River

THE UK is full of pretty towns and villages – but this one is home to one of the best pubs in the country.

According to the Good Food Guide this restaurant is a place where you’ll get some of the tastiest food in the country – and the village has lots to see too.

Dedham is in Essex, right on the border with Suffolk and it sits on the River Stour which passes through the north tip of the village.

It’s filled with tearooms, restaurants and a pub called The Sun Inn which has an award-winning wine list and two AA rosette awards.

Speaking about The Sun Inn, the Good Food Guide said: “As slices of English heritage go, Piers Baker’s 15th-century yellow-washed coaching inn right in the heart of Dedham is nigh-on perfect.

“There’s a sense of seasonality too in menus that offer a winning mix of updated pub classics and more inventive, Italian-accented dishes built around prime seasonal ingredients.

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“White the Sun is an emphatically laid-back place, there’s no corner-cutting.”

On Sundays the pub serves roast dinners including beef, port and celeriac all with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables Yorkshire puddings and gravy.

They also serve up breakfast, kids meals as well as a Christmas menu.

You can stay at the pub too in one of the seven rooms – which for bed and breakfast starts at £185 (based on two people sharing).

Some of the rooms are dog-friendly, and all have big beds and ensuite bathrooms.

The River Stour, which begins west of Great Bradley in Cambridgeshire, and ends in the North Sea at Harwich passes through the village.

It’s often used for canoeing and kayaking with picnickers setting up along the bank during the summer months.

Dedham is a village on the outskirts of Colchester, which was once the country’s ‘oldest town’.

Colchester was given city status just two years ago as part of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

It was one of the very first Roman cities, and it’s history stretches back thousands of years.

Here’s more from on Sun Writer who swapped the Cotswolds for a less-crowded but equally quaint weekend in Essex’s most perfect market town.

Plus, here’s England’s smallest town which has riverfront pubs, man-made beach and its own train station.

Quaint British villages with toy-town cottages, car-free roads and cosy pubs – handpicked by our travel writers

Harrogate, North Yorkshire – Hope Brotherton, Travel Reporter
For the last few years, my annual trip to Harrogate has been an immovable fixture in my calendar. The Victorian spa town is the perfect place for a little bit of R&R thanks to its history of spa tourism, which is very much alive. Head to The Harrogate Spa at the DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel if you’d like a pamper, which is a personal favourite of mine. Make sure to overindulge at Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms where a glass of pink champagne and a huge scone are almost compulsory.

Lavenham, Suffolk – Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
One of my favourite villages I’ve ever visited in England is Lavenham, which is beautiful in autumn. Said to be the best preserved medieval village in the UK, it is known for two buildings – the 600-year-old Crooked House and the De Vere House, which featured in the Harry Potter films. Warm up at The Swan Hotel, which has its cosy Weavers Spa onsite.

Robin Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire – Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Perched atop a craggy cliff, overlooking a dinky shore, Robin Hood’s Bay seems like something from a fiction tale or a North Yorkshire postcard. In summer, you’ll find dogs sprinting along the sands, while owners tuck into fresh crab sandwiches from the beachside hut and little ones fish for treasures in the rock pools. I prefer the village in winter, though, when the weather takes a turn and nature comes alive with the grassy dunes dancing in the wind and moody waves thrashing on the rocks.

Hay On Wye, Wales – Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel – Digital
When I first set foot in Hay-On-Wye, I couldn’t believe I’d left it until my late thirties to visit – what a waste of a few decades. The small town on the Welsh borders that sits on the River Wye is probably best known for hosting the annual Hay literary festival, and it’s definitely a book-lovers paradise – with more than 20 book stores to explore. They sit among the many antiques shops, which sell everything from fabulous Welsh rugs to toy soldiers, trinkets and beautiful furniture.  There are so many things to browse that I could probably waste a whole week on second-hand shopping alone. 

Letchmore Heath, Hertfordshire – Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
This quintessential little village may seem very familiar to some. It’s tiny – with just 150 houses, a village green, a pond and a lovely pub, The Three Horseshoes. But with Elstree Studios just up the road, it has been used as a set in countless films, in particular the 1960s British horror movie, Village of the Damned. Its close proximity to London – just half an hour away on a train from nearby Radlett or Elstree and Borehamwood station – means it’s easy to get to.

On a Sunday evening in March this year, Akiba Ekpeyong, a community leader in Akpap-Okoyong, received a text message that made him drop everything he was doing in the community, a cluster of farming villages in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State, South-South Nigeria.

The message came from another chief nearby, warning of a brewing argument between two youths at a football match in Mbabam. The tone was urgent and frighteningly reminiscent of how many communal crises begin.

“I went there immediately,” Akiba recalled. “Before it turns to something else, we have to talk to the boys.”

That message was part of a growing network of peace responders linked through an early warning system created by the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND). In this system, the first step to preventing violence could be as simple as sending an SMS. In many communities across the region, this system has been deployed by the non-profit to end conflicts before they escalate. 

The many faces of conflict 

Cross River, fondly known as “the people’s paradise”, may be best known for its colourful annual Calabar Carnival and its vast forest reserves. However, unending land disputes, cult clashes, political rivalries, and resource competition that often turn deadly, are also a constant in the state, said Professor Rapheal Offiong, a geographer and peace scholar at the University of Calabar.

Between 2020 and 2023, communal and boundary disputes claimed more than 400 lives in the state, including that of a 10-year-old child, while over 300 houses were destroyed. A report also indicated that at least 15 of the state’s 18 local government areas have experienced one form of conflict or another during the period.

According to Professor Raphael, these crises stem from far deeper issues: Poverty, the quest for land, stress for survival, and lack of understanding, all worsened by a disconnect between the political class, traditional rulers, and the youth. “That gap in leadership and trust is what I see as the major disturbance,” he said. 

The peace scholar also blamed greed and speculative land buying in poor communities. “It’s the landmongers,” he said, “those deep pockets who want to expand their cocoa or oil palm farms. They bring money, and because of poverty, people sell. Then everyone becomes territorial, and in trying to protect their territory, they must fight.”

Cocoa and oil palm are central to Cross River’s economy, providing livelihoods for thousands of smallholder farmers and driving both local and export revenue. The state is Nigeria’s second-largest cocoa producer, exporting about 80,000 metric tons annually. With so much economic value tied to these crops, land has become a fiercely contested resource — and when speculators or large investors seek expansion, tensions often erupt among communities struggling for ownership and survival.

Climate change, Professor Raphael added, is compounding the problem. As farmlands yield less, people move in search of better land to farm and to graze, opening new fronts for conflict. “The land is shrinking as population grows, and poverty and lack of basic social structures make it worse.”

He believes the persistent conflict is also tied to weak governance and the failure of social systems to provide stability. “When the system works, people have hope,” he said. “Everybody struggles to survive. The quest to provide for yourself and your family is not easy, and that desperation drives conflict.”

The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) similarly notes that environmental and land-use issues are increasingly among the most common triggers of rural conflicts in southern Nigeria, particularly boundary disputes.

From just a text message 

The early warning system was developed by PIND in 2015 to monitor the country’s signs of violence during the general election, before it was later deployed to communal conflicts. 

Through the platform, anyone can report incidents by sending a text message to 080 9936 2222 or 0912 233 4455, including details such as the location, date, and a brief description of the event. Once submitted, the report appears instantly on a web-based dashboard at PIND’s headquarters, where analysts verify and map signals across the Niger Delta. These reports help identify emerging hotspots, track patterns of unrest, and guide long-term peace interventions. 

These reports are shared with Partners for Peace (P4P), a PIND-run conflict management and peacebuilding network of grassroots volunteers spread across all nine Niger Delta states. Each report helps P4P chapters plan their local peace activities, which include mediation, dialogues, and sensitisation. 

“We now prepare our interventions based on the prevailing types of conflict in a given year,” Ukorebi Esien, P4P’s Cross River State Coordinator, said. “For instance, if in 2024 most of the signals we received from Cross River State indicated cult clashes or communal disputes, then in the following year, 2025, our interventions may be focused on addressing those issues.”

Several of these text messages have been sent since it was launched a decade ago.

But in Cross River, P4P went a step further.

They saw how quickly a quarrel could escalate and began training local peace actors, such as chiefs, youth leaders, and women’s groups, on how and why they should send that text message, but also on how to respond. 

That network helped Akiba and his colleagues to build an internal communication mechanism that allows them to alert one another instantly and intervene early.

“It has helped us to identify the signs of early tension and respond before any violent escalation in our communities,” said Akiba. He added that his community is grateful for it. “We in Akpap-Okoyong have a boundary issue with Okonotte, and we also house some persons from Ikot Offiong, which has made us look like a hostile community to the people of Oku Iboku.” The longstanding conflict between Oku Iboku in Akwa Ibom State and Ikot Offiong in Cross River State has been fueled by competing claims over land and fishing rights, leading to cycles of violence for over a century.

Akiba said Akpap-Okoyong now has about 40 trained responders who monitor early warning indicators like hate speech, sudden gatherings, or disputes across the over 60 villages, and report them through SMS while also engaging directly with village elders.

It was that system that alerted him that Sunday evening.

In Ikom, on the border with Cameroon,  similar outcomes are taking shape. Clement Nnagbo, the Traditional Head of Okosora Clan, said the training has transformed how people now seek justice. “More than twenty cases have been transferred from various courts, and within less than a month, each matter is resolved,” he said, noting that their alternative dispute resolution process is faster and far less expensive than going through the formal courts.

In Ugep, Yakurr Local Government Area, Usani Arikpo, a religious leader, has seen how easily tensions can spiral, and how sometimes, conflict starts from one thing and leads to another.  He recalled a recent incident that began as a cult clash but nearly turned into a communal crisis. “We saw the signs early,” he said. “Some cult boys from Ugep had gone to Idomi to support their faction there, but along the line, they were killed. The Ugep people felt it was deliberate, and things almost got out of hand. We had to step in, meet with the chiefs, women, and other stakeholders, and from that time, there has not been anything like that again.”

Tradition as strategy 

Sometimes peace is restored by dialogue and sealed with cultural rituals that carry moral weight.

In 2023, a long-brewing conflict between Ofatura and Ovonum in Obubra LGA reignited after years of distrust. “We went to assess the level of the conflict,” recalled Ukorebi, the P4P Coordinator in Cross River. “We met youth leaders, traditional rulers, and women groups, and after several discussions, both sides agreed to a peace pact.”

Both community heads signed an accord and embraced publicly, the first time in years they had sat together. “When you hold meetings like that, you must leave a memory that resonates,” Ukorebi said. “We wanted them to understand the depth of what they were involved in and the cost of violence.”

It was the same method that Akiba and his fellow chiefs deployed in Akpap-Okoyong. “We took both sides to the Ekpe shrine. There, they swore an oath never to fight again,” Akiba said. 

Not without challenges

Yet, sustaining peace is not without limitations. Volunteers often fund their own logistics, and  “transportation is expensive”, said Usani, stating that more could be achieved if they had the means to quickly mobilise and move into areas with conflict.

PIND did not respond to HumAngle’s messages regarding some of these challenges.

Government response has also been slow. “We have found out that the government is rather reactive and not proactive,” Ukorebi said, adding that some communities they had helped bring peace to are back to fighting. “I mentioned the Ofatura-Ovonum crisis: since 2024 till date, the state government has not seen any reason to revisit that document, despite all the efforts by P4P.”

“In that document, there are responsibilities: there is a part to play by the government, there is a part to be played by the communities, there is a part to be played by partners for peace to ensure that that peace we had worked for will remain permanently,” he told HumAngle. “But that has not been the case.”

Still, there are signs of resilience: Across the Niger Delta, P4P’s volunteer peace agents, now over 11,200 strong,  have documented more than 1,148 emerging conflicts that were nipped before turning violent.

Back in Akpap-Okoyong, Chief Akiba watches a group of children play in an open field in front of his compound, hopeful that they will grow up in a community where disputes are settled on a table of negotiation rather than with machetes.

This story was produced under the HumAngle Foundation’s Advancing Peace and Security through Journalism project, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

I felt like a child again as I wandered down to the riverbank to look at crawdads.

“Oh, the L.A. River folks posted on Instagram about this, but I didn’t know they were right here,” my walking partner said.

Dozens of bright red crustaceans swam and fought and hid in the warm shallow water of the Glendale Narrows of the Los Angeles River. A Cooper’s hawk swooped down to grab a branch presumably for a nearby nest. A black-crowned night heron accidentally dropped its lunch, perhaps a frog, back into the water.

Crawdads, or crayfish, fight each other, eat and bask in the sun in the L.A. River.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Later, I’d witness Canada geese arriving in formation before landing on the river for their evening dinner and rest.

In all honesty, I hadn’t expected such abundant life less than a quarter of a mile from the 5 Freeway. But that’s what you’ll discover along the sandy, soft bottom segments of the L.A. River where nature rejected concrete and instead built back life.

Jason Wise, an L.A.-based conservationist, was my walking partner who spotted the crawdaddies, as I was raised to call them in Oklahoma. I had asked Wise, who regularly hosts educational hikes, if we could walk along the river and explore one of its soft bottom segments.

Since moving to L.A., I’d wondered why certain parts of the river were lush and beautiful. My wife and I had biked a few times from Koreatown to the river trail, usually eating at Spoke Bicycle Cafe. Why did this segment look like an actual river and not the concrete flood channel featured in the 1978 film “Grease”?

Ducks stand on rocks in the sandy bottom of the Los Angeles River.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

We’ll get to that precise answer, but first, a bit of geography and history.

The L.A. River has existed for thousands of years and was the site of Indigenous villages for more than 1,000 years. It is, in its current iteration, a 51-mile “engineered waterway” whose banks were channelized with concrete starting in 1938 and finished by 1960, according to the county public works department.

Three portions of the river, though, remain unpaved:

• The Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley.
• The Glendale Narrows, a 7.4-mile stretch through Glendale, Atwater Village, Elysian Park and Los Angeles.
• The Long Beach estuary.

Wise and I met at Elysian Valley Gateway Park, which provides access to the natural streambed.

As we watched its waters flow by, Wise explained that the L.A. River was a wild, free-flowing river that often changed course.

The Glendale Narrows area of the L.A. River.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

For example, as Times columnist Patt Morrison pointed out: “From today’s downtown, it coursed west and southwest all over the Los Angeles Basin until around 1825, when another flood redirected it toward where it flows today, more or less south from the original pueblo.”

This was a problem for L.A.’s developers. And not only that, Wise said, but the river flooded seasonally throughout the 1930s. At the same time, L.A. was growing rapidly, with lots of money to be made in building industry and homes as close to the river as possible.

In 1938, L.A. experienced a great flood — which in today’s meteorological lingo, we’d explain as essentially back-to-back atmospheric rivers hitting in 4½ days, bringing about 16 inches of rain, which is on average how much the area gets in a year. At least 96 people died (although experts say the number is probably higher).

The flood was the impetus for controlling the river, especially given that officials wanted to keep building near it.

At that time, two plans emerged, Wise said. This moment, dear Wilder, would be a good one to correct if you perhaps have a time machine on hand.

A beautiful evening at the Glendale Narrows of the L.A. River.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

In a report titled “Parks, Playgrounds and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region,” designers recommended the region create an “emerald necklace,” or a series of parks along waterways, including the L.A River, the Rio Hondo, the San Gabriel River, Ballona Creek and Compton Creek. Officials could engineer the river with slopes to better handle flooding, and parks would soak up water and replenish the water table.

Areas near the river still might flood, and “we might have to replace some picnic tables or a playground, but otherwise, the whole city has all these parks, and a connection to nature and our wild river that is actually the foundation of the city, the reason that L.A. exists,” Wise said.

We didn’t do that.

Instead, officials asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a faster, simpler (and, in other words, cheaper) solution, Wise said. “Not that it was cheap to dig up and concretize a river, but if you locked this into place … you can then develop right up to the edge,” Wise said.

But in certain places, including the Glendale Narrows, the plan didn’t work. The Glendale Narrows has a higher water table than other areas of the L.A. River, and the engineers realized the concrete wouldn’t set because of the high amount of water and springs bubbling up.

White-faced ibises mingle on rocks at the Glendale Narrows of the L.A. River.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

With the soil exposed, seeds could take root, plants returned, and wildlife came back. The ecosystem, as best it could, rebounded.

“It was an amazing mistake,” Wise said of the Corps’ inability to lay concrete over the entire L.A. River. “I’m so grateful that the Army Corps screwed that up.”

And now, there’s momentum to rethink the landscape of our river’s design.

My first question about that was: “Would we have to tolerate flooding again?” Wise told me that’s a common misconception. For one, it’s arguably impossible to “rewild” the entire river.

“You can’t get rid of this right now because there are homes right there,” Wise said. “We can’t completely undo the mistakes of the past, but we can find a way to create a better future and learn from those mistakes. The best thing to do with a mistake is to learn from it and do things better. It’s harder now, but what can we do to bring some wild back?”

Geese and other birds float along the Glendale Narrows of the Los Angeles River.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

A few days after my visit with Wise, I returned to the L.A. River for sunset. I parked again at Elysian Valley Gateway Park and walked about a third of a mile south to an area of the river where heaps of rocks make it easier to cross the still-concrete part of the river to reach the natural area.

And then for an hour, I stood in awe as a concert of birds performed their evening serenade. White-faced ibises stood perfectly balanced on rocks among the calm river. Great blue herons passed by overhead. American coots submerged themselves underwater in search of food. A few large fish popped up to eat bugs.

Then I heard honking. Not the kind from the nearby 5 Freeway, which for this moment in time, didn’t exist. Four Canada geese appeared above in formation, swooping down to land together on the water. They floated over to the bank, just 15 feet or so from me, where one goose stood watch, protecting its three flock members as they ate and rested. I felt lucky to witness that, like I was living in a Mary Oliver poem.

A Canada goose watches out for its flock members as they eat and rest on the L.A. River.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

It grew darker, and I soon left — only to hear more honking as nine more geese landed.

On my way home, traffic felt less obnoxious. My empty fridge felt less of a problem. Even the Trader Joe’s parking lot left me unaffected. Instead, I felt connected to not only our river and our city, but to the humans around me. As Wise reminded me:

The L.A. River “is the foundation of the city. Nature is all around us, and it’s even there within the city. There should be more of it … and through that connection, we realize we are nature. We are also animals on this planet, that everything is connected. We’re all one big living, breathing organism. Nature is a conduit to the rest of community and supporting each other and building each other up and helping each other out.”

3 things to do

Children’s paintings of P-22, L.A.’s late lion king who lived in and around Griffith Park for more than a decade, at the 2022 P-22 Day Festival.

(Save LA Cougars)

1. Keep P-22’s memory alive in L.A. 🦁🕯️
The #SaveLACougars campaign will host its annual P-22 Day Festival from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Shane’s Inspiration (4800 Crystal Springs Drive) in Griffith Park. The event honors the legacy of P-22, a male mountain lion who inspired countless Angelenos into advocating for our local wildlife. Several local conservation and Indigenous groups will host tables with information about how attendees can get more involved in protecting our public lands. Guests can also meet the people behind the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, take home native plants, enjoy art, crafts and food-trucks and check out the latest P-22 merchandise. Learn more at savelacougars.org.

2. Prowl for the phantasmal in Pasadena
L.A. Fright Club, a horror-themed fitness group, will host its spooky hike club at 7 a.m. Sunday at the Lower Arroyo Seco trail. The group will meet at the trailhead in the San Pascual Stables parking lot (221 San Pascual Ave. in South Pasadena). Costumes are encouraged. Learn more at the group’s Instagram page.

3. Embrace the eerie in Elysian Park
We Explore Earth will host Forest Bridges Day Camp, a Halloween-themed community celebration, from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday in Elysian Park. Attendees can participate in guided hikes, workshops, pumpkin carving, cornhole and more. Participants should bring a blanket, camping chair and/or pillows for the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas” at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.

The must-read

Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet climbed 72 summits over 14,000 feet in the contiguous U.S. in 31 days this fall. Jornet is pictured here in the Sierra Nevada range known as the Normans 13, which connects 13 summits over 13,000 feet (3,962 meters).

(Andy Cochrane)

In just 31 days, Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet recently climbed all 72 summits in the contiguous United States that stand over 14,000 feet tall — a feat similar to climbing Mt. Whitney 2½ times per day, every day, for a month, writes Times staff writer Jack Dolan. Jornet’s journey included California’s “Norman’s 13,” which is 13 summits over 14,000 feet in remote alpine terrain between Lone Pine and Bishop. My first question, reading Jack’s piece was: “Why?” Jornet said he doesn’t do it for the glory. “I do these things because I love them, because they bring me joy and happiness, not because I think they’re very important,” he said.

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

For fans of one of California’s silliest native animals, I have great news! Reservations opened Monday for guided elephant seal tours at Año Nuevo State Park, which is about 6½ hours northwest of L.A. Every December, these massive sea mammals migrate to the beaches of Año Nuevo for their breeding and birthing season. There is fighting — drama! — along with lots of vocalizing and “galumphing,” the park said on its Instagram page. To reserve your spot for a tour, visit this website, and from the “category” dropdown menu, choose “guided seal walks” before choosing which day you’d like to go. Reservations are available 56 days (eight weeks) in advance of your desired walk date.

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

THIS is the chilling moment a woman was dragged down a river between the jaws of a crocodile.

Footage of the sinister creature was caught by witnesses after 57-year-old Soudamini Mahala was snapped up as she bathed in the Kharastrota River in India.

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The huge reptile can be seen swimming through the water with Mahala’s lifeless body in its mouth.

The shouts of shocked villagers were shouting in surprise in the background audio of the video.

Despite cries for help, nobody was able to reach her in time.

Witnesses said the crocodile lunged at the unsuspecting woman and pulled her into the water before anyone could react.

Locals rushed to the river, too late to save the victim from the crocodile’s death grip.

The ordeal took place in Kantia village, in the Jajpur district Odisha, in eastern India.

“The woman was taking a bath in the Kharasrota river around 4pm on Monday,” a police spokesperson said.

“A crocodile dragged her into the high stream of the river.

“Villagers present on the riverbank tried to chase the reptile but failed to rescue her,” they added.

Emergency services rushed to the river after being alerted to the attack and have since launched a search operation to recover Mahala’s body.

Eyewitness Naba Kidhore Mahala said villagers had jumped in to try and save Mahala.

“As we noticed that the crocodile was dragging the woman into the river, we jumped to rescue her,” he said.

“All our efforts went in vain.”

The tragic crocodile attack comes just days after a camper was found dead after sending his family photos of a bear.

The man’s body was discovered with extensive wounds two days after snapping pics of the forest giant.

Family of the unidentified camper raised the alarm after he went radio silent from Sam’s Throne Campground in Arkansas.

The 60-year-old from Missouri was found several yards from the campsite on October 2 after his son requested a welfare check as he had not heard from him “for a couple of days”.

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that he had been dragged from the campsite which has been “disturbed” and where officers found “evidence of a struggle and injury”.

“There were also drag marks leading from the campground into the woods,” the release added.

While officials await autopsy results to confirm the cause of death, they said his body had “extensive injuries consistent with those expected from a large carnivore attack”.

This is in line with pictures he sent his family just days before his body was found showing a “young male bear” near his campsite on September 30.

“Until the Arkansas Crime Lab completes the autopsy, we can’t 100% say it was a bear, but everything strongly indicates it,” Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said.

“We are attempting to find the bear and dispose of it so the Game and Fish Commission can test it for anything that may have led to the encounter.

“We know without a doubt that a bear was in camp with our victim and the injuries absolutely are consistent with a bear attack.

“This is a highly unusual case. We are very early in the investigation and search and will update as we can.

“If you are in the area, just be aware and use caution, especially with children,” he added.

“History tells us that once a bear becomes predatory, it often continues those behaviors.”

As the hunt for the bear continues, the Sam’s Throne Campground has been shutdown to the public.

The camper’s death, if confirmed to be caused by a bear, will be the state’s second fatal bear attack in one month, which is highly unusual.

Under the scorching sun, away from their makeshift tent of thatch, bamboo, and a trampoline sheet used as roofing, Pwanabeshi Job* washes clothes with a three-month-old baby strapped to her back. Her two-year-old son plays nearby, while her eldest fans the burning coal to ensure lunch can be ready. Her husband was out.

Before resorting to life on the streets of Imburu, a community in Numan Local Government Area, Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, the family of five lived under a proper roof.

However, by early August, they, like many others in the Numan and Lamurde areas, grew anxious, knowing that from mid-August through September, their houses are usually flooded.

Each year, as the Benue River, one of West Africa’s largest rivers, swells, it pushes into homes and farms across Numan, where it meets with the Gongola River. The rising waters, which carved through the fertile Benue Valley, a region long prized for farming, leave communities across the area, such as Imburu, Hayin Gada, Ngbalang, Lure, and Opalo, quickly submerged. 

Some residents migrate to neighbouring communities, while others, like Pwanabeshi, gather mats, chairs, cooking utensils, clothes, and other essentials to settle on the street. There, on higher ground beyond the reach of the floodwaters, they remain for about two months. For many, this has become a way of life since 2022. 

Cycle of displacement 

Locals told HumAngle that flooding was first recorded on a large scale in Adamawa in 2012, especially in the Benue Valley. For the next decade, no incident of that scale was recorded. But in 2022, another devastating flood displaced more than 130,000 people across 153 communities. Twenty-five lives were lost, and properties were severely damaged. Heavy rains, dam spillover, and river overflow were said to be the causes of the incident.  

Flooding returned the following year. In 2023, unusually heavy seasonal rain combined with the occasional release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon led to floods that destroyed homes and infrastructure in Fufore, Demsa, Shelleng, and other local government areas.

By August 2024, communities such as Kwakwambe, Lure, and Imburu were again affected by a flood, this time linked to overflow from the Kiri Dam in Shelleng. In Madagali, floods struck due to the upstream flow of water from the Cameroonian highlands. 

Most recently, in July 2025, a violent flood ravaged communities in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, claiming lives and properties. By August, communities around the Benue Valley began to migrate after water levels rose and flooded their homes. 

A study identified the opening of dams, excessive rainfall, rising water levels, and poor drainage, among other factors, as the major drivers of floods in Adamawa State. It also noted that many residents fail to heed early flood warnings.

Lives under water 

On the streets of Imburu, affected residents like Pwanabeshi make do with thatch shelters, each separate but stretched along a street so long that it takes about thirty minutes to walk from one end to the other. They sleep, cook, and carry out domestic chores. With no bathrooms and toilets, they bathe and relieve themselves in nearby bushes, usually before dawn or at night. 

While every household is trying to continue their normal life on the streets, things are tough. The trampoline that covers Pwanabeshi’s shelter leaves gaps, so rain seeps in, soaking the mud floor and chilling the family. “The weather is cold, the mosquito nets we have are not enough, and we are many here, including children,” she said. 

Others face similar struggles. Dati John, a mother of six, keeps a plastic container in the middle of her tent to catch dripping water when it rains.

“I’ve been staying here for over three weeks,” she told HumAngle.

Within this period, Dati said that her children have fallen ill several times, but she could only afford paracetamol until workers from the local primary healthcare centre distributed drugs on Sept. 14. “My basic concern is proper shelter and drugs for our children. If we can get those waterproof tents and mosquito nets, then it’ll go a long way for all of us here,” she said.

According to Dennis Sarka, the community leader of Hayin Gada, about thirty households have been flooded in his community so far. He is unsure of the total number of affected households in Imburu, but he says they are the most affected.

The hardship in these communities goes beyond shelter. The floodwaters have also wiped out the residents’ main source of livelihood—farmlands. Talegopwa John said he lost his entire farm, unable to estimate the hectares submerged or the worth of what was destroyed.

“Some people cultivated large hectares of maize and soya beans, but the flood destroyed everything,” he said. Although the residents were informed about the looming flood months ago, they did not have anywhere else to cultivate their farm, so they clung to hope. 

“That is why I no longer cultivate rice or maize, because the rain washes them away easily. Now, I only farm millet, which can withstand the flood,” said Ramson Mandauna, a retired civil servant and full-term farmer who lives in Imburu. 

The 69-year-old said he didn’t experience flooding as a child living in the community. But over the past four years, he has lost his farmland repeatedly and has been forced to live on the streets each rainy season.

“What we need now is food and how to bring an end to the flooding,” Talegopwa said. 

For children and educators in Imburu, the crisis is not just about lost shelter or farmland; it is also about lost education. September marks the start of a new academic year, but pupils cannot attend classes because Kwakwambe Primary School, located in Hayin Gada within the Benue Valley, is submerged. Locals have nicknamed it the ‘Marine Academy’. 

Each year since 2022, the school, which has a population of about 100 pupils, has been forced to close from mid-August through September, leaving children from Imburu, Hayin Gada, and neighbouring communities at home until the water recedes and classes resume in October. 

Dennis told HumAngle that a non-governmental organisation recently surveyed the area with plans to build another school in a location that is not prone to flooding. “We have provided them with land, and we are expecting work to begin soon,” he said. 

These days, some of the out-of-school children spend their days swimming in the flooded areas.

‘Dredge the Benue River’

Agoso Bamaiyi, an environmental scientist from Adamawa State, says the overflowing of the Benue River through its tributary, the Gongola, is the main driver of flooding in the region. While climate change and global warming contribute to the rising frequency and intensity of floods worldwide, he argues that the Benue’s overflooding remains the central cause in Adamawa.

“The release of huge volumes of water from the Lagdo Dam and the fact that the Benue trough is silted so much that it cannot hold the resultant runoff anymore a major reasons,”  he stated, adding that the situation worsens each year. 

Agoso believes the suffering can be significantly reduced if the Benue is dredged and a reservoir dam is constructed. He said the dam, which could be completed within four to five years, would store excess water released from Lagdo, provide irrigation and electricity, and release water back into the Benue at a natural flow. “If this is done, the flooding caused downstream would be averted,” he said, stressing that dredging would restore the depth and banks of the river, allowing it to carry more water away from farmlands and communities.

“This will also restore year-round navigability and the economic benefits thereof,” he added. 

*Asterisked names have been changed to preserve the identity of the sources.

In “Task,” premiering Sunday on HBO, Brad Ingelsby, creator of the 2021 miniseries “Mare of Easttown,” which introduced the wider world to Wawa and the Delco accent, returns with another tale of crime and family in the rural-suburban wilds west of Philadelphia. Where women were at the center of “Mare,” men are the subject here — a cop and a criminal, symmetrically arranged — messed-up middle-aged single fathers who care about their kids.

Both have been loaded with tragedy. Robbie (Tom Pelphrey), whose wife took off a year before, has a much-missed dead brother in whose house he’s living with his two kids and young adult niece (Emilia Jones as Maeve, a secret hero); he’s a garbage collector with a sideline in robbing drug houses, which he identifies through their trash. This routine has been successful enough that he and his partner, fellow trashman Cliff (Raúl Castillo), have drawn the attention of the authorities.

FBI agent Tom (Mark Ruffalo) has a dead wife (Mireille Enos, seen briefly in flashback), a son in jail he can’t bring himself to visit and a semi-estranged adult daughter (Phoebe Fox); on leave from field work, he’s been manning the agency table at job fairs. That changes when his boss (Martha Plimpton), much to his displeasure, calls him back as a substitute to lead a task force into the drug house robberies, already assembled by his predecessor from other branches of law enforcement. There’s Lizzie (Alison Oliver), young and distractable; Aleah (Thuso Mbedu), terse and focused; and Anthony (Fabien Frankel), loose and Italian.

It’s clear from the guns that both sides pack, and the fact that Robbie has been stealing from criminals — notably a drug-dealing motorcycle gang, the Dark Hearts, which has its own explosive internal business — that something is going to go fatally wrong sooner or later. (If that’s a spoiler, you are blessed with a special brand of naivete.) The bikers, who are not at all nice, though painted with some recognizably human qualities — represented primarily by Jamie McShane as Perry and Sam Keeley as Jayson — are the usual screen collection of exclusively good-looking men and women, though to be fair, this is true of Tom’s team too — Tom perhaps excepted. (Ruffalo put on weight for the role, and wants you to notice.)

In “Task,” Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) is a single father who steals from other criminals.

(Peter Kramer / HBO)

Indeed, the predominant experience of watching “Task” is waiting for the next terrible thing to happen, which may be called suspense or dramatic tension, but in the event makes for an often depressing watch, especially since the safety (physical, psychological) of young children is involved. (That can feel a little cheap, dramaturgically, like endangering a kitten, but it works.) One is grateful for anything relatively ordinary — Lizzie and Anthony dancing in a bar, Tom’s younger daughter, Emily (Silvia Dionicio) connecting with a co-worker at the custard ice stand. (Another item for the regional reference bucket.)

In the compare-and-contrast structure of the series, we learn that Robbie, though he is a fount of bad decisions, is the more optimistic, proactive of the two characters — he has a dream, in the form of a brochure, regarding a Canadian island, where he would like to spirit his family away. (He’s doing the crime to afford it.) He’s interested enough in finding “a life companion” to open a dating app. Tom, who had been a priest for eight years before losing the spirit and joining the FBI, still in mourning for his wife, drinks too much, is packing a paunch and can’t connect with Emily, the only family member left in the house.

Both have connections to nature. Tom, who grows vegetables, is a birdwatcher; Robbie keeps chickens. Both are essentially tenderhearted, which is perhaps not the most practical quality for their professions, but necessary for the story — we need to like them. They’re like one and a half sides of the same coin.

In among the criminal antics and police work is a lot of talk about life and death and God, guilt and forgiveness. Ingelsby thinks big. The title to one episode, “Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing There Is a River,” paraphrases the 13th century Persian poet Rumi, and water is a motif — diving into it, swimming in it, hanging around by it. Birds, too, which show up in random shots and, like the lakes and rivers, function as a sort of psychic relief for the viewer and metaphors for the story. When Tom, speaking to Robbie, identifies a certain bird as a “vagrant … a bird that strayed outside its normal range, strayed so far that it’s forgotten how to find its way home,” that is not really about birds. The writing can be a little on the nose, but better a violent story with ideas than one with none.

For all my reservations when it comes to this sort of drama, it’s very well made and very well acted, and, where many crime stories settle for sensational nihilism, “Task” does want to leave you feeling … pretty good. Not horrible. Hopeful. I trust that hasn’t spoiled it for you.

Video shows the moment a building collapsed into an overflowing river in Kullu in northern India, where heavy rains have caused severe flooding and landslides. The floods have damaged roads, swept away bridges and disrupted water and power supplies in several areas.

The Strand Lido in Gillingham, Kent, is the only riverside tidal salt water pool in the UK – and it’s been a hit with visitors for more than a century.

A treasured lido in Kent has been compared to a Mediterraen resort by experts who say it resembles a Greek holiday resort.

The Strand Lido in Gillingham – a treasured destination amongst residents for nearly 130 years – features on the Historic Pools of Britain register. It earns its place as the sole riverside salt-water pool in the UK.

Initially opened in June 1896, The Strand Lido has remained a cherished location for countless families. With water sourced straight from the River Medway and treated with chlorine for secure bathing, it’s a beloved location for a sunny day out.

For fitness enthusiasts, the lido provides six 25-metre swimming lanes. There’s additionally a paddling pool for toddlers, alongside a 300-metre gentle current river, elephant-themed slides and water fountains to keep young guests amused, reports MyLondon.

With its pristine white surfaces and azure-painted aquatic zones, the entire venue resembles a Mediterranean holiday destination rather than a location beside the River Medway, according to experts writing for The Lido Guide. The review reads: “Nothing about the exterior gives away what lies within.

“What lies within is a riot of Mediterranean-resort-style colour and fun. Any children in the party will be completely unable to contain their excitement.

“The whole thing is a freeform riot of bright white painted concrete, edged in royal blue, that gives the treated river water that fills the pool a hue that is more reminiscent of Greece than Kent.”

The entertainment factor wasn’t overlooked either, with the guide noting: “It takes a special sort of curmudgeon not to grin like a loon while hurtling down a pink elephant’s trunk into brilliant clear water.”

Catering to all needs, the venue boasts sunbathing areas, an on-site café (though you’re welcome to pack your own picnic), changing facilities, loos, poolside showers and a shop selling inflatables, but you’ll have to hurry to enjoy it – it’ll soon closes until next year.

The pool remains unheated, meaning it only opens its gates during warmer months, from May 25 to September 1. Advance ticket booking is essential, with two daily sessions running from 10:30am to 1:30pm and 2:30pm to 5:30pm.

One delighted visitor shared their praise on Tripadvisor, writing: “So impressed with this place and feel lucky to have it in Medway. Very clean, love that the water is sourced and filtered from the Medway, not too much chlorine as lots of natural salt!

“Could easily spend the day here sunbathing and slipping in and out of the water at own pleasure.”

Another visitor dubbed it a “hidden gem” whilst recounting their visit. They said: “What a great place to go. Went for the first time this summer and was pleasantly surprised.

“It was very clean and well maintained. The parking was super cheap and the numbers were controlled so it never felt overcrowded which was lovely.”

Close by, the Strand Park features a delightful miniature railway, an open-air fitness centre, a parkour course, tennis facilities, picturesque waterside strolls, and children’s playground areas.

Another fan remarked: “This place is full of great things to do. Walk along the river, Crazy Golf, a mine railway and, of course, the wonderful Strand Lido Swimming Pool. Something for all really.”

The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe and has been a central part of the continent’s history for centuries, as well as being a popular spot for cruisers

A huge river that is one of the longest in the world and carves its way through 10 European countries. From the Black Forest to the Black Sea the river spans across continents as it spans more than 2,800km (1,740 miles).

The mighty Danube flows through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Its impressive length makes it Europe’s second-largest river, surpassed only by Russia’s Volga.

The Danube-Breg river system ranks as the 31st longest in the world, with the Nile, which crosses 11 countries, claiming the top spot ahead of South America’s Amazon River.

The Danube originates in the Black Forest in southern Germany, then flows southeast, ending in the Black Sea, on the border of Europe and Asia. It serves as a backdrop to four capital cities – Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade – and its vast drainage basin extends into nine additional nations.

The river doesn’t merely flow through these capitals; it has played a crucial role in their development, offering a natural defence system and a reliable water supply that has fostered their growth over the years. As reported by the Times of India, the Danube has been a vital trade artery for Europe, reports the Express.

It connects to the Main-Danube Canal, linking goods to both the Rhine and the North Sea. This connection allows goods to traverse from the North Sea to the Black Sea via this expansive waterway.

The waterway also provides energy for households in Romania and Serbia through the Iron Gate Dam. It has additionally become a cultural icon thanks to Johann Strauss’s “The Blue Danube” waltz, which went on to inspire countless composers, poets and artists.

Throughout history the waterway served as a major frontier for the Roman Empire. Fortresses, strongholds and kingdoms sprang up along its shores over the centuries.

It has now developed into an economic powerhouse overseen by the Danube Commission. The body was established to provide nations with access and secure passage along the river’s channels.

Beyond being a commercial centre, the Danube has now gained popularity with cruise passengers. In a YouTube video, Mark Soberman from the Digitalroamads said: “Most often you’re talking seven to eight days overall.

“The Danube is the grand capitals route, you’ve got these incredible cities, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, and you’ve got these hidden gems as well.”

Mark says numerous travellers frequently encounter a tough choice between cruising the Rhine or the Danube. He explained: “The Rhine [has] castles, vineyards, little storybook towns, it’s a different experience.

“If you want the castles, vineyards, and want to pull straight up into town, that’s probably going to be the Rhine. But for other people, it’s like, ‘No, I want classic European cities like Budapest’, which is incredible to sail into, and Vienna, which has incredible architecture and things to see.”

AN ANGLER reeled in a massive 9ft catfish after a gruelling 50-minute battle.

Jakub Vagner, 43, hauled in the epic catch just south of Prague, in the Czech Republic – setting a new national record.

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The celebrity angler was drifting past a rocky overhang in the Vranov Reservoir, on August 4, when he spotted the giant fish gliding below in the early morning light.

He cast his custom-made rod towards it and waited.

“Ten minutes passed and nothing happened. Suddenly, it turned and went straight into my trap,” Jakub said.

What followed was “the hardest battle I have ever had with a catfish in the Czech Republic”, he continued.

The fish put up such a fight that Jakub had to call in a friend to help him hold onto the rod.

“After almost 50 minutes, it was lying half-tired next to my boat. I was shaking, completely done,” the angler said.

He released the record-breaking fish back into the water after posing with it for photographs.

Jakub explained: “At 2.68 metres (8.8ft) in length, it’s four centimetres (1.6in) longer than the one I caught last year.

“This is one of the biggest catfish I’ve ever seen in Europe.”

Pictures show the Fish Warrior TV host, aired on the National Geographic Channel, standing in the shallows with the enormous catfish.

The 8.8ft whopper was “not only long, but also brutally tall and broad… a beautiful, almost flawless fish with the potential to grow even bigger”, Jakub said.

He added that catching big fish is all about “morale, dedication and determination” – and stressed he never kills his catches, releasing them so they can keep growing.

It comes after another angler landed a monster 20-stone catfish in Italy following a 45-minute fight to reel it in.

Dramatic images show Benjamin Grunder, 37, wrestling with the catch of a lifetime on the banks of the River Po.

At first, he thought his hook had snagged a submerged tree, but the sheer weight revealed it was a huge fish.

The German angler finally hauled in the 8ft 8in Wels catfish – the largest freshwater species in Europe – estimating its weight at 20 stone.

That fish was also released back into the water safe and sound.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance’s security detail had an Ohio river’s water level raised to accommodate a kayaking trip he and his family took to celebrate his 41st birthday earlier this month.

The U.S. Secret Service said it requested the increased waterflow for the Little Miami River, first reported by the Guardian, to ensure motorized watercraft and emergency personnel “could operate safely” while protecting the vice president, whose home is in Cincinnati.

But critics immediately blasted the action as a sign of the vice president’s entitlement, particularly given the Trump administration’s focus on slashing government spending.

Richard W. Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said on X that “it’s outrageous for the Army Corps of Engineers to spend taxpayer money to increase water flow in a river so @VP can go canoeing when budget cuts to the National Park Service have severely impacted family vacations for everyone else.”

The Army Corps of Engineers declined to address any financial impact of raising the river. Spokesman Gene Pawlik said the agency’s Louisville District temporarily increased outflows from the Caesar Creek Lake in southwest Ohio into the Little Miami “to support safe navigation of U.S. Secret Service personnel.” He said the move met operational criteria and fell within normal practice.

“It was determined that the operations would not adversely affect downstream or upstream water levels,” he said in a statement. “Downstream stakeholders were notified in advance of the slight outflow increase, which occurred Aug. 1, 2025.” Vance’s birthday was on Aug. 2.

Vance spokesman Taylor Van Kirk said the vice president was unaware the river had been raised.

“The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the Vice President or his staff, as was the case last weekend,” she said via text.

The sprawling 2,830-acre Caesar Creek Lake has an unlimited horsepower designation and five launch ramps, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website. A marina, a campground and a lodge are also located on site. The department provided two natural resources officers to assist the Secret Service with the Vance event, spokesperson Karina Cheung said.

The Vance family has already become accustomed to certain accommodations being made as they move about the world. During a recent trip to Italy, the Roman Colosseum was closed to the public so that his wife, Usha, and their children could take a tour, sparking anger among some tourists. The Taj Mahal also was closed to visitors during the Vance family’s visit to India.

Such special treatment isn’t reserved for one political party.

When Democratic Vice President Al Gore, then a presidential candidate, paddled down the Connecticut River for a photo opportunity in 1999, utility officials had opened a dam and released 4 billion gallons of water to raise the river’s level. That request too came after a review of the area by the Secret Service — and Gore also experienced political pushback.

Gore’s campaign said at the time that he did not ask for the water to be released.

Smyth writes for the Associated Press.

Netflix fans have been hooked by the latest season of Virgin River and are already on the search for shows that are similar to the hit romantic drama

Virgin River enthusiasts have been compiling lists of their favourite comparable programmes during the ongoing break, and the number one choice may come as a shock.

Netflix’s popular romantic drama follows nurse practitioner Mel Monroe (portrayed by Alexandra Breckenridge) as she relocates to a quiet Northern California town after experiencing a personal tragedy.

She rapidly develops a connection with local pub proprietor and ex-Marine Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson), and together they’ve navigated numerous personal obstacles across six series to date.

Adapted from Robyn Carr’s cherished book collection, the show has established itself as Netflix’s most enduring English-language programme since launching in 2019, with an additional two seasons currently being developed.

With the eagerly awaited seventh instalment expected to arrive either towards the end of this year or in early 2026, supporters have flocked to Reddit to identify the finest programmes offering a comparable small-town atmosphere, reports the Mirror US.

READ MORE: Netflix’s ‘horrific’ missing person series climbing charts despite ‘enraging’ viewersREAD MORE: Netflix users so obsessed with ‘raunchy’ show they’re watching it in one go

One member shared a compilation of nine programmes and commented: “Finished Season 6 and damn I’m seriously mourning right now.

“I made a list, so please help me rank the top 3 shows that exactly give Virgin River vibes. Thanks!”

Their selection featured Chesapeake Shores, Sullivan’s Crossing, Ransom Canyon, Sweet Magnolias, Hart of Dixie, Heartland, Gilmore Girls, Cedar Cove and Everwood.

Whilst the majority of programmes mentioned garnered appreciation from at least one supporter in the responses, a somewhat unexpected selection received the greatest backing.

One Reddit user simply declared: “hart of dixie!!!” A second chimed in: “Hart of Dixie!! Best show ever. Dare I say better than VR? (I love vr so this is saying a lot).”

Another fan confessed: “I was absolutely obsessed with this show, I wish I bought the series on dvd back then!”

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“Hart of Dixie! It’s a gem,” one enthusiast remarked, adding: “And Doc is still the Doc!”

Echoing the themes of Virgin River, the CW series Hart of Dixie centres around the driven Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson), who relocates to the quaint town of Bluebell, Alabama to work as a general practitioner after her aspirations to be a heart surgeon fall through.

Her arrival and subsequent crush on local lawyer George Tucker (Scott Porter) stirs up trouble, especially with his betrothed, Lemon Breeland (Jaime King), who concocts schemes to oust Zoe from their tight-knit community.

As if the plot wasn’t enticing enough, the show also stars Virgin River’s Tim Matheson, who plays another medic, Brick Breeland, father to Lemon.

For fans across the pond, there’s good news – all four seasons of Hart of Dixie are ready for binge-watching free of charge on ITVX.

Are you set to dive into the ideal Virgin River alternative this week?

Virgin River is available to stream on Netflix. Hart of Dixie is available on ITVX.

Stanford University’s student newspaper is suing the Trump administration, claiming the threat to deport foreign students for speaking out against Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza is chilling free speech.

That threat is hampering the paper’s ability to cover campus demonstrations and to get protesters to speak on the record, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Northern California.

Some Stanford Daily writers, who are foreigners in the country on student visas, have even turned down assignments to write about unrest in the Middle East because they’re afraid they’ll be deported. Writers have also asked the paper to remove previously published stories from its website, citing the same concerns, the lawsuit says.

“In the United States of America, no one should fear a midnight knock on the door for voicing the wrong opinion,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote in their complaint.

The suit accuses Trump administration officials, specifically Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem, of placing their statutory authority to deport a foreign visa holder whose beliefs they deem un-American ahead of the constitutional right — guaranteed by the 1st Amendment— to free speech.

“When a federal statute collides with First Amendment rights,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote, “the Constitution prevails.”

Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, scoffed at the lawsuit, calling it “baseless.”

“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” she said in a statement.

The lawsuit — which was filed by the 133-year-old student newspaper, not by the university itself — is the most recent salvo in an increasingly bitter fight between Trump and many of the nation’s elite universities. The president has made clear he sees top schools as hotbeds of liberal ideology and breeding grounds for anti-American sentiment.

His weapon of choice is to threaten to withhold billions of dollars in federal research grants from institutions that refuse to adopt policies on issues such as diversity, transgender rights and Israel that fall in line with his Make America Great Again ideology.

Critics call Trump’s campaign an attack on academic freedom, but fearing massive budget cuts, several Ivy League schools — including the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Brown — have recently cut deals with the Trump administration in an attempt to limit the damage.

Stanford announced this week that it will be forced to lay off hundreds of employees as a result of cuts to research funding and changes to federal tax laws.

The Stanford Daily’s lawsuit focuses on two unnamed students, John and Jane Doe, who the paper’s lawyers say began self-censoring out of a well-founded fear of having their visas revoked and being deported.

Rubio has claimed that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 allows the secretary of State to revoke a noncitizen’s legal status if it is decided the person’s actions or statements “compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.”

Rubio used that interpretation to justify the March arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was held in a Louisiana jail before a federal judge ordered his release.

The complaint cites the cases of two other foreign students — one at Columbia and one at Tufts — who were arrested for participating in pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations.

At Stanford, the plaintiff referred to as Jane Doe was a member of the group Students for Justice in Palestine. She has published online commentary accusing Israel of committing genocide and perpetuating apartheid, according to the lawsuit. She has also used the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which has become a flash point in the Israel-Gaza debate.

Referencing the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — which includes Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — the slogan is viewed as a call for freedom and self-determination by Palestinians. To many Israelis, it sounds like a call for their total destruction.

As a result, Doe’s profile appeared on the Canary Mission, a pro-Israel website that creators say is devoted to outing “hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews.” Department of Homeland Security officials have acknowledged they consult the website’s profiles — most of which are of students and faculty at elite universities — for information on people worthy of investigation.

As a result, since March, Jane Doe has deleted her social media accounts and has “refrained from publishing and voicing her true opinions regarding Palestine and Israel,” the lawsuit claims.

John Doe has participated in pro-Palestine demonstrations, has accused Israel of genocide and chanted, “From the river to the sea.” But after the Trump administration started targeting campus demonstrators for deportation, he “refrained from publishing a study containing criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza,” according to the lawsuit.

Unlike Jane Doe, John has since resumed public criticism of Israel despite the threat of deportation, according to the lawsuit.

One writer went kayaking down a world-famous river only to be warned not to fall in after realising it was full of shark-infested waters

“Don’t worry”, she said, “You’ll be fine,” she said… Well I wasn’t just worried, I was heart-poundingly, leg-shakingly, ready to run a mile terrified, as we prepared to take to the Brisbane River in Queensland on Australia’s east coast.

“If you fall in just pull yourself back up and turn over,” my guide told me reassuringly, elegantly getting back into the kayak she’d just pretended to fall out of. I knew one thing for sure, if I fell in the water I would be looking much more like a cross between a beached whale and a flailing seagull when I tried that manoeuvre. But falling in the water was not on my agenda (no thank you) as I’d just made the mistake of looking up what was in the water; sharks!

Ok, they were bull sharks and while aggressive were unlikely to take an interest in me unless I unwisely decided to go for a leisurely swim, but still… sharks. I didn’t want to be like the unsuspecting paddleboarder in Cornwall who caught the attention of one of the sea creatures.

READ MORE: Tourists issued travel warning amid soaring 40C temperaturesREAD MORE: UK beach that rivals Maldives with white sands also boasts swim-friendly waters

But, I was here now and my brilliant guide from the Riverlife Adventure Centre calmed my nerves enough to at least climb into the kayak and push off from the pontoon. At which point I sped backwards down the river in the very strong current as I frantically paddled to get back to the rest of the group. Somehow I could tell I was going to be far from a natural at this.

I’m not one of life’s thrill-seekers and add in the fact that I really can’t swim well and this was all something of a challenge all round.

I was determined to give it a good go though and at least I was doing this on one of the daytime tours, costing from just over £35. Kayaking at sunrise or twilight, which they also offer, seemed a little beyond my capabilities.

So, we set off along the river, paddling madly against the tide and soon I was feeling a lot more comfortable and even a smidge cocky.

Then it happened. A boat went past. Suddenly the wake hit us, rocking the kayak like I’d just jumped on a rollercoaster. Of course our guide had prepared us for this too “turn into the waves so you go over them and it doesn’t rock you side to side”.

Advice I thoroughly failed to follow on the first wave, wobbled frantically with a small shriek and almost plunged into the water. Suffice to say I faced every wave after that head on.

Once I got used to the river traffic I relaxed into the experience, even managing to wave at tourists along the riverbank, admire the 80ft (25m) high Kangaroo Point Cliffs, which you can also abseil from Riverlife Adventure Centre, and look at the water dragons – large lizards sunning themselves on the rocks.

Despite my fears and not a small number of large wobbles, I managed not to fall in and the sense of achievement (and yes, relief) was palpable when I returned to the pontoon 90 minutes later.

Another one for the bucket list ticked off – shark-infested river survived. Ok, the sharks are also probably further up the river and not swimming round the city centre but I’m counting it.

Kayaking tours can be booked at riverlife.com.au with prices from AUS$75 (approximately £36). You can find out more about Brisbane at visitbrisbane.com.au and queensland.com.

Do you have a travel story to tell us? Email us at [email protected].

Make this the summer you get back out on the water, with fish plopping beneath you, bulrushes shimmying and kingfishers darting by. Even if you don’t have your own kayak or paddleboard festering in the garage, there are dozens of excellent hire places and guided tours up and down the country, on beautiful rivers, lakes, canals and coastlines. I’ve spent a couple of years researching a book about the loveliest, and here are five of my favourites.

Whisky and wildlife, Highlands

For many years the Old Forge Inn – often referred to as the most remote pub in mainland Britain – was well known for its live music sessions that would break out when the whisky started flowing. Locals and visitors were often moved to take down the musical instruments hanging on the walls and burst into tune. It sounded like the best party in the land, all the more so for the degree of difficulty it took to reach it, and the ridiculous beauty of the surroundings. It’s the only pub in the only village, Inverie, on the Knoydart peninsula, a heathery, mountainous hunk of the Scottish west coast that juts between three deep sea lochs, where seals play and white-tailed eagles soar.

And now it’s back. There was a period when things went off the boil under new ownership and the parties dwindled, but in 2022 it was bought by the community and thrives once more. Its pontoon has space for six boats, or you can pull up on the beaches nearby.

The Knoydart Brewery, occupying a deconsecrated Roman Catholic chapel here, supplies the house ales, while a Knoydart venison burger (£18) from the local deer estate is a menu must, along with cullen skink (£11).

As there is no road access, people come by ferry from Mallaig, make the 15-mile hike from Kinloch Hourn (a taxi ride from Fort William), or even kayak over – a strenuous and splashy seven miles. Far easier is to hire a kayak when you get there from Love Knoydart and explore the edges of the pristine loch, looking out for sea otters.

On of the best places to stay is the Bunkhouse, which has dorms and camping with views to the Isle of Rum (dorm beds from £29pp).

Arisaig Sea Kayak Centre can tailor-make day and multi-day wild camping trips in the area from £130pp per day, minimum four people.

A beaver safari in Kent

Hunted for their pelts to near extinction by the 16th century, beavers have been re-established in certain British rivers, including a stretch of the River Stour near Canterbury. They were reintroduced in 2001 at Ham Fen, a Kent Wildlife Reserve site near Sandwich, where they thrived and spread.

The most enchanting way to spot nature’s cutest carpenters is on a sunset safari by Canadian canoe down the chalk stream waterway, which ends at a riverside pub. Canoe Wild (£37pp) runs an atmospheric trip, timed to pass the places the beavers visit most frequently at dusk, when they’re most active.

Starting at Grove Ferry, you’re whisked by minibus to the village of Fordwich for a guided paddle back of just under five miles. On my September trip, a glorious pink sunset was the backdrop at Bootleg Lake, around which many beavers have dens, and we began to notice slippery mud chutes pocked with paw prints. Then, in the near dark … two loud splashes, and a dark shape careering into the water. “Definitely a beaver,” whispered the guides. “When they hear something coming, they whack their wide tails onto the water to scare away predators.”

Even a shadowy splosh felt Attenborough-level exciting under a blazing Milky Way, and we finished in the fairy-lit beer garden of the ivy-wreathed Grove Ferry Inn. Nethergong campsite nearby has pitches from £42.50, as well as a sauna, yoga and bushcraft classes.

A hidden brewery in Hampshire

This fantastically quirky paddle involves a hidden creek, accessible only at high tide, and a place where you can order your drink to be brought straight to your paddleboard or kayak.

This beer pilgrimage is on the tidal River Hamble, a baby river of 6.3 miles that flows east of Southampton towards the Solent. At its narrow upper end, near Botley, spidery creeks run off at the sides, including one leading to the Botley Brewery’s Hidden Tap bar.

Those with their own kit can park at Burridge recreation ground on the east side of the river, then follow a leafy footpath through woods to the water. Or launch further upriver from YMCA Fairthorne (for a £5.50 fee), which rents paddleboards and kayaks and has a cafe and campsite (hire from £20, pitches for four people from £39).

Heading upstream towards Botley, the river becomes gentler, narrower and shallower until it feels like an otherworldly bayou. Set off at least two hours before high tide so it’s high at the upper, final navigable end of the river, follow the stream through a tunnel and emerge at the foot of the brewery wall. You yell your order up and your pint is lowered down in a wooden box to be sipped while you float.

Another short channel, Curbridge Creek, leads to the Horse and Jockey pub’s waterside beer garden.

Let off steam by the Severn

Paddling back the way you’ve come can be a downer, not to mention hard work if it means going against the flow, so River Severn Canoes’ solution is rather brilliant. At the end of its self-guided trips down the River Severn from the Shropshire town of Bridgnorth you abandon your vessel and catch a steam train back on the Severn Valley Railway to Highley (£15). Routes of several lengths are available, including four hours to Arley (10½ miles).

Halfway along there’s a picnic stop on a beach at the village of Hampton Loade, where you could also have a cuppa and a jacket potato at the Unicorn Inn (mains from £7). It has nine (quite basic) B&B rooms as well as a campsite (pitches for one tent sleeping 2-4 people from £20), if you want to make this your base.

Finish in Upper Arley in Worcestershire, home to another traditional, 500-year-old pub, The Harbour. Trains run between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth, stopping at Bewdley, Arley and Hampton Loade. Those with their own kayak or SUP can take them on the train for a £5 fee.

In Bridgnorth, The Falcon Hotel (doubles from £140) has 14 rooms with whitewashed beams and exposed brick. River Severn Canoes also offers multi-day trips down the river, stopping at campsites.

Kingfishers and canoes in Cardigan

Paddling along the thickly wooded tidal gorge of the River Teifi in Canadian canoes feels utterly otherworldly: peregrine falcons zip from steep banks, kingfishers dart above water busy with salmon, sewin (sea trout) and otters, and there’s a little patch of rapids to tackle on an otherwise gentle two-hour tour with Heritage Canoes (£45 adults/£32.50 children). From its woodland base at the Welsh Wildlife Centre and Teifi Marshes nature reserve it’s two miles upriver to Cilgerran, where a 13th-century castle towers above the river.

Stay at glamping site Fforest Farm (two nights’ B&B for two from £340), a 10-minute drive east of Cardigan, with a range of cabins and tents – the geodesic domes come with their own Japanese-style wooden bathhouse with a super-deep tub. The site has its own atmospheric pub, Y Bwthyn, in a barely converted barn only open to guests, where candles send their twitchy glow onto slate windowsills, cocktails are made with foraged botanicals and local ale comes fresh from the cask. Cilgerran has a couple of heartwarming pubs, including the Cardiff Arms (no website), with a coracle hung outside; or head to Cardigan’s waterside bar at Albion Aberteifi, Fforest’s hip apart-hotel, or, on the opposite bank, its Pizzatipi, which has a festival feel.

Gemma Bowes’ Paddle and Pub is published by Bloomsbury (£19.99). Order a copy at guardianbookshop.com.. More details on paddling and safety advice at gopaddling.info

Houayxay, Laos – Fishing went well today for Khon, a Laotian fisherman, who lives in a floating house built from plastic drums, scrap metal and wood on the Mekong River.

“I caught two catfish,” the 52-year-old tells Al Jazeera proudly, lifting his catch for inspection.

Khon’s simple houseboat contains all he needs to live on this mighty river: A few metal pots, a fire to cook food on and to keep warm by at night, as well as some nets and a few clothes.

What Khon does not always have is fish.

“There are days when I catch nothing. It’s frustrating,” he said.

“The water levels change all the time because of the dams. And now they say the river is polluted, too. Up there in Myanmar, they dig in the mountains. Mines, or something like that. And all that toxic stuff ends up here,” he adds.

Khon lives in Laos’s northwestern Bokeo province on one of the most scenic stretches of the Mekong River as it meanders through the heart of the Golden Triangle – the borderland shared by Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

This remote region has long been infamous for drug production and trafficking.

Now it is caught up in the global scramble for gold and rare earth minerals, crucial for the production of new technologies and used in everything from smartphones to electric cars.

Over the past year, rivers in this region, such as the Ruak, Sai and Kok – all tributaries of the Mekong – have shown abnormal levels of arsenic, lead, nickel and manganese, according to Thailand’s Pollution Control Department.

Arsenic, in particular, has exceeded World Health Organization safety limits, prompting health warnings for riverside communities.

These tributaries feed directly into the Mekong and contamination has spread to parts of the river’s mainstream. The effects have been observed in Laos, prompting the Mekong River Commission to declare the situation “moderately serious”.

“Recent official water quality testing clearly indicates that the Mekong River on the Thai-Lao border is contaminated with arsenic,” Pianporn Deetes, Southeast Asia campaigns director for the advocacy group International Rivers, told Al Jazeera.

“This is alarming and just the first chapter of the crisis, if the mining continues,” Pianporn said.

“Fishermen have recently caught diseased, young catfish. This is a matter of regional public health, and it needs urgent action from governments,” she added.

The source of the heavy metals contamination is believed to be upriver in Myanmar’s Shan State, where dozens of unregulated mines have sprung up as the search for rare earth minerals intensifies globally.

Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington and an expert on Southeast Asia, said at least a dozen, and possibly as many as 20, mines focused on gold and rare earth extraction have been established in southern Shan State over the past year alone.

Myanmar is now four years into a civil war and lawlessness reigns in the border area, which is held by two powerful ethnic armed groups: the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

Myanmar’s military government has “no real control”, Abuza said, apart from holding Tachileik town, the region’s main border crossing between Thailand and Myanmar.

Neither the RCSS nor the UWSA are “fighting the junta”, he said, explaining how both are busy enriching themselves from the chaos in the region and the rush to open mines.

“In this vacuum, mining has exploded – likely with Chinese traders involved. The military in Naypyidaw can’t issue permits or enforce environmental rules, but they still take their share of the profits,” Abuza said.

‘Alarming decline’

Pollution from mining is not the Mekong River’s only ailment.

For years, the health of the river has been degraded by a growing chain of hydropower dams that have drastically altered its natural rhythm and ecology.

In the Mekong’s upper reaches, inside China, almost a dozen huge hydropower dams have been built, including the Xiaowan and Nuozhadu dams, which are said to be capable of holding back a huge amount of the river’s flow.

Further downstream, Laos has staked its economic future on hydropower.

According to the Mekong Dam Monitor, which is hosted by the Stimson Centre think tank in Washington, DC, at least 75 dams are now operational on the Mekong’s tributaries, and two in Laos – Xayaburi and Don Sahong – are directly on the mainstream river.

As a rule, hydropower is a cleaner alternative to coal.

But the rush to dam the Mekong is driving another type of environmental crisis.

According to WWF and the Mekong River Commission, the Mekong River basin once supported about 60 million people and provided up to 25 percent of the world’s freshwater fish catch.

Today, one in five fish species in the Mekong is at risk of extinction, and the river’s sediment and nutrient flows have been severely reduced, as documented in a 2023–2024 Mekong Dam Monitor report and research by International Rivers.

“The alarming decline in fish populations in the Mekong is an urgent wake-up call for action to save these extraordinary – and extraordinarily important – species, which underpin not only the region’s societies and economies but also the health of the Mekong’s freshwater ecosystems,” the WWF’s Asia Pacific Regional Director Lan Mercado said at the launch of a 2024 report titled The Mekong’s Forgotten Fishes.

In Houayxay, the capital of Bokeo province, the markets appeared mostly absent of fish during a recent visit.

At Kad Wang View, the town’s main market, the fish stalls were nearly deserted.

“Maybe this afternoon, or maybe tomorrow,” said Mali, a vendor in her 60s. In front of her, Mali had arranged her small stock of fish in a circle, perhaps hoping to make the display look fuller for potential customers.

At another market, Sydonemy, just outside Houayxay town, the story was the same. The fish stalls were bare.

“Sometimes the fish come, sometimes they don’t. We just wait,” another vendor said.

“There used to be giant fish here,” recalled Vilasai, 53, who comes from a fishing family but now works as a taxi driver.

“Now the river gives us little. Even the water for irrigation – people are scared to use it. No one knows if it’s still clean,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the pollution from Myanmar’s mines.

‘The river used to be predictable’

Ian G Baird, professor of geography and Southeast Asian studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, said upstream dams – especially those in China – have had serious downstream effects in northern Thailand and Laos.

“The ecosystem and the lives that depend on the river evolved to adapt to specific hydrological conditions,” Baird told Al Jazeera.

“But since the dams were built, those conditions have changed dramatically. There are now rapid water level fluctuations in the dry season, which used to be rare, and this has negative impacts on both the river and the people,” he said.

Another major effect is the reversal of the river’s natural cycle.

“Now there is more water in the dry season and less during the rainy season. That reduces flooding and the beneficial ecological effects of the annual flood pulse,” Baird explained.

“The dams hold water during the rainy season and release it in the dry season to maximise energy output and profits. But that also kills seasonally flooded forests and disrupts the river’s ecological function,” he said.

Bun Chan, 45, lives with his wife Nanna Kuhd, 40, on a floating house near Houayxay. He fishes while his wife sells whatever he catches at the local market.

On a recent morning, he cast his net again and again – but for nothing.

“Looks like I won’t catch anything today,” Bun Chan told Al Jazeera as he pulled up his empty net.

“The other day I caught a few, but we didn’t sell them. We’re keeping them in cages in the water, so at least we have something to eat if I don’t catch more,” he said.

Hom Phan has been a fisherman on the Mekong his entire life.

He steers his wooden boat across the river, following a route he knows by instinct. In some parts of the river, the current is strong enough now to drag everything under, the 67-year-old says.

All around him, the silence is broken only by the chug of his small outboard engine and the calls of distant birds.

“The river used to be predictable. Now we don’t know when it will rise or fall,” Hom Phan said.

“Fish can’t find their spawning grounds. They’re disappearing. And we might too, if nothing changes,” he told Al Jazeera.

Evening approaches in Houayxay, and Khon, the fisherman, rolls up his nets and prepares dinner in his floating home.

As he waits for the fire to catch to cook a meal, he quietly contemplates the great river he lives on.

Despite the dams in China, the pollution from mines in neighbouring Myanmar, and the increasing difficulty in landing the catch he relies on to survive, Khon was outwardly serene as he considered his next day of fishing.

With his eyes fixed on the waters that flowed deeply beneath his home, he said with a smile: “We try again tomorrow.”

During last month’s heatwave I was lucky to cool off at an outside table at the Mayfly on the River Test near Stockbridge. Sipping a refreshing pint while leaping trout splashed in the water gave the scene a feel of the perfect English summer day. There’s a nearby weir, and forests and fields stretch into the distance. The pub has friendly staff, plenty of tables and a river-based menu including “brown butter chalk stream trout fillet” (£20.50) plus pub classics. If the setting inspired you as it did me, there are vineyards nearby to explore and the timber-framed village of Wherwell is just a stroll along the towpath.
Joe

A celebration of Hull’s maritime history

The Minerva stands at the entrance to Hull’s trendy marina and has fantastic views over the Humber estuary. It opened in 1829 and is decorated with pictures, photos, maps and shields that celebrate Hull’s maritime history. “The snug” can only fit two people and is claimed to be the smallest pub room in the UK. The staff are brilliant and there’s an ever-changing selection of guest ales.
Rob

Warrington’s most serene pub

The Ferry Tavern is a family-run pub that stands proud on its own island between the River Mersey and the Sankey to St Helen’s canal. Although it feels worlds away from nearby built-up areas, it’s easily accessible, and best approached on foot or by bike, sitting right on the Trans-Pennine trail. The beer garden stretches along the riverbank, and nursing a pint of ale on a summer evening while looking out across this tranquil section of the Mersey with all its birdlife is serenity. The 300-year-old tavern is all cosy low ceilings and wooden beams, perfection for the Sunday pub quiz, while Foodie Fridays attracts locals to themed cuisine from Mexican to Greek. The rest of the week, however, hot food is not served.
Matt Lunt

A grand pub on the Grand Union canal in Warwickshire

The 18th-century Blue Lias is a lovely family-run pub on the peaceful banks of the Grand Union canal in the heart of the verdant Warwickshire countryside. It beckoned me towards its outside beer garden as I strolled along the canal with its vibrant flower baskets hanging outside and the welcoming sound of friendly chatter from fellow walkers sipping ale. The pub is named after the clay that’s quarried in the area and offers a beautiful, calm ambience on a summer’s day with many people arriving on foot or by narrowboat.
Gina

Oozing history in Cornwall

The Pandora Inn, on the banks of Restronguet creek between Truro and Falmouth, is a fantastic place to watch the world go by. Parts of the pub date back to the 13th century and the flagstone floors and thatched roof ooze history. But for me, the main attraction is the pontoon reaching out into the creek – the perfect place to watch wildlife and the regular clientele arriving by smallboat and kayak. Plus, the cheesy chips are to die for!
Matt Croxall

Just wading birds for company, Cumbria

One of the best beer gardens and all-round views in the country must be at the Bay Horse on the outskirts of Ulverston. The pub-hotel sits where the Ulverston canal meets the tidal estuary of the River Leven – an idyllic spot between the vast otherworldly expanses of Morecambe Bay and the soaring mountains of the Lake District. Being out of town, it’s often quiet with only wading birds and the odd train for company. Being just outside the national park means the prices are also more Cumbrian (cheap) than at tourist traps in the Lakes.
Michael

A step ahead in north Devon

The Tarr Farm Inn in Exmoor is in a secluded valley right by Tarr Steps, an ancient clapper bridge across the River Barle. It’s a fantastic spot for a dog walk and a pint of local cider while the kids paddle in the stream. The inn dates from the 1600s and serves outstanding food (it was once chosen to provide the VIP catering for Glastonbury festival).
Jen

The herons of Cambridge know a good pub

The Granta overlooks the Mill Pond and Sheep’s Green by the River Cam, and, despite being less than half a mile from the city centre, has countryside pub vibes. During the summer, cows may wander freely on the other side of the pond – old grazing rights are still utilised on Cambridge’s commons. Moorhens, mute swans and herons are regular neighbours, the latter often statue-like at the water’s edge. The pub’s terrace offers a chance to relax with a drink while watching over this watering hole. There’s even the chance of a cameo in cobalt from a passing kingfisher: an alternative Cambridge blue.
Sharon Pinner

Watering hole by south London’s River Wandle

The William Morris at Merton Abbey Mills in Colliers Wood, south London, is a super-friendly pub next to the River Wandle. There is regular live music, lovely independent shops, and children can watch a watermill and learn about water energy. Although there is lots of traffic not too far way, the actual pub, named after the 19th-century textile designer, is a fab watering hole where you can almost forget about London. A short walk away is the National Trust’s Morden Hall Park – you could whet your appetite by going there first.
Asa

Winning tip: Aire of excitement in Leeds

Piglove by the River sits in the Leeds’ Climate Innovation District on the River Aire. It’s not just the name that enchants. Owned by two Venezuelans who say they are inspired by the UK’s craft beer tradition, Piglove offers small-batch beers brewed on site, rotating weekend street-food trucks, and a programme of tone-perfect events: quiz nights, spoken word, post-run cool-downs, pride marches, and jazz if you time it right. There’s a greengrocers, mismatched benches, and the sense that something slightly bonkers might happen at any moment. It’s walkable from the city centre, waiting for you to be seduced by the hum of Friday-night gatherings or the scent of pizza wafting over the sunlit water.
Eliza Ainley

Assam, India – Makon Kumar’s wrinkled fingers are covered in dried-up clay. She squats on the damp dirt outside her one-room, bamboo-stilted home and spins a pottery wheel – a palm-sized grey bowl – with her left toe.

Inside the bowl is a lump of newly-bought wet clay, which Kumar slaps, flattens and curves into the pot’s base.

“My grandma and her grandma passed this practice down to us. We are not farmers, we have no land, and this is our work,” 60-year-old Makon said as she pressed her fist into the clay and carved out the pot’s mouth.

Makon belongs to the Kumar community of about 540 people, whose women have been known for their unique pottery work since the 16th century. These women avoid machinery or a potter’s wheel but rely on their toes to spin a plate or bowl with clay.

The Kumars live on Majuli, an island district between the Subansiri and the mighty Brahmaputra rivers in India’s northeastern state of Assam. Home to nearly 200,000 people, which includes people from other ethnic groups, Majuli has shrunk from 1,300sq km (502sq miles) to 483sq km (186.5sq miles) in a century due to erosion caused by annual monsoon rains and floods.

During the monsoon season, which can stretch from May to September, the floodwaters can get more than 1.5 metres (5 feet) high, forcing Makon and the other Kumars to either seek shelter at the highway bordering the village or stay trapped inside their homes.

Last week, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said there were more than 72,000 people taking shelter in 355 relief camps across the state due to the floods, which have also killed at least 24 people this year.

Access to riverside clay denied

During the floods, the Kumars’ pottery business comes to a halt, interrupting their main source of income. Moreover, the lack of flood prevention efforts by the authorities has worsened their condition.

“[Our family] used to get clay from the banks of the Brahmaputra River,” Makon told Al Jazeera.

Kumar men traditionally dug 18 to 21 metres (60 to 70 feet) deep on the riverbank to extract a glutinous, dark grey clay that locals call Kumar “maati” (soil).

The state-run Brahmaputra Board, which supervises the government’s response to the floods and soil erosion, began building river embankments in 2018, preventing the Kumars from digging the riverbank for clay.

“While the Brahmaputra Board deeply respects this traditional craft [of making pottery], extracting clay directly from the exposed riverbanks causes severe soil erosion, hindering the board’s efforts to protect Majuli island,” a spokesperson for the board told Al Jazeera.

The spokesperson said the board provided an alternative to the Kumar potters by making clay available through designated pits or boreholes that could be accessed after filling an application form. The board, however, did not say how many Kumars applied.

Makon said the embankment on the Brahmaputra forced her to buy clay from mainland Assam, increasing her expenses for a business already lacking commercial value or organised marketing.

November is their best month when floodwaters recede and foreign and Indian tourists take a 90-minute ferry from Jorhat, a city in mainland Assam, to Majuli’s Salmora village, where the Kumar women sculpt pots with their hands and feet. The tour brings extra cash for Makon’s two daughters studying in a secondary school.

On other days, the Kumars sculpt and sell pots of various sizes to local vendors. Tekelis, the most popular and smallest pot used for storing milk, is sold for just 10 rupees ($0.12) to vendors, who resell them for 20 to 100 rupees ($0.23-$1.15) at shops across Majuli and mainland Assam.

Salmora has long, narrow dirt roads, with rows of bamboo and concrete houses built on stilts. When the island is not flooded, hundreds of dried tekelis lie stacked on top of each other on a road bordering the village. The men bake those pots and sell them in the market.

‘No money in it’

However, it is not just a dying form of pottery that is under threat in flood-prone Majuli.

Almost 18km (11 miles) from Salmora lies Upper Katoni village, where the silence of the nights is often interrupted by young men and boys singing and thumping hollow drums. They perform a four-hour theatrical production known as Bhaona, mostly performed past midnight. Locals come for the performance after finishing their dinner, sit on the floor, and watch their neighbours, siblings, or friends perform.

The entirely male troupe of actors play characters from the Hindu epic, Ramayana.

“We’ve been rehearsing for the last three weeks,” said actor Jyoti Bhuyan, who plays a king in the dance drama. “Even in the hotter months, we’re able to perform.”

The Bhaona dates back to the 16th century and is performed at Namghars, open prayer houses unique to Assam. The island has more than 384 Namghars, according to a spokesperson from the Majuli District Office.

“I’ve been doing this since I was a young boy,” said Karunav Bhuyan, a Bhaona actor and political science professor at a college on the island. “What doesn’t change is that anyone from any background can come and watch us perform.”

Bhaona actors wear special masks, made from bamboo and a mix of clay and cow dung. The masks typically have wide, almond-shaped eyes; thick, furrowed brows; and a mouth flaunting a full set of teeth or bright red lips. The mask’s sharp, angular facial features, paired with contrasting eye and hair colours, are often displayed inside the houses of Majuli residents.

“At first, no one wanted to make masks because there was no money in it,” 67-year-old mask maker Hem Chandra Goswami told Al Jazeera.

Goswami, who lives in Majuli’s Samaguri village, started making smaller, easy-to-hang masks and has been teaching the art to high school students since 2012. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2023 for promoting the art form.

Traditionally, only men made masks and used them for Bhaona performances. But that is changing.

Brishti Hazarika, a 25-year-old theatre student, is learning mask-making at Majuli University of Culture, an institution dedicated to preserving the local art forms. “Whether we get financial help from the government or not, it doesn’t stop us from putting on shows or enjoying our festivals,” Hazarika said.

The island’s more well-known tourist attractions are the Satras – the cultural and religious centres where celibate male monks, draped in white cotton cloth, reside.

Known as Bhakats, these monks join the Satras during preadolescence and spend their lives worshipping Lord Krishna, unlike the polytheistic pantheon of numerous gods in mainstream Hinduism.

But annual floods and land erosion have reduced Satras from more than 65 to just 35 in the past decades, according to the Majuli District Office spokesperson. Worse, not every Satra is properly maintained.

Unlike Makon, the Samaguri Satra is located away from the Brahmaputra River and has, therefore, been spared the devastation caused by annual floods. That explains why Pradip Goswami, another local mask artist and a cousin of Hem Chandra, wishes there were more opportunities to produce the masks commercially.

“The way for mask making to continue spreading is by having a bridge over the river to connect us to the mainland,” he said.

‘This is all we know’

In 2022, the Assam government announced the construction of an 8km (5-mile) bridge connecting Majuli to Jorhat. But the $70m project was halted in September last year after Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Limited (UPSBCL), a state-run entity tasked with building the bridge, withdrew from the project over payment disputes, according to local media reports.

Al Jazeera reached out to the UPSBCL for its response to such speculations, but did not receive any reply.

In May this year, the Assam government said it was looking for a new contractor to construct the bridge. But Majuli residents say the government has been apathetic towards their lives and livelihoods affected by the floods.

The Majuli Cultural Landscape Management Authority (MCLMA), created in 2006 to oversee the island’s development and protect its cultural heritage, has not held a meeting in more than a decade, alleges MCLMA executive member Sanjib Borkakoti. Even the office where he used to attend meetings twice a year does not exist any more, he says.

“There is no [government] supervision,” Borkakoti told Al Jazeera. He said the Indian government tried at least twice – unsuccessfully – for a UNESCO World Heritage Site status for Majuli, a tag that would have brought “international attention and pushed the local government to protect what’s remaining”.

Al Jazeera reached out to a government spokesperson and Majuli’s local officials for their response to Borkakoti’s allegations, but did not get any reply.

Meanwhile, for Majuli residents like Makon, art goes beyond just preserving a cultural identity. It is rooted in survival.

“We just don’t know if we will have a home tomorrow,” Makon says as she gives shape to a clay pot, using a wooden bat. She spins the pot one last time to check for any bumps and says, “This is all we know.”

This story was funded by a Reporting Fellowship grant from the South Asian Journalists Association.

The River Severn is the longest river in the UK, stretching for 220 miles through England and Wales. Here’s everything you need to know about the beautiful waterway

Stretching over 220 miles, the UK’s longest river, the River Severn, meanders through 11 picturesque towns and cities in England and Wales. The river springs from the Cambrian Mountains of Wales, flowing all the way to the Severn Estuary, which feeds into the Bristol Channel and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.

The Severn’s journey encompasses a varied landscape of rugged hills, fertile plains, and historic towns, serving as an essential natural and cultural lifeline for both England and Wales. Originating in the Cambrian Mountains at approximately 610 metres (2,001 feet) above sea level, the River Severn courses through several towns and cities, including Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester.

READ MORE: Waterfalls, wildlife and cosy cafe in little-known UK forest trail that locals love

The river commences its journey on the slopes of Plynlimon, where rainfall is plentiful and the terrain steep. As it flows eastward through mid-Wales, it collects waters from tributaries such as the Afon Hengwm and Afon Pysgotwl, forming a robust stream that carves its path through valleys and forests.

Upon entering Shropshire, the Severn winds through towns like Shrewsbury and Ironbridge, the latter being home to the world’s first cast-iron bridge – a symbol of the Industrial Revolution.

Further downstream, the river broadens as it traverses through Worcester and Gloucester, cities rich in history and architecture. The Severn becomes tidal at Gloucester, where it showcases one of its most renowned features – the Severn Bore, a unique tidal wave that travels upstream, drawing surfers and spectators from across the globe, reports the Express.

The Severn Estuary is renowned for boasting one of the world’s highest tidal ranges, peaking at 14.5 metres, and nurturing a vibrant ecosystem teeming with wetlands, salt marshes, and migratory birds.

Its banks offer visitors the opportunity to partake in picturesque walks such as the Severn Way, explore nature reserves like Slimbridge Wetlands, and engage in water sports, river cruises, and heritage railway journeys.

The River Severn has historically been a significant trade route and natural boundary, inspiring tales and legends throughout the ages.

Known as Sabrina in Latin and Afon Hafren in Welsh, the river continues to play a pivotal role in the region today—providing tranquil vistas and thrilling experiences for those who traverse its course.

Following the path of the River Severn, scenic walking trails like the Severn Way provide hikers with breathtaking countryside views and the opportunity to uncover charming towns scattered across the region. As one of the UK’s longest riverside routes, it’s a firm favourite among nature enthusiasts and history aficionados.

One of the standout attractions is Ironbridge Gorge, a recognised UNESCO World Heritage Site. Frequently referred to as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, the gorge houses the iconic Iron Bridge, completed in 1779 as the world’s first bridge constructed entirely from cast iron.

Currently, the area boasts museums and cultural sites that vividly portray its rich industrial history—making it an essential destination for those intrigued by Britain’s historical and engineering heritage.

Towns and cities River Severn passes through

In Wales:

• Llanidloes
• Newtown
• Welshpool

In England:

• Shrewsbury (the county town of Shropshire)
• Ironbridge (known for its historical significance with the Ironbridge Gorge)
• Bridgnorth
• Bewdley
• Stourport-on-Severn
• Worcester (a significant city and the county town of Worcestershire)
• Tewkesbury (where it converges with the River Avon)
• Gloucester (a cathedral city near the Severn Estuary)

With Virgin River becoming one of Netflix’s biggest shows of all time and Sullivan’s Crossing following in its footsteps, could a crossover be on the cards?

Virgin River might potentially merge with another beloved small-town romance series, according to claims from this prominent star.

Drawing inspiration from Robyn Carr’s cherished bestselling novels, the Netflix sensation chronicles Mel Monroe (portrayed by Alexandra Breckenridge), a nurse practitioner who relocates to a remote community after experiencing personal tragedy.

Upon arrival, she encounters bar proprietor and ex-Marine Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson), with instant chemistry developing between them.

The captivating romance has recently concluded filming for its seventh series, anticipated to arrive on Netflix towards the end of this year or potentially in early 2026.

Meanwhile, American audiences have been engrossed in the newest series of Sullivan’s Crossing, which follows comparable themes and draws from another Carr book collection, reports the Mirror US.

Given this link, viewers have speculated whether these programmes might intersect, and it seems we now have our response.

Starring Morgan Kohan and Chad Michael Murray, this heartwarming romance unfolds in Nova Scotia, centring on Kohan’s character Maggie, a neurosurgeon who chooses to reconnect with her father Harry, known as Sully (Scott Patterson), whilst developing feelings for former solicitor California ‘Cal’ Jones (Murray).

In conversation with TechRadar, Kohan revealed she’d enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to interact with Mel, Jack and the entire Virgin River ensemble should circumstances permit.

“That would be so fun, why not!” she declared when presented with the concept. Despite the considerable geographical distance between the two towns, there’s no reason why Virgin River and Timberlake can’t exist in the same universe.

Interestingly, Sullivan’s Crossing, which airs on CTV in Canada and The CW in the US, has also found significant success on Netflix, much like Virgin River, becoming its streaming home in the States.

The two shows even share a producer, Roma Roth, who is an executive producer for Virgin River and the creator and showrunner of Sullivan’s Crossing.

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With the Canadian drama gaining momentum and Mel and Jack’s love story captivating millions, could a crossover episode be on the horizon?

Regardless, Kohan has teased plenty of unexpected twists in the newly renewed fourth season of Sullivan’s Crossing, especially with the shocking revelation that Maggie is still wedded to her ex-lover, Liam (Marcus Rosner).

“I hope they can [stay together],” she commented about her relationship with Cal.

“They’ve built such a beautiful foundation, and clearly this is a bit of a bombshell.

“I think it will take some trust to build them back up, and maybe a lot of explaining… but they are so good together.”

As the fanbase for both shows continues to expand, could Netflix surprise viewers by linking the Robyn Carr universe on screen?

Virgin River is available to stream on Netflix. Sullivan’s Crossing airs on CTW and is on Netflix in the US.