HONG KONG: Hong Kong is home to a variety of snakes — from the venomous king cobra to larger species such as the Burmese python. Whenever one of these reptiles is spotted slithering into a home or coming alarmingly close to a residential area, Ken Lee is among the snake catchers called to capture the creatures.
But unlike commercial snake catchers of yesteryear, whose catch is often served up as soup in the city’s snake shops, Lee doesn’t sell the snakes he captures. He is part of a new breed of snake catchers who strive to release the reptiles back into nature.
“There are occasions where people have caught the snakes before I arrived on the scene, but unfortunately some of them were killed or fatally injured,” said 31-year-old Lee, who is one of Hong Kong’s youngest registered snake catchers. “Some people caught the snakes bravely, but actually it caused harm to wildlife.”
Like many other snake catchers in the city, Lee is self-taught. He first started handling snakes at the age of 17, when he worked as an apprentice in a Hong Kong snake shop. His experience spurred him to learn more about biodiversity and biology, and he eventually went on to study that at a university in Taiwan.
When Lee catches snakes, he uses a range of equipment — puncture-proof gloves, sticks, hooks, a torch and bags. At times, he even uses his bare hands.
In early December, he made headlines when he successfully captured a 3-meter-long (10-foot-long) Burmese python in a village located in a rural part of Hong Kong. The same month, Lee was also called to a high-rise residential building in a rural area to capture a bamboo pit viper — a common, venomous green snake whose bite can cause a nasty swell.
The snakes he catches are sent to the Kadoorie Farm and Botanical Garden, a local nonprofit organization that shelters rescued wild animals. After a health check, most of the creatures are then released back into the local parks.
“I hope all these wild animals could be returned to nature,” Lee said.
Currently, he works as a research assistant at four universities in the city and volunteers at the Hong Kong Society of Herpetology Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the study of reptiles and amphibians.
Even though Hong Kong has ample green areas that serve as different habitats for snakes, Liz Rose-Jeffreys, Kadoorie Farm’s conservation officer, thinks the city’s urban development may threaten the survival of snake species.
“I think this is one of mutual respect, really. They are our wild neighbors, they’ve been here a lot longer than us, and I think we have a duty to respect nature,” she said. “They form an important part of our ecosystem, so if we have to remove snakes, then it would upset the balance that has been established for many years.”
No snake soup for Hong Kong’s young snake catcher
https://arab.news/8dtv3
No snake soup for Hong Kong’s young snake catcher
- When Ken Lee gets his hands on a python, he doesn’t eat it, it’s released
- Take the snakes out of the equation and you upset the balance says Ken
French actor Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault and given 18-month suspended sentence
PARIS: French movie star Gérard Depardieu ’s fall from grace is now complete.
Depardieu further moved down from the pinnacle of French cinema Tuesday as he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred in 2021 and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. He was also fined a total of 29,040 euros (around $32,350), and the court requested that he be registered in the national sex offender database.
The actor, 76, has been convicted of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”). The case was widely seen as a key post-#MeToo test of how French society and its film industry address allegations of sexual misconduct involving prominent figures.
Depardieu, who has denied the accusations, didn't attend the hearing in Paris. Depardieu’s lawyer, Jérémie Assous, said that his client would appeal the decision.
“It is the victory of two women, but it is the victory of all the women beyond this trial,” said Carine Durrieu Diebolt, the set dresser's lawyer. “Today we hope to see the end of impunity for an artist in the world of cinema. I think that with this decision we can no longer say that he is not a sexual abuser. And today, as the Cannes Film Festival opens, I’d like the film world to spare a thought for Gérard Depardieu’s victims."
Accused by more than 20 women
Depardieu’s long and storied career — he told the court that he’s made more than 250 films — has turned him into a French movie giant. He was Oscar-nominated in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.
In recent years, the actor has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Some other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.
During the four-day trial in March, Depardieu rejected the accusations, saying he’s “not like that.” He acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language on the film set and that he grabbed the set dresser's hips during an argument, but denied that his behavior was sexual.
The court, composed of a panel of three judges, concluded that Depardieu’s explanations in court were “unpersuasive” and “not credible" and stressed both accusers' “constant, reiterated and substantiated declarations.”
The court also said that both plaintiffs have been faced with an “aggressive” defense strategy “based on comments meant to offend them.” The judges therefore considered that Depardieu’s lawyer comments in court aggravated the harm to the accusers and justified higher fines.
The two accusers testified in court
The set dresser described the alleged assault, saying the actor pincered her between his legs as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor.
She said he grabbed her hips then started “palpating” her behind and “in front, around.” She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show what she allegedly experienced. She said he then grabbed her chest.
The woman also testified that Depardieu used an obscene expression to ask her to touch his penis and suggested he wanted to rape her. She told the court that the actor’s calm and cooperative attitude during the trial bore no resemblance to his behavior at work.
The other plaintiff, an assistant, said that Depardieu groped her buttocks and her breasts during three separate incidents on the film set.
The Associated Press doesn’t identify by name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to be named. Neither women has done so in this case.
“I’m very moved," one of the plaintiffs, the set dresser, told reporters after the verdict. “I’m very very much satisfied with the decision, that’s a victory for me, really, and a big progress, a step forward. I feel justice was made.”
Some expressed support for Depardieu
Some figures in the French cinema world have expressed their support for Depardieu. Actors Vincent Perez and Fanny Ardant were among those who took seats on his side of the courtroom.
French media reported last week that Depardieu was shooting a film directed by Ardant in the Azores archipelago, in Portugal.
The actor may have to face other legal proceedings soon.
In 2018, actor Charlotte Arnould accused him of raping her at his home. That case is still active, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested that it go to trial.
For more than a half-century, Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility.
A bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a turbulent youth, Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France’s most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures.
In recent years, his behavior toward women has come under renewed scrutiny, including after a documentary showed him repeatedly making obscene remarks and gestures during a 2018 trip to North Korea.
Hollywood stars condemn Gaza ‘genocide’ as Cannes Festival opens
CANNES: More than 380 figures from the cinema world including "Schindler's List" actor Ralph Fiennes condemned "genocide" in Gaza in an open letter published on Tuesday ahead of the Cannes Festival opening.
"We cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza," read the letter initiated by several pro-Palestinian activist groups and published in French newspaper Liberation and US magazine Variety.
The signatories -- which include Hollywood stars Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, as well as acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and former Cannes winner Ruben Ostlund -- decried the death of Gazan photojournalist Fatima Hassouna.
Hassouna, 25, is the subject of a documentary which will premiere in Cannes on Thursday by Iranian director Sepideh Farsi, titled "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk".
Hassouna was killed along with 10 relatives in an Israeli air strike on her family home in northern Gaza last month, the day after the documentary was announced as part of the ACID Cannes selection.
Farsi welcomed the impact of her film but called on Cannes Festival organisers to denounce Israel's ongoing bombardment of the devastated Palestinian territory.
"There needs to be a real statement," she told AFP. "Saying 'the festival isn't political' makes no sense."
This year's Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche was initially said by organisers to have signed the petition, but her spokeswoman told AFP that she had not endorsed it and her name was not published by Liberation.
Other signatories include Jonathan Glazer, the British director of Jewish origin who won an Oscar for his 2023 Auschwitz drama "The Zone of Interest", as well as US star Mark Ruffalo and Spanish actor Javier Bardem.
The Cannes Festival kicks off on Tuesday on the French Riviera, with an opening ceremony headlined by Robert De Niro and three films showing the devastation of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Two documentaries featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a third film shot on the brutal frontlines of Europe's biggest war in 80 years are to be screened on a "Ukraine Day" of programming.
It is "a reminder of the commitment of artists, authors and journalists to tell the story of this conflict in the heart of Europe", the festival said.
Nothing similar has been planned for the war in Gaza, but the film on Hassouna is set to "honour" her memory, organisers said previously.
Gazan filmmakers Arab and Tarzan Nasser are also set to showcase their fiction feature set in 2007 in the Palestinian territory in one of the secondary sections of the festival.
The opening film on Tuesday evening is "Leave One Day" by French director Amelie Bonnin, a newcomer, before Hollywood heavyweight De Niro receives an honorary Palme d'Or.
De Niro is one of the most outspoken critics of US President Donald Trump in the American cinema world, with the "Taxi Driver" star often struggling to find words harsh enough for the US president.
Trump has made himself one of the main talking points in Cannes after announcing on May 5 that he wanted 100-percent tariffs on movies "produced in foreign lands".
The idea sent shockwaves through the film world, although few insiders or experts understand how such a policy could be implemented.
Cannes director Thierry Fremaux talked up the festival's "rich" American film programme on Monday, with movies from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Ari Aster and Kelly Reichardt in the main competition.
"American cinema remains great cinema. The United States remains a great country of cinema," he said.
Off-screen news in France is also likely to overshadow the red-carpet action in Cannes on Tuesday, with French film icon Gerard Depardieu facing a verdict in a sexual harassment case in Paris.
Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, is the highest-profile figure caught up in France's response to the #MeToo movement against sexual violence.
While independent cinema forms the core of the Cannes festival, organisers also hand over part of the programme to major Hollywood studios to promote their blockbusters.
Tom Cruise is set to return to the Riviera for the premiere of the latest instalment of his "Mission: Impossible" franchise on Thursday, three years after he lit up the festival while promoting "Top Gun: Maverick".
The festival will also see a series of high-profile debut films from actors-turned-directors, including "Eleanor the Great" from Scarlett Johansson and "The Chronology of Water" by Kristen Stewart.
Organisers on Monday denied reports that they had banned provocative near-nude dresses from the red carpet.
However, "full nudity on the red carpet" has been formally outlawed, "in keeping with French law".
Kim Kardashian will testify in the Paris trial about the jewelry heist that upended her life
PARIS: The last time Kim Kardashian faced the men that police say robbed her, she was bound with zip ties and held at gunpoint, and feared she might die. On Tuesday, nearly a decade later, she returns to Paris to testify against them.
One of the most recognizable figures on the planet is expected to take the stand against the 10 men accused of orchestrating the 2016 robbery that left her locked in a marble bathroom while masked assailants made off with more than $6 million in jewels.
Kardashian is set to speak about the trauma that reshaped her life and redefined the risks of celebrity in the age of social media. Her appearance is expected to be the most emotionally charged moment of a trial that began last month.
Court officials are bracing for a crowd, and security will be tight. A second courtroom has been opened for journalists following via video feed.
Kardashian’s testimony is expected to revisit, in painful detail, how intruders zip-tied her hands, demanded her ring, and left her believing she might never see her children again.
Twelve suspects were originally charged. One has died. Another has been excused from proceedings due to serious illness. Most are in their 60s and 70s — dubbed les papys braqueurs, or “the grandpa robbers,” by the French press — but investigators insist they were no harmless retirees. Authorities have described them as a seasoned and coordinated criminal group.
Two of the defendants have admitted being at the scene. The others deny any involvement — some even claim they didn’t know who Kardashian was. But police say the group tracked her movements through her own social media posts, which flaunted her jewelry, pinpointed her location, and exposed her vulnerability.
The heist transformed Kardashian into a cautionary tale of hyper-visibility in the digital age.
In the aftermath, she withdrew from public life. She developed severe anxiety and later described symptoms of agoraphobia. “I hated to go out,” she said in a 2021 interview. “I didn’t want anybody to know where I was … I just had such anxiety.”
Her lawyers confirmed she would appear in court. “She has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system,” they wrote, adding that she hopes the trial proceeds “in an orderly fashion … and with respect for all parties.”
Once dismissed in parts of the French press as a reality TV spectacle — and lambasted by Karl Lagerfeld for being too flashy — Kardashian now returns as a key witness in a case that has forced a wider reckoning with how celebrity, crime, and perception collide.
Her lawyers say she is “particularly grateful” to French authorities — and ready to confront those who attacked her with dignity.
Samsung launches slimmest smartphone as races against rival Apple
- The S25 Edge has Samsung’s latest built-in AI functions
- Analysts said the launch was strategically timed to pre-empt Apple, which is expected to launch a thinner iPhone in the second half of this year
SEOUL: Samsung Electronics made public on Tuesday its slimmest flagship model to date, complete with enhanced artificial intelligence features, as it seeks to get ahead of rival Apple on the premium market.
The S25 Edge launch is designed to appeal to increasing demand, especially from consumers in their 20s and 30s, for more portable smartphones.
“The feedback was clear – users wanted something slimmer and easier to carry without sacrificing performance,” said Samsung, which made structural changes to reduce the thickness of internal components, including the printed circuit board and thermal systems.
Analysts said the launch was strategically timed to pre-empt Apple, which is expected to launch a thinner iPhone in the second half of this year.
“By releasing the product a few months ahead, Samsung could inflict some impact on Apple and attract consumers looking for thinner smartphones. It appears to be a calculated decision to capture that segment of demand,” Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said.
The S25 Edge will go on sale in South Korea on May 23 and in the United States on May 30, Samsung said, adding it will roll it out to about 30 countries, including China and in Europe.
Starting at $1,099, the model has a 6.7-inch screen and a 5.8 millimeter-thick body, making it larger than the basic S25 model but only fractionally heavier.
The S25 Edge has Samsung’s latest built-in AI functions, including multimodal AI that allows users to interact with the device in real time through vision and voice, using the camera to ask questions.
Samsung did not disclose the production site for the new model.
It became the world’s leading smartphone vendor in the first quarter of 2025, capturing 20 percent of the global market and narrowly surpassing Apple, which held an 19 percent share, data from Counterpoint Research showed.
Samsung last month, however, said second-quarter shipments could be affected if tariff risks weaken demand.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was ‘coercive and criminal,’ jury hears
NEW YORK: Sean “Diddy” Combs used violence and threats of reputational ruin to control women he abused for years, New York jurors heard Monday during opening statements of the federal sex trafficking trial that was followed by the case’s intitial graphic testimonies.
The panel of 12 jurors and six alternates responsible for determining Combs’s fate heard of the famed artist’s explosive outbursts and an attempt to preserve his own reputation and power of celebrity through bribery.
But the 55-year-old music mogul’s defense team insisted that while some of his behavior was questionable — and at times constituted domestic abuse — it did not amount to evidence of the racketeering and sex trafficking he’s charged with.
Combs has pleaded not guilty on all counts, including the racketeering charge that the hip-hop pioneer led a sex crime ring that included drug-fueled sex parties by use of force, threats and violence.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson alleged Combs “brutally” beat his former girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, threatening to release videos of her participating in elaborate sexual “freak-offs” if she defied him.
Ventura’s testimony is core to the case, and she is expected to take the witness stand as soon as Tuesday.
Johnson also told jurors Combs had set a man’s car ablaze and dangled a woman from a balcony, and made impossible demands of his lovers and employees alike.
“Let me be clear,” US attorney Johnson said, “this case is not about a celebrity’s private sexual preferences.”
“It’s coercive and criminal.”
But Combs’s defense lawyer Teny Geragos told jurors the “case is about love, jealousy and infidelity and money.”
Combs, appearing aged with his once jet-black hair now gray, dramatically stood up and looked at the jury box when Geragos introduced him, his hands clasped.
Geragos called Combs’s accusers “capable, strong adult women,” and said his situation with Ventura was a “toxic relationship” but “between two people who loved each other.”
“Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” she said, adding that the defense would admit there was domestic violence — but that Combs is not charged with such crimes.
Combs was joined at the courthouse by his children, including 18-year-old twin daughters, as well as his mother Janice.
The case’s first witness was Israel Florez, a Los Angeles police officer who “at the time” was a security officer — and who responded to a call of “a woman in distress” on March 5, 2016 at the Los Angeles-area InterContinental Hotel.
Florez’s testimony provided the foundation for the prosecution to introduce evidence of now-infamous security footage — published by CNN last year — of Combs in a towel chasing Ventura throughout the hotel hallways, at times striking her.
The jury was repeatedly shown the video on Monday, including a cell phone-recorded version that Florez filmed himself of the original footage.
Florez detailed his interaction with Combs and Ventura in painstaking detail, including saying that after the officer escorted the rapper back to his room, Combs offered him a wad of cash.
The officer understood this was intended as a bribe: “He was telling me, ‘Don’t tell nobody,’” Florez said.
Florez’s testimony was followed by a male dancer who engaged in a sexual relationship, often in exchange for money, with Combs and Ventura from 2012 to approximately the end of 2013.
In lurid detail, Daniel Phillip described his encounters with the pair, which generally involved sex with Ventura while Combs watched.
But eventually, Phillip said, Combs physically abused Ventura in front of him.
“Why is she doing this, why is she staying with this guy?” Phillip recalled thinking.
“I tried to explain to her that she was in real danger if she stayed with him.”
Day one of testimony in the blockbuster trial saw hoards of journalists, influencers and members of the public descend on the downtown Manhattan courthouse.
If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in bringing hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison.
The selected jurors will remain anonymous, but not sequestered — meaning they must individually ensure they stay away from media coverage and social media commentary about the high-profile case.
The proceedings are expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
