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The Rise of Tech-Savvy Farmers in KenyaKericho County, Kenya – A typical Saturday morning starts before sunrise for Chepkorir Rotich, a farmer in Kiboito village in western Kenya's Kericho County. By then, Rotich has already milked her cows and sold the milk, fed her chickens, and headed back to pluck vegetables for orders already placed. Her work starts this way every day, and she does it with passion.When the 33-year-old mother of two left college more than a decade ago, she was excited and ready to join the formal employment sector and secure a full-time job."I thought I would be employed as a business administrator, but after looking for a job for too long, I accepted contract offers in three different companies," she says. "The highest paid me about $200 in a month. While living in Nairobi, that wasn't enough."From Job Seekers to Agricultural EntrepreneursA lack of white-collar jobs has kept young Kenyans like Rotich out of employment, leaving them to innovate ways to survive and earn a living. In doing so, many youths have resorted to agriculture and other fields, with many using digital as well as vocational skills to stay ahead of the game.Digital Transformation of Kenyan AgricultureRotich, for example, uses social media to market her produce and to learn how to practice agriculture using modern methods. Social media helps her share knowledge with young people who comprise a large portion of her nearly 50,000 followers. She also runs a YouTube channel where she shares her knowledge of farming.The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that the average African farmer is 60 years old, something Rotich refutes, saying the presumed age of farmers has made many young people shun agriculture instead of embracing it as a way to earn a living going into the future."I think the reason they say that is because of access to land on which to do agriculture, which is mostly owned by older people," Rotich tells Al Jazeera. "In my case, I started farming in the compound of my rented house, and by the end of each month, my landlord owed me money after settling the rent because I sold him milk and vegetables. So, it's all about passion and consistency among the youth."Kiringai Kamau, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi with expertise in agricultural economics, agribusiness, and food systems, says young people should take up agriculture as full-time employment since they are the ones who can effectively understand and deploy technology."To do this, we have established the devolution agroecology and AI learning centre in Murang'a University, where we will be pushing to have the centre train the youth who will be going into agriculture to be able to link with the agricultural data ecosystem, deriving from the infrastructure that will be provided, and also giving information to the county and country, and any other professionals that may be interested in data coming there," he tells Al Jazeera.Derrick Ngigi, the technical head at Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN), says that while youth are embracing agriculture, technology also plays a role in providing them with opportunities."For example, content creation in agriculture brings a lot of opportunities, such as creating content around modern farming methods, which has been generating revenue for the youth," Ngigi says.AI Tools Revolutionizing Farming PracticesAbout five kilometres outside Kiboito, at Kaptoroi village, Geoffrey Kiprop is busy cleaning his cowshed after feeding his cattle for the early morning. The 32-year-old earned a bachelor's degree in information technology in 2017 but has never secured formal employment.Like Rotich, Kiprop has been surviving on contract work, such as jobs doing systems development and maintenance for schools. He says that the highest-paid contract was for 15,000 Kenyan shillings ($116). But now, he makes about 7,000 Kenyan shillings ($54) a day through farming.Kiprop also practices mixed farming, rearing cows for milk and chickens for eggs and meat, while also planting crops such as tea, coffee, capsicum, cabbage, and beans.He uses modern technologies to raise his crops and livestock and takes advantage of his IT training, which he utilises to ensure maximum profits.Examples of the tools he uses include the Plantix app, which he says helps detect crop disease and malnutrition using AI after he simply takes a photo of the crop and uploads it. The app also gives the farmer the weather forecast and the best crop practices to perform in line with current weather conditions."My favourite is the Virtual Agronomist. This is an AI-enabled platform where I use Google Maps to capture the coordinates of my crop field and then specify the types of crops I am growing," Kiprop explains. "In return, the Virtual Agronomist will enable me to know the size of the plots under farming. It also generates a nutrient plan by sampling the soil in the farm, guiding me in what the soil is missing in terms of nutrients and the exact amount to add," he tells Al Jazeera.For his cows, Kiprop also uses an AI tool to manage their health and production."Also, I use the Digicow app, which assists the farmer in managing dairy farm practices by tracking all the day-to-day activities in the dairy farm, which includes recording the amount of milk sold and used by the farmer, dairy inputs like feed and health practices, thus allowing the farmer to know if he's making a profit or not," Kiprop says.Financial Benefits of Tech-Enhanced FarmingBoth Rotich and Kiprop demonstrate that farming with AI tools can be more financially rewarding than traditional employment paths for educated young Kenyans. While contract work offered Rotich a maximum of $200 per month and Kiprop's highest contract paid 15,000 Kenyan shillings ($116), Kiprop now earns approximately 7,000 Kenyan shillings ($54) daily through his tech-enhanced farming operations.The Future of Agriculture in KenyaBoth Rotich and Kiprop agree on one thing: agriculture also comes with its own challenges, and one has to be deeply passionate and consistent to make something out of it."Consistency is key," says Rotich. "It's something that many young people lack, and they quit very early before they can break even and realise profits. One has to do things many times to be able to finally get it and learn from the mistakes made before."

The Origins of 'Mogging' Until recently, if someone had said "mog" to me, I probably would have assumed they were talking about the children's book cat created by the late great Judith Kerr. If asked about "mogging" or being "mogged," I would have been completely baffled. But for many members of gen Z and gen Alpha (or anyone who is just a bit too online), the slang term, which means to outdo or outshine others, is everywhere. From Manosphere to Mainstream Mogging's origins are in the manosphere, where it began as a verb derived from the acronym "Amog" (alpha male of the group). In misogynistic forums in the 2010s, to "mog" came to mean to outdo someone in terms of sexual desirability. Mogging has been adopted by "looksmaxxing" influencers such as Braden Peters, known online as Clavicular, who encourage men to try to alter their looks – sometimes in extreme ways – to increase their "sexual market value". Such an influencer might talk of "frame mogging" another person in a photo or video – a variation on mogging that specifically refers to being more muscular. The Evolution of Competitive Language Even now, as the term has begun to be used much more widely, and in a tongue-in-cheek way, it is still typically associated with looks (a friend of mine, for example, was described by her boyfriend's younger siblings as "mogging him" in a photo). But increasingly, mogging can mean besting others at basically anything. The gold medal Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu said in an interview last year that her main competition strategy was "to mog", while a 23-year-old colleague of mine tells me that she and her friends joke about "walk-mogging" when they overtake people on the street. Linguistic Analysis of Modern Slang Tony Thorne, director of the slang and new language archive at King's College London, says a lot of new slang terms "have come recently from the same kind of male-based internet culture", referencing the words "simp" (someone who is excessively attentive), "soy boy" (a derogatory term for a man who is not stereotypically masculine) and "sigma" (someone cool and successful). Not to mention "maxxing," now such an established part of the lexicon that it was tweeted by the US Department of Defense earlier this year. The Cultural Impact of Competitive Slang Thorne thinks it is significant that "mogging" in particular has become fashionable at this time. "What it implies – hyper-competitive, hyper-individualist, aggressive selfishness" has become "mainstream behaviour", he says. Which is why Will Adolphy, a psychotherapist who was himself once an ardent follower of manosphere influencers, has concerns about the word. "Part of me can see how it's a kind of handy, even entertaining word," he says. But the idea of mogging "reinforces this sense that there are certain people that will dominate others based off their physical appearance and status", he says. Psychological Concerns About Competitive Language Dr Emily Sehmer, an NHS child and adolescent psychiatrist, worries too about the "constant sense of competition" that concepts such as mogging help to foster, especially for teenagers, who are developing their socio-emotional skills and typically "have a desire to fit in and to get peer approval". Apart from anything else, she adds, wanting to mog someone is "kind of mean, isn't it?" The Ironical Reappropriation of 'Mogging' "I think people are right to be concerned," about the rise in usage of slang that originates from a toxic subculture, Thorne says – and notes that some of his fellow linguists feel uncomfortable about researching it. But, he adds, "mogging" has moved well beyond its origins, and many people who use it now "tend to understand it and laugh at it, and they use it themselves, but ironically". Certainly, plenty of mogging content on social media now has an irreverence to it: such as the trend of posing for the photo on a rollercoaster in order to "mog" the screaming riders next to you. Making what started as an aggressive concept into something very silly pokes fun at the ridiculousness of the manosphere, my younger colleague explains. She shows me a picture of herself on a recent holiday, standing next to a statue of Napoleon, that she sent to a group chat of her friends. The caption? "I mogged Napoleon!"

The Final Curtain Call for Hollywood IconsThe 100th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth has prompted a rerelease of her most serious work, John Huston’s 1961 western The Misfits. This retrospective offers a sombre look at a film that marked the final chapter for its three iconic leads: Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift.The Irony of a 'Misfit' in the American WestAdapted by Arthur Miller, the film tells the story of Roslyn, a woman seeking a quickie divorce in Reno who becomes entangled with three men: an ageing cowboy, a submissive friend, and a reckless bronco rider. The Guardian review notes that despite the title, the characters fit perfectly into their desolate landscape, trapped in a cycle of loneliness and yearning. The film serves as a poignant 'American pastoral' that reflects the disillusionment of the era.The Tragic Destiny of the Wild HorsesThe film's climax, where the characters attempt to capture wild mustangs only to realize they are being sold as pet food, serves as a powerful metaphor. The Guardian describes this as a 'horrible, inglorious and symbolic destiny,' mirroring the characters' own struggles. Monroe’s performance is noted as 'fascinatingly sad,' moving away from her signature breathiness to reveal a raw, authentic vulnerability.Enduring Legacy of a Tragic RomanceAs the film returns to cinemas for the BFI Southbank retrospective, it serves as a reminder of the tragic personal toll on its creators. The Guardian suggests that the film's sombre tone feels more relevant than ever, cementing its status as a masterpiece of American cinema that explores the cost of freedom and the inevitability of loss.

The Paradox of Growth: Datacentres, GDP, and ClimateThe latest March GDP figures reveal a troubling disconnect between economic expansion and environmental reality. While the economy grew by 0.3% in the quarter, the primary driver of this growth is a boom in datacentre investment. This creates a scenario where economic success is being achieved at the expense of the climate and long-term employment stability.The Datacentre-Driven GDP SurgeThe core of this economic shift lies in the massive private investment in machinery and equipment, which actually exceeded total GDP growth. This surge is largely attributed to the information technology and communications industry, specifically the construction of datacentres.Net Trade Deficit: Australia's net trade went backwards, with imports of datacentre equipment outpacing exports.Jobless Growth: Unlike traditional infrastructure, datacentres are designed to minimize human labor, meaning the construction boom does not translate into a sustainable jobs boom.Investment Shift: Without datacentre investment, non-mining investment would have actually contracted in March.The Hidden Cost of Household SpendingWhile the headline GDP number looks positive, the underlying data for households tells a different story. The rise in household spending was largely artificial, driven by a jump in electricity and gas bills following the end of government rebates.Per Capita Decline: When accounting for population growth, average household spending actually fell.RBA Impact: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised rates, contributing to a 0.7% drop in real per capita disposable income.Living Standards: Nearly half of the income decline was due to increased interest rate payments.Why GDP Metrics Fail to Reflect RealityThe Climate Council warns that the datacentre boom will drastically increase Australia's electricity consumption. Currently accounting for 2% of national electricity use, this sector is projected to jump to 6% by 2030 and 12% by 2050.This growth threatens to derail progress on climate goals. As electricity emissions are currently the main reason for falling greenhouse gas levels, the rapid expansion of datacentres—requiring massive amounts of power—could effectively destroy the nation's ability to reach net zero targets.The Future of Energy and EmploymentThe current economic trajectory suggests a future where growth is decoupled from both job creation and environmental sustainability. To avoid a climate catastrophe, Australia must urgently integrate massive renewable energy capacity and battery storage to power these datacentres without relying on polluting coal or gas.

The Shift from Excitement to BoycottFor many Canadians, the prospect of hosting the 2026 World Cup was a dream realized. However, the intersection of astronomical ticket prices and the immense financial burden placed on host cities has triggered a significant backlash. Fans like Lawrence Yee, once ecstatic about the tournament, are now choosing to stay away entirely, feeling that the sport's ethos of accessibility has been sacrificed for profit.The Pricing Paradox: High Revenue vs. Low AttendanceFIFA’s new pricing strategy, driven by real-time market adjustments, has created a stark disconnect between supply and demand. While President Gianni Infantino claims there were 500 million ticket requests—ten times the volume of previous tournaments—local reality tells a different story. Hundreds of tickets for games in Toronto and Vancouver remain unsold, and hotel occupancy is hovering at typical summer levels of 80% rather than the surge expected for a global event.Cheapest opening game tickets exceed C$1,000 (£535).Ontario passed legislation to cap resale prices, forcing FIFA to modify its marketplace.FIFA claims to have sold 90% of global inventory, yet local venues have empty seats.The Economic Disconnect: Who Pays the Bill?The core issue lies in the asymmetry of the financial model. Cities bear the brunt of the infrastructure costs, with estimates for Toronto skyrocketing from C$45m to C$380m, and Vancouver from C$240m to C$624m. The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates the total cost to Canada will exceed C$1bn, yet residents are largely priced out of the experience they are funding.The Future of Global Sports GovernanceThis situation highlights the monopolistic power of FIFA. As sports economist Moshe Lander notes, without competition, the governing body can prioritize revenue maximization over fan accessibility. If this boycott trend spreads to other host cities, it could force a reevaluation of how future tournaments are structured, potentially moving away from the current "maximize profit at all costs" model toward a more inclusive approach.

A Lost Literary Treasure EmergesA never-before-published short story by Edith Wharton, the first female Pulitzer prize winner who encapsulated the so-called gilded age of US society in bestselling novels including The Age of Innocence, has received its first public airing more than a century after it was written.The Discovery of "The Men Who Saved the World"The story, discovered in the author's archives at Yale University, appears in The Strand, a quarterly magazine that has previously turned up lost or previously unknown works by literary luminaries such as Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene and Tennessee Williams. Believed to have been written no earlier than July 1918, the story was found "incomplete and unpublished" in the Edith Wharton Collection at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.A Tale of Contrasting RealitiesSet during a dinner party in a French chateau towards the end of the first world war, the story tells of the country's wealthiest residents attempting to move on from the conflict that recently scarred them, even as guns are heard still booming and soldiers dying only miles away. The tale is punctuated by the meal being served on a grand dining room table that was used as an operating table for amputations only months before when the chateau was used as a field hospital.Wharton's War Experience Reflected in FictionA main character is a young American nurse called Milly Arden, who observes the household's easy return to its privileged prewar days as she wrestles with the horrors of war and the injuries she has seen and treated. Arden's character appears to be at least in part autobiographical: Wharton, who died in 1937 aged 75, had extensive experience of field hospitals during the conflict also known as the Great War, and helped set up medical care and facilities for affected women and children.Modern Parallels in a Century-Old NarrativeAndrew Gulli, editor-in-chief of The Strand, said the story from more than a century ago has parallels in global events of today. "We live in a time where we're very far away from a lot of horrific events that are happening around the world, and this story sort of encapsulates that mood where there's this beautiful chateau, and people are trying to go back to the old prewar era with the chandeliers and this wonderful dancing, and a dinner party, and not far away the war's still happening," he said.Scholarly Significance and Future DiscoveriesProfessor Isabelle Parsons, a British Open University professor and Wharton scholar who first uncovered the manuscripts, noted that "in the past decade, news of fresh archival discoveries has frequently thrilled Wharton's casual and critical readers." She described the story as "casting a satirical eye over the volunteer efforts of privileged women" and "reads like an experimental attempt – ultimately abandoned by Wharton – at confronting the traumatic effects of warfare through its explicit references to amputation as medical care at the front."

The LeadA supernatural play based on the Iranian horror movie 'Under the Shadow' explores the terror of life in Iran during the 1979 revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. The Event DetailsThe play, adapted by Carmen Nasr from Babak Anvari's 2016 film, is set in Tehran in 1988. It tells the story of Shideh, a woman who hides in her apartment with her terrified daughter as the Iraq-Iran war rages on. The play explores themes of fear, survival, and the supernatural. The Data AnalysisThe play's creative team, including director Nadia Latif and actress Leila Farzad, bring their own experiences of war and displacement to the production. Latif's family has experience in Sudan, while Farzad's family is from Iran. The play's themes of hope and survival are universal, resonating with audiences from different backgrounds. The Impact AnalysisThe play's use of horror as a genre allows it to tackle complex themes like politics and collective suffering. By making the horrors of war personal, the play aims to bring the audience closer to the experiences of those living through conflict. The PredictionThe play is expected to be a powerful and thought-provoking production, exploring the complexities of life in Iran during a time of war and revolution. With its talented creative team and timely themes, it is likely to resonate with audiences and leave a lasting impact.

The Expanded Partnership Lovable and Google announced an expanded multiyear collaboration on Wednesday. Lovable, the fast-growing Stockholm vibe-coding startup, has long been a Google Cloud user. Under the new agreement, it will be a much bigger one. The Deal Details While the companies did not disclose the dollar figure, a person with knowledge of the deal tells TechCrunch it involves a fivefold increase in Lovable’s footprint on Google Cloud, including AI usage. As part of the deal, this individual tells us, Lovable will gain expanded access to both Anthropic’s Claude — the AI model widely used for coding tasks — and Google’s own Gemini models. The Financial Impact Google invested $10 billion in Anthropic in cash and compute credits in April, promising another $30 billion if Anthropic hits certain performance targets. Lovable crossed $400 million in annualized revenue in February, having added $100 million in a single month with just 146 employees. The Strategic Implications The deal also plugs Lovable into several other parts of Google’s ecosystem. Lovable’s new agent will be available through Google Cloud’s enterprise agent marketplace, the Gemini Enterprise Agent Gallery — an arrangement the two companies first telegraphed at Google’s major U.S. cloud conference in April. And to help secure the code that both humans and agents write, Lovable will integrate with Wiz, Google’s biggest ever acquisition at $32 billion, which officially closed in March. The Future Outlook The calculus for Google is simple enough. If it can keep both Lovable and Anthropic growing by attracting deep-pocketed enterprises, the revenue helps fund the $180 billion to $190 billion in capital expenditures Google plans to spend this year.

The Lead: Stokes' Defense of Archer's IPL Commitment Ben Stokes has defended England's decision to excuse Jofra Archer from the start of the Test summer so he could compete in the Indian Premier League, saying a more militant approach risks a situation where "players like him might not play for England again." While Stokes admitted he "totally understands people's frustrations around the situation," particularly given that Archer is tied to an ECB central contract which runs until 2027, he suggested its most high-profile critics were stuck in the past. The Modern Cricket Landscape: Player Opportunities and Expectations "There's another side to it, and a lot of it's got to do with the landscape of cricket and where it is at the moment," England's Test captain said. "I think a lot of the points that people have been making around Jof and that situation are to do with the landscape when they were playing. But it's completely different now. There's opportunities for cricketers now that there wasn't 10, 15, 20 years ago. "Yes, in an ideal situation it would be unbelievably great to have everyone you want available at every single opportunity. That is not the way of cricket at the moment. There is so much more out there for players. There are other opportunities and you want players to be able to do them, and also to play for England. The Archer Situation: IPL Success and Test Uncertainty Archer has just completed his most successful IPL season, taking 25 wickets for Rajasthan Royals as they reached the playoffs, putting him third in this year's bowling rankings. He played his last game on Friday, before flying to Barbados for what Brendon McCullum, the England coach, described as "a little bit of a break". He is expected to play some part in the Test series against New Zealand but will not be at Lord's when the first Test starts on Thursday, and it is not yet known whether he will be available for the second game, which begins at the Oval on 17 June. Criticism and Counterarguments: Former Players vs. Current Leadership "It's ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous," Doull told Sky. "How are you paying this guy up to £1m a year and he's not available for your first Test match? There's no reason that Jofra Archer couldn't have been bowling six or seven overs [with the red ball] in between [games]. The fact that he is not doing that tells me he has no interest in playing Test cricket. And why are the ECB not then having discussions with the [Royals] team, saying: 'We need him to be ready for Test match cricket'? I think it's completely wrong." But while Stokes acknowledged the criticism, he maintained his position: "There is a situation where it could get messy, and players like Jofra might not play for England again if you handle it in a different way, and that is not good for anyone. Jofra has shown that he's committed and loves playing for England. Just because he's not available for this first Test match does not change that." England's Performance Issues: Need for a Smarter Approach Stokes admitted that his team had developed a habit of "consistently letting ourselves down" at crunch moments in Test matches, a trend which their much-trailed reset is intended to address. "It's not a massive change, to be honest," he said. "As much as people want to hear us say that, it's not. It's being a lot smarter in those big moments in games, because I will admit that consistently when [they] were in the balance, when it was neither one way nor the other, we let ourselves down. The decisions we thought were the right ones to make let the opposition get ahead of us. Especially over the past 18 months, we've contributed towards losing games of cricket on too much of a consistent basis."