Hong Kong, China- Inside the bowels of a Hong Kong industrial building, Eric Pun was among two dozen people crammed into a classroom learning to drill holes -- acquiring a new set of skills before heading abroad.

Savvy businesses have started offering crash courses in subjects like home repair and hairdressing, capitalising on a wave of people departing Hong Kong as China cracks down on dissent and strict pandemic rules upend the economy.

For Pun, a 35-year-old nurse emigrating to Australia with his family, taking the home repair class was both a practical cost-saving measure and a way to prepare mentally for the unknown.

"In Hong Kong, if there is a problem you can go to the property management office or hire someone from the mall... but when my family lives in a house, I'll have to rely on myself," he told AFP.

Spending a day at Renobro, one of the handful of companies offering home-repair lessons, costs HK$1,980 ($250) and courses are fully booked weeks in advance, according to company co-founder and instructor Lau Chun-yu.

"More than a thousand people have participated in our course," Lau said.

"When we first started, we didn't expect so many people would be emigrating."

Lau said his students, who are mostly in their thirties and include doctors and teachers, race through a one-day syllabus of more than 40 skills, such as caulking, plastering and rewiring appliances.

"Most of them aren't well-prepared, but... they hope to go over as soon as possible," he said, citing fears that foreign countries may tighten immigration controls in the long run.

- Brain drain -

Hong Kong is currently experiencing an exodus of local and foreign talent.

Many residents have baulked at Beijing's sweeping crackdown on dissent following huge and sometimes violent democracy protests three years ago.

Stringent zero-Covid rules also remain in place two and half years into the pandemic, restricting daily life and isolating the city internationally.

Latest census figures showed a record dip in Hong Kong's population, which fell 1.6 percent to 7.29 million compared with a year earlier. The labour force has plunged to 3.75 million, the lowest in nearly a decade.

Many of those leaving are families with school-aged children.

Official primary school figures released earlier this month showed there were 70 fewer classes across 60 schools this academic year. More than 4,000 teachers have left their jobs in the past school year.

The United Kingdom became one of the most popular destinations for Hong Kongers after it announced a visa scheme that provided a pathway to citizenship, arguing Beijing had abandoned its pre-handover promise to allow residents key freedoms and autonomy.

So far more than 140,000 people have applied under the British scheme since it was launched in January 2021.

Other common choices for relocation include Canada, Australia and the United States, mirroring a similar wave of emigration that occurred ahead of Hong Kong's 1997 handover from Britain.

- 'I want to be equipped' -

Despite their optimism for life overseas, many would-be emigrants told AFP they were worried about job prospects and wanted to learn more skills as insurance.

Fashion retailer Kimi Chau, 35, took a series of hairdressing classes in preparation for her move to Britain along with her husband and five-year-old.

"I want to be equipped for a job after I've arrived... If I could learn more skills before I leave, then if the opportunity came along for me to open up a business, I would be more confident," she told AFP.

Chau said her concerns about Hong Kong's education system amid a shifting political climate drove her to leave.

"Because I have a kid, the issue felt closer to home and I didn't take a long time to decide."

On a sweltering August afternoon, Chau and other hairdressing students brought along friends and family members to the salon where they took their classes for an informal graduation ceremony and a bittersweet farewell.

Instructor Jason Yip said the hairdressing industry has a relatively low entry threshold and Hong Kongers can get a job quickly, adding that roughly one-third of his students plan to emigrate.

Yip added that many of his students appreciate the social dimension of hairdressing, as a way to stay close to family members and to connect with like-minded Hong Kongers.

"For them, (hairdressing) can become a kind of hobby, and they are quite happy to have it after arriving in a new place," Yip said.

"That kind of joy is shared and there is a sense of achievement."

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Here is an A to Z of the new King Charles III:

- A for action man -

Charles earned the nickname in his daredevil youth, jumping out of planes, escaping from submarines, windsurfing, playing polo and waterskiing.

- B for black spider -

Before becoming king, he bombarded government ministers with letters, dubbed the "black spider memos" for his messy annotations.

- C for Camilla -

Charles was devastated when, while away on naval service, she wed Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973. Charles turned to Camilla after his marriage to Diana collapsed. They married in 2005.

- D for Diana -

A badly-matched couple, their "fairytale" marriage fell apart in explosive fashion. They separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, a year before her shock death in a car crash.

- E for environment -

A fervent environmentalist, Charles is driven by environmental preservation and organic farming. He was outspoken on climate change long before it became mainstream.

- F for faith -

The new head of the Church of England sees his role as defending the free practice of all faiths. Charles has studied Judaism and Islam and tries to encourage inter-faith dialogue.

- G for Gordonstoun -

Charles hated his years at the stark Scottish boarding school, describing his years there as a lonely "prison sentence". Toughing it out for duty's sake formed part of his character.

- H for homeopathy -

Charles is convinced by alternative medicine and even uses it on his farm animals. His outspoken views have often infuriated some in the scientific community.

- I for income -

Before his accession, Charles's money came from the Duchy of Cornwall, the heir to the throne's private land and property portfolio. The surplus funded his family's public, charitable and private activities and he voluntarily paid income tax.

- J for jubilee speeches -

His moving, rousing addresses closing Queen Elizabeth II's 2002, 2012 and 2022 jubilee celebrations, in which he referred to her as "Mummy", helped endear him to the nation.

- K for Knatchbull -

The one that got away. Encouraged by Lord Mountbatten, Charles proposed to Amanda Knatchbull, his second cousin and Mountbatten's grand-daughter, in 1979, but she declined.

- L for lengthy wait -

Charles was the longest-serving heir apparent in British history, since the age of three in 1952, and the longest-serving prince of Wales, since the age of nine in 1958.

- M for Mountbatten -

The prince's great uncle Louis Mountbatten was his mentor and closest confidant, guiding his early life. His assassination by Irish republican paramilitaries in 1979 left Charles distraught.

- N for Navy -

Charles served on the ships from 1971 to 1976, taking command of a coastal minehunter for his last 10 months. He served in the Caribbean and around the Pacific and learned to fly helicopters.

- O for offspring -

Charles was a more hands-on parent to Princes William and Harry than his own parents had been. However, he has grown estranged from Harry after he quit royal duties and moved to California, sniping at Charles on the way.

- P for Prince's Trust -

Charles launched the Prince's Trust with his £7,500 navy severance pay and the charity had helped more than a million disadvantaged youngsters by the time of his accession to the throne.

- Q for Queen Mother -

Charles adored his "darling grandmother", queen Elizabeth, the queen mother. "For me, she meant everything", he said in a moving tribute after her death in 2002.

- R for residences -

Charles will now be expected to move into Buckingham Palace, giving up his Clarence House official London residence. He also inherits the Sandringham estate in eastern England and Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands.

- S for style -

Old-fashioned for some, impeccably suave for others, Charles's sartorial style is unwavering, perhaps because his outfits are the same: shoes from 1968, a coat from 1985 and immaculate double-breasted suits.

- T for Transylvania -

The king, who claims descent from Vlad the Impaler, bought and restored several properties in Romania to help preserve its stunning nature and unique rural traditions.

- U for university -

He went to Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, becoming the first heir to the throne to take a degree, graduating in 1970 with a 2:2. He switched from anthropology and archaeology to study history.

- V for Vision of Britain -

Charles's 1989 book outlines his cherished architectural principles, calling for proportionate, aesthetic development in keeping with local tradition. He put his theories into practice, building Poundbury, a model suburb.

- W for Wales -

Queen Elizabeth II made Charles the prince of Wales aged nine, and he learnt Welsh before his inauguration ceremony in 1969.

- X for X-Rated -

A secretly-recorded 1989 phonecall with Camilla, published in 1993, was deeply embarrassing after tabloid newspapers got a hold of it and published transcripts.

- Y for youth -

Charles thinks Britain could emulate Germany's national community or military service, as part of his drive to unlock latent talent in the nation's youngsters.

- Z for Zaza -

Also known as a gin and Dubonnet. The royals' preferred cocktail before lunch. Former prime minister Tony Blair referred to them as "true rocket fuel".

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Paris, France - With a sunny smile to the camera Alaina Wood delivers a burst of "good climate news" to her young TikTok audience, trying to reassure them that it is not too late for action on global warming.

This cheerfulness is not because Wood has somehow failed to notice the litany of storms, floods and heatwaves battering the world and the dire projections of what is to come if fossil fuel emissions are not slashed.

But the 26-year-old sustainability scientist -- along with others working on climate change -- worries that the barrage of bad news is causing "climate doomism", a sense of hopelessness that they fear may undermine action.

"I took a deep dive into optimism," said Wood, whose day job is in waste and water systems and who posts to her more than 300,000 followers under the name @thegarbagequeen.

The aim is to inspire action.

"If I'm going to talk about the harsh realities of it, I'm going to give them something to do with that anxiety," the American told AFP.

Her positive climate videos, filmed at home in Tennessee or while hiking in the countryside, cover everything from the recovery of a threatened species to early-stage technology for decarbonising cement.

A major new US climate and health bill, signed into law in August, has proven a useful counterpoint to those who say "voting doesn't matter", she said.

Wood said she sees the sentiment that it is "too late" to do anything, mainly from users in the US or other wealthy countries, adding that people in the direct path of the most severe climate impacts do not have the option to give up.

- Doomerism -

The most downbeat tend to be teenagers, she said, echoing concerns about high levels of climate anxiety among young people worldwide.

One survey of 16- to 25-year-olds in 10 countries found almost 60 percent were very worried about climate change.

Because every fraction of a degree matters as the planet heats, climate scientists say it is never too late to act to cut fossil fuel emissions -- although delay makes impacts worse and actions harder and more costly.

But the nearly 1.2 degrees Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming since pre-industrial times has unleashed devastating extremes. It can be difficult to look on the bright side.

"Even my most optimistic followers are turning to climate doom because of all the climate disasters this summer, and I don't know what to do," Wood wrote on Twitter in late August.

The resulting online rows -- over whether fear or optimism are the correct response -- led her to contemplate a temporary break from social media.

- 'You need hope' -

They also reflect an intense debate among scientists, activists and in the media on how to talk about the enormous scale of the threat to humans and the natural world without overwhelming people.

"Fear will wake us up, but fear is not the motivator for long-term action," said climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, who has written a book on the subject.

"You need hope when things are dark. Hope is the chance that there is a better future that's possible if you do everything you can to work towards it."

While climate denial has in recent years sunk to the murkier depths of the internet as impacts become harder to ignore, Hayhoe said "doomerism" is taking its place.

"If we decide there's nothing we can do that will make a difference, we will do nothing," she told AFP earlier this year.

"And if we do nothing, we are doomed."

Even people who feel they have done their bit -- giving up meat or cutting out air travel -- fall into despair, Hayhoe said, partly down to an "obsession with individual action" in the US and other wealthy countries.

The co-founder of direct action protest movement Extinction Rebellion (XR), Gail Bradbrook, can agree.

- Better, not best -

She believes that while people are "hardwired" to act for the good of the community, that is undermined by a consumerist system.

But the former research scientist said those behind XR's creation in 2018 were not motivated by hope or despair.

"It was from a sense of determination to see change happen," she told AFP.

Likening the need for the bitter truth to a cancer patient wanting an honest diagnosis, Bradbrook said it was important to understand the causes of the climate, biodiversity, health, inequality crises.

And then have agency to act.

Even if the situation were irredeemably dire, she said, "what else are you wanting to do with your life?"

Wood remains upbeat on her path of optimism and proud of the impact of her videos, including getting her TikTok followers to call the White House asking President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency.

"We can make the future better," she said.

"It may not be the best, because the best would have been if we prevented climate change from happening in the first place. But we can make society better and healthier."

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New York, United States - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria raised $14.25 billion at a donor conference led by US President Joe Biden, as decades of progress against the diseases are set back by Covid.

It was the highest amount ever pledged for a multilateral health organization -- but fell far short of the ambitious goal of $18 billion after the United Kingdom and Italy said their announcements would come later.

The Global Fund was created in 2002, bringing together governments, multilateral agencies, civil society groups and the private sector. Funding cycles last three years.

"What's happened today is actually an unparalleled mobilization of resources for global health," said Global Fund executive director Peter Sands, adding he expected Britain and Italy to make their pledges in due course.

"Thank you all for stepping up, especially in a challenging global economic environment, and I ask you, keep it going," urged Biden.

Among countries, the United States pledged the highest amount, $6 billion, followed by France with 1.6 billion euros, 1.3 billion euros by Germany, $1.08 billion by Japan, Can$1.21 billion by Canada and 715 million Euros by the European Union.

The Gates Foundation pledged $912 million.

The $18-billion goal was based on getting back on track to end AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030, recovering ground lost during the Covid pandemic and saving 20 million lives over the next three years.

The target was 30 percent more than that raised during the organization's sixth and most recent replenishment, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France in 2019, which raised a then-record $14 billion.

Camille Spire, president of the French non-profit AIDES, told AFP that when the UK and Italy make their pledges, the sum would still be unlikely to reach the original goal.

"While some are counting their pennies, some are counting the dead," she said, adding she was "angry" and the outcome would mean fewer screening campaigns than had been hoped for, fewer treatments, less funding for community health centers and less strengthening of health systems.

There was also criticism within the UK. Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy tweeted the delay in pledging "will slow the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria and damage the UK's national interest."

- Signs of recovery -

The fund estimates it has reduced the death toll from AIDS, TB, and malaria by 50 percent, saving more than 50 million lives over the past two decades.

Last year, it warned that the Covid pandemic was having a devastating impact on its work, leading to declining results across the board for the first time in its history.

It said in its latest report, however, that the massive resources it had pumped into countering the downturn had paid off and "recovery is underway" against all three diseases.

The Global Fund provides 30 percent of all international financing for HIV programs, 76 percent of funding for TB, and 63 percent of funding for malaria.

Its other areas of focus include improving the resilience of local health systems, and raising funds against Covid-19.

According to US law, the country cannot provide more than one-third of funding for the Global Fund -- a limit that serves as a matching challenge to other nations to double the American pledge.

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Over the decades Mori's luxurious creations were worn by Nancy Reagan, Grace Kelly and countless members of high society.

But she was also a pioneer for Japanese women, one of a tiny number to head an international corporation.

An employee at Mori's office said Thursday that she died at home "of old age" on August 11, and that a private funeral had taken place.

The designer's trailblazing career took her from Tokyo, where she started out making costumes for cinema, to New York and Paris -- and in 1977 her label became the first Asian fashion house to join the rarefied ranks of haute couture.

The exclusive French club sets exacting standards for their hand-crafted, and extremely expensive, garments.

"When humans work with their hands, their creativity expands," Mori told AFP during a 2006 retrospective in Tokyo, where a robot modelled a replica of her classic "Chrysanthemum Pyjamas" -- a kimono-like robe made from hot-pink chiffon and silk.

In January, the designer summed up her feelings toward the industry in a special column for Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun daily.

"Fashion is something that pushes you, gives you courage to spread your wings and allows you to have adventures," she said.

- Encounter with Chanel -

Born in 1926 in a rural corner of western Japan, Mori studied literature at Tokyo Women's Christian University before turning her hand to design.

She opened her first atelier above a noodle shop in Tokyo, and came to specialise in dressing the stars of the silver screen.

As Japan's postwar economy grew, so did her business, which she ran with her husband -- a textile executive who encouraged her to visit Paris and New York when the arrival of television made the film industry less profitable.

"This was a kind of turning point for me," she once said of the trips in the early 1960s, during which she met Coco Chanel in Paris.

It turned out to be an inspirational encounter.

When she stepped into Chanel's studio the iconic designer suggested she wear something in bright orange to contrast with her black hair.

Taken aback, it got Mori thinking.

"The whole Japanese concept of beauty is based on concealment... I suddenly realised that I should change my approach and make my dresses help a woman stand out," she said, according to the Washington Post.

- 'East Meets West' -

In 1965, Mori unveiled her first collection abroad, in New York, under the theme "East Meets West".

Her designs combined traditional patterns like cranes and cherry blossoms -- and her trademark butterflies -- with Western styles, from woollen suits to sharp satin tailoring.

Mori moved her brand from Tokyo to Paris in the late 1970s and was quickly embraced by fashion insiders.

She saw a distinction between herself and her Japanese peers who later made a global name for themselves -- such as Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons fame.

"The young Japanese designers who live in Paris are passionately avant-garde," she told the Washington Post. "I am not. I love to follow the traditional way."

Mori built her brand into a business empire, which in its heyday occupied a whole building in Tokyo designed by the architect Kenzo Tange -- later torn down and replaced with another structure at typical Japanese speed.

From the loss of the building to the retirement of her fashion house from haute couture, "not everything was positive", she reflected in her Yomiuri column.

"It was like my butterfly wings were torn off. But this butterfly was able to fly all over the world for 70 years, because I loved making clothes."

- 'Wanted to be different' -

Mori designed the gown worn by princess Masako -- now empress -- at her 1993 wedding, as well as uniforms for Japan Airlines flight attendants.

And in 1985, she created stage costumes for, appropriately, "Madame Butterfly" performed at La Scala in Milan.

But with growing losses in the early 2000s, her empire was largely sold off and she shuttered her Paris atelier in 2004 after her last couture show there.

Hanae Mori boutiques remain open in Tokyo and her fragrances are still sold worldwide.

As a powerful businesswoman, Mori was a rarity in Japan, where boardrooms are still heavily male-dominated.

Speaking of her early married life, she once remarked that she was never invited out with her husband's friends.

At that time "Japan was a gentlemen's country", she said, but "I wanted to be different".

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The ursine intruder successfully navigated the handle on the outside of the door -- possibly in a hunt for food -- but seemingly couldn't work out how to open it again from the inside.

"It was there from a little after eleven at night to almost seven in the morning," Mike Pilati told KTVQ in Red Lodge, Montana.

"Every once in a while you'd hear a crunch. I thought it had a garbage can it was chomping on or something. But it was my car it was crunching up," Pilati said.

Pilati and his wife, Maria, called the local sheriff to report the bear break-in, and were told that wildlife officials would be out the following day.

But Pilati needed to get things moving a bit quicker, so early the next morning he gingerly opened the car door with a stick from the safety of a building.

"I reached through that side door there and reached out and popped the door of the car, and the bear came roaring out," he said.

Footage shows the black bear jumping out of the car before scampering off to find her young cubs, who were nearby.

Having got rid of their unwanted guest, the Pilatis went to inspect the damage -- a shattered windshield, a chewed dashboard, a mangled passenger door and a whole lot of smell.

"Bears are stinky creatures," Mike Pilati told the broadcaster.

While the Subaru car -- a brand favored by outdoorsy types -- is no longer in pristine condition, Maria Pilati says the couple have still found reason to smile.

"Now we call a Su-bear-ru," she said.

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