African food prices soaring amid Ukraine war

The war in Ukraine is having a drastic impact on Africa. Prices for wheat, gas and gasoline are at record highs. Crisis regions could see things get worse than they already are.



In many African countries, the price of basic commodities has doubled

Every morning, the operators of a small kiosk located in an informal neighborhood in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, bake fresh chapati — a popular flatbread.

Chapatis usually cost around 20 shillings (€0.17/$0.17). However, customers can hardly afford it anymore. "Chapati costs twice as much now. Life has become extremely expensive," one customer at the kiosk complained.

Samuel Mose, who heads the small bakery, told DW, that, though prices for wheat flour and sunflower oil have been rising for some time, things are getting worse because of Russia's war on Ukraine.

"We are following the war because we need to know what is happening. Some of the products we use come from those two countries," Mose said.

In Kenya, about one-third of imported wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine. The price increase on the world market is also being felt by the Kenafric wholesale bakery in Nairobi, which produces bread for supermarkets.

"The situation is worrying, not only because of the price, but also because of availability," said Kenafric's manager, Keval Shah.

He regretted that many suppliers had already reduced their contracted quantities because of force majeure.

The 2022 Kenya Economic Survey found that most Kenyans are increasingly turning to their savings and loans to meet the rising cost of living.

Teresa Anderson, the international climate policy coordinator at the nongovernmental organization Actionaid, told DW that many African economies are still reeling from the pandemic, climate change, humanitarian emergencies, or political and economic unrest. The effects of the Ukraine war have exacerbated the situation, she said.

Many low-income earners in Kenya are struggling to cope with rising food prices

Zimbabwe: Gasoline price triples

The global rise in prices is being felt more acutely in Africa than in other parts of the world, Anderson said. "Mothers are skipping meals, going hungry," she said. "Many can no longer pay school fees, are working and dropping out of school."

"In Zimbabwe, the price of gasoline has more than tripled, as has the price of cooking gas," Anderson said. "The price of noodles has more than doubled."

Anderson said many countries were already in a supply crisis. "But, if nothing changes, we could be facing a famine of unimagined proportions," she said.

"The situation is particularly extreme in the Horn of Africa, where 20 million people are already suffering severe hunger because of the ongoing drought," Anderson said.

The war in Ukraine is having a heavier impact on food security in Africa than in many other regions

Hunger in the Horn of Africa

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) assessment is similarly worrying. In East Africa, prices have skyrocketed because of livestock deaths and crop yields far below the long-term average, said Petroc Wilton, the WFP's spokesman in Somalia.

Wilton said the lack of wheat supplies from Ukraine had aggravated the food crisis.

A humanitarian disaster is brewing in Somalia, according to the WFP. About 6 million people are affected by acute food insecurity, including 1.4 million children. If aid agencies do not receive additional funding, there could be a famine within months.

Hirsiyow Idolo Mohamed has already felt the full force of the crisis. The Somali woman left her impoverished village with her three children and struggled for 15 days on foot through the hot desert with little water and food.

Two of her children did not survive the arduous walk to the newly built camp for displaced people near the town of Dollow, in the Gedo region of southern Somalia.

Farmers flee drought and bombings

"We walked and walked, and my son was very thirsty and exhausted. He asked me many times: 'Mommy, water, mommy, water.' He started gasping, but there was not a drop of water I could give him," Idolo Mohamed told DW.

The 8-year-old died upon arrival at the camp. He had been weakened from the journey and suffered from a severe cough.

According to the WFP, more than 500,000 people left their homes this year alone because of the drought.

In West Africa, the security situation is also hampering food supplies. For example, farmers could not cultivate their fields because of attacks by the terrorist organization Boko Haram.

Insecurity in northern Nigeria has hampered grain farmers

Alarm bells ringing

For Assalama Dawalack Sidi, regional director of the international charity organization Oxfam in Niger, action is urgently needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

"This is an alarm signal for the world," Sidi said. "We are witnessing 27 million people in West Africa being affected by the worst food crisis in the past decade," he said, adding that the number could rise to 38 million people if nothing is done.

Yet wheat wouldn't have to be in short supply as there are significant reserves.

Experts estimate that China, for example, has about half of the world's wheat stocks in its warehouses. However, they fear that the People's Republic could exploit the global food crisis by using grain to get concessions.

"China has enough reserves to support poorer countries in Africa with food supplies," Hendrik Mahlkow, of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, told DW. The Communist Party could thereby increase its economic influence in Africa.

Marion Betjen, Mariel Müller (Somalia) and Flourish Chukwurah (Nigeria) contributed to this article.

Ukrainian TikTok star Valeria Shashenok chronicles life during war

A 20-year-old TikTok artist, who has made viral videos about life in an underground bomb shelter in Ukraine, now has more than 1 million followers.

The sign, addressed to Russian soldiers, reads: 'This is the way to your grave'

Wearing a hoodie that reads "Future," Valeria Shashenok waves into the Zoom camera. She had arrived in the Italian city of Milan a few weeks ago, where she has settled in with an Italian family. Until she fled Ukraine, she hid with her parents in a basement in Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine near the border with Russia.

"My mother came into my room on February 24, and said: 'Valeria! A bomb has hit Kyiv and destroyed a building!'" Shashenok says. She and her parents reacted quickly. They packed the most important things and moved to her father's old office in the basement. At the time, he was running a restaurant in the building, and had just renovated the basement, installing a shower and toilets. Shashenok spent 17 days there. "It was very boring," the 20-year-old says, adding that she was lucky to have Wi-Fi and a smartphone.

Valeria Shashenok now lives in Italy with a family

TikTok and the outside world

Shashenok is a digital native: a member of Gen Z who grew up with Instagram and TikTok. Social media was her window on the world. But then things changed: The world wanted to know what was going on in her country.

At the time, the phrase "things that just make sense in ..." was trending on the social media network. Participating users showed unusual things in their cities or homes that only made sense in the local context. Shashenok joined the trend and showed users her daily life in the bunker.

Using her sharp wit, she showed things that made sense only in a bomb shelter: using a hot-air gun to dry her hair, what breakfast looked like underground and how traditional dishes such as Syrniki — a type of pancake made with cottage cheese — could be prepared without a stove. Her videos met with enthusiastic response. The 20-year-old now has 1.1 million followers, and her most successful video has been clicked more than 48 million times.

Subtle black humor plays a central role not just in Valeria's videos; memes from Ukrainian channels have become popular in the wake of the war.

"I like black humor. It helps one get through absurd times," Shashenok says. "Humor is a part of our Ukrainian culture. People in Ukraine really believe that the war will end soon, that we will win. They want to stay optimistic — nothing else remains for them." And, thus, Shashenok jokes that life in an underground shelter also has its positive side: A lack of cow's milk now means that she is using oat milk as a healthy alternative.

Ukrainians have responded to the invasion with humor in nondigital contexts, as well. Large billboards stand on the streets in some cities bearing messages in Russian script that translate to "Russian warship, f*** you."

Escape from the shelter

After spending 17 days in the underground shelter and after Russian forces began intensifying their attacks, Shashenok decided to escape. Her parents remained in Cherniv while she arrived in Italy via Poland and Germany. She has been living with a family for a week now.

Shashenok as a child with her mother

Shashenok is in touch with friends and family in her home country. She speaks with her parents every day, more with her mother, less with her father. "He is so nervous," she says. "He has nothing to do all day and screams at me over the telephone, not because he wants to scold me, but because he is at his wits' end. He's losing it."

She's also in touch with Anton, a friend. He wanted to escape, too, but was unsuccessful. A law prohibits men aged 18 to 60 from leaving Ukraine. Anton has signed up for the army and is a guard at a military unit, Shashenok says.

At the end of March, Shashenok learned from her mother that her cousin was hit by a bomb and died from the injuries. "What is Russia doing in my country?" says Shashenok, who grew up speaking Russian. "I ask myself every day. Putin says he wants to protect us from the Ukrainian government. Excuse me, what? We had a perfect life: We don't want to be protected by Russia."

Shashenok has been documenting the war

Plans for the future

Like all Ukrainians, Shashenok hopes that the war will end soon. She wants to return. "I miss my country," she says. "When the war is over, I'll go back."

Starting this week, Shashenok is on a reading tour. Her book, "24. Februar: Und der Himmel war nicht mehr blau" (Feburary 24: And the Sky Was No Longer Blue), has just been published in German, compiling photographs and her experiences after Russia invaded Ukraine.

"I am dedicating this book to the Russians, in the hope that they will understand what they have done to us," she says. But she is not convinced herself. Some do not want to understand, while others are afraid to speak against it. But she wants to continue, and not only on TikTok and Instagram: Valeria Shashenok works with aid organizations in Cherniv and wants to use her popularity to raise funds to reconstruct her city.

This article was originally written in German.

McDonald's announces it's leaving Russia entirely after 3 decades

The fast-food giant has said it was leaving because of the "unpredictable operating environment" and "humanitarian" reasons. McDonald's was quick to set up shop in the Soviet Union in the waning embers of the Cold War.



McDonald's will no longer serve its Russian customers, after over 30 years of business

America's fast-food giant McDonald's rolled out on Monday the process to sell its hundreds of restaurants in Russia, joining scores of Western companies who are exiting the Russian market amid international sanctions.

"The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment, have led McDonald's to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable," the Chicago-based company said.

McDonald's had already announced the temporary closure of its some 850 restaurants in Russia in March, soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But Monday's move draws the curtain on the company's activities in Russia for good, after more than 30 years of operation.

The company said it was looking for a Russian buyer to hire its 62,000 employees and pay them until the sale is finalized. It has yet to identify a potential buyer.

McDonald's opening day in Moscow in 1990 drew enormous crowds and queues

McDonald's first restaurant in Russia opened in the middle of Moscow over three decades ago, soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall and before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Many at the time saw this as a symbol of the melting Cold War tensions between the US and the Soviet Union.

Values and 'commitment to global community'

In a statement, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski addressed the difficulty the company faced when making the decision to leave, saying that McDonald's felt a "dedication and loyalty" to the tens of thousands of employees and hundreds of Russian suppliers.

"However, we have a commitment to our global community and must remain steadfast in our values. And our commitment to our values means that we can no longer keep the arches shining there," he said.

The global fast-food chain' unmistakable "arches" (two in yellow combining to make an M shape), which have long served as the restaurant's trademark brand, will no longer be available for use after the sale, alongside the McDonald's name, logo or menu.

Yet one company in Russia is trying to keep that logo, only with a small change. A company calling itself Uncle Vanya, after the Chekov play, is trying to trademark the McDonald's arches turned on their side to create what looks like a B in the Roman alphabet but represents a V sound in Russian, to symbolize the name Uncle Vanya. The company is thought to be a likely candidate to seek to purchase some or all McDonald's facilities in Russia.

rmt/msh (dpa, AP, AFP)

Dozens hurt in clashes at Palestinian funeral in Jerusalem

• AFP
•  May 17, 2022

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Walid al-Sharif in front of the Dome of the Rock mosque at the Al-Aqsa compound

Jerusalem – More than 70 Palestinians were wounded in overnight clashes with Israeli forces at a Jerusalem funeral, Palestinian medics said Tuesday, in unrest that police said included “violent riots” which threatened officers’ lives.

The unrest unfolded as Palestinians were burying Walid al-Sharif, 23, who died on Saturday of wounds suffered during clashes last month at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the injuries occurred “during clashes with occupation forces”, with Israeli police firing rubber bullets and stun grenades, in and around Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem’s Old City.

Sharif’s body was carried by mourners across the Al-Aqsa compound and brought through the Old City’s Herod Gate, before burial at a nearby cemetery.

Police said “violent disturbances occurred both during and after the funeral, including in the cemetery itself.” Six officers were injured.

Israeli “forces acted resolutely against hundreds of lawbreakers and violent rioters who… took violent actions against the forces endangering their lives,” a police statement said.

Palestinians were “hurling stones, bottles, bricks and other heavy objects, as well as firing fireworks at the forces,” it added.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club advocacy group said more than 50 people were arrested.

Police put the arrest figure at 15.

The clashes erupted days after a police raid on the funeral procession of veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank.

Palestinians and the TV network said Israeli troops killed her, while Israel said Palestinian gunfire may have been to blame.

Anger over her death was compounded Friday when baton-wielding Israeli police in annexed east Jerusalem beat pallbearers carrying Abu Akleh’s coffin which was covered by a Palestinian flag.

Israeli police have said they will investigate the raid carried out by officers on the funeral procession as Abu Akleh’s body emerged from St. Joseph’s, a Catholic hospital in east Jerusalem.

The chaotic incident has been strongly condemned around the world, including by the United States, European Union, United Nations and the Vatican.

Chile redeploys army to restive southern region


Soldiers are deployed to Temuco in Araucania in October last year 

(AFP/Mario QUILODRAN)

Tue, May 17, 2022, 1:10 AM·1 min read

Chile ordered the redeployment of its military to the Araucania region in the south of the country Monday, in the face of mounting violence linked to territorial claims by the Mapuche indigenous group.

"We have decided to use all tools to guarantee security," said interior minister Izkia Siches after announcing the move.

Soldiers were deployed to Araucania and to towns in the neighboring Biobio region in October last year on the orders of conservative then-president Sebastian Pinera.

New leader Gabriel Boric promised to withdraw the soldiers while campaigning for the presidency earlier this year and the process began on March 27.


But after attempting in vain to win approval from Congress for an "intermediate" deployment -- and in the face of a surge in arson -- he was forced to reimpose emergency measures.

Siches said the government would pursue a policy of dialogue with the Mapuche community and continue its land purchases in the area while maintaining the state of emergency.

Some communities in southern Chile have for decades demanded the return of lands they argue belong to them by virtue of ancestral rights -- lands which are mainly held by forestry companies and farmers.

Radical indigenous groups have claimed responsibility for some attacks in the area, though there are also reports of vigilante groups dedicated to lumber theft and petty crime operating in the region.

pa/gm/mlb/ob/oho/axn

Waiting for the water train in scorching India



A local pond near Pali that was long the main source of water for both residents and their livestock has been dry for almost two years (AFP/Prakash SINGH)More

Aishwarya KUMAR
Tue, May 17, 2022, 

Afroz misses school every day to spend hours waiting with a handcart full of containers for a special train bringing precious water to people suffering a heatwave in India's desert state of Rajasthan.

Temperatures often exceed 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) here, but this year the heat came early in what many experts say is more proof of climate change making life unbearable for India's 1.4 billion people.

"It's always been very hot here and we have always struggled for water," Afroz, 13, told AFP as he waited in Pali district for the second time that day for the special train.

"But I don't remember filling up containers in April."

For more than three weeks now, the 40-wagon train -- carrying some 2 million litres -- has been the only source of water for thousands of people in the district.

- Untreated -

Every day, dozens of people -- mostly women and children -- jostle with blue plastic jerry cans and metal pots to fill from hoses gushing water out of the army-green train into an underground tank.

Water has been dispatched by train to Pali before, but according to local railway officials, the shortage this year was already critical in April so they started early.

The wagons -- filled in Jodhpur, around 65 kilometres (40 miles) away -- are first emptied into cement storage tanks, from which the water is sent to a treatment plant for filtering and distribution.

But for Afroz's family and many others like them, life is easier if they fill directly from the storage tanks, despite the water being untreated.

That their children skip school at times to ensure there is water in the house is what hits the families the most.

"I can't ask the breadwinner of the family to help me. Otherwise, we'll be struggling for both food and water," Afroz's mother Noor Jahan said as she filled up an aluminium pot.

"It is affecting my child's education, but what do I do? I cannot carry all these containers on my own," she told AFP.

- Cracked feet -

Hundreds of millions of people in South Asia have been sweltering in an early summer heatwave in recent weeks, with India seeing its warmest March on record.

In India and Pakistan, "more intense heat waves of longer durations and occurring at a higher frequency are projected", the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a recent landmark report.

The "cascading impacts" of heatwaves on agricultural output, water, energy supplies and other sectors are already apparent, World Meteorological Organization chief Petteri Taalas said this month.

On Friday, India banned wheat exports -- needed to help fill a supply gap due to the Ukraine war -- in part due to the heat wilting crops.

Together, high humidity and heat can create "wet-bulb temperatures" so vicious that sweating no longer cools people down, potentially killing a healthy adult within hours.

"I have already made three trips from my house in the last one hour. And I'm the only one who can do it," said Laxmi, another woman collecting water, pointing to cracks on her feet.

"We have no direct water to our homes and it is so hot. What are we supposed to do if something happens to us while we walk up and down to fetch water?"

- 'Extreme depletion' -

In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an ambitious Jal Jeevan (Water Life) Mission, promising a functional tap connection to all households in rural India by 2024.

But less than 50 percent of the population has access to safely managed drinking water, according to UNICEF, with two-thirds of India's 718 districts affected by "extreme water depletion".

A little further from Pali, 68-year-old Shivaram walked on the cracked bottom of a dried-out pond in Bandai village, his bright-pink turban protecting his head from the scorching sun.

The pond -- which was the main source of water for both residents and their animals – has been dry for almost two years because of low rainfall. The shells of dead turtles litter the cracked mud.

"Farmers have been severely impacted," Shivaram said. "Some of our animals have died too."

ash/stu/smw/qan

'Dancing, not war': Signs of normality in Ukraine's shattered Kharkiv

'Dancing, not war': Signs of normality in Ukraine's shattered KharkivTowering apartment blocks were shelled by Russian troops (AFP/Dimitar DILKOFF)

Patrick FORT
Tue, May 17, 2022, 2:07 AM·4 min read



Three women plant flowers on a roundabout in central Kharkiv, while not far away men fill sandbags for a defensive barrier on the north of the city, the side closest to Russia.

It is a stark illustration of how people in the war-battered city in the north east are attempting to recapture some essence of normal life, even though Russian aggression lurks not far away.

Kharkiv, the regional capital, has been battered by the conflict, enduring an assault by Moscow's forces lasting several days and fighting in its suburbs, before weathering regular salvoes of shelling.

But the noose around Ukraine's second-largest city has been loosening in recent days, even as the war rages elsewhere.

However, much local infrastructure has been ruined and many residents have yet to return.

"We are trying to keep the city alive," a city hall spokeswoman told AFP.

The city of 1.5 million people in peacetime "is huge and some people can't move or go to work without buses", she said, explaining that some routes had restarted.

The spokeswoman said the mayor had neither encouraged nor dissuaded residents from returning.

"The situation is different in every district," she said.

At Kharkiv's railway station, many people who fled in February at the start of Russia's invasion are returning.

Some areas have been hard hit.

In the northeastern Saltivka district, towering apartment blocks were shelled by Russian troops who came from Belgorod, a Russian town on the other side of the border.

- 'State of shock' -

Cashier Iana, 49, and her husband contemplate the damage to their flat that now overlooks a void since the facade was blasted away.

Iana's husband entered through the roof, lowering himself down with a rope.

"He got in and it was horrible," she said.

"Even the rescue services told us that it will be demolished. When rescue workers climbed up to eighth floor, they said that the floor and the walls were shaking."

"I don't want to leave Kharkiv. I was born here and my son grew up here... Our parents received this house in 1975.

"Obviously we can't leave it to our children. We must overcome this ordeal and continue to live. What else can we do?"

Oleksandr Vendland, a 45-year-old widower, visits his ravaged apartment, including the bedroom of his two daughters aged eight and 14.

A pink bag, a large stuffed toy and child's drawings now speckle the rubble.

Vendland, who sent his daughters to family in Germany, said it would now be "impossible" for children to live in the city.

"They need food, education. There is nothing here. No medicine. It is very hard to find it," he said, calling for outside aid to ensure the city's survival.

He complained that only volunteers were visible in Kharkiv, demanding to know where government support was.

 

- 'Symbol of Kharkiv' -

Sporadic gunfire continues to hit the area, causing unease among the returned residents, Vendland said.

Water leaks from pipes shattered by explosions. Electricity, gas and water technicians work around the clock to restore utilities.

"No holidays in times of war!" said Sergei Oleshko, an electrical engineer working on fallen power lines.

"We're not soldiers but here we are! We're a bit scared with the shelling continuing."

In the city centre, helmeted architects and experts sporting bullet-proof vests are already assessing the local government headquarters, blueprints and hammers in hand.

Located on the central Freedom Square, the monumental 1950s building was struck by a missile on March 1. The video of the powerful strike was seen worldwide.

"We were evacuated before, thank God," said Konstantin Isayev, 46, a manager as he visited his former office while workers cleared rubble nearby.

Isayev said he has resumed work elsewhere but that he hoped to return to the ravaged site soon.

"For now, we only do expert evaluations," said Anatoliy Butenko.

"We look for all the damage. I think we will not be able to restore it in one year. I think it will take up to two... It's the symbol of Kharkiv."

Before a night-time curfew comes into force, music-lovers gather at a cultural centre for a concert -- the first in the city in months.

"We want to dance every day. We want to come back to slow dancing, not war," said Yevgen, a guitarist in a local ska band.

 

US urges India to reverse ban on wheat exports

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington's top diplomat to the UN, said India's wheat export ban would worsen global shortages 

(AFP/SPENCER PLATT) 

Tue, May 17, 2022,
The United States hopes India will reverse its ban on wheat exports, Washington's top diplomat to the United Nations said Monday, warning the move would worsen global shortages of the commodity.

"We're encouraging countries not to restrict exports because we think any restrictions on exports will exacerbate the food shortages," Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a ministerial gathering on food security ahead of a meeting of the UN Security Council.

The UN meeting -- to be chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- will include Vellamvelly Muraleedharan, India's minister of state for external affairs.

India holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

"We hope that (India) can, as they hear the concerns being raised by other countries, that they would reconsider that position," Thomas-Greenfield said.

India, the world's second-largest producer of wheat, on Saturday announced it would ban exports without special authorisation from the government in the face of falling production caused primarily by an extreme heatwave.

New Delhi -- which had previously pledged to supply wheat to countries once dependent on exports from Ukraine -- said it wanted to ensure "food security" for India's 1.4 billion people.

Blinken is on Wednesday set to hold another UN meeting also related to food security.

That session aims to "bring countries together to look at what countries might be able to help fill the gap" in wheat supplies caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- two major exporters of the commodity, said Thomas-Greenfield.

The talks would also identify "countries who need the support from countries who can fill the gap," she added.

The United States could be included in these countries, she said, adding that discussions were already underway with American farmers on the topic.

Wheat prices hit a record high in the European market Monday in the wake of India's decision.

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/05/india-ban-on-wheat-exports-anti-farmer.html

French city allows burkinis in swimming pools in controversial change

The French city of Grenoble on Monday authorised the wearing of the so-called "burkini" by Muslim women in state-run swimming pools, reigniting one of France's most contentious debates on religious dress.

© Fethi Belaid, AFP

The all-in-one swimsuit, used by some Muslim women to cover their bodies and hair while bathing, has become a controversial talking point during the holiday season in recent years.

Seen as a symbol of creeping Islamism by its critics and an affront to France's secular traditions, many right-wingers and some feminists would like to ban it outright.

It is prohibited in most state-run pools -- for hygiene, not religious reasons -- where strict swimwear rules apply to all, including men who are required to wear tight-fitting trunks.

The move applies across the board, meaning men will able to wear long shorts and women can also bathe topless in the Alpine city's pools.

Grenoble's mayor, Eric Piolle, one of the country's highest profile Green politicians who leads a broad left-wing coalition at the city council, has championed the move but run into a fierce campaign of opposition.

He managed to rally enough votes at a city council meeting to approve the measure, despite not having the support of his own EELV party which distanced itself from the measure.

It was carried by the slimmest of margins with 29 votes for, 27 against and 2 abstentions after two-and-a-half hours of tense debates.

"All we want is for women and men to be able to dress how they want," Piolle told broadcaster RMC Monday.

Opponents see it differently, including the influential conservative head of the wider Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez, who has promised to withdraw funding from the city.

"I am convinced that what Mr Piolle is defending is a dreadful dead-end for our country," Wauquiez said at the beginning of May, accusing him of "doing deals with political Islam" to "buy votes".

At the council meeting the former right-wing mayor Alain Carignon urged a local referendum on the issue.

"You can't force through such a sensitive subject. You have no legitimacy, you weren't elected for that," he said.

'Harm to Republican values'

The regional spat has put the burkini back in the headlines nationally, animating French talk shows and the political class ahead of parliamentary elections next month.

The issue of how people dress for the pool touches on highly sensitive topics in France, including fears about the influence of Islam and threats to the country's cherished secularism.

"It seems to me that [mayor Piolle] doesn't realise the harm he is doing to our Republican values," Prisca Thevenot, a spokeswoman for President Emmanuel Macron's party, told Radio J on Monday.

"This would be breaking with the rules to respond to political desires based on religion," she added.

Attempts by several local mayors in the south of France to ban the burkini on Mediterranean beaches in the summer of 2016 kicked off the first firestorm around the bathing suit.

The rules, introduced after a string of terror attacks in France, were eventually struck down as discriminatory.

Three years later, a group of women in Grenoble caused a splash by forcing their way into a pool with burkinis, leading the prime minister at the time to insist that the rules should be followed.

French sports brand Decathlon also found itself at the centre of a similar row in 2019 when it announced plans to sell a "sports hijab" enabling Muslim women to cover their hair while running.

Grenoble is not be the first to change its rules, however.

The northwestern city of Rennes quietly updated its pool code in 2019 to allow burkinis and other types of swimwear.

The debate about the burkini comes as French Muslim women footballers are battling to overturn a ban on the wearing of religious symbols during competitive matches.

The French Football Federation currently prevents players from playing while wearing "ostentatious" religious symbols such as the Muslim hijab or the Jewish kippa.

A women's collective known as "les Hijabeuses" launched a legal challenge to the rules in November last year.

(AFP)

COMMODITY FETISHISM

Macklowe art collection becomes most expensive ever sold at auction


Andy Warhol’s “Self Portrait” during a press preview on May 6, 2022 for the Macklowe Collection at Sotheby's in New York 

(AFP/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

Mon, May 16, 2022, 8:02 PM·1 min read

The famed Macklowe collection, subject of a bitter divorce battle between a New York property developer and his ex-wife, became the most expensive art collection ever sold at auction Monday.

Sotheby's sold its second offering of works from the collection for $246.1 million, bringing the total value of the group of paintings to $922.2 million, a spokesman told AFP.

That exceeds the $835.1 million that the Rockefeller collection sold for in 2018, then the highest total ever made by a single private collection at auction.

Among the highlights of Monday evening's sale were Mark Rothko's "Untitled," which fetched $48 million and Gerhard Richter's "Seestück"", which went for $30.2 million.

Andy Warhol's "Self Portrait" sold for $18.7 million while Willem de Kooning's "Untitled" went for $17.8 million.

Sotheby's won the rights to sell the Macklowe works back in September. It sold 35 of the pieces in November for $676.1 million before selling the remaining 30 on Monday.

Sotheby's had described the paintings as the "most significant collection of modern and contemporary art to ever appear on the market."

During divorce proceedings, Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda had been unable to agree on how much the vast collection was worth.

A New York judge ruled in 2018 that the they should sell all 65 works and split the profits.

pdh/jh