Rome shoppers take pot luck in ‘blind sale’ of unclaimed packages
Benedetta slid a manicured nail through the sellotape of a mystery package to unwrap a garden hoe and earbuds. Her friend discovered she had bought some sort of harness. The…
A palace in shock: Bashar al-Assad’s final moments in Syria
Hours before rebel forces seized Damascus and toppled his government on Sunday, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was already out of the country, telling hardly anyone, five former officials told AFP.…
Demand for Japanese content booms post ‘Shogun’
Fuelled in part by the success of TV hit “Shogun”, foreign studios are hungry for quality Japanese content and local creators are adapting to meet demand. Fans of Japanese manga…
After the showdown
LAST week’s showdown between the government and opposition may have ended sooner than anyone expected but it left serious unresolved problems in its wake. It has deepened the political divide and increased polarisation in…
Banking shortcomings
SYSTEMS in Pakistan often operate below potential. We could be close, but remain mired in red tape, beholden to power structures and burdened by hidden and friction costs. Despite an…
Skills shortage hobbles India’s clean energy aspirations
India’s ambitious plan to expand domestic manufacturing is coming up short in the solar industry which is grappling with inadequate government funding and a skills shortage, potentially jeopardising its clean…
Future of UN climate dialogue threatened by budget shortfal
The leading UN body on climate change is experiencing a severe budget shortfall, according to a Reuters analysis of documents from the world body - a funding gap that diplomats…
Iran shrugs off Israel strikes, showing restraint
After Israel’s deadly strikes, Iran lauded its defences while media outlets dismissed the assault as “weak”, signalling what analysts say is the Islamic republic’s reluctance to escalate further. Saturday’s Israeli…
The stone in the shoe
IT has not even been a month since the new government was sworn in and important cracks in its otherwise powerful edifice are already beginning to show. Last week, for…
As poor nations’ default wave peaks, cash shortage could take its place
The punishing post-COVID wave of sovereign defaults has finally crested, with the likes of Ghana, Sri Lanka and Zambia concluding years of painful debt reworks. But the International Monetary Fund…
