The haircut –- known locally by the English word "boy" –- has become strikingly visible on the streets of the capital, and not just because women are no longer required to wear hijab headscarves under social reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.

As more women join the workforce, a central plank of government efforts to remake the Saudi economy, many describe the "boy" cut as a practical, professional alternative to the longer styles they might have preferred in their pre-working days.

For Safi, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym to preserve her anonymity, the look also serves as a form of protection from unwanted male attention, allowing her to focus on her patients.

"People like to see femininity in a woman's appearance," she said. "This style is like a shield that protects me from people and gives me strength."

A practical time-saver

At one salon in central Riyadh, demand for the "boy" cut has spiked –- with seven or eight customers out of 30 requesting it on any given day, said Lamis, a hairdresser.

"This look has become very popular now," she said. "The demand for it has increased, especially after women entered the labour market. "The fact that many women do not wear the hijab has highlighted its spread" while spurring even more customers to try it out, especially women in their late teens and twenties, she said.

The lifting of the headscarf requirement is just one of many changes that have reordered daily life for Saudi women under Prince Mohammed, who was named as the heir to his 86-year-old father, King Salman, five years ago.

Saudi women are no longer banned from concerts and sports events, and in 2018 they gained the right to drive.

The kingdom has also eased so-called guardianship rules, meaning women can now obtain passports and travel abroad without a male relative's permission.

Such reforms, however, have been accompanied by a crackdown on women's rights activists, part of a broader campaign against dissent.

Getting more women to work is a major component of Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 reform plan to make Saudi Arabia less dependent on oil.

The plan initially called for women to account for 30 percent of the workforce by the end of the decade, but already that figure has reached 36 percent, assistant tourism minister Princess Haifa Al-Saud told the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.

"We see women today in every single job type," Princess Haifa said, noting that 42 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises are women-owned.

Many working women interviewed by AFP praised the "boy" cut as a tool for navigating their new professional lives.

"I am a practical woman and I don't have time to take care of my hair," said Abeer Mohammed, a 41-year-old mother of two who runs a men's clothing store.

"My hair is curly, and if my hair grows long, I will have to spend time that is not available to me taking care of it in the morning."

'Show of strength'

Saudi Arabia has traditionally outlawed men who "imitate women" or wear women's clothing, and vice versa.

But Rose, a 29-year-old shoe saleswoman at a Riyadh mall, sees her close-cropped hair as a means of asserting her independence from men, not imitating them.

It "gives me strength and self-confidence... I feel different, and able to do what I want without anyone's guardianship", said Rose, who did not want to give her full name.

"At first my family rejected the look, but over time they got used to it," she added.

Such acceptance partly reflects the influence of Arab stars like actress Yasmin Raeis or singer Shirene who have adopted the style, said Egyptian stylist Mai Galal.

"A woman who cuts her hair in this way is a woman whose character is strong because it is not easy for women to dispense with their hair," Galal told AFP.

Nouf, who works in a cosmetics store and preferred not to give her family name, described the message of the "boy" cut this way: "We want to say that we exist, and our role in society does not differ much from that of men."

Short hair, she added, is "a show of women's strength".

© 2022 AFP

"It's gonna be a thrill for me" to play the Juan Jazz Festival on the French Riviera -- Anka told AFP from his home in Los Angeles.

Indeed, the line-up is a gathering of pure jazz royalty, from Herbie Hancock to Diana Krall, Stacey Kent and the genius Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan.

But Anka's roots are pure pop, going straight to the top of the hit parade -- as it was then called -- with his debut smash, "Diana", when he was only 16.

The song ushered in the era of teeny bopper stars, with Anka the first teenager ever to score a number one hit in Britain.

'My Way'

The song told of Anka's unrequited love for an older woman who was "out of my league" -- Diana Ayoub was 19 at the time -- and he used to pine for her after spotting her at his Orthodox church in Ottawa.

The son of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants, Anka grew up speaking French, which is how he came to write the English version of one of the 20th century's most sung songs, "My Way".

His take on the standard, which was originally recorded by the French singer Claude Francois as "Comme d'habitude", became Frank Sinatra's signature standard, as well as a hit for Elvis and the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious.

"I have to do some of the original hits that first took me to France when I was a young boy -- 'Diana', 'You Are My Destiny' and 'My Way' of course," he added.

Sorry Trump

Anka was slated to sing "My Way" at Donald Trump's inauguration as US president in 2017 before pulling out, although he avoided saying whether he supported him.

"You've got a better chance of getting a sunrise past a rooster on that one," he said.

While his full-on romantic standards such as "(You're) Having My Baby" may be slightly cheesy to some, his songs and celebrity have endured.

"Put Your Head on My Shoulder" inspired a viral TikTok challenge last year, and "She's a Lady" -- which he also wrote -- is one of Welsh singer Tom Jones's biggest crowd-pleasers.

Anka also popped up on stage next to Lisa in a 1995 episode of "The Simpsons" called "Treehouse of Horror VI" in which he co-starred.

The singer was and is still friends with some of France's musical greats, and hinted that he would pay homage to some of them during his show in Juan-les-Pins.

"You'll see when I do my show... I was connected to all the French singers from (Charles) Aznavour, to Johnny Hallyday ("the French Elvis"), Gilbert Becaud and Mireille Mathieu, whom I wrote an album for.

"One of my favourites was Michel Colombier," a prolific Hollywood film composer who "wrote a couple of albums with me".

Anka said he wanted to "get the sense of the audience" before deciding what to play, although there would be a tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. "I can't be selfish and do what I want for myself.

"I want to be eclectic... I don't know if I will have time to sing anything from the new album, and I don't know if anyone will be interested," quipped the singer, who has just recorded a new television special.

© 2022 AFP

It was the latest in a string of talent and debate programmes organised by media action group Munathara ("debate"), which aims "to spark much-needed conversations about rights, freedoms and social change in the Arab world", according to founder Belabbas Benkredda.

"Public debates even about fundamental rights can be very polarising, especially on social media," the 43-year-old Algerian-German said.

Munathara was born in 2012, the year after the Arab Spring revolts, kicked off by the ouster of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which had sparked high hopes for democracy in a region with an overwhelmingly young population.

But ironically, as Munathara marked its 10th anniversary with the show in Hammamet on Saturday, it was overshadowed by President Kais Saied consolidating a power-grab that has sparked fears for Tunisia's democratic gains.

'Freedoms under attack'

Munathara was founded at "a time of great hope and aspiration -- but the optimism has given way to cynicism, including among youth", Benkredda said.

"The Arab world's Gen Z came of age politically amid increasing despair and social division."

Syrian refugee and stand-up comedian Mohamed al-Kurdi, one of the performers in Saturday's show, said that today, "young people's freedom is restricted, and not just in the Arab world".

Kurdi, whose TikTok account "MidoKrdi" has over 2.3 million followers, said that rather than dealing with politics, he wanted to discuss "the limits we impose on ourselves: fear of failure, fear of success. These things rein in our freedom."

For Saturday's event, he teamed up with fellow comedian and actress Dana Ali Makki, 22, in a comedy act about an overbearing husband and his wife.

Makki, from the southern Lebanese region of Nabatiyeh, said she believed young Arabs had slightly more freedom than a few years ago.

"People can be a bit different from their parents and from the society and culture they grew up in," she said.

"There's more subversion against customs, traditions, religion and society."

Asked how she defined her own freedom, she said: "I'm free when I'm able to say whatever I want, loudly, without being afraid of anyone. Free of all the restrictions society imposes, especially on women."

'Learn to resist!'

The show, the fourth of its kind, also served as a showcase for up-and-coming talent, such as Ahmed al-Qrinawi from Gaza, a Palestinian enclave under Israeli blockade for the past 15 years.

He would sit under a shelter he built on the family's roof in Gaza City, to avoid the disapproving ears of his conservative family.

To learn music theory, he used copies of music books borrowed from friends at a music school he couldn't afford to attend.

Last weekend, three years later, he appeared on stage playing an unusual seven-stringed oud, home-made with the help of a carpenter friend.

He said he had only heard about the competition shortly after the deadline, and composed, recorded and submitted his song in just an hour.

"I will only be free when I have a normal country, where death doesn't keep an eye on me," runs the first line of his song.

"In Gaza there's no freedom," Qrinawi said.

"Freedom's not just about food and drink. You can get a bird and put it in a cage and bring it food, but it's still in captivity."

For Lebanese actress and comedian Makki, who has a tattoo on her forearm reading "resist", the show was a chance to deliver another message.

"You can't stay in your house with your hands tied or stay silent," she said.

"Learn to say no to oppression and repression."

© 2022 AFP

Worryingly for the 'Sport of Kings' the crown seemed to have lost a bit of its lustre with disappointing crowds for both the York and Chester festivals in May with high quality racing spread over several days.

At Chester attendance over the four days was 35,000, down 35% on the 53,500 that were at the corresponding fixture in 2019.

Ordinary midweek meetings are suffering too as racing like other sports and entertainment venues battle to attract footfall with the public ever more wary of spending money due to a cost of living crisis.

Rod Street, CEO of Great British Racing (GBR) which is the sport's central promotional and marketing body tasked with increasing engagement with and participation in horse racing, told AFP the decline in attendances is a concern.

"The cost-of-living crisis is certainly a factor," he said.

"Also following two years of extended lockdown periods (due to Covid-19), every sporting, leisure and entertainment offering is competing at once.

"We also believe that, after two years, people have got out of the habit.

"As ever, it is rarely one factor that affects the trend but rather several."

Street had laid out at the beginning of the year in GBR's manifesto they would target the 25-34 age group, though he concedes delivering the killer argument to persuade them to come racing is not easy.

"It is a considerable challenge," he said.

"Our consumer research informs us that the 25-34 year-old market demonstrates the best opportunity for growth, as this demographic consistently expresses an appetite to consider racegoing.

"Consideration is the stage that follows awareness and precedes purchase, so this insight is important.

"We will target broader ethnic groups in this age category that better represent society, making our catchment as wide as possible."

William Woodhams, CEO of Fitzdares bookmakers, says much needs to be done to make going racing more attractive to the public.

"It does feel lacklustre at the moment," he told AFP.

"Apart from key meetings we don't seem to be getting the right cross-section of the public.

"I do think the food and beverage offerings are pretty dire and attempts with bands etc don't really land well.

"The sport is entertainment enough and we just need to make the whole experience better."

'Excitement and drama'

Woodhams, drawing on his experience of six years with luxury goods firm LVMH, does not believe that racecourses offer value for money.

"For the very best experience you pay well over the odds and there should be more value at the entry level," he said.

"People under 30 should be paying £20 ($24) for entry, a free bet and a drink."

Entry fees vary -- the vast majority of racecourses offer free entry to Under-18's -- but extras quickly add to the costs.

Goodwood for example is £12-26 entry but a bottle of water is £2.50 the cheapest pint is £6 and a hamburger £9 as cited by The Racing Post.

Goodwood, York, Ascot and other high profile racecourses push the boat out to welcome spectators but that is not the case for other racetracks according to Woodhams and Qatar Racing's manager David Redvers.

"Several racecourses do a good job but many smaller ones are concentrating too much on the fact they receive a great majority of their income through media rights," Redvers said.

"For them it is actually a pain to have crowds and they would far rather have fewer bums on seats and not worry about infrastructure and expenses and get their money through TV rights."

The Jockey Club -- which owns 15 racecourses including Aintree and Cheltenham and puts on 340 racing fixtures a year -- would not fit into that category as they spend £7 million a year on marketing to attract spectators.

For Street and Woodhams the future for racing is not a gloomy one -- for the latter it is "100 percent the most premium sport".

"Challenging but potentially rewarding," says Street of the future.

"It is unrealistic to think that everyone that comes through the gates will become a more engaged fan, but the more we do to get people closer to the excitement and drama of the sport and its tremendous characters, the better our chance of developing more lifelong fans."

© 2022 AFP

But this is Beverly Hills, where the perfectly manicured mansions of celebrities and socialites populate one of the world's most desirable zip codes. Oh, and the property in question is worth $40 million.

"It is extremely beautiful," said preservationist Alison Martino, who grew up four blocks away from the North Roxbury Drive house bought in 2020 by Eric Baker, the co-founder of internet-based ticket empire StubHub.

"It's on a double lot, which makes it very stately and it's pushed back from the street. It almost looks like a park. It's the most beloved house in Beverly Hills."

To the visitor, the whole city looks a little like a park; lavish homes nestle on tree-lined streets that are peopled chiefly by Lululemon joggers and the occasional member of household staff.

- Elvis, Sinatra, Madonna -

The enclave of Beverly Hills began life a little over a century ago, and soon established itself as byword for luxury; an oasis for the well-heeled who made their money in the newly burgeoning film industry, but found nearby Hollywood a bit tawdry.

Over the years, it has been home to a Who's Who of entertainment, counting Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Madonna and Jennifer Aniston as residents.

Today, minibuses ferrying star-spotting tourists whizz through the neighborhood, with guides pointing out the present and former homes of the famous.

$39.1 million

The object of Ball's desire is a Regency Revival home constructed 80 years ago by Beverly Hills master builder Carleton Burgess.

The 9,000-square-foot spread sits among fabulous lawns and boasts its own full-size tennis court, a pavillion and a swimming pool.

Previous owners annually festooned the house with Christmas decorations, Martino says, welcoming the neighbors over to see.

But in 2020, Baker slapped down $39.1 million for it -- almost double its previous sale price -- adding a glistening centerpiece to a property portfolio that reportedly already included two swanky Beverly Hills spots.

Last year he applied for a "certificate of ineligibility," a pass that would allow major work on the house without the need to get a green light from the city's cultural heritage commission.

His exact plans for the property are not known, and his Los Angeles-based lawyer did not repsonded to AFP requests for comment, but locals fear he wants to take a wrecking ball to the place.

"They want to tear it down so they can build a bigger, more modern house with the latest architecture," wrote one commentor on Martino's Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page.

"The thought of this impeccably well-maintained historical building and grounds being demolished sickens me."

Others mutter darkly about not wanting something that "looks like an embassy compound" with a building that goes right up to the street.

"Even with all the money in the world, you don't get to do whatever you want," said life-long Beverly Hills resident Rebecca Pynoos. "Our cultural heritage shouldn't be sold to the highest bidder."

2am meeting

Feelings are running so high that a recent planning meeting went on until 2am.

After seven hours of back-and-forth, much of which hinged on whether or not the house was sufficiently well-known to merit preservation, councillors voted to bring the matter back for further consideration on June 21.

The discussion on Tuesday night looks set to be lengthy -- councillors have been presented with a 727-page document that includes a missive from actor Diane Keaton.

For campaigner Jill Tavelman Collins, the argument over the North Roxbury Drive house is emblematic of a larger issue in Beverly Hills.

"We've lost Lucille Ball's house, we've lost Jimmy Stewart's house... there's so little left on Roxbury that is from that time and I think it's pulling at everyone's heartstrings," she said.

"I think it's like the straw that broke the camel's back."

© 2022 AFP