05/06/2026

LYFE FRIDAY | JUNE 5, 2026

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‘Curious’ dolphin charms French town but experts concerned

A young bottlenose dolphin has taken up residence in the waters of the French beach town of Saint-Jean de-Luz, delighting locals and tourists while raising concerns about the animal’s safety. The female cetacean has been lingering just off the southwestern town’s central beach since mid October. On a recent morning, with the heat already intense and the beach crowded, a dolphin’s fin was seen regularly rising above the water just a few metres from the shore, weaving among the swimmers. Pascale Fossecave, an oceanographer and the city’s environmental affairs deputy who has been observing the animal, told AFP the dolphin had apparently been expelled from her pod. The dolphin has been seeking “social interaction”, readily approaching the shore and displaying a marked “curiosity towards humans”, Fossecave said. Measuring over 2m in length and weighing between 200kg and 250kg, the dolphin is believed to be between six and eight years old and has not yet reached maturity, she added. “The reason why she came here escapes us. These animals do not get lost. They can communicate over distances of up to 20km. We know she can hear the other animals,” THE author of Taiwan Travelogue , Yang Shuang-zi, told AFP she hopes her International Booker Prize winning novel can one day be read in China and facilitate dialogue about the “future Taiwanese people want”. Recently, Yang, 41, became the first Taiwanese author to win the prestigious award which celebrates works translated into English, alongside translator Lin King, 32. The playful novel, set in 1930s Japan-controlled Taiwan, poses as a translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir penned by fictional writer Aoyama Chizuko. It traces ebullient Chizuko’s travels and gastronomic adventures across the colonial outpost and the relationship she develops with her Taiwanese interpreter, the reticent Chizuru. Although historical fiction,

o Marine mammal apparently separated from pod shows curiosity towards humans

risky situations,” said Fossecave. Experts caution frequent close contact with humans can be harmful to dolphins, increasing the risk of injury or death. Once they become fully accustomed to human presence, they may lose their natural wariness of people, boats and jet skis, and most do not survive for long under such conditions. Fossecave expressed hope the dolphin would eventually return to open sea. Across the border in Spain, a dolphin nicknamed Pakito settled in the waters off San Sebastian in the 1990s, where he lived for several years and became both a local celebrity and a symbol of the city.

Fossecave said. While the dolphin has thrilled locals, her presence has also raised concerns about her safety, as well as that of swimmers, as the summer season approaches and France endures scorching temperatures this week. Authorities have called on beachgoers to behave responsibly, warning that inappropriate conduct could result in a €750 fine, said Bixente Luberriaga, beach safety head. “Unfortunately, we end up managing humans more than the dolphin because it’s human behaviour that causes problems. “We see gatherings and attempts to surround her, which can create

The dolphin is believed to be between six and eight years old. – AFPPIC

Taiwan Travelogue author hopes book can be read in China to spark dialogue

Proposal meets protests over Rome’s museum expansion plans

AN architectural plan to expand one of Rome’s most famous museums, the Borghese Gallery, should be ready by the end of the year, backers of the project said recently, stressing nothing has yet been decided. Several conservation groups and historians have opposed the idea of erecting a new structure near a 17th century villa inside the Villa Borghese park and home to masterpieces by Bernini, Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian. The Gallery says a new building would allow it to ease overcrowding, offer space for dozens of artworks currently in storage and provide much-needed extra facilities such as a conference room. The museum is planning to hold an international architecture competition to collect ideas for the expansion with the proviso that the new structure should be close to the original villa, not necessarily within its heritage-protected park. “We hope to have a winner (of this competition) by the end of the year. We will gift this (architectural) project to the Borghese Gallery, to the Culture Ministry, to the City of Rome and they will decide whether it is valid and therefore whether it will go ahead or not,” CEO Marco

Lombardi of Proger, the Italian engineering company that is sponsoring the competition with an €875,000 (RM4 million) grant, said in a news conference. Conservationists threaten legal action The Friends of Villa Borghese and Italia Nostra associations are threatening legal action, arguing any new construction would upset the delicate balance between art and nature that has characterised the museum for more than four centuries. Borghese Gallery Director Francesca Cappelletti assured any enlargement of the museum would be done “with caution, sensitivity and in full compliance with (heritage protection) constraints. “Nobody is going to wake up one morning and decide to build something in the garden. This seems to me a truly absurd simplification of all the work that is being done here daily,” she said. Meanwhile, access to the Gallery remains tightly controlled. No more than 180 people are allowed in for two-hour time slots. Visitors need to book weeks in advance or brave long queues for a limited number of same-day “last minute” tickets. – Reuters

Copies of Taiwan Travelogue , which received the International Booker Prize, are seen at a bookstore in Taipei. – AFPPIC

the novel probes themes of power imbalance and cultural erasure the author says are relevant to present-day Taiwan, which is claimed by China as part of its territory. Yang admitted when asked about Taiwan’s future: “I’ve countless times felt anxious inside, asking myself whether literature is too slow. “I often worry, often feel that maybe I should

said Taiwanese literature and its colonial past are lesser known in the Anglophone world. “For Taiwan, it’s always been an uphill battle to be translated... So, this is definitely very momentous for me personally,” said King. Yang said the universal themes she discusses in the book – and her mouthwatering descriptions of Taiwanese delicacies – may have also touched readers. For Yang, who dedicated this book featuring the larger-than-life women characters to her late sister, it is as much about preserving Taiwan’s past as it is about fighting for its future. “(The book is) a call to readers all over the world: We can go and retrieve the histories that were once lost, our mothers’ voices, our grandmothers’ voices. “We have to recover them ourselves.”

another, make its way into China and be read by Chinese readers, I think we would have an opportunity for dialogue and communication. (That would) let more Chinese people understand what kind of future Taiwanese people want – which is not the same as what many in China imagine,” said Yang.

Yang, the author. – WIKIPEDIAPIC

‘Uphill battle’ Taiwan Travelogue is the first book published in any Chinese language to win the International Booker Prize. “I hope it can serve as an example in the Chinese-speaking world, showing that in a free and democratic country such as Taiwan – we can do this together,” said Yang. Unlike writing from former British colonies such as Hong Kong, King

make political statements or take some kind of action, engage in other forms of activism. But in reality, as a novelist, I’ve decided to put my faith in literature, to believe in the power of literature.” First published in Mandarin in 2020, the book has won accolades in Taiwan but has not been released in China. “If this book can, in one way or

People walk outside the Borghese Gallery in Rome, Italy. – REUTERSPIC