•Muluwork Ambaw

An Ethiopian woman, Muluwork Ambaw, has claimed that she has not eaten food or drunk water since she was 10 years old, saying she suddenly lost her appetite as a child.

Ambaw, who is now 26 and lives in Jimma, Ethiopia, said her last meal was lentil stew before she stopped eating and drinking.

Her extraordinary claim gained international attention after travel content creator Drew Binsky visited her in Ethiopia and documented her story and daily life.

According to Ambaw, the change began when her family would ask her to have breakfast before going to school.

Her extraordinary claim gained international attention after travel content creator Drew Binsky visited her in Ethiopia and documented her story and daily life.

According to Ambaw, the change began when her family would ask her to have breakfast before going to school.

“I used to live with my family, and they asked me to eat breakfast and go to school. I said I had eaten, but I was pretending,” she said, according to an account shared by Binsky.

Ambaw said she simply stopped feeling hungry or thirsty and has continued living without consuming food or water.

Despite claiming not to eat, Ambaw said she enjoys preparing meals for her family and visitors.

She reportedly grows vegetables in her garden so she can cook fresh food when her sister or guests visit.

“I cook as much as I want, but I have no appetite,” she said.

•Saint Francis of Assisi

This Sunday, 4 October, marks the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, Italy’s patron saint. From this year, and for the first time since 1977, 4 October once again becomes a national holiday.

To mark the occasion, the city of Assisi is celebrating this historic anniversary by exceptionally bringing together all of Italy’s Regions and provincial capital municipalities, with 18 Regions and just as many municipalities already represented.

More than 3,000 pilgrims and tourists have arrived in the city to take part in the celebrations, which culminate in an address to the Nation by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, from the loggia of the Sacred Convent.

The day of prayer and festivities follows a tightly scheduled programme that began at midnight on Saturday with the festive ringing of the bells.

At 6.00 a.m. mass is celebrated for the community of friars, presided over by the Minister General, Friar Carlos Alberto Trovarelli, followed at 6.50 a.m. by the offering of prayers at the Saint’s Tomb.

The arrival of President Mattarella is expected by 9.45 a.m. for the solemn mass in the Upper Basilica, presided over by Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi.

During the celebration, attended also by ambassadors and representatives of accredited countries, Umbria will offer the oil and the mayor of Assisi, Valter Stoppini, will light the votive lamp on behalf of all Italian municipalities.

This will be followed, at 11.20 a.m., by official speeches and, at noon, by the live broadcast of Pope Leo XIV’s Angelus prayer on the giant screens in the square.

• File photo of Gullah Geechee Heritage Festival 2025.

On 12 October 2026, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor will celebrate the 20th anniversary of when the United States Congress designated it a National Heritage Area.

According to BBC, spanning from North Carolina to southern Florida, Gullah Geechee culture lives on through its unique language, musical traditions and beliefs, offering travellers a window into the many ways African culture directly shaped the US.

Gullah Geechee culture has its roots in the late 17th and 18th Century, when African peoples were increasingly brought to English colonies in what is now the United States and enslaved on plantations.

Planters in the Carolina Lowcountry along the Eastern seaboard sought out people from Central African countries and West Africa’s Rice Coast, exploiting their agricultural knowledge to cultivate rice, indigo and Sea Island cotton in the coastal wetlands and islands.

The working conditions were brutal, but that same geographical isolation helped the enslaved and their descendants retain – and adapt – African cultural practices.

Traditional West and Central African one-pot cooking techniques combined with local seafood, vegetables, grains and meats gave rise to Gullah Geechee cuisine.

Lowcountry red rice, which combines rice, tomatoes, spices, smoked pork and sausage, is often compared to jollof rice, a one-pot rice stew cooked with tomatoes, spices and meat strongly associated with the Senegambia region of West Africa.

West African coiled basketry traditions were likewise adapted to the Lowcountry, using readily available sweetgrass, bulrush, palmetto and pine.

The “ring shout” – a Gullah Geechee ritual where participants form a circle, then move counterclockwise in a rhythmic pattern while stomping their feet, clapping their hands and singing in “call and response” – recalled West African musical and spiritual practices.

• Culled from BBC