Copenhagen’s dream of becoming a low-carbon city | WN24
At an altitude of 85 metres, skiers are taking to the slopes, first hesitantly carving turns before enjoying the ride. Apart from the mountain gear, there’s nothing familiar about the experience. Not the image: Skiers, in T-shirts and shorts, cut through a green plastic mesh, skirting trees and pipes from which wisps of steam escape. […]
In Lebanon, a dam lies at the heart of allegations of public funds mismanagement | WN24
LETTER FROM BEIRUT The Mseilha dam in Lebanon, July 2024. FADI MERHEB Few dam projects in Lebanon escape controversy. Located on the Jaouz River in the Batroun Caza in the north of the country, the Mseilha dam is no exception. The first investigating judge in North Lebanon, Samaranda Nassar, ordered the dam to be sealed […]
Pope Francis visit keenly awaited in deeply Catholic East Timor | WN24
(Reuters) – When Pope Francis touches down in the East Timorese capital of Dili this week he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor. The last papal visit to Dili was in 1989, when Pope John Paul II arrived in territory then occupied by Indonesia, gifting East […]
India challenged by China in its ‘sphere of influence’ | WN24
A screenshot from a video shows the disengagement process between Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army from a contested lake area in the western Himalayas, in Ladakh region, India February 11, 2021. REUTERS TV / VIA REUTERS The pathetic end to the reign of Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina forced her to flee her […]
‘Shame must change sides’ | The Star | WN24
FOR years, she had been losing hair and weight. She had started forgetting whole days, and sometimes appeared to be in dreamlike trances. Her children and friends worried she had Alzheimer’s. But in late 2020, after she was summoned to a police station in southern France, she learned a far more shattering story. Her husband […]
A systematic barbarism | The Star | WN24
Trigger warning: Multiple accounts of violence, rape and murder ON Aug 9, a second-year postgraduate trainee at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College was raped and murdered in one of the most horrific femicide accounts to emerge from the subcontinent in recent years. According to her colleagues, the 31-year-old doctor had retired to sleep on a […]
We can learn from ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ | WN24
NO one could have anticipated that being well-versed in Journey to the West would be considered “cool” in 2024. Yet here we are, as the newly released action role-playing video game Black Myth: Wukong has reignited global interest in the 16th-century classic written by Wu Cheng’en. I have watched with fascination and occasional bewilderment as […]
Editorial: Vaccination pauses in fighting in Gaza should lead to ceasefire | WN24
IT can hardly be said that the residents of the Palestinian territory of Gaza have got out of a crisis through pauses in fighting that are limited in time and location. But can’t pauses in fighting for vaccinations be linked to a full-fledged ceasefire? The countries concerned must persistently appeal to Israel and the Islamist […]
Pedro Almodovar wins Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival for ‘The Room Next Door’ | WN24
Pedro Almodovar receives the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his film ‘The Room Next Door,’ in Venice (Italy), September 7, 2024. MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP Finally recognized at the age of 74 and after more than twenty feature films, Pedro Almodovar was awarded the Golden Lion for The Room Next Door on […]
Why are Bhutanese start-ups not taking off? | WN24
BHUTAN’S start-up ecosystem is at a crossroads. In the past decade, the start-up landscape in the country has seen a number of innovative ventures – from e-commerce platforms and online delivery apps to streaming platforms. And in recent years, the focus has shifted to robotics and artificial intelligence, keeping up with the rapid pace of […]