- Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' across world
- 32 survivors as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, Kabul says
- Liverpool host Foxes, Arsenal prepare for life without Saka
- Zelensky condemns Russian 'inhumane' Christmas attack on energy grid
- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
Jane Fonda ready to 'kick ass' on climate crisis
She is 85, has a glittering film career behind her, and recently battled cancer, but Jane Fonda doesn't intend to slow down her activism on climate change -- the "greatest crisis ever to confront humanity" -- anytime soon.
"My cancer is in remission. I've got a lot of energy. I'm ready to kick some more ass," she told AFP on Thursday, backstage at the ongoing Hollywood Climate Summit.
"I'm part of the Hollywood community. I don't think the Hollywood community has done enough to confront this crisis. So I'm here to encourage that," said the double Oscar-winning actor.
The summit brings filmmakers together with scientists and activists, in a bid to change the industry's culture and encourage better climate messaging to global audiences.
Taking place at the Oscar-bestowing Academy's headquarters in Los Angeles, it has featured speakers such as "Everything Everywhere All At Once" directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and "Abbott Elementary" star Quinta Brunson.
Fonda led a panel named "Hollywood Takes on Big Oil and Gas," calling for the entertainment industry to scrap all fossil fuel investments and to reduce its carbon footprint.
She discussed a California law banning new oil wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of homes, schools and parks.
After years of campaigning, the bill was finally signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last year -- only for energy firms to garner enough petition signatures to freeze the measure, and require a statewide referendum next year.
"People are getting cancer, heart disease, lung disease, asthma -- kids missing school, children born with defects because they live next to fossil fuel infrastructures," said Fonda.
If the oil companies succeed in opposing the bill "in a blue, environmental state like California, this is going to become a precedent in other states around the country," she said.
"It has to be stopped. This is all-hands-on-deck."
- 'All I can' -
Fonda first shot to fame in the 1960s with roles such as "Barbarella," which made her an international sex symbol, before garnering critical acclaim and two Academy Awards in the following decade for "Klute" and "Coming Home."
Over the same period, she launched into activism.
Most controversially, Fonda became the first Hollywood celebrity to visit Hanoi to protest the Vietnam war, earning the nickname "Hanoi Jane."
But environmentalism has long been a priority for Fonda, who has become one of America's leading political activists.
In recent years alone, she has spoken on ocean biodiversity at the United Nations, protested a proposed oil pipeline in Minnesota, and been arrested on a weekly basis for climate demonstrations outside the US Capitol in Washington.
"If I'm not doing the things that you just mentioned, I get so depressed I can't sleep," said Fonda.
"But I'm not depressed, because I'm doing all I can... We all have to do all we can, before it's too late."
Admittedly, speaking out on green issues comes with risks for celebrities. Critics are invariably quick to accuse famous stars of enjoying glamorous lifestyles while preaching austerity.
But Fonda believes those jibes are often simply a sign that the message is working.
"They do that when we're effective," she said.
"The right-wing segments of our society don't like it when famous people speak out, because people will listen to us.
"And so they say, 'What does she know? She's just an actor.'"
- 'People listen' -
Fonda has also enjoyed a flurry of acting projects in recent years, such as films "80 for Brady" and "Book Club: The Next Chapter," as well as the popular Netflix series "Grace and Frankie."
But last September, she revealed she had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and had begun chemotherapy.
Just three months later, Fonda -- who previously overcame breast and skin cancer scares -- announced the disease was in remission, and that she was no longer in treatment.
While a writer's strike has currently brought many Hollywood productions to a halt, Fonda intends to refocus her energies entirely on activism in the build-up to next year's US elections.
"I don't intend to even try to work for the next year-and-a-half, because I want to focus on this," she said. "The next election is really crucial."
Fonda added: "When you're famous and you have a platform, people listen, people pay attention."
"And so use it! For a crisis that is the greatest crisis ever to confront humanity."
P.Mira--PC