Tibetan directors, who all live outside Tibet, deliver a quartet of films that explore the pain of separation and migration The wrench of exile is the theme of this quartet of short films from Tibetan directors, who themselves all live outside Tibet. Their intimate, emotional family dramas tell stories of separation and migration. In two of them, the 90-year-old Dalai Lama smiles out from photogra...
Tibetan directors, who all live outside Tibet, deliver a quartet of films that explore the pain of separation and migration The wrench of exile is the theme of this quartet of short films from Tibetan directors, who themselves all live outside Tibet. Their intimate, emotional family dramas tell stories of separation and migration. In two of them, the 90-year-old Dalai Lama smiles out from photographs on shrines, a reminder of the precariousness of Tibet’s future. As a character in one of the films puts it bluntly: will there be anything to stop China erasing Tibetan identity when its rock-star spiritual leader is no longer around? In the first film a Tibetan man lives in a kind of complicated happiness in Vietnam. He loves his wife, and they both adore their sunny-natured little daughter, but he has mournful eyes. Home is a town on the banks of the Mekong River, which has its source in Tibet. The river is a constant reminder of the region – and of Chinese might too, since Chinese hydropower dams are the cause of drought downstream in Vietnam. Continue reading...
This was even though I had revoked my citizenship and now have dual British and German nationality I want to flag a discriminatory experience I’ve had with the Co-op’s will -writing service. I asked it to update a will it had drawn up for me in 2020, with my partner and our daughter as the beneficiaries. I received no follow-up for two months. Continue reading...
This was even though I had revoked my citizenship and now have dual British and German nationality I want to flag a discriminatory experience I’ve had with the Co-op’s will -writing service. I asked it to update a will it had drawn up for me in 2020, with my partner and our daughter as the beneficiaries. I received no follow-up for two months. Continue reading...
Cut out flying and you shred skiing’s carbon footprint. And opting for a high-altitude resort that needs less artificial snow makes it even greener. Les Arcs in the French Alps ticks both boxes I’ve always wanted to try skiing, but it’s not a cheap holiday and I have always had a lingering suspicion that some resorts are like Las Vegas in the mountains, with artificial snow, damaging infrastructur...
Cut out flying and you shred skiing’s carbon footprint. And opting for a high-altitude resort that needs less artificial snow makes it even greener. Les Arcs in the French Alps ticks both boxes I’ve always wanted to try skiing, but it’s not a cheap holiday and I have always had a lingering suspicion that some resorts are like Las Vegas in the mountains, with artificial snow, damaging infrastructure, annihilated vegetation and air-freighted fine dining – in short, profoundly unsustainable. However, if there’s a way to have a green family ski holiday, then sign me – and my husband, Joe, two kids and my mum – up. Here’s how to do it. Continue reading...
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is said to be weighing up an early election, a move that could put her in a stronger position with both China and the United States if she secures a decisive win, according to observers. But a diplomatic thaw between Japan and China is not expected any time soon. Media reports in recent days have suggested that Takaichi may call a snap general election to cap...
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is said to be weighing up an early election, a move that could put her in a stronger position with both China and the United States if she secures a decisive win, according to observers. But a diplomatic thaw between Japan and China is not expected any time soon. Media reports in recent days have suggested that Takaichi may call a snap general election to capitalise on her high approval ratings. Citing government sources, the Yomiuri Shinbun reported on...
Germany's Mittelstand Succession Crisis: Who Will Take the Reins? Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Germany faces a massive wave of business transfers. The decline in entrepreneurship and self-employment has multiple causes; blaming the young generation’s supposed obsession with work-life balance belongs more to the realm of fables. When a productive and market-successful company exits the competition, pr...
Germany's Mittelstand Succession Crisis: Who Will Take the Reins? Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Germany faces a massive wave of business transfers. The decline in entrepreneurship and self-employment has multiple causes; blaming the young generation’s supposed obsession with work-life balance belongs more to the realm of fables. When a productive and market-successful company exits the competition, productive capital is lost irretrievably. Jobs vanish, supply chains collapse, and established customer relationships dissolve . Often, foreign competitors step in to occupy the freed market niches. Value creation is lost for the domestic economy. KfW Panel Shows the Numbers A recent survey by the KfW Mittelstand Panel shows that Germany confronts exactly this fundamental problem. A demographically driven succession crisis is emerging: over 57% of Mittelstand business owners are now over 55. According to KfW, around 1.1 million business transfers or closures will occur by 2029 due to age. The survey of 13,000 firms also shows that about one in four companies at risk is considering a full shutdown because no suitable successor or buyer is available to fill the vacancy. Mathematically, the situation is stark: in coming years, roughly 114,000 business closures are expected annually, while only about 109,000 orderly successions occur. The net balance is negative. New business formation would be required to close the gap—an endeavor naturally difficult in Germany. The succession problem spans all sectors and company sizes, from small craft shops or bakeries to classic industrial Mittelstand companies. The pool of potential business transferors grows due to demographics, while the pool of successors continues to shrink—a classic demographic gap. The Ifo Institute paints an equally sobering picture: around 42% of family businesses cannot find an internal successor. Young people increasingly avoid taking over existing companies, preferring well-paid employment with social security an...
In the days after the worst mass shooting in Australia since Port Arthur, a wave of misinformation spread across social media. A video of Australian federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett claiming four Indian nationals had been arrested, with a Guardian watermark on screen, was in fact a deepfake made from a genuine video of a press conference Barrett had given on 18 December. The video was fl...
In the days after the worst mass shooting in Australia since Port Arthur, a wave of misinformation spread across social media. A video of Australian federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett claiming four Indian nationals had been arrested, with a Guardian watermark on screen, was in fact a deepfake made from a genuine video of a press conference Barrett had given on 18 December. The video was flagged by online factcheckers, but not before being watched hundreds of thousands of times. As Guardian Australia's technology reporter Josh Taylor explains, these deepfakes are only getting easier to make Fake Minns, altered images and psyop theories: Bondi attack misinformation shows AI's power to confuse Continue reading...