el-Kafarna rigged up out of bits of wood, cardboard and sheeting in front of the third-floor door to the elevator in an UNRWA school in Rafah.",What's the scoop?
+"It is tidy inside and a string of Ramadan bunting hangs on one wall, but nothing can hide the fact that the family of five sleeps, prays, eats and spends all day in a space about eight metres square (80 feet square).",Anything noteworthy?
+"Breaking down, his mother wept: “This is our first Ramadan without Yazan, God has ordained this for us and we cannot complain, we can only praise him and have faith.”",What's going on?
+"Yazan died on March 4 at the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, hooked up to breathing machines and IV drips, his body having wasted away to nothing during five months of relentless war during which his family ran from one supposed “safe place” to another, terrified, destitute and hungry.",Any new developments?
+He would have turned 10 on June 4.,What's the buzz?
+Yazan’s family spend all their time in the cramped shelter his father was able to build in front of an elevator door on a school landing [Screengrab/Sanad/Al Jazeera] ,Got any headlines?
+A protected childhood,Got any news?
+"Yazan was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a month-old infant, amid an earlier Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in 2014.",Any updates?
+"His parents took great pains to structure his life in Beit Hanoon where they lived before the war so he had the food, supplements and healthcare he needed.",What's happening?
+"“Yazan needed special vitamin mixes for his mental acuity and these injections to keep his body strong, as well as physiotherapy which he needed regularly.”",What's the latest?
+"“He needed healthy food as well, eggs, vegetables, fruits, dairy. He would also eat baby cereal and we would puree foods for him so he could eat,” his father, Sharif said.",What's the scoop?
+He also received physiotherapy at home by therapists from various associations who would visit the family home regularly. There were also therapists who worked with him to provide psychological support and some basic learning.,Anything noteworthy?
+"“He enjoyed his sessions, you could see it in his eyes. He would smile, sometimes he’d clap, too, and his eyes would follow what was happening, like the trainers talking to him or shows on a screen that we’d show him,” his father said.",What's going on?
+"The little boy was thriving, and his parents celebrated him as much as they protected him.",Any new developments?
+Yazan’s mother broke down as she spoke to Al Jazeera about the loss of Yazan [Screengrab/Sanad/Al Jazeera] ,What's the buzz?
+"“We’d have birthday parties for Yazan. He would smile, he would clap when he heard music, he was moving well, thank God.",Got any headlines?
+"“We’d do the whole thing, with a birthday cake and party food, just like we did for the other kids,” his mother said.",Got any news?
+Understanding and love,Any updates?
+"The couple has three surviving children, eight-year-old Mouin, four-year-old Wael and four-month-old Mohamed, who was born weeks after Israel began its assault on Gaza on October 7.",What's happening?
+"Mouin was the closest of the brothers to Yazan, his mother told Al Jazeera.",What's the latest?
+"“He would sit with him and watch him for me when I had to be in another room. He didn’t change his diapers or anything like that, but he would spend hours with him just watching something or chattering,” she said.",What's the scoop?
+"Because Yazan could not speak, he made different sounds depending on what he needed, his father said.",Anything noteworthy?
+"“I couldn’t understand what he wanted to, well, his mum was the one who knew what he wanted based on the sound he was making,” he said.",What's going on?
+Yazan’s mother smiled fondly at the memory of her relationship with her eldest.,Any new developments?
+"“He was closer to me … such a good kid, our relationship was great and I always understood him. He’d make a particular noise when he was hungry, another one if he was startled.",What's the buzz?
+"Yazan’s father, Sharif, is still devastated at what happened to Yazan [Screengrab/Sanad/Al Jazeera] ",Got any headlines?
+"“I took him with me everywhere, to market, to my family’s places, he just came along. We went to the beach, too, but I didn’t put him in the sea because I always worried he’d get too cold, I’d just bathe him in the tub.”",Got any news?
+Memories of that past life bring fleeting smiles to her face as she describes their two-bedroom home with its big living room and kitchen where the children had space to play – now they huddle with their parents in a tiny space all day.,Any updates?
+"“Fridays we’d have a big family meal, then take our afternoon siestas and go out to visit our families, either we’d go to my family or to my in-laws’,” she said.",What's happening?
+"Sharif used to work as a driver, earning enough money to provide everything the family needed, especially Yazan.",What's the latest?
+"“I tried to do the same here,” he said. “We’re from Beit Hanoon, we were displaced to Jabalia, then Nuseirat, then Deir el-Balah, and when we got here, I made sure we had our own space, so Yazan would be as comfortable as I could manage for my son,” Sharif continued.",What's the scoop?
+War brings the beginning of the end,Anything noteworthy?
+"“I was so happy when I was watching my son growing day by day when he had the food and medicines he needed. But then when the war started, he couldn’t get the treatment or the right food any more,” Sharif said.",What's going on?
+"Yazan was alert and thriving before the war, thanks to his family’s efforts to take care of him [Courtesy of the el-Kafarna family] ",Any new developments?
+"They tried, he continued, as hard they could to secure what Yazan needed to survive – soft, nutritious food that could be eaten by the little boy – but first, the supplies dwindled, then the black market prices rose alarmingly, then finally, there was no more of the food to be found.",What's the buzz?
+Yazan’s health began to deteriorate in front of his parents’ horrified eyes as they carried him in their arms from one supposed “safe” place of displacement to another.,Got any headlines?
+"No amount of softened bread scraps they gathered for him could help keep him alert and strong, and his already thin frame began to waste away.",Got any news?
+"“He started to deteriorate day after day. We didn’t have enough medicine so I’d try to skip days to make what we had stretch further,” his father said sadly.",Any updates?
+"“We took him to the hospital and he lived his last days on life support at Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital. By then he was no longer able to respond to anything, not even his mother.”",What's happening?
+Yazan spent 11 days in the hospital before he died on March 4.,What's the latest?
+"“I can never forget Yazan,” his mother said, in tears.",What's the scoop?
+“He’s in my heart and mind every minute of every day. Look at what’s happening to our children!”,Anything noteworthy?
+The suspension follows an earlier move that has seen thousands of French soldiers exit the West African nation.,What's going on?
+"Niger has suspended its military agreement with the United States “with immediate effect”, according to the ruling military spokesman Colonel Amadou Abdramane, in a blow to US security interests in the region.",Any new developments?
+"The pact allowed US military personnel and civilian defence staff to operate from Niger, which plays a central role in the US military’s operations in Africa’s Sahel region and is home to a major airbase.",What's the buzz?
+"The decision, announced on Saturday, came after senior US officials – led by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and US Africa Command head General Michael Langley – visited the West African country earlier this week to discuss democratic transition.",Got any headlines?
+"Speaking on local television, Abdramane said the US delegation did not follow diplomatic protocol, and that Niger was not informed about the composition of the delegation, the date of its arrival or the agenda.",Got any news?
+"“Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism,” Abdramane said.",Any updates?
+"The US military had some 650 personnel working in Niger in December, according to a White House report to Congress. The US military operates a major airbase in the Niger city of Agadez, some 920km (572 miles) from the capital of Niamey, using it for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations.",What's happening?
+"A drone base known as Air Base 201 near Agadez was built at a cost of more than $100m. Since 2018 the base has been used to target ISIL (ISIS) fighters and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate, in the Sahel region.",What's the latest?
+‘A huge blow to the US’,What's the scoop?
+"Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera correspondent Shihab Rattansi said the move is “a huge blow to the US”.",Anything noteworthy?
+"“Niger is the centre of US operations in west and north Africa, notably at its Air Base 201, the most expensive construction project ever undertaken by the US government. It’s there for war on terror operations but it’s really there also for great power projection against countries like Russia and China.”",What's going on?
+"Last October, Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup. But in December, the top US envoy for Africa, Phee, said the US was willing to restore aid and security ties if Niger met certain conditions.",Any new developments?
+"The military said the delegation had accused Niger of partnering with Russia and Iran on “secret” deals, which the government denies. Officials also said the US had “threatened” action against Niger if the Niamey fails to cut ties with both countries.",What's the buzz?
+"The military government “forcefully denounces the condescending attitude accompanied by the threat of retaliation from the head of the American delegation towards the Nigerien government and people”, spokesman Abdramane added.",Got any headlines?
+"A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to the Reuters news agency, said the officials had “frank discussions” in Niamey earlier this week about the trajectory of Niger’s ruling military council – known by its French initials CNSP.",Got any news?
+"“We are in touch with the CNSP and will provide further updates as warranted,” the official added.",Any updates?
+Niger has been under military rule since July 2023 when an elite guard force led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani detained President Mohamed Bazoum and declared Tchiani ruler.,What's happening?
+"Like the military rulers in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has also kicked out French and other European forces. Both Mali and Burkina Faso have turned to Russia for support.",What's the latest?
+Source,What's the scoop?
+: ,Anything noteworthy?
+Al Jazeera and news agencies,What's going on?
+"Since February 25, women with name tags and huge stacks of papers have been knocking on every door in the Russia-occupied parts of four Ukrainian regions or approaching residents outside their apartment buildings or houses.",Any new developments?
+"The documents are lists of voters, and the women and, rarely, men are election officials who usually teach in nearby schools, accept utilities payments or work as government clerks.",What's the buzz?
+"They ask residents for their IDs and nudge them to fill in an early ballot form with the names of four candidates in Russia’s presidential election, current and former residents of the occupied areas told Al Jazeera.",Got any headlines?
+"One of the candidates is Vladimir Putin, who is all but certain to win his fifth election, and the remaining three presidential hopefuls are figureheads from pro-Kremlin parties whose participation is widely understood by observers as an attempt to create an illusion of choice.",Got any news?
+"The Ukrainians rarely refuse to fill in the ballot for a very persuasive reason – a masked, gun-toting Russian serviceman towering next to the official and a car filled with more armed men nearby, Al Jazeera has learned.",Any updates?
+"The “voting” usually takes place near the entrance of an apartment, and the election official along with the armed soldier can see whose name is ticked off on the ballot.",What's happening?
+"“There’s no secrecy of vote,” a former resident of Mariupol told Al Jazeera, speaking about how her friends and relatives voted on Wednesday.",What's the latest?
+“People who love Ukraine must submit to the regime and pretend they support everything that’s going on because they’re afraid for their lives.”,What's the scoop?
+"She added, however, that there are resistance groups that largely consist of young people who leak information about the numbers and location of Russian soldiers and weaponry to Ukrainian intelligence services.",Anything noteworthy?
+Some locals hope that their participation in the vote will give them a literal free pass out of the occupied area.,What's going on?
+"“My father-in-law had a heart attack and died. My mother-in-law’s hair turned grey because of what we had gone through. All we want is to leave and never look back,” Tatyana, who lives in the port of Berdiansk in southern Ukraine, which was occupied in late February 2022, told Al Jazeera.",Any new developments?
+"She and her husband voted early, on Monday, unsurprisingly for Putin because they don’t want to be blacklisted by Russia-appointed authorities.",What's the buzz?
+"They plan to cross into southern Russia and take a plane to Kazakhstan, where their relatives agreed to shelter them.",Got any headlines?
+"The few Ukrainians who refused to vote or badmouthed the election have been rounded up and taken to “basements”, as informal prisons are known in Russia-occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, according to the Eastern Human Rights Group, a Ukrainian watchdog.",Got any news?
+"The rights group and the three Ukrainians Al Jazeera interviewed for this article, whose full names will not be used for safety reasons, reported the threat of guns at polling stations in the occupied regions.",Any updates?
+"So the only way to safely say “no” is to keep the door closed to election officials and avoid the polling stations that opened on Friday, the first day of Russia’s three-day election.",What's happening?
+"“Nobody touches” those who stay at home, said a former resident of the Russia-occupied southern town of Enerhodar who fled to Kyiv but is in constant contact with her family and friends at home.",What's the latest?
+"The reason is simple – vote-rigging, which has been documented in Russia in previous elections and is widely expected to be even more pronounced in the occupied parts of Ukraine.",What's the scoop?
+"“I think the turnout will be 120 to 150 percent,” the former resident quipped.",Anything noteworthy?
+Observers agreed – and said Kremlin-appointed officials will compete with each other in vote rigging to report large turnouts and a big percentage of votes for Putin.,What's going on?
+"“At the pseudo-elections, there will be maximal vote-rigging because local ‘viceroys’ will try to surpass the ‘Chechen count,'” Kyiv-based analyst Aleksey Kushch told Al Jazeera, referring to the nearly 100 percent turnouts and pro-Putin votes in Chechnya.",Any new developments?
+Moscow-appointed “viceroys” openly urge residents of the occupied regions to vote for Putin.,What's the buzz?
+"“I’m confident that the activity of our citizens will be high and every resident of the region will vote for our president,” the Russia-installed governor of Zaporizhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, said on Telegram.",Got any headlines?
+"On Friday morning, Russian officials reported the early vote turnout – 45 percent in the occupied part of Zaporizhia and 58 percent in the Donetsk and Kherson regions.",Got any news?
+"The RIA Novosti news agency filed the report at 8:05am (06:05 GMT), five minutes after polling stations opened in public schools and government buildings in the occupied regions.",Any updates?
+The election provides the Kremlin with an opportunity to create an illusion for state-controlled media and their Russian audience.,What's happening?
+"“The authorities formed groups of people who gladly pose for videos to provide a pretty picture. They don’t need to force anyone to go voting. No one is going to riot, get angry,” the former Enerhodar resident said.",What's the latest?
+Russia permits voting even for those who haven’t yet obtained red Russian passports in a blatant violation of its own election laws.,What's the scoop?
+"Wannabe voters can present any valid ID, including a Ukrainian passport or driving license.",Anything noteworthy?
+Moscow announced strict security measures amid what they call Ukraine’s “information diversions”.,What's going on?
+It says Ukrainian intelligence services fish for voters’ information and send threats to election officials.,Any new developments?
+"The threats “look copied and pasted. Only some words are changed” in each of them, Vladimir Vysotsky, chief election official in the Russia-occupied part of the Donetsk region, told the Itar-Tass news agency.",What's the buzz?
+"“For the first time, we are holding elections in such a complicated, extreme situation, when such a toxic international situation is created with constant threats and a mass of other negative things,” Russia’s chief election official, Ella Pamfilova, said on Thursday.",Got any headlines?
+"Meanwhile, Ukrainian observers wonder aloud about the necessity of elections in Russia, where Putin has become the longest-serving leader since Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin.",Got any news?
+"“The deep split within the totalitarian reality is manifested through the way Putin fanatically clings to the necessity of extending his endless cadences through ‘election’ while fully neutering the very essence of competition and open ending,” said Svetlana Chunikhina, vice president of the Association of Political Psychologists, a group in Kyiv.",Any updates?
+"“In Russia, they consider elections as the most prestigious way to legitimise power,” she told Al Jazeera. “But totalitarian reality doesn’t generate any prestige. It only generates fear and submissiveness.”",What's happening?
+Kyiv predictably lambasted the vote in the occupied areas.,What's the latest?
+"“The campaign to imitate a presidential election shows Russia’s further insolent disregard for the standards and principles of international law,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.",What's the scoop?
+"Icelandic police declared a state of emergency on Saturday as lava spewed from a new volcanic fissure on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the fourth eruption to hit the area since December.",Anything noteworthy?
+"A “volcanic eruption has started between Stori-Skogfell and Hagafell on the Reykjanes Peninsula,” said a statement from the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO). Live video images showed glowing lava and billowing smoke.",What's going on?
+Iceland’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management announced it had sent a helicopter to narrow down the exact location of the new fissure. The authority also said the police had declared a state of emergency due to the eruption.,Any new developments?
+"According to the IMO, it occurred close to the same location as a previous eruption on February 8. Lava appeared to flow south towards the dykes built to protect the fishing village Grindavik, it said.",What's the buzz?
+"Just after 22:00 GMT, “the southern lava front was just 200 metres [656 feet] from the barriers on the eastern side of Grindavik and moving at a rate of about one km per hour”, it added.",Got any headlines?
+"Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions, when the eruption began, national broadcaster RUV said.",Got any news?
+"No flight disruptions were reported at nearby Keflavik, Iceland’s main airport.",Any updates?
+"The eruption site is a few kilometres northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people about 50km (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, that was evacuated before the initial eruption in December. A few residents who had returned to their homes were evacuated again on Saturday.",What's happening?
+Grindavik was evacuated in November when the Svartsengi volcanic system awakened after almost 800 years with a series of earthquakes that opened large cracks in the ground north of the town.,What's the latest?
+"The volcano eventually erupted on December 18, sending lava flowing away from Grindavik. A second eruption that began on January 14 sent lava towards the town. Defensive walls that had been bolstered after the first eruption stopped some of the flow, but several buildings were consumed by the lava.",What's the scoop?
+"Both eruptions lasted only a matter of days. A third eruption began February 8. It petered out within hours, but not before a river of lava engulfed a pipeline, cutting off heat and hot water to thousands of people.",Anything noteworthy?
+RUV quoted geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson as saying that the latest eruption is the most powerful so far. The IMO said some of the lava was flowing towards the defensive barriers around Grindavik.,What's going on?
+"Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, sees regular eruptions and is highly experienced at dealing with them. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.",Any new developments?
+"No confirmed deaths have been reported from any of the recent eruptions, but a workman was declared missing after falling into a fissure opened by the volcano.",What's the buzz?
+An ‘extremely dangerous’ suspect has been taken into custody in New Jersey following an hours-long effort to detain him.,Got any headlines?
+"A suspect has been taken into custody in New Jersey after allegedly shooting dead three family members, authorities have said, following an hours-long effort to detain him.",Got any news?
+"Andre Gordon, 26, “surrendered peacefully”, Trenton Police Department spokeswoman Lisette Rios told the AFP news agency on Saturday, after a trail of violence that triggered shelter-in-place orders in two states.",Any updates?
+"Authorities said Gordon, who is believed to be homeless, began the day by carjacking a vehicle in Trenton before driving some 65km (40 miles) to the northern Philadelphia suburb of Levittown.",What's happening?
+"There, police said, the suspect killed two people – identified as his 52-year-old stepmother and his 13-year-old sister.",What's the latest?
+"Three others, including a minor, managed to hide “as he went through the house searching for them”, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said in a briefing.",What's the scoop?
+The suspect then drove to a nearby residence where he broke in before shooting and killing a 25-year-old woman – who Schorn said was the mother of his two children – before bludgeoning her mother with the butt of his rifle.,Anything noteworthy?
+"Driving to a nearby discount store, the suspect carjacked a 44-year-old man before fleeing. The man was not injured, according to Falls Township Sheriff Nelson Whitney.",What's going on?
+"The suspect then drove across the state line back to Trenton, where police believed he had barricaded himself in a three-storey house.",Any new developments?
+Whitney had said the suspect was believed to be armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and police described him as “extremely dangerous”.,What's the buzz?
+"For several hours they appealed to him to surrender, after SWAT officers evacuated people in the home through a second-storey window.",Got any headlines?
+"“Andre, get away from the windows. We know you’re inside, if you’d like to surrender, dial 911 now,” police said over a loudspeaker. “You’re a young man, you have too much to live for.”",Got any news?
+"Later on Saturday Gordon was “located at another location in Trenton”, police spokeswoman Rios said.",Any updates?
+Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson said Gordon was uninjured and walking along a street when a patrol officer approached him.,What's happening?
+"Gordon had apparently slipped out of the house before police had completed setting up a perimeter, Wilson said.",What's the latest?
+"Because the suspect crossed state lines, federal authorities – including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – were working the case, along with local, county and state police.",What's the scoop?
+"Officials said they could not yet speak to a motive for the attacks. While Gordon had had some minor brushes with the law, they were “nothing that would indicate that anything like this would happen”, Whitney, the Sheriff said at a news conference.",Anything noteworthy?
+The mayhem forced the cancellation of a St Patrick’s Day parade and shut down a Sesame Street-themed amusement park.,What's going on?
+"Navy captures MV Ruen off the Indian coast, ending the three-month hijacking of the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier.",Any new developments?
+"Indian naval forces including special commandos have seized a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates and rescued 17 crew members, a spokesperson for the navy said.",What's the buzz?
+"In a post on the social media platform X on Saturday, the navy said that all 35 pirates on board the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel MV Ruen had surrendered, and the ship had been checked for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition and contraband.",Got any headlines?
+The MV Ruen was hijacked late last year and the navy said it first intercepted the vessel on Friday.,Got any news?
+"“The pirates onboard the vessel have been called upon to surrender and release the vessel and any civilians they may be holding against their will,” the navy said in a statement.",Any updates?
+"“The Indian navy remains committed to maritime security and safety of seafarers in the region,” it added.",What's happening?
+"The vessel may have been used as the base for the takeover of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia earlier this week, the European Union naval force said.",What's the latest?
+The hijacking of the Ruen in December was the first successful takeover of a vessel involving Somali pirates since 2017 when a crackdown by international navies stopped a rash of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.,What's the scoop?
+"#INSKolkata, in the last 40 hours, through concerted actions successfully cornered and coerced all 35 Pirates to surrender & ensured safe evacuation of 17 crew members in the evening today #16Mar 24 from the pirate vessel without any injury.#INSKolkata had carried out the… https://t.co/eKxfEdMRES pic.twitter.com/tmQq2fG8yE",Anything noteworthy?
+"— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 16, 2024",What's going on?
+"Somali pirates have caused chaos in important global waterways for a decade, but had been dormant until a resurgence of attacks starting late last year.",Any new developments?
+India has deployed at least a dozen warships east of the Red Sea to provide security against pirates as Western powers focus on attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.,What's the buzz?
+The subcontinent’s navy has also increased its surveillance of the Arabian Sea after a recent spate of attacks in the region.,Got any headlines?
+"In January, the navy rescued all crew members from a Liberian-flagged merchant vessel after its attempted hijack in the Arabian Sea.",Got any news?
+"At least 17 incidents of hijacking, attempted hijacking and suspicious approaches have been recorded by the Indian navy since December 1.",Any updates?
+Data from the Indian navy’s Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region shows at least three hijackings in December.,What's happening?
+Israel says it will send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators after Hamas presented a new truce proposal.,What's the latest?
+The main United Nations aid agency operating in Gaza has said that acute malnutrition was accelerating in the north of the Palestinian enclave as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar for new truce talks on a hostage deal with Hamas.,What's the scoop?
+"On Saturday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza are now acutely malnourished, putting more pressure on Israel over the looming famine.",Anything noteworthy?
+"“Children’s malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza,” UNRWA said in a social media post.",What's going on?
+"On Friday, Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators after Hamas presented a new proposal for a ceasefire with an exchange of hostages and prisoners.",Any new developments?
+"A source familiar with the talks told the Reuters news agency that the delegation will be led by the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to convene the security cabinet to discuss the proposal before the talks start.",What's the buzz?
+Netanyahu’s office has said the Hamas offer was still based on “unrealistic demands”.,Got any headlines?
+"Repeated efforts failed to secure a ceasefire before the holy month of Ramadan, which started a week ago, with Israel saying it plans to launch a new offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza.",Got any news?
+"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, starting a two-day visit to the region, voiced concerns about an assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are sheltering, saying there was a danger it would result “in many terrible civilian casualties”.",Any updates?
+"On Friday, Netanyahu’s office said he had approved an attack plan on Rafah and that the civilian population would be evacuated.",What's happening?
+"It gave no timeframe, and there was no immediate evidence of extra preparations on the ground.",What's the latest?
+Humanitarian crisis,What's the scoop?
+"Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 31,553 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the strip.",Anything noteworthy?
+"The assault has also devastated the enclave, forcing nearly all the inhabitants from their homes, leaving much of the territory in rubble and triggering a massive hunger crisis.",What's going on?
+"“Children’s malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza,” UNRWA said in a social media post. Hospitals in Gaza have reported some children dying of malnutrition and dehydration.",Any new developments?
+"Western countries have called on Israel to do more to allow in aid, with the UN saying it faced “overwhelming obstacles” including crossing closures, onerous vetting, restrictions on movement and unrest inside Gaza.",What's the buzz?
+"A first delivery into Gaza by the World Central Kitchen, pioneering a new sea route via Cyprus, arrived on Friday and was off-loaded, the charity said.",Got any headlines?
+"Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said a second cargo of food aid was ready to depart by sea from Cyprus on Saturday, while the United States and Jordan said they carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid.",Got any news?
+"In a CNN interview, Queen Rania of Jordan called the airdrops “literally just drops in the ocean of unmet needs” and accused Israel of “cutting off everything that is required to sustain a human life: food, fuel, medicine, water”.",Any updates?
+"Humanitarian aid for Gaza is loaded on a cargo ship in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus [Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters] ",What's happening?
+Source,What's the latest?
+: ,What's the scoop?
+Al Jazeera and news agencies,Anything noteworthy?
+"Calcha K, Bolivia - Teófila Cayo Calcina, 56, stands among her rows of quinoa plants, pointing towards the horizon. ""The lithium plant is 50km in that direction. We are worried that the mining could leave us with not enough water to survive,"" she says, clearly disheartened.",What's going on?
+"Calcina lives with her husband in one of the houses overlooking the central square of the tiny village of Calcha K, an hour’s walk from her quinoa fields, where she grows quinoa real, a variety which is native to the Uyuni region of Bolivia and is considered a “superfood” in Western countries such as the US and Europe.",Any new developments?
+"Teófila Cayo Calcina, a quinoa farmer in the Potosi region of Bolivia, points in the direction of the new lithium plant which is approximately 50km from her crop [Alberto Mazzieri/Al Jazeera] ",What's the buzz?
+"The village is home to 400 people who speak Quechua, an ancient Inca language but still very widely spoken in South America. This community, where most people’s livelihoods are tied to farming quinoa and herding llamas, lives on the edge of the Uyuni salt flat in the Potosí region, part of the Bolivian Andes.",Got any headlines?
+"The Salar of Uyuni forms the world’s largest salt flat, stretching for nearly 10,500sq km (more than 4,050 square miles) - slightly larger than the size of Lebanon - and attracting tourists from all over the world who come to marvel at its unique landscape.",Got any news?
+"In recent years, salt flats such as this one have also begun to draw intense interest from ""green"" industries around the world because the lightest metals on Earth are mined from lithium-rich brines, typically found in salt flats.",Any updates?
+"Teófila Cayo Calcina checks on her quinoa plants. She grows quinoa real, a variety which is native to the Uyuni region of Bolivia and is considered a 'superfood' in Western countries. Calcina is fearful for the future of this industry, however, if the new lithium extraction plant depletes the area of water [Alberto Mazzieri/Al Jazeera] ",What's happening?
+"Last year, geologists discovered a vast deposit of two million tonnes of lithium in the district of Potosí, leading to a re-evaluation of the previously estimated resources of the metal on Bolivian soil.",What's the latest?
+The United States Geological Survey (USGS) now estimates that Bolivia has about 23 million tonnes (more than 20 billion kg) of lithium - some two million tonnes more than previously thought.,What's the scoop?
+"The mineral is a key ingredient for the production of electric car batteries, which countries around the world are rushing to produce in the race to switch away from fossil fuels. Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, has announced that he plans for the country to be able to export batteries by the end of 2026.",Anything noteworthy?
+"The new lithium find has propelled Bolivia to number one in the world for lithium deposits, followed by Argentina with 22 million tonnes and Chile with 11 million tonnes.",What's going on?
+"This is the so-called ""Lithium Triangle"" where the rush for ""white gold"" is very much under way.",Any new developments?
+"New Delhi, India – It is almost 5:40 in the evening. A hair salon in New Delhi’s bustling New Friends Colony neighbourhood is alive with the sound of buzzing clippers and chattering customers. The air is thick with the scent of hair spray and aftershave.",What's the buzz?
+"Zaki Marzai, 29, stands behind a barber’s brown chair, his hands moving with precision as he snips a customer’s hair.",Got any headlines?
+"Wooden shelves on the walls bear colourful bottles of shampoo and styling products. The mirrors reflect Marzai, his eyes focused on the hair before him. His customer looks satisfied.",Got any news?
+"Marzai, though, would rather be elsewhere – with a rifle in his hand, not a razor.",Any updates?
+"Three years ago, Marzai was a soldier in the elite special force of Afghanistan’s army, fighting the Taliban in a war that started with the United States and NATO forces invading the country in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The Western-backed Afghan government had sided with the US in the 20-year war. Marzai joined the army in 2015 as a sergeant and was on track to become a commissioned officer.",What's happening?
+"Everything changed on June 20, 2018.",What's the latest?
+"Zaki Marzai, 29, in his room in Bhogal, New Delhi [Luqmaan Zeerak/Al Jazeera] ",What's the scoop?
+‘Sitting ducks’,Anything noteworthy?
+"At about 2am that day, Marzai was stationed outside a camp in Ghazni province of Afghanistan when a barrage of bullets hit him and his fellow soldiers.",What's going on?
+"Before Marzai and his comrades could realise what happened, 25 soldiers had died on the spot and six others had been injured. Bullets had pierced through Marzai’s chin and right leg.",Any new developments?
+"“The attack was so intense we couldn’t do anything. The bullets were coming from all four sides. We were sitting ducks. The Taliban wiped out the entire camp,” he recalls. According to the United States Institute of Peace, an estimated 70,000 Afghan military and police personnel lost their lives in two decades of war in Afghanistan.",What's the buzz?
+"It was eight hours before any backup arrived to rescue the wounded. Marzai, who had lost a lot of blood, was first taken to a nearby hospital in Ghazni and soon transferred to a hospital in Kabul for further treatment on his jaw.",Got any headlines?
+"After nearly a year of treatment, his jaw was still deformed, so the Afghan government sent him to India for better care. He left behind his parents, a sister and seven brothers.",Got any news?
+"In 2019, Marzai arrived at a medical facility in Gurgaon, a city adjoining New Delhi. Later, he was also taken to two other public sector hospitals in the Indian capital.",Any updates?
+"By August 2021, Marzai hoped to return to Afghanistan, his face finally fixed. But the Afghanistan he knew was about to be broken.",What's happening?
+Bullets had pierced through Marzai’s chin during the Taliban attack [Luqmaan Zeerak/Al Jazeera] ,What's the latest?
+‘I cried all night’,What's the scoop?
+"As the Taliban grabbed control of province after province in Afghanistan in early August, Marzai was following the news on his phone, watching YouTube, tracking Twitter and waiting for Facebook updates.",Anything noteworthy?
+"Then, on August 15, the Taliban stormed into Kabul and took power, forcing the US and NATO forces to flee the country in a chaotic exit. Marzai tried to reach his family and soldier colleagues on the phone, but couldn’t get through because mobile networks were down.",What's going on?
+"He was stunned: Marzai had expected a fight, not a meek surrender from the country’s politicians, whom he accuses of looting Afghanistan and then escaping.",Any new developments?
+"“I cried all night when the Taliban took over the country,” says Marzai. “I was heartbroken. I was looking forward to returning to my family and rejoining the army, but now I am stuck here [in India].”",What's the buzz?
+"Marzai is from Ghazni, an Afghan province dominated by the Shia Hazara community, which has been persecuted by the mainly Sunni Taliban for a long time.",Got any headlines?
+"And he is a former soldier for a government that the Taliban viewed as the enemy. Since August 2021, despite a general amnesty announced by the Taliban after its takeover, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that at least 200 former Afghan soldiers and government officials have been killed extrajudicially by the new authority.",Got any news?
+"Marzai is not the only Afghan soldier in India, unable to return home.",Any updates?
+Zaki Marzai displaying his picture when he was hospitalised after the Taliban attack [Luqmaan Zeerak/Al Jazeera] ,What's happening?
+‘We couldn’t return’,What's the latest?
+"Khalil Shamas, a 27-year-old former lieutenant who now works as a waiter at a New Delhi restaurant, arrived in India in 2020 for training at the elite Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun, the hilly capital of India’s northern state of Uttarakhand. By the time he and his colleagues completed the course, the Afghan army had ceased to exist on the ground.",What's the scoop?
+"He says there were about 200 Afghan soldiers training at the IMA. A few returned to Afghanistan. Many others migrated to Iran, Canada, the US and Europe.",Anything noteworthy?
+"But at least 50 of them stayed back in India – unable to get visas to the West, and too scared to return to Afghanistan.",What's going on?
+"Back in India, the difficulties for Afghan soldiers forced to stay in exile worsened after the Afghanistan embassy in New Delhi, their only source of contact and support, stopped funding their stay after the government in Kabul changed. The soldiers are reticent about sharing details of just how the embassy supported them financially.",Any new developments?
+"“Since 2021, we have not received any help from the embassy. We have been left on our own, to fend for ourselves,” says Marzai.",What's the buzz?
+"After exhausting all of his savings and with no help coming, Marzai managed to enrol in a six-month haircutting course and started working in a salon.",Got any headlines?
+"He lives in a two-room apartment with a damp odour, with three other Afghan men in the congested Bhogal area of South Delhi. The paint is peeling off the walls, and dirty quilts are strewn about.",Got any news?
+"Zaki Marzai in his room in Bhogal, New Delhi [Luqmaan Zeerak/Al Jazeera] ",Any updates?
+"Not far from Bhogal, Shamas lives with seven Afghan friends in a small apartment in the city’s Malviya Nagar area. “It is challenging to live in a foreign land without any financial assistance from your government. I had to not only look after myself but also send money back home for my family,” he says.",What's happening?
+"Shamas’s older brother Dost Ali Shamas was a district governor in his hometown, Ghazi, when Taliban fighters killed him in an ambush in 2018. After the incident, the family moved to Kabul in search of a safer environment.",What's the latest?
+"Since 2022, India has also slowly increased its engagement with the Taliban, a group it shunned when it was in power in the 1990s and when it was fighting US-backed forces between 2001 and 2021. In June 2022, the Indian government reopened its Kabul embassy and deployed a team of “technical experts” to manage its mission.",What's the scoop?
+"In November last year, the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, which was led by diplomats appointed by the elected government that the Taliban overthrew, announced that it was shutting down, accusing the Indian government of no longer cooperating with it.",Anything noteworthy?
+"Now, in addition to no longer receiving financial support from the mission, the Afghan soldiers also have nowhere to go for paperwork to authenticate that they were once part of their country’s army.",What's going on?
+"According to a 2023 report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), India is home to more than 15,000 Afghan refugees. Nearly 1,000 of those are Afghans who took shelter in India after the Taliban came to power in 2021.",Any new developments?
+"The report says nearly 1.6 million Afghans have fled the country since 2021, bringing the total number of Afghans in the neighbouring countries to 8.2 million.",What's the buzz?
+Among them is Esmatullah Asil.,Got any headlines?
+"Khalil Shamas, a 27-year-old lieutenant in the former Afghan national army lives in New Delhi, where he works as a waiter in a restaurant [Luqmaan Zeerak/Al Jazeera] ",Got any news?
+‘My dream came crashing down’,Any updates?
+"Asil, another former Afghan soldier, begins his day at 7am. Dressed in a black sports T-shirt and trousers, he hurries to work where young boys and girls wait for his instructions.",What's happening?
+"Asil, 27, is a gym trainer in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, home to hundreds of Afghan migrants who have opened restaurants, shops and pharmacies there.",What's the latest?
+"After finishing his master’s degree in social science from Herat University in western Afghanistan, Asil enrolled in the army and was set to become a lieutenant. “It was my dream to join the army and serve my country. But after the Taliban returned, my dream came crashing down,” he says.",What's the scoop?
+"While at the IMA, Asil used to visit the academy’s gym, where he learned bodybuilding. It was a skill that came in handy when he then sought work at the Lajpat Nagar gym.",Anything noteworthy?
+"“I told the gym owner to give me a chance and worked there for free for six months. If I hadn’t secured the job, I don’t know how I would have survived here,” he says.",What's going on?
+The former Afghan soldiers in India say they are afraid of returning to Afghanistan – they fear they will be targeted for supporting the US-led NATO forces.,Any new developments?
+"Shamas, whose brother was killed by the Taliban, recounts the threats that preceded that assassination.",What's the buzz?
+"“My brother received numerous threatening letters from the Taliban demanding to quit his position before they ultimately killed him,” Shamas recalls.",Got any headlines?
+Marzai has his own demons.,Got any news?
+"He says he still wrestles with nightmares from the “harrowing night” he was ambushed. He instinctively moves his hands and legs in sleep, as if trying to evade the bullets that rained on him years ago.",Any updates?
+"“I sleep alone in a separate room. My roommates are reluctant to sleep beside me. I don’t know whom I will hit in my sleep because I move unconsciously,” he says.",What's happening?
+"Khalil Shamas shows his photo from his IMA training in Dehradun, India. Shamas is wearing his Afghan army uniform in the photo [Luqmaan Zeerak/Al Jazeera] ",What's the latest?
+‘Never tastes like home’,What's the scoop?
+"In their free time, Asil and Shamas visit each other’s homes, recalling with nostalgia their days of hope and dreams at the IMA, where they first met. Conversations often end up veering towards the state of present-day Afghanistan – and the realisation that they need to distract themselves.",Anything noteworthy?
+"“We usually play cards, listen to songs – Afghani and Bollywood – watch movies on Netflix, and on occasions also cook,” Asil says. “My favourite actor is Shah Rukh Khan, and actress is Deepika Padukone,” he adds, laughing, referring to the Bollywood stars.",What's going on?
+"They cook their favourite dishes. Asil prefers kebabs and ashak, pocket-sized dumplings filled with chives, and typically served with yoghurt and a mint seasoning. Shamas has a weakness for kabuli pulao.",Any new developments?
+"“We try our best to cook our favourite dishes. But it never tastes like home,” Shamas said.",What's the buzz?
+And the delicacies of home can’t fill the void of missing out on family functions.,Got any headlines?
+"Shamas’s niece got married in early March, while Asil’s brother was married five months ago. One of Marzai’s older brothers got married in 2022.",Got any news?
+"“I desperately wanted to be there as my brother is no more. But, I couldn’t travel. I watched the wedding through a video call,” Shamas says.",Any updates?
+"Shamas and Asil want to migrate to the US. However, their lack of active service in the Afghan army makes them ineligible to seek asylum, they say.",What's happening?
+"“Because we were still in training and had not yet joined the army in active duty, the US authorities are not considering us for asylum despite the dangerous conditions we face in Afghanistan,” says Shamas.",What's the latest?
+"According to the International Rescue Committee, up to 300,000 Afghans had been associated with US operations in Afghanistan since 2001. Since the withdrawal of the US, approximately 88,500 Afghans have been resettled in the US, according to the US Department of Homeland Security, while thousands more have applied, seeking asylum.",What's the scoop?
+"Asil is trying to move to other countries as well. “Let’s see what God has in store for me. I have no plans to return to Afghanistan. I want to settle in any Western country and later bring my family there as well,” he says.",Anything noteworthy?
+"Marzai is trying to get asylum in Europe or the US. “I am worried about my family. I want to go home but I am afraid of the Taliban. I am hoping that as a serving soldier, I will find a home in the West,” he said.",What's going on?
+"But for now, they must stay in India. And while the Afghan army they once served no longer exists, they can’t get rid of the habits they picked up over years of training.",Any new developments?
+"Whenever Marzai meets a senior ex-officer, he maintains the same routine of discipline and respect he had been trained in, lowering his head and standing at attention while greeting the officer.",What's the buzz?
+"In Marzai’s head, he’s still a soldier.",Got any headlines?
+"Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam – The white-walled room in a house on the outskirts of Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam’s coffee capital, is quiet. The only thing breaking the silence is the occasional beep of an electronic scale, or the sound of coffee being poured into a measuring glass. A handful of people, all wearing white lab coats, concentrate on their work.",Got any news?
+"“This is really a lab,” says Nguyen Van Hoa, as he walks around the room in the white lab coat he wears over his jeans and trainers. A young man, Hoa calls himself a “green bean hunter” and is the owner of Stone Village Lab and Education, a company that researches and sources high-quality coffee beans for cafes and coffee businesses.",Any updates?
+"Now and then, he stops at a desk to demonstrate how many beans to add to each cup and the ideal water temperature. Baristas and cafe owners come here from all over the country to learn about coffee, from the capital Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south.",What's happening?
+"He holds out a cup with a small serving of dark brown coffee brewed from a blend he has been working on for seven years. “It will change the mind of anyone who thinks that you cannot make good coffee from Robusta,” he says.",What's the latest?
+"This – changing the minds of the many Robusta sceptics – is what has occupied Nguyen Van Hoa for the past few years. In the coffee industry, Robusta is known as the inferior sibling of Arabica, lacking the latter’s complexity and sweeter, smoother notes. Robusta is almost always mass-produced and cheap.",What's the scoop?
+"“The Robusta market is only looking for the best price. But we can change that,” Nguyen Van Hoa says.",Anything noteworthy?
+"They must. The Arabica coffee bean which is near-universally synonymous with quality coffee, is under serious threat from climate change. Reforming the image and quality of the much-maligned – but, as its name suggests, resilient – Robusta coffee bean is crucial for the future of coffee.",What's going on?
+"Nguyen Van Hoa – who calls himself a ‘green bean hunter’ – is the owner of Stone Village Lab and Education, which specialises in developing high-quality Robusta coffee, in Vietnam [Jenny Gustafsson/Al Jazeera] ",Any new developments?
+"And Vietnam is where that change may well happen. It is the world’s largest producer of Robusta – and second to Brazil in overall coffee production, and the bean comprises 95-97 percent of all the coffee grown in the country.",What's the buzz?
+This has been the case since French colonists brought coffee plants to the region in the 1850s.,Got any headlines?
+"“The idea was to ‘just bring the beans and the more you bring the more [money] you make’,” explains Timen Swijtink, managing partner at the coffee company Lacaph in Ho Chi Minh City.",Got any news?
+"In the decades that followed, coffee plantations grew in popularity. After Vietnam’s first commercial coffee processing plant was built in 1950, the industry continued to expand.",Any updates?
+"Then, in 1986, Vietnam introduced Doi Moi (“reinvention”), which shifted the country’s post-war economic focus to be more market oriented. Since then, the country’s annual coffee bean production has exploded, up from 18,400 tonnes to more than 1.9 million tonnes.",What's happening?
+"Today, 90 percent of Vietnam’s coffee is grown around Buon Ma Thuot, on the Central Highlands plateau, between 500 metres (1,640 feet) and 800 metres (2,625 feet) above sea level. Here, in every direction, vast fields of bright green coffee plants stretch into the horizon. In the autumn, the small cherries, which are about the size of grapes and grow in bunches, weigh down the branches and change from green to red – a sign that they are ready for harvest.",What's the latest?
+"Workers at Nguyen Van Hoa’s coffee lab in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam’s ‘coffee capital’ [Jenny Gustafsson/Al Jazeera] ",What's the scoop?
+‘The plants are happy together’,Anything noteworthy?
+"Just south of Buon Ma Thuot, not far from Nguyen Van Hoa’s coffee lab, is the Aeroco coffee plantation – eight hectares in size (20 acres) – which Anh Nguyen Tu and her husband, Le Dinh Tu, have run since 2017.",What's going on?
+"Quality is not top of the list for the big, multinational companies that turn the majority of Vietnam’s coffee beans into instant coffee for the soft drink and pharmaceutical companies that use caffeine in their products. Both buy beans cheaply and in bulk.",Any new developments?
+"But at Aeroco, the focus is very much on growing “fine” Robusta. Le Dinh Tu is an agricultural engineer. Before shifting to specialty coffee, the couple provided organic fertilisers to farmers for 18 years.",What's the buzz?
+"“It took three years until we could survive from coffee, there are many costs involved when you want to work in a sustainable way,” says Anh Nguyen Tu.",Got any headlines?
+"Wearing a straw hat as protection from the afternoon sun, she walks out among the plants. She explains the growing process. “We grow in three layers. First grass, then coffee, then trees like jackfruit and pepper. This is to balance the ecosystem. The plants are happy together,” she says.",Got any news?
+"Planting this way benefits both the bushes and the land. It gives the coffee plant much-needed shade, and helps the soil retain its nutrients.",Any updates?
+"A worker harvests coffee cherries at a farm in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam, on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 [Maika Elan/Bloomberg via Getty Images] ",What's happening?
+"Anh Nguyen Tu picks and carefully scratches a pale red cherry with her nail to determine if it is fully ripe. If the beans are harvested too early, the coffee will not have the round and sweet aftertaste typical for quality coffee. “These cherries need a bit more time,” she says, then walks towards an open space where a group of employees are gathering beans which had been laid out on canvases in the sun.",What's the latest?
+"It’s a time-consuming process. To properly dry and ferment the beans, they must be turned every 30 minutes, and then brought indoors in the afternoon. “I had no idea how patient you must be when growing coffee,” says Pham Thi Duyen, one of the workers. She wears a green shirt, just like the others in the team, most of whom are women.",What's the scoop?
+"“I realise it now, when doing it with my own hands,” she says.",Anything noteworthy?
+"Most coffee grown at Aeroco is Robusta. The couple also runs a smaller Arabica plantation in Kon Tum, a couple of hours away, at a slightly higher altitude. Arabica plants need more elevation than Robusta bushes to grow well: at least about 800 metres (2,625 feet) above sea level, but preferably higher, up to 1,500 metres (5,000 feet). At such altitudes, the air is cooler, and the beans grow more slowly, which allows time to develop more flavour.",What's going on?
+"Typically, Robusta beans are mass-produced. Harvesting happens just once, which means many unripe and damaged cherries end up in the mix, and the beans are then left to dry on the ground. At Aeroco, beans are hand-picked multiple times to ensure that only the ripe cherries are picked each time.",Any new developments?
+"The process may lower productivity, “but the quality is incomparable”, Anh Nguyen Tu says.",What's the buzz?
+Anh Nguyen Tu from Aeroco farm examines coffee beans during the production process [Jenny Gustafsson/Al Jazeera] ,Got any headlines?
+"‘Roast it dark, serve it strong’",Got any news?
+"At Cheo Leo, an iconic family-run cafe on a small backstreet in Ho Chi Minh City, a waiter brings out glass after glass with a few centimetres of dark, glimmering coffee.",Any updates?
+"“We roast it dark and serve it strong,” he says.",What's happening?
+"Vietnam has a unique way of brewing coffee called “phin”. First, a perforated metal filter plate is placed on top of a glass or mug. A few tablespoons of finely ground beans are added to the reusable metal brew chamber, which sits on the filter plate. A gravity chamber is pressed down on top of the coffee, before hot water is poured over top. This process allows the coffee to slowly drip downward into the glass, enhancing its flavour.",What's the latest?
+"The dark, aromatic drink can be served either hot (“ca phe nong”) or with ice (“ca phe da”), and often with sweetened, condensed milk.",What's the scoop?
+"Phin coffee is without exception made from Robusta. And because the beans are generally low quality, they’re often roasted with other ingredients – such as butter, soy sauce, sugar or vanilla – to add flavour.",Anything noteworthy?
+"“This started 50-60 years ago, when the country was poor, and no one could afford quality beans. Now, people have gotten used to the taste and still prefer it,” explains Julien Nguyen, the young owner of the cafe Tonkin Cottage in Ho Chi Minh City.",What's going on?
+"Until recently, this was the story of Vietnam’s Robusta. But things are changing.",Any new developments?
+"With some growers now treating the cultivation of Robusta as they would Arabica, the bar is being raised. Countries such as Uganda, India and Indonesia now produce specialty Robusta, with several varieties scoring more than 80 points out of 100 on the Specialty Coffee Association’s chart, the industry’s benchmark. Scoring 80 points or higher on this index classifies a coffee as “specialty” and gives it a rating of “very good”. Higher than 85 is “excellent” while scoring 90 or more is “outstanding”.",What's the buzz?
+Traditional phin coffee being brewed in the street [Jenny Gustafsson/Al Jazeera] ,Got any headlines?
+"Climate change has been a big factor. Robusta tolerates higher temperatures – typically 22 – 30 degrees Celcius (72 – 86 degrees Fahrenheit) – than Arabica – typically 15C – 20C (59 – 68F) – and is more resistant to disease, insects and funguses. Studies have shown that by 2050 as much as 50 percent of the land used to grow Arabica today might be unsuitable for production.",Got any news?
+The global coffee industry will have to transform itself – that means growing Robusta in new locations and producing a higher-quality product.,Any updates?
+"“The industry understands this. But it is also in shock,” says Juan Pablo Solis, senior adviser on climate change and environment at Fairtrade International, which helps farmers and workers achieve better working conditions and fair value for their products. “Everyone is trying to prepare themselves for these challenges.”",What's happening?
+"Coffee’s global landscape may change. “Coffee is a fragile plant that requires a certain micro-climate to thrive. In the future, it will disappear from some countries,” explains Solis.",What's the latest?
+"“People will still demand coffee and some countries will continue producing lower quality coffee in massive volumes,” Solis says. However, he adds, there will also be smaller plantations focused on producing high-quality coffee.",What's the scoop?
+"Research by Global Change Biology, the environmental change journal, shows that production of Arabica is expected to decline by 50 percent by 2088 because of rising global temperatures.",Anything noteworthy?
+"The world is already seeing signs of this. Severe drought in Brazil in 2021, for example, cut the annual crop that year by one-third.",What's going on?
+Robusta will be more resilient to the effects of climate change – although experts caution that more research is needed to understand its limitations.,Any new developments?
+"Coffee shops in Hanoi, Vietnam, where Robusta coffee is produced [Linh Pham/Bloomberg via Getty Images] ",What's the buzz?
+Changing the coffee ‘experience’,Got any headlines?
+"Some cafe owners in Vietnam say there is already a growing demand for higher-end coffee from younger drinkers. “Specialty coffee is a youth culture here,” says Luong Hanh, the manager of Soul Coffee in Buon Ma Thuot. Wearing an oversized white shirt, she sits at the long bar at the centre of the airy cafe, which has drinks like lychee- or guava-flavoured cold brew on the menu.",Got any news?
+"Besides drinks brewed with Arabica, it also serves coffee made with local Robusta beans.",Any updates?
+"“We want to see more fine Robusta in Vietnam. In the past, it was bitter and not very good. Now, we can find beans that were picked when ripe and kept in the right temperature and humidity,” she says.",What's happening?
+"“People who like specialty coffee usually say that Robusta is bitter and has a too-heavy body. But they are changing their minds after coffee shops started serving good Robusta,” she says.",What's the latest?
+"It’s also about the coffee experience. At SHIN Heritage in Ho Chi Minh City, iced coffee is served in oversized wine glasses to a business crowd. At 43 Factory Coffee Roaster, in the same city, a massive art installation at the entrance simulates a bird’s view of coffee plantations. And Lacaph, another cafe in Ho Chi Minh City, holds workshops for java enthusiasts on the history of Vietnamese coffee.",What's the scoop?
+"In the past five years, coffee consumption in Asia has increased by 1.5 percent – three times more than in Europe.",Anything noteworthy?
+"This has benefitted local players in Vietnam. Instead of Starbucks or Costa Coffee, local giants Phuc Long or Highlands Coffee occupy prime locations. Starbucks has only one outlet per one million people in Vietnam, in contrast to neighbouring Thailand or Malaysia, where the chain has between six and 11 outlets per one million people.",What's going on?
+"Vietnamese coffee is growing abroad, too. Cong Caphe, a popular chain styled with Vietcong memorabilia, has outlets in Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and, as of last year, Toronto.",Any new developments?
+"Back in Buon Ma Thuot, Nguyen Van Hoa takes out a book from one of her shelves – the World Atlas of Coffee, which has a chapter on Vietnam. “This book changed my mind. It says that Vietnamese coffee is bad, which made me want to change the image of our coffee,” he says. “I want to show that it is possible to make great phin. It is our tradition,” he says.",What's the buzz?
+"But no rush. Change is a slow process, he says. Just like brewing phin coffee.",Got any headlines?