By Cecilia Laurent Monpetit, Philippe Cordier, CNN

Paris (CNN) — Flexible hours, being your own boss, fresh air and views of Notre Dame – it’s a job with a lot going for it. Paris’ bouquinistes have been a fixture along the banks of the Seine for some 500 years and are determined to keep their profession alive.

“It’s my life, it’s not just a job,” 76-year-old Sylvia Brui, who’s been selling ancient books for eight years on Quai de Conti, told CNN. “We sell things that we love.”

The history of Paris’ world-famous book merchants dates back to 1550, when a dozen street vendors set up shop on the Île de la Cité, in the heart of the French capital. The trade took off with the construction of the Pont Neuf in 1606, the first bridge without buildings atop, offering a vast space for new vendors of portable wares.

By the early 1900s, the city standardized the iconic look of the stalls: sellers worked out of metal boxes painted the same “wagon green” color, and their open lids were designed to preserve the riverbank views. Today, around 230 booksellers stretch along roughly three kilometers of the Seine, offering antique and contemporary books, engravings, stamps and magazines.

It’s a unique setting to appreciate the written word: a skyline of historic stone buildings frames this open-air bookshop.

‘Commitment to books’

Booksellers pay no tax or rent but must comply with strict regulations. Vacant spots are allocated and regulated by the City of Paris through a dedicated committee. Candidates must apply with a resume and a cover letter explaining their plans.

“You must show your commitment to books,” Jérôme Callais, president of the Association Culturelle des Bouquinistes de Paris, told CNN. Twelve new booksellers were appointed in October 2025.

Each occupancy permit is granted for five years. Booksellers must open their stalls at least four days a week, except in bad weather. They are allowed to sell old books, second-hand books, old papers and engravings. They may add a small selection of other items – like coins, medals, old stamps and postcards – as long as they do not exceed the contents of a single box.

“You need to have experience, to be knowledgeable,” Callais said, “It’s not surprising that the majority of booksellers are over 50, about 80% of them.”

Among that older cohort is new bouquiniste Ozan Yigitkeskin, who plans to offer a selection of multilingual books. He decided to set up shop on the quays at the age of 52 after working as an online book seller. “My first job was selling books by bicycle in Istanbul at the age of 15. I’ve also been a typist and a journalist, and I’m still passionate about books.”

Yigitkeskin knows how fragile small bookshops can be, constantly struggling to cover their rent – a problem he boasts he won’t have as a bouquiniste.

Six years ago, 35-year-old Camille Goudeau opened her own stall specializing in science fiction and fantasy on Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, after spending years working for other booksellers.

“I deal in inexpensive second-hand books to encourage people who don’t read, or read very little, or have stopped reading, to read again,” she told CNN.

“I had a 30-year-old woman like that, she didn’t dare go into a bookstore,” fellow bookseller Sylvia Brui chipped in. “She bought her first book here: ‘The Old Man and the Sea.’ Later, she read Joyce. Now she goes to bookstores.”

Polling from IPSOS/CNL suggests French readers have been buying more second-hand books over the past decade, with those aged 25 to 34 reading the most books per year on average.

Working outdoors: freedom and human connection

Booksellers work outdoors all year round, often with nothing more than a folding chair for comfort and a tiny table serving as b

By Nimi Princewill, Jessie Yeung, CNN

(CNN) — After months of warning that the US could take military action to stop violence against Christians in Nigeria, President Donald Trump announced on Christmas Day that he had done just that – delivering a strike on Islamic State terrorists in the country’s northwest.

Nigeria’s foreign ministry confirmed that the two countries had coordinated on the strike, and one presidential adviser said the US and Nigeria were “on the same page in the fight against terrorism.”

Details are still emerging about the strike, which came after Trump threatened to suspend aid to Nigeria over violence against Christians, even calling on his secretary of defense to “prepare for possible action” against Africa’s most populous nation in November.

But the reality on the ground is more nuanced than Trump’s characterization suggests, experts and analysts have told CNN this year. Both Christians and Muslims – the two main religious groups in the country of more than 230 million people – have been victims of attacks by radical Islamists, they say.

Here’s what you need to know.

Years of violence

Nigeria has grappled for years with deep-rooted security problems driven by various factors including religiously motivated attacks.

The country has roughly equal numbers of Christians – who are predominantly in the south – and Muslims, who are mainly concentrated in the north.

In 2012, the Islamist group Boko Haram issued an ultimatum, ordering Christians in the northern region to leave while calling on Muslims in the south to “come back” to the north. Most targeted killings in recent years have been in the north.

Besides Boko Haram, there’s also a lesser-known Lakurawa group prominent in northwestern states – which security analysts said could have been the target of Thursday’s strikes. The Lakurawa group has become increasingly deadly this year, often targeting remote communities and security forces, and hiding in the forests between states, Reuters reported.

Observers say other violent conflicts arise from communal and ethnic tensions, as well as disputes between farmers and herders over limited access to land and water.

Are Christians being killed?

Yes – though that’s only part of the picture.

John Joseph Hayab, a pastor who leads the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the country’s northern region, agrees with Trump’s claim of “systematic killings of Christians” in that area.

The scale of the killings has reduced in the last two years, he said. However, this year has seen a spate of high-profile attacks in predominantly Christian pockets of the north, which has drawn international attention and condemnation.

In April, gunmen believed to be Muslim herders Read more

FFWLOX

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for…
East Central Ventura County in southwestern California…

* Until 200 AM PST Friday.

* At 728 PM PST, Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated
heavy rain showers producing across the warned area. Flash
flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD…Flash flooding caused by heavy rain. Rock slides and
mud slides.

SOURCE…Radar and automated gauges. Rock slides and mud
slides.

IMPACT…Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban
areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as
other poor drainage and low-lying areas.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include…
Fillmore, Santa Paula, Topatopa Peak and Lake Piru.
This also includes The 126 corridor.
Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood
deaths occur in vehicles.

Br aware of rock slides and mud slides.

The post Flash Flood Warning issued December 25 at 7:28PM PST until December 26 at 2:00AM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

…DANGEROUS NIGHTTIME FLOODING ONGOING NEAR AND NORTH OF VENTURA…

At 720 PM PST, local law enforcement reported significant flooding
in the warning area, including vehicles getting stuck in the water.
Flash flooding is already. In addition, there is some possibility
for minor flooding to occur along the Ventura River near Foster Park
overnight tonight.

HAZARD…Flash flooding caused by heavy rain. Rock slides and mud
slides.

SOURCE…Law enforcement reported. Rock slides and mud slides.

IMPACT…Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas,
highways, streets and underpasses as well as other poor
drainage and low-lying areas.

Some locations that will experience flash flooding include…
Oxnard, Ventura, Ojai, Port Hueneme, Ventura Harbor, La Conchita,
Rincon Point, Solimar Beach, Seacliff, Lake Casitas, El Rio and
Silver Strand Beach.
Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood
deaths occur in vehicles.

Be aware of rock slides and mud slides.

Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the
dangers of flooding.

The post Flash Flood Warning issued December 25 at 7:20PM PST until December 26 at 2:00AM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Jessie Yeung, CNN

Hong Kong (CNN) — Whenever high-profile non-binary activist Siufung Law did media interviews, journalists always asked: what pronoun would they like to use?

For a long time, the Hong Kong native, who uses they/them pronouns in English, had no easy answer because Chinese pronouns are largely split into two when referring to people – a male and female form – and neither felt right.

Finally, in 2017, Law came across a potential solution: an unofficial pronoun that had been invented by the intersex and non-binary community. The character looked similar to the existing Chinese pronouns but was altered with what looked like an X on the side, which reminded Law of Gender X – the “third pronoun” sometimes used on IDs and passports in other countries.

Despite having been around for nearly a decade, this invented Chinese pronoun has remained on the fringes for one reason: as an unofficial character, it doesn’t exist on our keyboards, and while it’s often stylized as X也, that’s a hassle to type and confusing to people who are unfamiliar with it.

That, however, could soon change. In September, the pronoun was added to Unicode – a global standard of symbols and characters used by web developers and tech giants worldwide.

This means users may eventually be able to type the character on phones and laptops, and search and display it online. The process could take several more years, but it’s been celebrated nonetheless as a major step toward broader recognition – especially in China, where conservative attitudes and government crackdowns have made life increasingly tough for the LGBTQ+ community.

“Having a pronoun that is more specifically addressed to people who do not want to be labeled or boxed within the male and female pronouns … could be a really good alternative,” said Law, also a PhD candidate in gender and sexuality studies.

It’s “the acknowledgement (that) people like myself do exist, and we are not erased within … those binary systems, whether it’s language or culture or history itself.”

Chinese pronouns weren’t always so binary. In fact, the language didn’t have gendered pronouns to begin with – what’s now considered the male pronoun, 他, was once used for all people.

That’s evident in how it’s written, too. Chinese characters are composed of building blocks that often offer clues about their meaning or origin; in the case of the once-universal pronoun, its building blocks simply mean “person,” without any indication of gender.

“For thousands of years, it seems that nobody felt the need to make this distinction,” wrote Chinese scholar Huang Xingtao in his 2009 book on the topic. But in the early 20th century, China came into greater contact with Western nations – pushing the country to “vigorously create new characters … to express certain terms in Western languages.”

That’s also when China’s early feminist movement gained momentum, with activists demanding women’s independence, education, and representation – including in the written word.

These concurrent movements birthed the new female pronoun, 她. It is pronounced “ta,” the same as the original 他, the new X也, and other Chinese pronouns used for animals and inanimate objects.

That’s why some people now argue that the creation of a new gender-neutral pronoun is unnecessary, as that’s what existed in the first place.

These linguistic evolutions have wide-reaching implications. Chinese has the highest number of native speakers out of all languages worldwide, and is used from Hong Kong to Taiwan to Chinese-speaking diasporas. Even Sinitic languages like