A pug rescue center in South Africa has taken in more than 2,500 pugs since opening in 2008, with more pugs needing assistance in the last few years.

Pug Rescue is home to over 200 pugs and also has two foster homes in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

“So currently we have 208 pugs in our care. They're not all at the rescue center, we do have some foster homes in Johannesburg, and then we also have foster homes in Cape Town. So there are more and more pugs needing assistance in these past few years because we have a major exit of people that are immigrating to various countries. At one stage there was a ban on flying any flat-faced dogs, and right now it is very, very expensive to get your animals overseas. And a lot of the overseas countries also don't allow animals when you rent a property,” says Cheryl Gaw, who works as a pug rescuer after her retirement.

There are a number of reasons why pugs find themselves without a home.

Gaw says some pugs were rescued from neighbors who had been neglecting them or from owners who were no longer able to afford the expenses of having a pug.

Mduduzi Nkonzo, director and senior caregiver at Pug Rescue, explains that some people don’t realize the challenges of raising the pugs and the long-term complications they can come with.

“I think the biggest problem with people they don't realize how pugs need veterinary care. They are quite expensive to look after pugs. But people they don't realize that they see cuteness on the pugs and then they just rush to get a pug and then they can't manage to look after the pug because they really have high vet bills, if I can say. Because they've got problems with eyes, they've got problems of backs, they've got problems of ear infections, so it's quite really difficult. They are nice animals, but they are expensive to look after,” he says.

The Pug Rescue is reliant on donations and fundraising as this support comes from their followers on social media including international donors.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A year after the launch of the short-lived Coca-Cola Spiced, Coke added another new flavor to its lineup. Coca-Cola Orange Cream went on sale on February 10 in the U.S. and Canada. It is sold in regular and zero-sugar varieties.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. said that it developed the soda, which mixes cola with orange and vanilla flavors, in response to growing consumer demand for the comforting, nostalgic flavor.

Orange cream—first introduced with the Creamsicle ice cream bar in 1937—has enjoyed a recent renaissance. Olipop, a prebiotic soda, introduced an orange cream flavor in 2021. Carvel reintroduced its Orange Dreamy Creamy ice cream last year for the first time since 1972. Wendy's also debuted an Orange Dreamsicle Frosty last spring.

Coca-Cola has been experimenting with new flavors to help keep customers engaged with its signature product. In 2022, it launched Coca-Cola Creations, a series of limited-edition Coke flavors in colorful cans and bottles. Coke added hints of coconut, strawberry, and even Oreos to the drinks.

The company introduced raspberry-flavored Coca-Cola Spiced last February 2024, saying the offering would be a permanent addition to its lineup. But the company abruptly pulled Coca-Cola Spiced off the market in September, saying it would be replaced with a new flavor this year.

Coke said Coca-Cola Orange Cream won’t be a permanent flavor but would remain on sale at least through the first quarter of 2026.

In an interview last year, Coca-Cola’s North American marketing chief, Shakir Moin, said it used to take the company at least a year to develop a new product. But it’s trying to move more quickly.

“Consumers are moving faster. The market is moving forward faster. We’ve got to be faster than the speed of the market,” he said.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Starbucks's decision to restrict its restrooms to paying customers has flushed out a wider problem: a patchwork of restroom policies that has left Americans confused and divided over who gets to use the loo and when.

Rules about restroom access in restaurants vary by state, city and county. New York requires restroom access for customers at food establishments with 20 or more seats. California requires larger restaurants to provide restrooms for customers and guests, but only if they were built after 1984. In Chicago, restaurants don't need to have restrooms for customers unless they serve liquor.

It's so mishmash, said Steven Soifer, the co-founder and treasurer of the American Restroom Association, which advocates for clean, safe and well-designed public toilets. If (a retailer) is serving food and drink, it's a health hazard if there isn't a public bathroom.

Starbucks opened the can, so to speak, when it said it was reversing a seven-year-old policy that invited anyone to hang out in its stores or use the restroom, regardless of whether they bought anything. Starbucks's new code of conduct, which will be posted in all company-owned North American stores, also bans discrimination or harassment, consumption of outside alcohol, smoking, vaping, drug use and asking strangers for money.

Reaction to the coffee chain's rule change for potty privileges was heated and divided. Many said Starbucks had the right to restrict restroom access to paying customers.

I do think it's up to Starbucks to set the atmosphere in their stores, Paul Skinner, 76, a retired firefighter in Daytona Beach, Florida, told The Associated Press. If they've decided that their paying customers are going to be better served by limiting restroom access, it doesn't make me mad. I'm not going to stop going there.

But Skinner said he also doesn't mind when homeless people occasionally visit his local Starbucks, and he sometimes offers to buy them breakfast.

I think about all the people who don't have housing who would love to wander into a Starbucks and get warm, he said. Now there's one more place they aren't welcome.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Homegrown businesses in Africa are developing a new industry to tackle the environmental damage created by fast fashion.

Upcycling, where poor-quality, discarded clothes are made into desirable products, is becoming more widespread in countries like Kenya, supported by the social enterprise group Africa Collect Textiles.

Here workers are earning an income and forging a sustainable industry. African countries like Kenya often bear the brunt of fast fashion waste. The group Clean Up Kenya says the country imports around 200,000 tons of used textiles each year.

Africa Collect Textiles (ACT), which operates in Nigeria as well as Kenya, says the problem is that many developing countries lack the infrastructure to dispose of textile waste in an environmentally friendly way. ACT focuses on processing textile waste.

It's set up collection bins in high-traffic areas like malls and universities where people can easily dispose of old clothes. These are collected, and in the workshop, they're sorted according to their quality and wearability.

ACT's Natalie Naina says, Since our goal is to extend fabric life, we have created a reseller program outside Nairobi where these clothes can still go ahead in circularity by vendors who would want cheaper options of bales (referring to bundles of clothes) rather than the more expensive ones in Gikomba (one of Kenya's largest clothes markets). Then for our non-wearables, we have repurposed them through upcycling. Upcycling involves getting a cloth that is worn out and then transforming it into a better product where it can survive for longer.

Naina says even donated clothes often end up in landfills and that's what the organization is trying to avoid.

On its website, Africa Collect Textiles claims that since it was set up in 2020 it has collected nearly 200,000 kilograms of clothes, saved 1,200 tons of carbon and created 200 jobs for local people.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Billionaires’ wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than the year before, while the number of the world’s poor has barely changed over the last quarter-century, a top anti-poverty group reported in January.

Oxfam International, in its latest assessment of global inequality timed for an annual gathering of elites in Switzerland, also predicts at least five trillionaires will crop up over the next decade—a year after forecasting that one would appear over that span.

The sharp-edged report came as the World Economic Forum in January hosted some 3,000 people including business executives, government and civic group leaders, academics, and others at its annual meeting in Davos.

“It’s not about one specific individual. It’s the economic system that we have created where the billionaires are now pretty much being able to shape economic policies, social policies, which eventually gives them more and more profit,” said Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International.

Oxfam said billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion last year, or roughly $5.7 billion a day, three times faster than in 2023. The number of billionaires rose by 204 to 2,769, and the 10 richest men saw their wealth rise nearly $100 million a day on average, it said.

Citing World Bank data, the group pointed to lingering poverty, saying the number of people living on less than $6.85 per day has “barely changed” since 1990. Oxfam used Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaire List as of end-November for data on the ultra-rich.

Despite the growing gap between the über-rich and the poor, the annual Davos confab that formally began on January 20 appeared set to focus this year as much as ever on making money and doing deals, with strongman leaders on the rise in some Western countries and progressive causes like diversity and climate change waning in the business world.

The continued rise of artificial intelligence as a tool for businesses to reap greater efficiencies was a central theme in Davos again this year, despite worries in many sectors that it could upend many white-collar jobs and displace workers in an array of industries.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Southern California's expensive housing market is going to get a lot more competitive after deadly firestorms torched more than 12,000 homes and other structures in the Los Angeles area, leaving tens of thousands of people without a place to stay.

Already, there are reports of rent gouging, prompting elected leaders to issue stern warnings against the practice and plead with the public to report unethical property owners who hike up rents above the allotted 10% cap.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that it is illegal for landlords to accept rent that exceeds the cap, even if someone is offering to pay a higher amount.

You cannot jack up prices and take advantage of disaster victims, plain and simple, he said at a news conference.

A modern three-bedroom condo in a downtown LA high-rise, for example, that was offered at $5,500 a month in October popped back up on Zillow with a new asking rent of $8,500.

The entire state has struggled with the twin crises of housing and homelessness, only recently starting to make inroads to build more affordable homes.

California law prohibits price gouging after an emergency has been declared, meaning that individuals and businesses cannot increase the price of goods and services such as gas or rentals by more than 10% from before the emergency was declared.

Price gouging is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine for each violation. Protections related to housing are generally in effect for 30 days. But Gov. Gavin Newsom extended prohibitions on motel, hotel and rental housing to March 8.

Tenants’ rights and landlord association groups have called for strict enforcement against rent gougers amid media reports of obscenely high prices.

People on social media are crowd-sourcing examples of egregious increases, and even inputting their findings into a shared Google document.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued PepsiCo in January, alleging that it has engaged in illegal price discrimination by giving unfair price advantages to one large retailer at the expense of other vendors and consumers.

The benefiting customer wasn't named in an FTC statement about the lawsuit. But a source familiar with the case, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to discuss it, said the retailer was Walmart.

The FTC said PepsiCo’s practices included making promotional payments to Walmart but not to large grocery chains or independent convenience stores. The FTC said that lets Walmart lower its prices, but forces Americans to pay inflated prices for PepsiCo products unless they shop at Walmart.

“When firms like Pepsi give massive retailers a leg up, it tilts the playing field against small firms and ultimately inflates prices for American consumers,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in the statement. “The FTC’s action will help ensure all grocers and other businesses—no matter the size—can get a fair shake and compete on the merits of their skill, efficiency, and talent.”

Walmart said it had “nothing to add at this time.” PepsiCo said its practices “are in line with industry norms.”

“We do not favor certain customers by offering discounts or promotional support to some customers and not others,” the company said.

The FTC sued PepsiCo under the rarely enforced 1936 Robinson-Patman Act. The FTC said the act prohibits companies from using promotional incentive payments to favor large customers over smaller ones.

PepsiCo, based in Purchase, New York, is one of the world’s largest food companies. It makes Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Gatorade as well as snack foods like Lay’s potato chips, Doritos and Fritos. It also makes Quaker Oats, breakfast cereals, and granola bars.

PepsiCo’s prices have been the subject of some scrutiny since the pandemic. In 2022, for example, the company acknowledged shrinking its Gatorade bottles from 32 ounces to 28 ounces, but it didn’t respond when asked why it charged more for the 28-ounce bottles.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

A century ago, iodine deficiency affected kids across large swaths of the United States. It essentially disappeared after some food makers started adding it to table salt, bread and some other foods, in one of the great public health success stories of the 20th century.

But today, people are getting less iodine because of changes in diet and food manufacturing.

Although most people are still getting enough, researchers have increasingly been reporting low levels of iodine in pregnant women and other people, raising concerns about an impact on their newborns. And there is also a very small, but growing, number of reports of iodine deficiency in kids.

One sign of insufficient iodine is a swelling of the neck, known as a goiter. The thyroid gland in the neck uses iodine to produce hormones that regulate the heart rate and other body functions. When there's not enough iodine, the thyroid gland enlarges as it goes into overdrive to make up for the lack of iodine.

Public health experts realized they couldn't solve the problem by feeding everyone seaweed and seafood, but they learned that iodine can essentially be sprayed on table salt. Iodized salt first became available in 1924. By the 1950s, more than 70% of U.S. households used iodized table salt. Bread and some other foods also were fortified with iodine, and iodine deficiency became rare.

But diets changed. Processed foods now make up a large part of the American diet, and though they contain a lot of salt, it's not iodized. Leading bread brands no longer add iodine.

And for people who do salt their food, the fashion now is to use kosher salt, Himalayan rock salt or other non-iodized products.

“People have forgotten why there's iodine in salt,” said Dr. Elizabeth Pearce of Boston Medical Center.

She noted a reported 50% drop in U.S. iodine levels in surveyed Americans between the 1970s and the 1990s.

Some studies have linked even mild iodine deficiency to lower IQs and language delay in children, although there is debate about at exactly what levels problems start, Pearce said.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Britain’s biggest car factory is surrounded by wind turbines, solar panels and nature. At Nissan’s Sunderland plant, the Japanese car maker says that cutting-edge engineering is meeting a growing commitment to sustainability and decarbonization.

Since installing its first wind turbines in 2005, Nissan has steadily increased its reliance on renewable energy. Taking center stage are ten wind turbines and over 37,000 solar panels, which generate 20% of the plant’s electricity needs.

And now, the Japanese carmaker has completed the development of a new rewilding project to improve biodiversity in surrounding marshlands.

These initiatives form part of Nissan’s EV36Zero blueprint, an ambitious £3 billion project combining electric vehicle production, renewable energy, and next-generation battery technology. The goal is to eventually create a hub for sustainable automotive manufacturing.

The rewilding project, completed in just over a year in partnership with Atrato Partners, has turned marshland into a biodiversity haven.

Invasive shrubs were removed, habitats revitalized, and a viewing hide was built for monitoring wildlife. Animals spotted here include badgers, deer, water voles, and breeding birds of prey, such as kestrels and buzzards. Plant species like bee orchids and cowslips are also thriving.

Andy Barker, Infrastructure Manager at Nissan, is hopeful the project will encourage other automotive manufacturers to follow suit in wider industrial sustainability efforts.

Barker says, “We knew that the land was basically unutilized, so this is basically our plan to regenerate that. The urban regeneration is something that is really active in the UK at the moment, and we’ve seen the ideal opportunity to participate in that. So, we’d like to think, yes, we can be a leader for other automotive manufacturers or industry leaders to follow.”

Tim Pollard, Group Editorial Director, Bauer Media thinks the company’s environmental ambitions are a welcome start to its decarbonization plans.

Pollard says, “And I think the rewilding projects underline Nissan’s commitment to sustainability. This is the company, one of the biggest carmakers in the world, who is basically on a journey towards decarbonizing totally by 2050.”

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

In the quest to make apple trees more resilient in a warming climate, some Michigan researchers are looking for a late bloomer.

A native Michigan apple tree, the Malus coronaria, learned to fight frost by blooming two or three weeks later than the trees that produce cultivated varieties of apples like Honeycrisp or Red Delicious.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but almost always that's enough for the flowers to escape the killing spring frost, said Steve van Nocker, a Michigan State University professor and plant geneticist.

Van Nocker wants to identify the genes responsible for the Malus coronaria's delayed blooms and use them to develop more frost-resistant apple varieties, a decades-long process. But first, he's hiking through forests, trying to find the elusive trees.

Van Nocker's project is one of many ways researchers and growers are trying to make apples more resilient as climate change makes weather less predictable.

In Europe and South Korea, growers are experimenting with solar panels in vineyards and orchards. The panels protect fruit from hail and sun damage, but also let in light and heat when necessary, said Jared Buono, the director of Cornell University's Hudson Valley Research Lab. Buono's lab is also adding solar panels to its experimental orchard.

University of Maryland researchers recently announced the development of a more heat-tolerant apple variety. At Penn State University, a team built an unmanned vehicle with a propane-fueled heater that can roll through an orchard and automatically warm trees.

Buono said such efforts can mitigate the impact of unusual weather like a May 18, 2023 frost that damaged trees across New York state and cut apple production by 20%.

Growers' jobs are already hard, Buono said. The change in climate, the increased unpredictability and variability, makes it that much harder.

According to a Washington State University study published in January, major apple-growing counties in the top three U.S. apple-producing states—Washington, Michigan and New York—are seeing fewer cold days and more warm fall nights than they used to. Washington is also experiencing more extreme heat.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.