Charles Bloch still remembers his first outing with his guide dog Carlo seven years ago. But his Labrador is about to retire and his visually impaired master knows there’s a long waiting list for a new companion.

“I saw the benefits immediately. And I told myself it would change a lot of things for me,” says Charles Bloch, 29, who works at a theater in Coventry, in central England.

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Carlo, a Golden Retriever Labrador mix, “a bit cheeky” but “hard worker” has become “like his right arm.”

But within two years, Carlo, 9, will be hanging up his leash and retiring, which usually occurs after 6 or 7 years of service. But you have to wait a long time for a new companion.

The halt to breeding and training puppies during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a “significant delay”, says Guide Dogs, the UK’s largest guide dog trainer.

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“We couldn’t train dogs or train people. Eventually we were allowed to restart, but very gradually and slowly,” says Tony Murray, Chief Operating Officer at Guide Dogs in Leamington Spa, central England.

Brexit has also had an impact on recruitment. But guide dog trainers do a “really unique” job.

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The wait for a guide dog is at least a year, “but probably closer to 18 months and in some cases two years,” he says.

If Carlo weren’t substituted, Charles Bloch would have to use the cane again.

“I don’t have to worry too much with Carlo. I tell him to turn left, he turns left.”

When they walk together, Carlo, equipped with his harness, navigates between obstacles and notifies his master when they approach stairs or an intersection.

Charles Bloch, who retains some of his sight, could use a cane to get around, although it limited him “a little more”. For those who cannot see at all, losing their guide dog would be “very debilitating,” he stresses.

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“You already feel cut off from the world. So if they didn’t have a dog, they would feel even more withdrawn.

“The ultimate goal” is to have a backup dog when a guide dog retires, but “you can’t get a dog on call,” says Tony Murray.

He says he is “very confident” they can return to pre-pandemic levels, but it will take time.

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The education and training of a guide dog for the blind takes several months.

At a few weeks old, the puppies will live with volunteers for initial socialization and basic training. Between 12 and 14 months, dogs begin their formal training, which lasts around 22 weeks.

The success rate is less than 60%, but if successful, the dogs are assigned to a handler.

In the center of Leamington Spa, Zoey Scott trains a young dog through an obstacle course made of plastic roadblocks and traffic cones.

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It takes “a lot of mental energy” for dogs to keep up with training, she explains.

But “I’m happy to see the dogs I’ve trained making a difference and to see the smiles on their master’s faces.”

Before he had Carlo, Charles Bloch recalls feeling at university that there was a “big barrier” with other people and that he had a hard time getting to know people.

“But with Carlo, that barrier went away in a few days because everyone wanted to say hello and discuss.”

He even affirms that it has improved his results. And during the graduation ceremony, they went on stage together.

When my dear friend Sarah Ferguson found out she had cancer, she broke the news in her typically irrepressible way.

She tried to take it lightly, but as her friend, I was worried sick.

I first met Sarah in 1992 when I was a young television interviewer known for getting the big prime time interviews. I had been dreading the interview – what if it went wrong or she canceled?

But Sarah was genuine, smart, and lovely. She was there to raise money and raise awareness for charity, and over the years I’ve learned just how caring and generous Sarah is as a person.

Now, three decades later, she shared some of the most devastating news a human being could receive.

Sarah Ferguson was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram and has since had surgery

I first met Sarah in 1992 when I was a young television interviewer known for getting the big prime time interviews. Now, three decades later, she shared some of the most devastating news a human being could receive

My mother was dying of breast cancer and I knew how difficult the road could be.

I was at my home in California on May 11th when Sarah first mentioned that something was wrong.

We texted back and forth when I told her I was at the doctor’s for a scheduled check-up.

My head was full of questions – how could that be? I’m sure it was in no small part due to the stress Sarah had to endure from all the “nonsense,” as we often called it — that is, supporting her ex-husband Prince Andrew when he was forced to marry his abandon official royal duties his friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Now it’s certainly his turn to support her.

She told me she was glad I was getting checked out. At first I thought it was typical of Sarah kindly looking out for one of her friends.

It was the middle of the night in Los Angeles — but her follow-up text woke me up in my bed.

She told me she would have to have “minor surgery” the following week.

“I don’t like it,” I replied in my gloomy state.

Her response was honest but typically upbeat – one of the qualities I’ve always admired in the Duchess.

She went on to explain that a routine mammogram had detected a small breast lump and it was caught early.

At first we had little cause for concern.

It went smoothly – and we hoped it would just be a cancer scare, nothing more.

Meanwhile, Sarah insisted it would be business as usual.

She traveled to Bogata with her charity Sarah’s Trust and attended a wedding in Venice. She sent me a photo in a silk green dress in one of the famous gondolas. She was stunning, the picture of health.

Sarah continued to travel for her charity work and was thrilled to be a grandmother again – this time to her new grandson Ernest, Princess Eugenie’s second son, who was born on May 30.

Sarah Ferguson and Daphne Barak (far right) in Beverly Hills. Left to right: Antonia Marshall (Fergie’s longtime assistant), David Ellender (Halcyon Studios), Fergie, Erbil Gunasti (Daphne’s husband), Daphne Barak

Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew attend Day Four of Royal Ascot on June 21, 2019

He put a big smile on her face.

Still, I sensed that her mood had changed.

Worse was to come.

A biopsy of the lump confirmed that it was indeed cancer.

My heart has stopped beating. How could this happen to my kind, loving friend? Something like this shouldn’t have happened.

Nevertheless, Sarah was focused – factual.

There was only one option – a mastectomy, and it was booked for the following Tuesday.

I’m close to Sarah, but even I was surprised at her courage in the face of such ordeal. Keeping my spirits up seemed more important to her than her own diagnosis.

I offered to fly her out of the US to attend the surgery but she told me she was in good hands. Her sister Jane had joined her from Australia and her daughters have also been a comfort – Eugenie has almost moved in with her mother in recent weeks and Beatrice is on the phone constantly.

When the day of the mastectomy came, I could tell she was nervous.

I was anxiously awaiting news when she texted me last Sunday that she was finally home.

I sent her a bouquet of purple flowers, her favorite color.

When I spoke to her a day later, she seemed shocked but determined and assured me that she was confident of pulling through.

Despite her upbeat optimism, Sarah is clear-headed and realistic. She is the first to admit that she has a long road to recovery ahead of her. But if anyone has the courage to do it, it’s her.

Because my friend already had to shoulder so much.

Who is Daphne Barak?

Daphne Barak is a renowned interviewer and documentary filmmaker whose subjects have included Nelson Mandela, Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, Johnny Depp and Michael Jackson, among others.

Daphne’s best-selling book, Saving Amy, based on months of filming with Amy Winehouse and her family, is being adapted into an eight-part TV series by Halcyon Studios.

The last few years have been particularly tense. She was a rock to her ex-husband amid the scandal surrounding his association with disgraced tycoon Jeffrey Epstein.

In my opinion, the stress Sarah has been exposed to for years must have had a negative impact on her health.

We discussed the situation in April when I met Sarah in London.

My husband Erbil Gunasti and I were in town to chat about an upcoming TV show and of course we took time to meet our friend.

It was my birthday and although Sarah had already sent a lovely present to my US home, she arrived with another. She is extremely generous.

We share a love of dogs and she gifted me a special bag for walking my three pooches that has space for treats and poop bags.

In return, I gave her a summer handbag and a golf umbrella, which she happily modeled in photographs we took that day.

It was a fun, but also emotional afternoon.

Sarah is the glue of the York family.

When Andrew needed a friend, Sarah was there for him, even when various family members and friends reacted in a cruel and derogatory manner. She was at his side after the Queen’s death when messengers from the royal household suggested they vacate their home, the Royal Lodge.

Sarah spent a lot of time with my partner, Erbil and I in Beverly Hills in March while we were promoting her novel A Most Intriguing Lady.

It was around this time that reports said she had not been invited to the king’s coronation. But instead of reacting with irritation or anger, Sarah handled it with grace.

She reminded me that she has been invited to both Christmas and Easter gatherings with the royal family and that she has developed a warm relationship with Camilla.

I admired the positive way she saw it. I also admire the positive way she continues to deal with her cancer diagnosis.

I know she will use her incredible light and energy to ensure other people are examined.

In her most recent podcast, she said, “I want every single person that’s listening to this podcast to get screened, get screened, and do it.”

“Cancer can be silent, such a silent little hideaway. Get examined, get examined. Do not wait.’

• Daphne’s latest book, Struggling for One America, written with Erbil Gunasti, is published by Skyhorse Publishing and can be purchased here.

Read more from Daphne here.

NANTERRE, France – On Saturday, hundreds of mourners from France’s Islamic community, in solemn mourning and visibly saddened, gathered from a mosque to a hillside cemetery for the funeral of a 17-year-old whose killing by police sparked days of unrest and looting in the Region has triggered the nation.

To underscore the seriousness of the crisis, President Emmanuel Macron canceled an official trip to Germany after a fourth straight night across France. Officials said they would again send 45,000 police officers onto the streets across the country to prevent a fifth night of violence.

A total of around 2,400 people have been arrested since the teenager’s death on Tuesday. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted late Saturday that 200 riot police would be mobilized in the port city of Marseille, where television footage of tear gas and officers on the streets as nightfall was showing. According to the police, 29 people were arrested there, and at least 37 were arrested in Paris near the Champs-Élysées, where police cars were parked in front of luxury shops in one of the capital’s most well-known districts.

At a hilltop cemetery in Nanterre, the Paris suburb where the teenager, identified only as Nahel, was killed, hundreds lined the street to pay tribute to him while mourners carried his white coffin from a mosque to the burial site, where journalists in some cases entry was forbidden and even chased away. Some of the men carried folded prayer rugs.

“Men first,” an officer told dozens of women waiting to enter the cemetery. But Nahel’s mother, dressed in white, entered to applause and went to the tomb. Many of the men were young and Arab or black and came to mourn a boy who could have been them.

At the cemetery gate, the coffin was lifted over the crowd and carried to the grave. The men followed, some holding little boys’ hands. As they left, some wiped their eyes. There was no sign of the police anywhere.

The unrest weighed on Macron’s diplomatic profile. The office of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Macron called on Saturday to request a postponement of the first state visit by a French president to Germany in 23 years. Macron was due to fly to Germany on Sunday evening to visit Berlin and two other German cities.

Macron’s office said he spoke to Steinmeier and “given the internal security situation, the President (Macron) said he wanted to stay in France in the coming days.”

Nahel was shot dead during a traffic check. The video showed two officers at the window of the car, one pointing a gun at the driver. As the teenager drove forward, the officer fired once through the windshield. This week, Nahel’s mother told France 5 television that she was angry with the officer who shot her son, but not with the police in general.

“He saw a little Arab-looking child, he wanted to take his own life,” she said.

Nahel’s family has roots in Algeria.

For decades, race was a taboo subject in France, formally committed to a doctrine of color-blind universalism. Critics say the doctrine has obscured generations of systemic racism.

The officer accused of killing Nahel has been charged with a preliminary premeditated manslaughter charge, meaning investigating judges have strong suspicions of wrongdoing but need to conduct further investigations before a case goes to trial. Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial inquiries led him to conclude that the officer’s use of his weapon was not legally justified.

Hundreds of police officers and firefighters were injured in the violence that erupted after the killing. The authorities have not provided any information on the injuries suffered by the demonstrators. In French Guiana, an overseas territory, a 54-year-old died after being hit by a stray bullet.

The response to the killing was a stark reminder of the enduring poverty, discrimination, unemployment and other lack of opportunity in neighborhoods across France where many residents have roots in former French colonies – such as where Nahel grew up.

“Nahel’s story is the lighter that ignited the gas. This is what hopeless young people were waiting for. We lack housing and jobs, and when we have[jobs]our wages are too low,” said Samba Seck, a 39-year-old transport worker in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.

Clichy was the birthplace of weeks of rioting in 2005 that rocked France and was caused by the deaths of two teenagers who were electrocuted at a power substation while fleeing police. One of the boys lived in the same housing project as Seck.

Like many Clichy residents, he lamented the violence against his town, where the remains of a burned car lay beneath his home and the town hall entrance was torched amid riots this week.

“Young people destroy everything, but we are already poor, we have nothing,” he said, adding that “young people are afraid of dying at the hands of the police.”

Despite the escalating crisis, Macron hesitated to declare a state of emergency, an option he exercised in 2005. But the government stepped up its law enforcement efforts and deployed mass police, including some recalled from furlough.

France’s Justice Minister Dupond-Moretti warned on Saturday that young people who share incitements to violence on Snapchat or other apps could be prosecuted. Macron blames social media for fueling violence.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire promised government support for shopkeepers.

“There is no nation without order, without common rules,” he said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has ordered a nationwide overnight shutdown of all public buses and trams that were among the targets of the rioters. He also said he warns against using social networks as channels for incitement to violence.

The riots come just over a year before Paris and other French cities are expected to host Olympic athletes and millions of visitors to the Summer Olympics, whose organizers are closely monitoring the situation as preparations for the competition continue.

Thirteen people who flouted traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year. That year, three other people, including Nahel, died in similar circumstances. The deaths have sparked calls for more accountability in France, which has also seen racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

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Charlton reported from Paris. Associated Press Writers Jade le Deley in Clichy-sous-Bois, France; Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon; Jocelyn Noveck in New York and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.