
‘You don't get a second chance at a shot like this – horses wander off': Mike Wells's best phone picture
In 1981, Wells won the World Press Photo of the Year for an image shot in Uganda depicting a malnourished boy's hand resting in the palm of a Catholic priest. 'When I was working in the 1970s and 80s, unless you could afford a motor drive for your camera, you often got just one chance at the critical shot,' Wells says. 'You could never tell whether you really had captured the moment until you got back from Africa, or at least out of the darkroom. That image wasn't well lit or well composed, just grabbed in the moment as an Italian missionary priest showed me the hand of a starving boy, one of those they were trying to save by emptying their mission's grain stores.'
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Wells adds that while he is 'older, slower' now, and doesn't often take photos, the familiar electric charge as the elements of an image seem to fall into place remains the same. 'You still don't get a second try at a shot like this: the sun will have set, or the horses wandered off, or both,' he says. 'The difference today is that you get your answer at once – it's wonderful not to have to wait days or weeks to find out if the moment was as special or important as your instinct insisted it was.'
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Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Now Ryanair pay staff bonuses to catch out passengers with oversized cabin bags - after EasyJet introduced similar incentive
Ryanair is paying staff bonuses to catch out passengers who try to sneak oversized cabin bags onto flights – and they can make up to €80 a month just from enforcing the strict rules. A leaked payslip shows how one former employee earned a 'gate bag bonus' for flagging up bags that broke the airline's famously tight size restrictions. The ex-worker claimed they pocketed around €1.50 (£1.30) for every oversized bag they reported, according to the Sunday Times, although they said the monthly bonus was capped. Ryanair, which made a staggering €13 billion in revenue last year, confirmed on Saturday that staff are financially rewarded for flagging bags that breach the rules – with passengers charged up to €75 for each oversized item caught at the gate. But despite confirming the scheme, the airline refused to say exactly how much staff are paid as part of this 'gate bag bonus'. A Ryanair spokesperson said: 'We do pay commission to our agents who identify and charge for oversized bags, but these fees are paid by less than 0.1 per cent of passengers who don't comply with our agreed bags rules. 'Our message to those 0.1 per cent of passengers is simple: please comply with our generous bag rules or you will be charged at check-in or at the gate. 'For the 99.9 per cent of our passengers who comply with our rules we say thank you and keep flying as you have nothing to worry about.' Currently, Ryanair allows just one small bag measuring 40 x 20 x 25cm free of charge, as long as it fits under the seat. A second, larger cabin bag (up to 10kg) comes with a fee starting at €6. But change is on the horizon. The airline said earlier this month that it will increase the size of free hand luggage to 40 x 30 x 20cm – in line with upcoming EU rules banning airlines from charging for small carry-ons. However, those regulations haven't yet come into effect. The revelation of Ryanair's bonus scheme comes just months after the airline's chief marketing officer Dara Brady claimed no such commissions were being paid. Speaking in April to Ireland's Virgin Media News, he insisted: 'We don't pay our staff commission for bags. [The policy] is about protecting the amount of bags we can bring on board. 'We can only take a limited amount of bags on board, so our staff have to be very conscious of the bag sizes that people are taking. I reiterate that there's been no change in the Ryanair bag policy and if people travel with the right size bags, well you'll have a great flight with Ryanair.' But Ryanair isn't the only airline profiting from passengers' luggage slip-ups. An internal email leaked earlier this year revealed that easyJet was also running a bonus scheme for staff who enforce its own baggage rules. The message, sent to employees at Swissport, which manages gates for easyJet at several UK airports, confirmed agents would earn £1.20 per oversized bag caught at the gate – £1 after tax. The 'easyJet gate bag revenue incentive' is reportedly still running at airports including Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Jersey, Liverpool, and Newcastle. Swissport's Dean Martin, a station manager at Glasgow Airport, wrote that the payments were designed to 'reward agents doing the right thing'. And it doesn't stop there. At airports like Gatwick, Bristol, and Manchester, DHL Supply Chain workers are also believed to be getting a 'nominal amount' per oversized bag detected.


The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Why you should visit – and stay in – Johannesburg's Soweto
Most days in Soweto you'll see tourist buses rolling through the streets. People peer out of the windows at local neighbourhoods, stop off to visit Nelson Mandela 's home, and possibly browse a few stalls on Vilakazi Street. And it's no wonder the visitors keep coming. This township in Johannesburg, home to roughly a third of the population of the city, holds huge cultural and historical significance. Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Walter Sisulu and Zeph Mothopeng all lived here. It was where South Africa' s Freedom Charter was signed in 1955; it helped foster the Black Consciousness Movement in the 1970s; and was the site of the bloody Soweto uprising in 1976, a major turning point in the fight against apartheid. But after an hour or two, most of which is confined to the inside of a bus, these tourists will leave the suburbs and trundle back to Johannesburg city – then likely head out to Kruger National Park for a safari, perhaps fly down to Durban for a beach break, or maybe make their way to Cape Town to drive out to the beautiful Winelands. Far fewer travellers will spend a full day in the township, and take the time to walk the streets, meet the communities that have grown here and dine at the restaurants where locals eat their meals. Fewer still will decide to stay a night. But to do so is to miss the heart and soul of Soweto. This is why Lebo's Backpackers decided to do things differently. Set up roughly 15 years ago by Lebo Malepa, who had grown up in Soweto and wanted to encourage a type of tourism that was beneficial to the community, the guest house allows visitors to stay within the township and experience the culture of Soweto while mingling with locals and learning about day-to-day life. Rather than pressing their nose against a coach window, guests can cycle or walk around the neighbourhoods, chat to the people who live there, eat at neighbourhood restaurants and then stay in comfortable rooms at the guest house or camp on the well equipped site on the premises. For many, Soweto conjures up images of crime and poverty, and while it is true that both are significant issues, there is far more to these neighbourhoods. An acronym for South Western Township, Soweto first existed as a settlement at the start of the 20th century – although it was in the 1930s that the first township of Orlando was created as the white government hardened its segregationist stance and forced Black people out of the city and suburbs. As its residents battled against the cruelty of apartheid, Soweto became a symbol of resistance and the struggle for democracy. The Soweto of today is very different to that of the 1970s when the world watched protests on the streets and the brutal repression by police. In fact, some have even bemoaned the gentrification of the township. While there are unpaved roads, rundown hostels and homes with rusted corrugated roofs in neighbourhoods where running water and electricity is sporadic or non-existent, there's also a growing middle class who live in gated homes, drive fancy cars and sip cocktails at swanky bars on Vilakazi Street. As is so often the case in South Africa, the inequality is stark – but there is a complexity and nuance to these neighbourhoods that goes far beyond the slum image the city often carries. The staff at Lebo's aim to show this. On a spring afternoon, I stood alongside Lebo's brother Phillip Malepa at the community gardens attached to the hostel on a hill overlooking Soweto, gazing over the vast expanse of the township across to Johannesburg's abandoned mine dumps in the distance, where many of the city's residents once worked. Lebo Malepa spent much of his life working among tourists, from his early days selling T-shirts and trinkets at market stalls to renting out a room to travellers in the family home, and then buying bicycles and tuk-tuks to take visitors around. He died on Christmas Day 2021, aged just 46, but his wife Maria and family continue to run the hostel and tours, employing local Sowetans and working closely with residents to create a model that benefits the community. Maria explains that is it important to visit the 'tourist sites' like Nelson Mandela's house; the bustling Vilakazi Street filled with stalls, shops and cafes; and the Hector Pieterson memorial that tells the story of the 1976 Soweto uprising in which hundreds were killed (the image of the lifeless 12-year-old Pieterson being carried away from the violence is one of the most heart-wrenching of the apartheid era), but Lebo's tours aim to go further. By travelling by bicycle or on foot, visitors can take their time and visit places that are not well known, but tell so much about the story of Soweto and apartheid. While in the city, I was taken to see the hostels where male labourers were split up and housed when Black South Africans were brought to Soweto as a cheap labour force for the surrounding mines. Maria explained how a visit like this helps visitors explore some of the lesser-known parts of Soweto's history. She points to the single women's hostel that she says acts as a reminder of the female struggle both during apartheid and after democracy, and Meadowlands where the government divided groups by race after forcibly removing them from Sophiatown in Johannesburg, which had been declared a 'white' neighbourhood in the 1950s. 'I think so much of your understanding of the country starts here,' she told me. 'By coming here you will leave South Africa really having understood a little bit more. This sort of experience really kind of gets under your skin. I think it's something that we can't really touch and we don't even quite know how to explain it.' I was visiting South Africa with travel company Intrepid. Clinton Els, Intrepid's regional general manager for Africa and the Middle East, explained to me that the company felt it was important not only to enable their travellers to experience this side of the city, but also to ensure it was done in an authentic way that benefits the local communities. He added: 'It saddens me that some tour companies treat Soweto like an attraction by just viewing it through the windows of a bus before moving on to the next point of interest. These are real people, living in a real community. It's important for people to experience the 'real' Soweto – not just certain streets and flashy houses, but the areas that've been somewhat ignored and forgotten.' After exploring the city – including a stop at a local restaurant for a snack of beef cheek and a maize dish called pap – we join other travellers at the backpackers hostel to share a lunch of stews and curries with ingredients sourced from the market and community gardens, cooked the traditional way over an open fire. Meals are served in the outdoor restaurant, which is a revamped former dump site that has been turned into a very pleasant park. Beyond the hostel's ground, you will also find good local food at the Disoufeng Pub & Restaurant in Meadowlands and Native Rebels in Jabavu, or you can watch performances at Sawubona Music Jam, a weekly live music event held every Tuesday in Chiawelo. While in Soweto I also spoke with Joseph Tshehla, one of Intrepid's guides who lives in the township with his young son. He told me: 'Soweto is home to the African saying Ubuntu – 'I am what I am because of who we all are.' In Soweto, locals make sure the door is always open for neighbours to come knock when they need sugar.' He adds: 'You need to walk through the town to get a feel for being part of the community and understand the history. Just driving through won't let you fully experience the culture.' Maybe a day or two here will only let you scratch the surface and get a taste of what Soweto is truly like (in fact, Maria recommends spending a week or more). But it is a taste that will allow you to see beyond the crime statistics and news reports. Most importantly, you can speak to those who call the city their home, share meals and listen to music – and that's something you certainly can't experience through a bus window. Annabel was travelling in South Africa as a guest of Intrepid Travel. Intrepid Travel runs two tours that include the Soweto experience with Lebo's Backpackers. The Experience Southern Africa (16 days, from £3,259pp) tour takes travellers through South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, including stunning nature, encounters with endangered species and the chance to stay in local communities.


Sky News
13 hours ago
- Sky News
Prince Harry follows in Diana's footsteps - and returns to Angola to back landmine clearing charity
The Duke of Sussex has visited Angola to support a landmine clearing charity, repeating a famous trip his mother made in 1997. Prince Harry met with families in a remote village near Africa's largest minefield as part of The Halo Trust's outreach programme. Princess Diana visited the country in January 1997, supporting the same charity, seven months before she was killed in a car crash in Paris. Diana famously wore protective equipment and walked through a cleared path in an active minefield in Huambo, during a break in fighting in the African country's long civil war. Her attention to the plight of Angola - including civilians injured by landmines - helped secure a treaty banning the munitions. Wearing similar protective gear, Harry has followed in his mother's footsteps by walking through a minefield in Cuito Cuanavale and raising awareness of HALO, which helps clear landmines from old war zones. During his visit on Wednesday, the duke also helped educate children to stop them detonating lethal devices left behind from the country's civil war. "Children should never have to live in fear of playing outside or walking to school," Harry said. "Here in Angola, over three decades later, the remnants of war still threaten lives every day." Harry began his trip to the African nation by meeting Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Tuesday, a statement from Halo said. The pair discussed a new three-year contract between the Angolan government and The Halo Trust, which the charity's chief executive James Cowan described as "an important step forward in our mission to make Angola mine-free". The duke attended a reception hosted by the British Embassy on Tuesday evening. During a previous trip in 2019, he said Angola's continued problem with landmines would likely have been solved if his mother had lived. He also met landmine survivor Sandra Tigica - 22 years after his mother Princess Diana was pictured with the then 13-year-old, who lost a leg. Halo estimates that around 80,000 Angolans have been killed or injured by landmines during and after the 27-year civil war, although there are no exact figures. The organisation says just over 1,000 minefields, covering an estimated 26 sq miles (67 sq km) still needed to be cleared at the end of 2024. Angola had set a goal to be landmine-free by 2025.