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A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded

A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded
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A crowd watches as the Hertz Tower in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is imploded on Sept. 7, 2024. (AP)
A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded
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This aerial photo shows broken windows of the Hertz Building from Hurricane Laura days in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US, days before it was imploded on.Sept. 7, 2024. (The Advocate via AP/Pool)
A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded
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This aerial photo shows broken windows of the Hertz Building from Hurricane Laura days in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US, days before it was imploded on.Sept. 7, 2024. (The Advocate via AP/Pool)
A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded
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The Hertz Tower, that was heavily damaged after Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020 is seen just before it is imploded in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US, on Sept. 7, 2024. (AP)
A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded
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The Hertz Tower, that was heavily damaged after Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020 is seen just before it is imploded in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US, on Sept. 7, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 08 September 2024

A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded

A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is imploded
  • Formerly known as the Capital One Tower, the building had been a dominant feature of the city’s skyline for more than four decades
  • After a series of hurricanes ripped through southwest Louisiana in 2020, the building became an eyesore, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: An abandoned, 22-story building in Lake Charles, Louisiana — once an icon in the city that became a symbol of destruction from hurricanes Laura and Delta — was imploded Saturday after sitting vacant for nearly four years.
The Hertz Tower crashed down in a matter of seconds after a demolition crew set off a series of explosions inside. The tower fell in a large cloud of dust into a pile about five stories high.
The building, formerly known as the Capital One Tower, had been a dominant feature of the city’s skyline for more than four decades. However, after a series of hurricanes ripped through southwest Louisiana in 2020, the building became an eyesore, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps.
For years the owners of the building, the Los Angeles-based real estate firm Hertz Investment Group, promised to repair the structure once they settled with their insurance provider Zurich in court, The Advocate reported. The estimated cost of bringing the building back up to code was $167 million. Eventually, the two parties settled for an undisclosed amount.

The demolition was funded by $7 million in private money secured by the city. Hertz still owns the property and the future of the site is undetermined, according to the city.
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter described the implosion of the building as “bittersweet.”
“I know how hard the city tried to work with several development groups to see it saved, but ultimately ... it proved to be too tall a task,” Hunter said before the implosion. He was in office during the hurricanes. “At this juncture, I am ready for a resolution. It’s been four years. It’s been long enough.”
Lake Charles, which sits on the banks of the Calcasieu River and is a two-hour drive from Houston, is home to around 80,000 residents. While the city is known for its copious amounts of festivals, bayous, casinos and its Cajun flair, it also has been labeled by the Weather Channel as America’s “most-weather battered city.”
Hurricane Delta crashed ashore in southern Louisiana in October 2020 just six weeks after Laura took a similar, destructive path onto the US Gulf Coast. At the time, Lake Charles was already reeling from damage caused by Laura, which battered roofs, claimed more than 25 lives in the region and left mud and debris filling streets.
The Hertz tower offers an example of the city’s long road to recovery following back-to-back hurricanes that inflicted an estimated $22 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.
While there are signs of rebuilding and growth in much of Lake Charles, there are still buildings that remain in disarray and residents living in the same conditions as four years ago — waiting for financial relief to rebuild their homes, looking for affordable housing after the hurricanes’ destruction exacerbated the housing crisis or stuck in court with their insurance provider to get a fair payout.


Egyptian farmers behind world’s perfumes face climate fight alone

Egyptian farmers behind world’s perfumes face climate fight alone
Updated 3 min 15 sec ago

Egyptian farmers behind world’s perfumes face climate fight alone

Egyptian farmers behind world’s perfumes face climate fight alone
  • In this fertile pocket of the delta, jasmine has sustained thousands of families for generations
  • But rising temperatures, prolonged dry spells and climate-driven pests are putting that legacy at risk

SHUBRA BALULA, Egypt: For years, Egyptian jasmine picker Wael Al-Sayed has collected blossoms by night in the Nile Delta, supplying top global perfume houses. But in recent summers, his basket has felt lighter and the once-rich fragrance is fading.
“It’s the heat,” said Sayed, 45, who has spent nearly a decade working the fields in Shubra Balula, a quiet village about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Cairo and a key hub for Egypt’s jasmine industry.
As temperatures rise, he said, the flowers bloom less and his daily harvest has dropped from six kilograms to just two or three in the past two years.
In this fertile pocket of the delta, jasmine has sustained thousands of families like Sayed’s for generations, but rising temperatures, prolonged dry spells and climate-driven pests are putting that legacy at risk.

An agricultural worker harvests jasmine flowers at sunrise at a field in the village of Shubra Balula in Egypt's northern Nile delta province of Gharbiya on July 7, 2025. (AFP)

From June to October, families, including children, traditionally head into the fields between midnight and dawn to hand-pick jasmine at peak fragrance.
With yields shrinking, some are leaving the trade entirely and those that have stayed now work longer hours.
More children are also being pulled in to help and often stay up all night to pick before going to school.
Child labor remains widespread in Egypt with 4.2 million children working in agriculture, industry and services, often in unsafe or exploitative conditions, according to a 2023 state study.

Agricultural workers harvest jasmine flowers at sunrise at a field in the village of Shubra Balula in Egypt's northern Nile delta province of Gharbiya on July 7, 2025. (AFP)

This year, Sayed has brought two of his children — just nine and 10 years old — to join him and his wife on their 350-square-meter (3,800-square-foot) plot.
“We have no other choice,” Sayed said.

According to the country’s largest processor, A Fakhry & Co, Egypt produces nearly half the world’s jasmine concrete, a waxy extract from the plant that provides a vital base for designer fragrances and is a multi-million dollar export.

An agricultural worker harvests jasmine flowers at sunrise at a field in the village of Shubra Balula in Egypt's northern Nile delta province of Gharbiya on July 7, 2025. (AFP)

In the 1970s, Egypt produced 11 tons of jasmine concrete annually, according to the International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades.
Now, A Fakhry & Co. says that’s down to 6.5 tons.
Ali Emara, 78, who has picked jasmine since the age of 12, said summers used to be hot, “but not like now.”
Mohamed Bassiouny, 56, and his four sons have seen their harvest halve from 15 to seven kilograms with pickers now taking over eight hours to fill a basket.
The region’s jasmine is highly sensitive to heat and humidity, said Karim Elgendy from Carboun Institute, a Dutch climate and energy think tank.
“Higher temperatures can disrupt flowering, weaken oil concentration and introduce stress that reduces yield,” Elgendy told AFP.
A 2023 report by the International Energy Agency found Egypt’s temperature rose 0.38C per decade (2000-2020), outpacing the global average.
The heat is affecting the strength of the jasmine’s scent, and with it the value of the oil extracted, said Badr Atef, manager of A Fakhry & Co.
Meanwhile, pests such as spider mites and leaf worms are thriving in the hotter, drier conditions and compounding the strain.
Alexandre Levet, CEO of the French Fragrance House in Grasse, France’s perfume capital, explained that the industry is facing the effects of climate change globally.
“We have dozens of natural ingredients that are already suffering from climate change,” he said, explaining that new origins for products have emerged as local climates shift.


With the Nile Delta also vulnerable to the rising Mediterranean water levels, which affect soil salinity, jasmine farmers are on the front line of a heating planet.
The laborers are left “at the mercy of this huge system entirely on their own,” said rural sociologist Saker El Nour, with “no stake” in the industry that depends on their labor.
Global brands charge up to $6,000 per kilogram of jasmine absolute, the pure aromatic oil derived from the concrete and used by perfumeries, but Egyptian pickers earn just 105 Egyptian pounds ($2) per kilogram.
A ton of flowers yields only 2-3 kilograms of concrete and less than half that in pure essential oil — enough for around 100 perfume bottles.
“What’s 100 pounds worth today? Nothing,” said Sayed.
Egypt’s currency has lost more than two-thirds of its value since 2022, causing inflation to skyrocket and leaving families like Sayed’s scraping by.
Last June, pickers staged a rare strike, demanding 150 pounds per kilogram. But with prices set by a handful of private processors and little government oversight, they only received an increase of 10 pounds.
Every year farmers earn less and less, while a heating planet threatens the community’s entire livelihood.
“Villages like this may lose their viability altogether,” Elgendy said.
 

 


Easyjet flight does U-turn after passenger tries to enter cockpit

Easyjet flight does U-turn after passenger tries to enter cockpit
Updated 23 August 2025

Easyjet flight does U-turn after passenger tries to enter cockpit

Easyjet flight does U-turn after passenger tries to enter cockpit

LYON: A passenger suffering from delirium tried to break into the cockpit of an Easyjet flight from France to Portugal, forcing the jet to return to Lyon airport, police and the company said Saturday.
The man was subdued by other passengers and restrained until the jet landed again, French police said.
The Easyjet flight, going from Lyon to Porto, had just taken off late Friday when the incident happened, the airline said.
“Flight EJU4429 from Lyon to Porto returned back to Lyon shortly after take off due to (the) behavior of a passenger onboard. The flight was met by police on arrival and once the passenger was removed by police, the flight continued onto Porto,” Easyjet said in a statement.
Police said the man, a 26-year-old Portuguese national, underwent medical examinations that indicated he was suffering from airsickness and delirium. He was admitted to a French hospital.


Rebrand of US culture ‘fixture’ Cracker Barrel sparks backlash

Rebrand of US culture ‘fixture’ Cracker Barrel sparks backlash
Updated 23 August 2025

Rebrand of US culture ‘fixture’ Cracker Barrel sparks backlash

Rebrand of US culture ‘fixture’ Cracker Barrel sparks backlash
  • An attempt to rebrand the storied US chain has sparked a firestorm of opposition online
  • The new, simplified logo features just the text of the brand name in a rounded-off yellow hexagon

MOUNT ARLINGTON, United States: Cracker Barrel has a special place in the hearts of many Americans, offering homestyle American cuisine in a folksy “Old Country Store” setting complete with rocking chairs and occasional country music performances.
But an attempt to rebrand the storied US chain has sparked a firestorm of opposition online and opened a new front in the culture wars around legacy brands seeking to update their corporate images.
It has also hammered the company’s share price, wiping tens of millions of dollars off of its value, and dividing customers and staff.
The chain, which has around 660 US branches, removed from its logo the stylized likeness of Uncle Herschel – the uncle of founder Dan Evins – who was shown sitting on a wooden chair in front of the eponymous barrel.
President Donald Trump’s son Donald Jr. took to X to demand to know “WTF is wrong with Cracker barrel,” quoting a post by the “Woke War Room” account that claimed the chain had “scrapped a beloved American aesthetic and replaced it with sterile, soulless branding.”
The new, simplified logo features just the text of the brand name in a rounded-off yellow hexagon.
The furor is just the latest to engulf corporate America, following similar rows when high-end carmaker Jaguar re-branded, removing its iconic “leaping cat” emblem, drawing howls of indignation from core customers, critics and the political right.
At the Cracker Barrel in Mount Arlington, New Jersey, a busy lunch rush largely bustled past the only sizable iteration of the new logo, behind the cash register, with the original still adorning old-timey signage, packaging and menus.
“They’re taking away Mr.Herschel! Am I gonna miss him? Maybe,” said a register operator in the large gift shop who declined to be named. “They’re making everything bland.”
Her colleague, who was clearing tables, insisted: “Nothing’s changing – just the logo. The food is still the same, the menu is still the same.”
Longtime customer Kathy Brondolo was visiting the branch with her husband as they were attending a wedding nearby and said the new logo “doesn’t make a difference – as long as we can see it from the road.”
“How can anybody be down on it? Life is change,” said the retired social worker, 67, as she and her husband sat on the chain’s signature rocking chairs.
Inside the restaurant 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Manhattan, diners ate vast platters of meatloaf and fried chicken, rounded off with buttermilk biscuits, surrounded by walls covered with antiques and hunting trophies.
Marketing professor David Reibstein at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School said “it is not unusual for a brand to do an occasional refresh. This was not a major shift either.”
“The traditions have broken for the traditionalists. Apparently, the issue is the core of Cracker Barrel’s customers are traditionalists and they tend to reside mostly in red, conservative states and these are most likely to react. It was almost seen as an abandonment of this segment.”
Trump won in 74 percent of counties with a Cracker Barrel in 2024, according to elections analyst Dave Wasserman.
Florida congressman Byron Donalds, a Republican candidate for state governor, wrote on X that he had worked in a Cracker Barrel and had even been baptized in the parking lot of one.
“Their logo was iconic and their unique restaurants were a fixture of American culture. No one asked for this woke rebrand. It’s time to Make Cracker Barrel Great Again,” he said, echoing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra.
Marketing expert Tim Calkins wrote on his blog that “in a world with hair-trigger social media and commentators eager to stir up controversy to drive ratings, this is a dangerous area.”
He advised that Cracker Barrel should “stick with the program” – even as the business contended with a share price down $7 to $54.40 on the week.
“There is no question Cracker Barrel needs some changes and the current moves seem reasonable,” Calkins said. “People will likely move on when the next hot issue comes along.”


Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts for the 31st time since December

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts for the 31st time since December
Updated 23 August 2025

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts for the 31st time since December

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts for the 31st time since December
  • A few lucky residents and visitors will have a front-row view at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

HONOLULU: Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano resumed erupting Friday by shooting an arc of lava 30 meters into the air and across a section of its summit crater floor.
It was Kilauea’s 31st display of molten rock since December, an appropriately high frequency for one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
The north vent at the summit crater began continuously spattering in the morning, and then lava overflowed a few hours later. The vent started shooting lava fountains in the afternoon.
The eruption was contained within the summit crater, and no homes were threatened.
A few lucky residents and visitors will have a front-row view at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. If the past is a guide, hundreds of thousands more will be watching popular livestreams made possible by three camera angles set up by the US Geological Survey.
Whenever she gets word the lava is back, Park Service volunteer Janice Wei hustles to shoot photos and videos of Halemaumau Crater – which Native Hawaiian tradition says is the home to the volcano goddess Pele. She said that when the molten rock shoots high like a fountain, it sounds like a roaring jet engine or crashing ocean waves. She can feel its heat from over a mile away.
“Every eruption feels like I am sitting in the front row at nature’s most extraordinary show,” Wei said in an email.
Kilauea is on Hawaii Island, the largest of the Hawaiian archipelago. It’s about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of the state’s largest city, Honolulu, which is on Oahu.
Here’s what to know about Kilauea’s latest eruption:
Towering fountains of molten rock
A lower magma chamber under Halemaumau Crater is receiving magma directly from the earth’s interior at about 5 cubic yards (3.8 cubic meters) per second, said Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This blows the chamber up like a balloon and forces magma into an upper chamber. From there it gets pushed above ground through cracks.
Magma has been using the same pathway to rise to the surface since December, making the initial release and subsequent episodes all part of the same eruption, Hon said.
Many have featured lava soaring into the air, in some cases more than 1,000 feet (300 meters). The fountains are generated in part because magma – which holds gases that are released as it rises – has been traveling to the surface through narrow, pipelike vents.
The expanding magma supply is capped by heavier magma that had expelled its gas at the end of the prior episode. Eventually enough new magma accumulates to force the degassed magma off, and the magma shoots out like a Champagne bottle that was shaken before the cork was popped.
This is the fourth time in 200 years that Kilauea has shot lava fountains into the air in repeated episodes. There were more episodes the last time Kilauea followed this pattern: The eruption that began in 1983 started with 44 sessions of shooting fountains. Those were spread out over three years, however. And the fountains emerged in a remote area, so few got to watch.
The other two occurred in 1959 and 1969.
Predicting Kilauea’s future
Scientists don’t know how the current eruption will end or how it may change. In 1983 magma built enough pressure that Kilauea opened a vent at a lower elevation and started continuously leaking lava from there rather than periodically shooting out of a higher elevation. The eruption continued in various forms for three decades and ended in 2018.
Something similar could happen again. Or the current eruption could instead stop at the summit if its magma supply peters out.
Scientists can estimate a few days or even a week ahead of time when lava is likely to emerge with the help of sensors around the volcano that detect earthquakes and minuscule changes in the angle of the ground, which indicate when magma is inflating or deflating.
“Our job is like being a bunch of ants crawling on an elephant trying to figure out how the elephant works,” Hon said.
The lava fountains have been shorter lately. Steve Lundblad, a University of Hawaii at Hilo geology professor, said the vent may have gotten wider, leaving molten rock less pressurized.
“We’re still gonna have spectacular eruptions,” he said. “They’re just going to be wider and not as high.”
Carrying stories of Pele
Some people may see lava flows as destructive. But Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, the executive director of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation, said lava is a natural resource that hardens into land and forms the foundation for everything on Hawaii Island.
Kanahele-Mossman’s nonprofit is named after her grandmother – the esteemed practitioner of Hawaiian language and culture and founder of a noted hula halau, or school. Hālau o Kekuhi is celebrated for its mastery of a style of hula rooted in the stories of Pele and her sister, Hiʻiaka.
Kanahele-Mossman has visited the crater a few times since the eruption began. She initially watches in awe and reverence. But then she observes more details so she can go home and compare it to the lava in the centuries-old tales that her school performs. While at the crater, she also delivers a chant prepared in advance and places offerings. Recently she presented awa, a drink made with kava, and a fern lei.
“You as the dancer, you are the storyteller and you carry that history that was written in those mele forward,” she said, using the Hawaiian word for song. “To be able to actually see that eruption that’s described in the mele, that’s always exciting to us and drives us and motivates us to stay in this tradition.”
Visiting the volcano
Park visitation has risen all eight months of the year so far, in part because of the eruption. In April there were 49 percent more visitors than the same month of 2024.
Park spokesperson Jessica Ferracane noted that the last several episodes have only lasted about 10 to 12 hours. Those wanting to go should sign up for US Geological Survey alert notifications because the eruption could be over before you know it, she said.
She cautioned that visitors should stay on marked trails and overlooks because unstable cliff edges and cracks in the earth may not be immediately apparent, and falling could lead to serious injury or death. Young children should be kept close.
Volcanic gas, glass and ash can also be dangerous. Nighttime visitors should bring a flashlight.


Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi welcome first child via adoption

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi welcome first child via adoption
Updated 22 August 2025

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi welcome first child via adoption

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi welcome first child via adoption
  • They shared Thursday that they “are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy”

LOS ANGELES: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi adopted a daughter, the first child for the married couple, this summer, they announced Thursday.
“We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy,” the couple wrote in a social media statement. No further details were released.
Brown, 21, and Bongiovi, 23, were married in a private ceremony in May 2024. Representatives for Brown and Bongiovi did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.
Brown gained recognition for her starring role as Eleven in the Duffer brothers’ sci-fi series “Stranger Things.” The fifth and final season will air this November and December, a culmination of nine years of the show’s production. The British actor has pursued other acting and business ventures in that time, including the Netflix original “Enola Holmes” films and a “Godzilla” film. She even released a romance book in 2023.
Bongiovi is the son of Jon Bon Jovi, founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi. Bongiovi debuted his own acting career as the star in “Rockbottom,” which released last year.
Brown stressed the importance of family during the 2024 premiere of her Netflix film “Damsel,” where Bongiovi and his parents were in attendance.
“I’m just so lucky that they’re here tonight and it just means so much to me,” Brown told The Associated Press then. “Family is everything and just to have my second family here means everything.”
The couple lives in Georgia. She recently told the AP she enjoys living on a farm, largely disconnected from social media, while promoting her 2025 Netflix film “The Electric State.”