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A historic drought in the country has culminated in a ‘100 percent drop in precipitation’ in the Tehran region.

The main source of drinking water for residents of the Iranian capital Tehran is at risk of running dry within two weeks, according to state media, due to a historic drought plaguing the country.

The Amir Kabir Dam, one of five that provide drinking water for Tehran, “holds just 14 million cubic metres of water, which is eight percent of its capacity”, the director of the capital’s water company, Behzad Parsa, was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency on Sunday.

At that level, it can only continue to supply Tehran with water “for two weeks”, he warned.

The announcement comes as the country experiences its worst drought in decades. The level of rainfall in Tehran province was “nearly without precedent for a century”, a local official declared last month.

The megacity of more than 10 million people is nestled against the southern slopes of the often snow-capped Alborz Mountains, which soar as high as 5,600 metres (18,370 feet) and whose rivers feed multiple reservoirs.

A year ago, the Amir Kabir dam held back 86 million cubic metres of water, Parsa said, but there had been a “100 percent drop in precipitation” in the Tehran region.

Parsa did not provide details on the status of the other reservoirs in the system.

According to Iranian media, the population of Tehran consumes around three million cubic metres of water each day.

As a water-saving measure, supplies have reportedly been cut off to several neighbourhoods in recent days, while outages were frequent this summer.

In July and August, two public holidays were declared to save water and energy, with power cuts an almost daily occurrence amid a heatwave that saw temperatures rise beyond 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Tehran and exceed 50C (122F) in some areas.

“The water crisis is more serious than what is being discussed today,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned at the time.

Water scarcity is a major issue throughout Iran, particularly in arid provinces in the country’s south, with shortages blamed on mismanagement and overexploitation of underground resources, as well as the growing impact of climate change.

Iran’s neighbour Iraq is experiencing its driest year on record since 1993, as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which flow into the Persian Gulf from West Asia, have seen their levels drop by up to 27 percent due to poor rainfall and upstream water restrictions, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis in the country’s south.

For Scott Smith, the cuts to the Corporation For Public Broadcasting are existential.

He is the general manager of Allegheny Mountain Radio, which he runs alongside programme manager Heather Nidly. The funds were slashed as part of United States President Donald Trump’s vast tax cut and spending bill that was signed into law in July. As a result, the station, which has been on air for more than four decades, lost 65 percent of its funding.

“We are here to serve our communities and to fulfill our mission of giving them news, giving them entertainment, giving them emergency alerts and giving them school closings. We do lost and found pet notices. We do funeral announcements. We have a listing of community events that is read multiple times a day. We do weather forecasts. We’re a critical part of the community,” Smith told Al Jazeera.

The rescissions bill that Trump signed allows the US Congress to claw back funding that had been approved and pulls back $9bn in funding, including $1bn from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CFB). At the end of September, those funds officially dried up.

The money had already been allocated by the previous Congress to fund public media for 2026 and 2027. Now stations are scrambling to find ways to fill the holes.

The Trump administration has gone after news organisations that have presented any critical coverage of him, including the Wall Street Journal, after its coverage of a suggestive letter purportedly written by Trump to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday. In September, he tried to sue The New York Times for allegedly being a “virtual mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party.

His leverage over public media is significant because that is partially funded by federal tax dollars. The White House first signed an executive order to defund public media in May. That was quickly blocked because funding decisions are made by Congress, not the White House.

Next, Trump pressured Congressional Republicans to put forth the rescissions bill that fulfilled the mission of his previous executive order. To justify his call for cuts, in May, the White House released a list of segments from NPR and PBS programmes that it says had liberal bias, as it included many segments about the experience of the trans community.

The White House also cited a report alleging PBS favoured Democrats. That report was from the openly partisan Media Research Center, which has a stated goal to promote conservative values.

A key, but overlooked, problem with the cuts is that they overwhelmingly harm stations that do not even cover the White House or much national politics at all.

Allegheny Mountain Radio (AMR) is one of those stations. Comprising three affiliates for three counties straddling the West Virginia and Virginia border, on their airwaves, listeners will find gospel, folk and country music, as well as coverage of local football games and town hall meetings.

AMR carries NPR’s national newscast and, more importantly, serves as the on-the-ground voice when severe weather hits.

Unlike in other regions of the county, there is no other alternative to get real-time local news. The nearest local news station is several hours away, separated by winding country roads. When there’s severe weather, AMR is the only way locals get vital information like road closure announcements because of floodwaters.

“Just a few years ago, we had a deluge of rain coming down and flooding parts of the county. At that point, when something like that happens, the radio station really is the only way to get that information out quickly to our listeners and let them know where it’s happening,” AMR programme manager Nidly told Al Jazeera.

AMR is in a part of the country where cellphone signal and wireless access are sparse because of its proximity to what is called the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) near the Green Bank Observatory, which limits the use of radio frequency and other signal methods so that they do not interfere with their equipment. This requires special equipment to point radio signals away from the observatory.

With the region’s low population density, there’s a limited business case for a station. But there is a case for public service. The community depends on AMR for emergency alerts – even on a personal level. During major storms, Smith said, people have shown up at their stations when their phones stopped working, asking if AMR could broadcast a message to let their family and friends know they were safe.

Despite their strong community focus, these stations may not benefit from the same level of donor support seen by larger public stations across the country, due to limited local enterprise and resources.

It is trying. In order to stay afloat, the station is actively soliciting donations on its website.

While small community stations – like those serving Bath and Pocahontas Counties in West Virginia, and Highland County, Virginia, through AMR – don’t produce national newscasts or air segments that ruffle feathers in Washington, they are still the ones that are most at risk of being hit hardest.

“Small stations like ours are the ones who will suffer because of these cuts. We feel like we are the baby that got thrown out with the bathwater because there’s so much emphasis on the talking points around NPR and PBS. It’s like the rest of us, the small community stations, have absolutely been forgotten in this equation,” Smith told Al Jazeera.

The cuts, however, hit stations across the US in big markets too. WNYC in New York City lost 4 percent of its funding. WBUR in Boston, San Francisco’s KLAW, and KERA in Dallas, Texas, all saw 5 percent cuts.

Stations like these have large donor bases or “listeners like you”, as their hosts say during pledge drives. Big market stations might be able to make up the difference, says Alex Curley, a former product manager at NPR who recently launched a platform called Adopt A Station, which shows which public media stations are at most risk of losing funding.

“When you think about stations that rely on federal funding for 50 percent or more of their revenue, it’s not because they’re asking for a handout. It’s a literal public service for those stations,” Curley told Al Jazeera.

But in counties where the population is sparse and industry is limited, that donor base is not as plentiful. That’s the case with AMR.

“We are in a very rural area. We are an area where there are not a whole lot of businesses. So that amount of income simply cannot be made up through extra donations or extra underwriting,” Smith added.

In a July Substack post, Curley, who was involved in NPR station finances until he left the network in 2024 amid layoffs, said that 15 percent of stations are at risk of closure. His website has provided some reprieve.

“I only expected maybe a few dozen people to visit the site. My biggest hope was to get a couple of donations that went towards a station at risk. It’s [the website] been shared thousands of times. I’ve even heard from stations that were identified as being at risk of closing. They told me they’re getting an influx of donations from out of state through the site. It’s been an incredible response,” Curley said.

However, he argues, this is a temporary fix.

“The real danger will be in six months, a year, two years, when people have forgotten about public media. These stations basically are losing federal funding forever. Donations in the short term are really great, but in the long term, they’re going to have to figure out ways to keep donors engaged and to keep donations flowing to them, or they might close,” Curley added.

“Public radio is also a lifeline, connecting rural communities to the rest of the nation, and providing life-saving emergency broadcasting and weather alerts. Nearly 3-in-4 Americans say they rely on their public radio stations for alerts and news for their public safety,” NPR’s Katherine Maher said in a statement on July 18 following the Senate vote.

“In fact, while the Senate considered amendments, a 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska, prompting three coastal stations to start broadcasting live tsunami warnings, urging their communities to head to high ground,” Maher said.

Maher declined Al Jazeera’s request for an interview

PBS faces similar pressures, and many of its stations are also at risk of closure, according to Adopt A Station’s data.

“These cuts will significantly impact all of our stations, but will be especially devastating to smaller stations and those serving large rural areas. Many of our stations, which provide access to free, unique local programming and emergency alerts, will now be forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement after the Senate vote.

Kerger did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for additional comment.

The push to defund public media isn’t a new one for the GOP. Republicans have long argued that the media is not a core function of government. In 2012, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said he would eliminate subsidies to PBS – during a debate moderated, ironically, by then PBS NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer.

In the 1990s, then House Speaker Newt Gingrich promised to “zero out” funding for CPB, arguing it should be privatised. And in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan attempted to slash $80m from public media – roughly $283m today – though Congress blocked the move.

Following global cuts

Cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are the latest wave of the White House cutting back on government-funded media arms, including reductions to the US Agency for Global Media, led in part by senior adviser Kari Lake.

Lake is a former Phoenix, Arizona, news anchor known for denying the 2020 election results in which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden for the presidency. She is also known for promoting baseless conspiracy theories and for refusing to accept her own defeat for governor and senator bids in Arizona in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

She has been behind the agency effectively shuttering Voice of America (VOA), which has not published any new stories or uploaded new videos to its YouTube page since mid-March.

Last month, a federal judge in Washington blocked the firing of workers at VOA, which affected more than 500 staffers. The Trump administration called the decision “outrageous” and vowed to appeal.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts in 27 languages across 23 countries, faced challenges similar to VOA. However, the European Union has helped keep the network up and running with $6.2m in emergency funding.

Representatives for the US Agency for Global Media did not respond to our request for comment.

Looming threats to free expression

These cuts come alongside other threats to freedom of expression in the private sector. Soon after the funding cuts were signed into law, Paramount announced the cancellation of The Late Show. The host, comedian Stephen Colbert – a longtime critic of the president – had only days earlier called out Paramount, the show’s parent company, for settling a lawsuit with Trump.

The suit stemmed from Trump’s claim that an interview with his 2024 presidential rival Kamala Harris was doctored. Although the network had initially called the lawsuit meritless, it ultimately settled for $16m. Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe”, noting that Paramount had a then-pending merger with Skydance Media – owned by David Ellison, son of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a key Trump ally. The merger has since been approved. Paramount has said that the decision is purely financial in nature.

Months later, following stand-up comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on Charlie Kirk’s death, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr appeared on a right-wing podcast to criticise the remarks and urged Disney – the parent company of ABC, where Jimmy Kimmel Live airs – to cancel the show.

Nexstar Media Group – one of the largest TV station operators in the US, and which is waiting on an FCC approval of its merger with Tegna – announced it would no longer carry the programme. Disney subsequently suspended the show, though the decision was short-lived, as it returned to the airwaves within a week.

The White House did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

A GHOST bridge that has stood unfinished for more than a decade between China and North Korea could finally be nearing completion.

The over pass stood abandoned for so long that farmers used the road to dry crops.

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The bridge – which was completely funded by China – was completed on the Chinese side in 2014, costing the nation $350 million.

China went all out on the project, developing a new city at its end of the road.

Despite Chinese productivity and complete financial aid on the project, the North Korean end remained untouched until 2019, leaving apartment complexes, stores and more lying vacant on the Chinese side.

The cash-strapped nation only needed to build about two miles of road to complete the inter-country link.

The incomplete over pass opened into a paddy field on North Korea’s side of the river, as neither side lifted a finger to complete the project, rendering the link between nations a bridge to nowhere for five more years.

Meanwhile, in downtown Dandong, on the Chinese side, buses and trucks have been forced to wait for hours to get across the original link between the two nations – the Old Friendship Bridge.

The Old Friendship Bridge was constructed in the late 1930s and was originally named the Sino-Korean Friendship bridge.

The US bombed the Friendship Bridge during the Korean War to stop Chinese forces from interfering and aiding North Korea.

The connecting road was patched up after fighting stopped, and still serves as a link between Beijing and Pyongyang to this day.

The narrow road and rail bridge connecting the downtown areas of Sinuiju and Dandong has been the busiest border port between the two nations over recent years, as bilateral trade has increased.

However, the new signs of construction on the New Yalu River Bridge signal that China and North Korea are preparing to boost trade.

North Korea embodied the full meaning of a hermit when it shut its doors to the outside world during the Covid pandemic.

Since the border closure eased in 2023, both nations have kept up appearances and increased trade and business exchanges.

Despite North Korea previously shutting its borders, the work on the bridge had largely been completed.

Construction on the Kim Jong Un’s side began in February 2020, but was halted the following August, after digging work took place across around 111 acres (45 hectares) of land.

Following the border closure, satellite imagery showed farmers making use of the unfrequented road by drying crops on the tar.

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Since hesitantly opening back up, the nation has also shown signs of strengthening its international relationships.

Despite this, uncertainty still bubbles below the surface, as North Korea has openly prioritised strengthening its relationship with Moscow.

Signalling the shift in international relations, tourism into the notoriously closed-off nation resumed with Russia, where it has not with China.

Fresh construction on the bridge is the latest signal of North Korea realigning to its closest neighbour.

Building has resumed on the North Korean side of the New Yalu River Bridge, marking the first movement on the development in five years.

New images from Planet Labs of the notoriously unopened bridge surfaced, showing evidence of new excavation.

Blue-roofed structures also popped up, believed to be related to long-term construction plans on the site.

NK News reported the size of the development could link it to a plan by Chinese company Five Continents International Development Corporation (FCIDC) to construct an economic park in North Korea’s Sinuiju region.

The exact location of this project, however, has not been confirmed.

The new construction on the bridge could be in preparation to connect to a planned large customs complex to match one built on the Chinese side of the bridge.

In 2018, FCIDC suggested that the Sinuiju “Heyuan” International Logistics and Trade City (SILTC) would be located close to a border connection point.

A spokesperson said the economic park would have: “its own customs and border inspection, where transit goods can directly enter … avoiding the congestion of Dandong-Sinuiju Port … and greatly improving cargo flow.”

Wang Ruoming, one of the lead project coordinators based in China, fuelled the rumours earlier in the year with a social media post hinted at the project’s revival.

He reposted a computer rendering of the economic park on his Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) profile in January, saying: “2025 is destined to be a year of good fortune”.

The New Yalu River Bridge features a four-lane road, while China’s sprawling new customs port appears ready to handle dozens of cargo trucks at a time. 

The border between North Korea and China runs in the direct centre of the river.

STACEY Solomon has shared how she keeps her bouncy blow dry in place for more than a week after getting it done.

The mum-of-five retained her crown as the most relatable celeb in showbiz as she took to TikTok to post the exact routine she swears by.

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In the video, she said she was doing her best to get ready “as quickly as possible” for work, so had done her make-up in seconds and prepped her locks the night before.

“I didn’t wash it, but I just dampened it down,” Stacey said in a video on her TikTok page.

“It was, I had like a really old blow dry, and I’ve been trying to keep it in for a week.

“So I’ve just been putting my heatless curler in, and then going to bed with it, taking it out.”

Once taking the heatless curling rod out, Stacey, 35, used some of the REHAB. Essential Dry Shampoo on her roots – to absorb the grease and give her hair some extra texture.

She then ran her fingers through her hair, and grinned as she showed how it looked as though she’d had a “fresh, bouncy blow dry”.

“I wonder how long I can like this blow dry for,” she laughed.

“Like we’re on week one, I wonder if I can bring it into week two with my heatless curler.

“They’re just so good, and it just means I only have to destroy my hair with heat once every couple of weeks, because I can keep all of the curls in place, and keep it looking fresh with my dry shampoo and heatless curler.”

She finished off her speedy makeover with a swipe of lip oil, and then was ready to go.

“I want daily updates on the hair! BRING ON WEEK 2!” one person commented on the TikTok.

“You have such great hair,” another added.

“And it actually looks stunning!” a third praised.

“Go on girl!”

“I love the dry shampoo, it’s a life saver,” someone else said.

While others admitted they were more than a little jealous of Stacey’s finished look.

“I swear if I don’t wash my hair for two days on day three my curls look like rats’ tails!” one wrote.

“I have such hair envy! My hair doesn’t hold curl ever!” another added.

“OMG! You are so glamorous even when you’re not,” a third smiled.

“I get up looking like a badger’s bum!”

Destination X fans were left unimpressed by a challenge in the latest instalment of the BBC gameshow with many branding it ‘boring’ and spotting a glaring ‘fake’ detail

Destination X viewers slammed a “boring” challenge on the BBC gameshow, after spotting a “fake” detail.

Rob Brydon’s programme is in full swing, having been labelled a cross between The Traitors and Race Across The World.

It features 13 strangers competing to scoop £100,000 as they’re whisked across Europe and try to work out their location through various challenges.

In tonight’s instalment (Wednesday, 13 August), the participants were challenged with carrying wine glasses across a vineyard on a tray held by one hand, whilst answering questions about one another in an attempt to eliminate their rivals.

The more responses they got wrong, the more glasses they had to balance, resulting in several being knocked out when their trays tumbled, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Yet viewers were swift to spot that whilst the BBC episode featured sounds of glass shattering, the contestants seemed to be using plastic.

“The smashing glass sound effects for them dropping plastic champagne flutes is sending me,” one penned.

Another questioned: “Why have they put a shattering glass sound on when the glasses are clearly plastic? Haha.”

Others branded the challenge as “boring”, as one posted: “Not liking this part… it’s very boring.”

Another raged: “Well this is riveting tv.. Not!”

Someone else fumed: “Sorry that wine task was total c***. I’d rather watch paint dry. switching off.”

Prior to the new series launching, host Rob confessed he nearly wrecked the entire game by almost spilling a secret.

The high-stakes programme only functions if the contestants are genuinely able to participate without receiving any hints about the outside world during their journey.

Despite numerous production safeguards being implemented to guarantee this, Rob nearly sabotaged everything.

Speaking before the show’s debut, the star confessed that although he was “very careful”, he did encounter one close call.

He revealed: “I won’t say where we were, but we were on a hillside, that’s all I’ll say, and we were about to visit a lovely location, and I was looking forward to where we were going next.

“I was chatting to some of the crew and I said out loud, ‘I can’t wait to get to [the place]’ and then I realised that just over there was one of the players and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.”

He continued: “Luckily they didn’t hear, and I can be sure of that because of what happened next which told me that they’d not heard. That was the only one but it was a constant fear.”

Destination X continues tomorrow night at 9pm on BBC One and is available to watch on iPlayer.

Gaza’s health system is in a state of collapse as Israel continues its attacks on medical facilities. A strike on Tuesday hit a UN clinic in Gaza City. The nearby Al Shifa Hospital reported a severe shortage of blood as many people in Gaza are too malnourished to make donations.

The historic Griffith Park Pool, built in 1927 and once the largest aquatic facility in Los Angeles, has been dry since 2020. Now, as summer heats up, residents are learning that it won’t be filled again.

Instead, the city is laying plans for a $28-million project to demolish it and build two smaller new pools and a splash pad in its place while reconstructing the two-story pool house next door. City officials say they hope to begin the project in summer 2026 and complete it in January 2028.

But for now, the city’s Recreation and Parks Department website simply lists the pool as “closed until further notice.” A Bureau of Engineering spokesperson said the city has not picked a builder yet.

The Griffith Park Pool, closed in 2020, was still dry on July 1.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The new plan marks a sharp turn for a site that was once scheduled for reopening in June 2022. In the run-up to that date, the Eastsider news site first reported, city workers found that the pool had a cracked foundation, one too severe to repair.

Recreation and Parks Department spokeswoman Rose Watson said department Assistant General Manager Cathie Santo Domingo and a maintenance team discovered the cracks in the pool. “Every time they would fill it up, it wouldn’t retain the water,” Watson said.

During the closure, neighbors have complained and signed a petition, lamenting that working-class families in Los Feliz, Atwater, Silver Lake and East Hollywood have long depended on that public pool for summer relief.

“I always wondered what was happening with that. I’ve never seen water in it,” said Christine Perez of Los Feliz, who was at a playground near the pool Monday with her 22-month-old son, Miles. “I was literally thinking last week that it would be great if there was a splash pad down here.”

“Kids need a place to go and a place to learn how to swim,” said Marian Dodge, board secretary and past president of the Friends of Griffith Park. She said the group is “actually thrilled that they’re finally going to go ahead and make the necessary repairs. … We have been assured that it is fully funded.”

A city Bureau of Engineering report says the new project will include “demolition and reconstruction,” replacing the old pool with a new competition pool measuring 25 yards by 50 meters (up to 12.5 feet deep) and a “training pool” splash pad that is 25 yards by 25 meters (up to 5 feet deep), along with reconstruction and rehabilitation of the site’s two-story Spanish-style pool house and improvements to changing and shower areas and ADA accessibility.

The new pools are intended to handle year-round use, incorporating electric pool heaters, salt water and UV light water treatment.

Long known as the Municipal Plunge, the pool at Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard measures about 225 feet by 48 feet. It was the city’s largest aquatic facility until the arrival of Hansen Dam Recreation Area, built in 1940 in the Lake View Terrace area of the San Fernando Valley.

“You know the L.A. River runs right behind the pool?” said Dodge. “The water level behind the pool is so high, they were unable to concrete the river there.” As a result, when the pool was built, it “was described as a concrete boat floating on top of this sand and mud. It was kind of risky at the beginning, but they did it.”

At one point, the pool’s capacity was put at 562 people.

“They would have canoeing lessons and water parades,” Dodge said.

Now neighbored by tennis courts, a playground, a soccer field and Los Feliz Nursery School, the pool was open until late March of 2020, when the city shut multiple recreation facilities in the early days of the pandemic. It lies within City Council District 4, represented by Nithya Raman.

On May 21, the city Board of Public Works authorized hiring Perkins Eastman to do $2.4 million in architectural design and engineering work on the pools and bathhouse.

The idea of progress on the pool is comforting, Dodge said, given the idle state of the park’s pony rides and merry-go-round, both closed since 2022 for various reasons. The L.A. Zoo, also in Griffith Park, remains open but mired in a legal battle over money between the city and the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn.

In all, the city operates 57 pools (28 seasonal, 26 year-round and three camp pools) and eight splash pads. As of July 2, eight of the pools were closed.

The nearest city-run pools to Griffith Park are Echo Park, Hollywood and Glassell Park. Griffith Park also includes pools at Camp Hollywoodland and Griffith Park Boys Camp.

At a minimalist matcha bar in Los Angeles, United States, powdered Japanese tea is prepared with precision, despite a global shortage driven by the bright green drink’s social media stardom.

Of the 25 types of matcha on the menu at Kettl Tea, which opened on Hollywood Boulevard this year, all but four were out of stock, according to the shop’s founder, Zach Mangan.

“One of the things we struggle with is telling customers that, unfortunately, we don’t have” what they want, he said.

With its deep grassy aroma, intense colour and pick-me-up effects, the popularity of matcha “has grown just exponentially over the last decade, but much more so in the last two to three years”, the 40-year-old explained.

It is now “a cultural touchpoint in the Western world” – found everywhere from ice-cream flavour boards to Starbucks.

This has caused matcha’s market to nearly double over a year, Mangan said.

“No matter what we try, there’s just not more to buy.”

In the Japanese city of Sayama, northwest of Tokyo, Masahiro Okutomi – the 15th generation to run his family’s tea production business – is overwhelmed by demand.

“I had to put on our website that we are not accepting any more matcha orders,” he said.

Producing the powder is an intensive process: the leaves, called “tencha”, are shaded for several weeks before harvest, to concentrate the taste and nutrients.

They are then carefully deveined by hand, dried and finely ground in a machine.

“It takes years of training” to make matcha properly, Okutomi said. “It’s a long-term endeavour requiring equipment, labour and investment.”

“I’m glad the world is taking an interest in our matcha … but in the short term, it’s almost a threat – we just can’t keep up,” he said.

The matcha boom has been propelled by online influencers like Andie Ella, who has more than 600,000 subscribers on YouTube and started her own brand of matcha products.

At the pastel-pink pop-up shop she opened in Tokyo’s hip Harajuku district, dozens of fans were excitedly waiting to take a photo with the 23-year-old Frenchwoman or buy her cans of strawberry or white chocolate-flavoured matcha.

“Matcha is visually very appealing,” said Ella.

To date, her matcha brand, produced in Japan’s rural Mie region, has sold 133,000 cans. Launched in November 2023, it now has eight employees.

“Demand has not stopped growing,” she said.

Last year, matcha accounted for more than half of the 8,798 tonnes of green tea exported from Japan, according to Japan’s Agriculture Ministry data – twice as much as 10 years ago.

Tokyo tea shop Jugetsudo, in the touristy former fish market area of Tsukiji, is trying to control its stock levels given the escalating demand.

“We don’t strictly impose purchase limits, but we sometimes refuse to sell large quantities to customers suspected of reselling,” said store manager Shigehito Nishikida.

“In the past two or three years, the craze has intensified. Customers now want to make matcha themselves, like they see on social media,” he added.

The global matcha market is estimated to be worth billions of dollars, but it could be hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Japanese products – currently 10 percent, with a rise to 24 percent in the cards.

Shortages and tariffs mean “we do have to raise prices. We don’t take it lightly”, said Mangan at Kettl Tea, though it has not dampened demand so far.

“Customers are saying, ‘I want matcha before it runs out’.”

Japan’s government is encouraging tea producers to farm on a larger scale to reduce costs.

But that risks sacrificing quality, and “in small rural areas, it’s almost impossible”, grower Okutomi said.

The number of tea plantations in Japan has fallen to a quarter of what it was 20 years ago, as farmers age and find it difficult to secure successors, he added.

“Training a new generation takes time… It can’t be improvised.”

GRETA Thunberg has arrived on dry land and is to likely be deported after Israel seized the “Freedom Flotilla” stunt ship.

The climate campaigner, 22, alongside 11 other activists on board, is expected to appear in court on Tuesday morning having been taken to the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

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Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on X: “The ‘Selfie Yacht’ docked at Ashdod Port a short while ago.

“The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health.”

But lawyer Nariman Shehade Zoabi said they haven’t been able to contact the activists yet.

She told Expressen: “We demand information about the whereabouts of our clients and the right to meet them.”

Lawyer Zoabi added that Greta and the others would be taken to a “Givon prison” near the town Ramle where “illegal immigrants are detained” and there is a “court that can quickly decide on deportation”.

She is waiting in Ashdod with five others, and explained that the process of deportation could be fast.

Zoabi said: “Israel has no interest in detaining them and they themselves do not want to stay in the country.”

Israel accused the group who were aboard the boat of supporting Hamas terrorists who detonated Middle East mayhem by massacring 1,200 and kidnapping 251 hostages.

And all of those detained will be made to watch a screening of video footage showing innocents including children being slaughter by Hamas savages during the attacks.

The “selfie yacht” operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition was said to be “safely making its way to the shores of Israel”, Israel’s Foreign Minsitry said.

All passengers were safe and unharmed and activists handed sandwiches and water before the vessel docked at the southern Israeli port of Ashdod.

The boat was carrying a “tiny amount of aid” on board – which will be sent to Gaza.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said that he has instructed the Israeli Defence Forces to screen footage of the 7 October attacks as soon as they arrive.

The disturbing footage – titled “Bearing Witness” – shows innocent people being massacred and mutilated.

And all the footage was taken from the Hamas terrorists’ bodycams as they filmed their massacre.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said early on Monday that Israeli forces had boarded the charity vessel.

Shortly before the FFC statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video on X showing the Israeli Navy communicating with the Madleen over a loudspeaker, urging it to change course.

“The maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to naval traffic as part of a legal naval blockade,” a soldier said.

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“If you wish to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, you are able to do so through the (Israeli) port of Ashdod.”

The campaigners had said they are hoping to “break the siege” and raise “international awareness” of the humanitarian crisis on the Gaza Strip.

But Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant issued a warning as the vessel entered the final stretch of its journey, saying: “You should turn back – because you will not reach Gaza.”

Thunberg, 22, has posted on social media with a Palestine flag and wearing a keffiyeh scarf while on the journey.

Travelling alongside her is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament of Palestinian descent.

She has previously been barred from entering Israel due to her outspoken criticism of the country’s policies towards Palestinians.

Organisers claim the voyage is “a non-violent, direct action to challenge Israel’s illegal siege” – and is carrying essential supplies to a population at risk of famine.

Israel imposed a near-total blockade on Gaza in late 2023, following Hamas’s horror massacre on southern Israel on October 7.

Though some limited aid has been allowed in since last month, aid agencies claim it is nowhere near enough.

Ahead of the journey, Thunberg said through tears: “We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying.

“Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.”

CONTROVERSIAL CREW

The flotilla’s latest voyage follows a failed attempt in May, when another of its vessels was struck by two drones in international waters off Malta.

The group accused Israel of being behind the attack.

Despite the risks, activists aboard the Madleen have said they plan to enter Gaza’s territorial waters as early as Sunday.

The vessel’s controversial crew includes figures who have openly supported terrorist organizations and have made inflammatory public statements.

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila attended the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, calling the terrorist a “beloved” leader and a “martyr”.

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Avila said he was “very honoured” and “very happy” to attend, and described the funeral as something that “amazed him”.

He wrote that Nasrallah was an “important figure” who “inspired people all over the world”.

Also on board was Yasemin Acar from Berlin, who reportedly danced as Iranian rockets rained down on Israel and once told a white woman at a protest: “You’re a white person, you shouldn’t tell us what to do.”

French journalist Omar Faiad, of Al-Jazeera, sparked outrage for comparing the IDF to Nazis.

On X, he wrote: “The Israeli army resembles the Nazi army,” and claimed: “Israel is committing a new Holocaust in Gaza.”

Rima Hassan, meanwhile, previously tweeted:  “Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri Bibas were killed by an Israeli attack,” despite Hamas being responsible for their abduction and deaths.

She was also seen at a protest where demonstrators chanted: “We die for jihad.”

And it included included a London-based Palestinian named in Parliament in 2023 as being a London-based Hamas operative.

Zaher Birawi was at the launch of the Madleen and live streamed from the dock in Greece and is chair of the International Committee to Break the siege of Gaza.

Birawi, 62, has been photographed with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and runs UK-registered charity, Education Aid for Palestinians, which has raised more than £3 million since 2017.

Irish Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham was also on the boat.

FORD has confirmed that one of their most popular cars has officially gone off the market in the UK.

The American car giant announced that its factories will no longer produce the Focus ST due to a lack of demand.

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The Focus ST was first launched 23 years ago, but has since disappeared from dealer price lists.

But for those wanting to get their hands on some of the last remaining cars, the US firm said that 170 are still unsold in the UK.

Stock is still available to buy in dealerships, but customers will not be able to order new models.

Speaking to Autocar, Ford UK said: “There are no new factory orders available for the Focus ST at the moment.

“But there are around 170 built and unsold currently available within the UK dealer network.

“This includes 30 of the special ST Edition variant in Azura Blue.”

Ford introduced Focus ST to the world in 2002, with the initial ST170 version.

It was powered by a 2.0 litre engine, reaching 60mph in just under eight seconds.

In 2005, Ford introduced the second generation – the ST500 – with a meatier 2.5 litre engine.

Developed alongside Volvo and Mazda, it was powered by a Volvo five-cylinder engine, allowing it to hit 60mph in 6.8 seconds.

But the US manufacturer ditched Volvo in 2010 and introduced the Focus St Mk3 with its own engine.

It introduced a more powerful four-cylinder turbo and lowered the suspension – putting the 0-60mph time at 6.5 seconds.

And finally the Mk4, featuring a slightly larger 2.3 litre engine, which was the first version to offer automatic transmission.

It remains the fastest iteration of the Focus ST, reaching 60mph in 5.7 seconds.

Ford could well be responding to industry trends, with hot hatch cars generally being phased out across the board.

Other big manufacturers, including Hyundai, Peugeot and Toyota have started pulling cars off the market as a result of the low interest.

It comes as the Ford Focus is set to be phased out completely, with its production life cycle terminating in November this year.

The move was first announced in 2022, but Ford’s European chief Martin Sander doubled down on the decision in March.

He added: “In the long run, we are still deeply convinced that EVs will be the future and we will see a significant increase in volume.

“By the end of this year, we will have a full range of electric vehicles and we are quite flexible to adapt to market demand.

“For the next couple of years, we have a broad choice.

“Basically, our customers have the power of choice to pick what they want.”

The Ford Focus was first rolled out in 1998, off the back of their Escort model.

It was one of the last hatchbacks with a manual gearbox.

However, Ford is now putting more efforts into their Mustangs and Broncos to boost profits.

This comes after Ford sales in Europe fell 17 per cent in 2024, the first full year without the Fiesta which was axed in July 2023.

RAIN is set to fall in just hours in parts of the UK, marking the end of the remarkably dry start to spring, the Met Office has forecast.

Some areas could even see thunder as the skies open up amid the driest start to the season in nearly six decades.

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The Environment Agency has also warned there could be a risk of a drought this summer without sustained rainfall, with millions of households told they may face water restrictions in the coming months.

As of Friday, just 80.6mm of rain has been recorded for the UK this spring – that’s almost 20mm less than the record low of 100.7mm, set in 1852 for the full season.

However, this could change imminently, as the Met Office has warned of showers landing in the north of the UK throughout Monday.

Met Office meteorologist Kathryn Chalk explained showers hit across southern Scotland and northern England overnight on Sunday, with some reaching as far south as Wales.

Heading into Monday morning, there are expected to be “much-welcome” showers across the central belt of Scotland, northern England, and Northern Ireland.

Cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland could be washed out by the rainfall, as could Manchester in the north of England.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud added that Monday would see sunny spells in the west develop widely with a “few scattered showers developing across the north during the course of Monday afternoon”.

He added: “One or two of those could be heavy, potentially thundery, but most places are going to be warm and dry.”

However, from Tuesday onwards there could be “an increasing chance of showers across southern areas of the country,” Dan said.

“Then beyond that, Thursday and Friday are likely to become dry, fine and sunny again, with good deals of sunshine for much of the country.”

Conditions in the UK this spring had been “remarkably dry up until now”, Dan explained.

However, as we approach the final week of May, which is also when schools break for half-term, the weather is “looking increasingly changeable, with areas of cloud and rain arriving from the west”.

The Met Office explained the prolonged warm and very dry spell, which has seen Brits enjoy temperatures as high as 29C, was primarily caused by high pressure.

However, by Tuesday, changing conditions could see “occasional heavy and potentially thundery showers developing across parts of Wales and the Midlands, with one or two of those breaching into London“.

Discussing Wednesday’s forecast, Dan said: “It will be a bit of a chilly start across England and Wales with plenty of sunshine to kick the day off.

“But showers will develop across England and Wales, with some of those showers potentially heavy and thundery and breaching into the London area.”