CATEGORIES

'Opera is to touch the soul of another'

Romanian diva Angela Gheorghiu is back to reprise the La Bohème role she has sung hundreds of times yet, she believes, changes with every performance

A concrete maze

Hong Kong's M+ wants to be a global titan of art, to rival the likes of Tate Modern. But did its architects, Herzog & de Meuron, overdo the cement?

England may have given cricket to the world, but it's India's game now

Whatever the on-field result of the current Test cricket series between India and England, which began last week, off the field India will still be the winner. Indian money now rules the game. India generates more than 80% of cricket's international income. And in international cricket, what India says always goes.

Europe is heading for dark waters, and its leaders are dozing at the tiller

Democrats fear Joe Biden is sleepwalking to disaster in a November rematch with Donald Trump. Tories level similar criticism at dozy Rishi Sunak as Labour dreams of an autumn landslide. But for a truly world-beating slumber party, EU leaders take the bedtime biscuit.

The choice over Ukraine

Two years into the full-scale war, Olesya Khromeychuk sees the world's support for Ukraine waning. But, she warns, it's not just her country's future at stake

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF?

After being hunted to near extinction, wolves have returned to Europe. But when one killed the family pony of EU president Ursula von der Leyen, it ignited a high-stakes battle. Are the animals' days numbered?

Gen Z falls for the quiet charms of the public library

Henry Earls dresses up to go to the library. He picks out cosy knitted sweaters and accessories with well-worn copies of classic books. Earls looks like an adjunct English professor - or an extra in the movie Saltburn.

Kidnappings surge as guerrilla insurgency advances

The gunmen came for Alemetu when she was sleeping. They marched her out of her home in Ethiopia's Oromia region and took her to a disused school in the countryside, where she was held hostage for four weeks.

Rebel army fighters use drones to take on ruling junta

As the drones flew over western Myanmar's Chin hills, the junta did not know what was about to hit them. Their operators were hidden a few hundred metres away in the dense forest. As the images on their screens indicated the drones were hovering above the target - a military base in the town of Lailenpi-they hit the button on their controllers and bombs began to fall.

The heiress creating her own wealth tax

Marlene Engelhorn hopes giving away €25m will shake up democracy in a country that has no inheritance tax

After riots, grievances simmer at a Muslim-run soup kitchen

When Dublin erupted in a riot last November, masked youths looted shops, set fires and shouted slogans against immigrants and refugees. \"Ireland is full,\" said one banner. \"Ireland for the Irish,\" said another.

Kashmir's slopes are free of snow - and tourists

As evening draws near, Bashir Ahmad Bhat is still waiting for his first customer of the day. Seven years ago, Bhat, 34, gave up his job as a driver to work in Gulmarg's tourism sector. January is peak season at India's premier ski resort, attracting amateur and professional skiers from around the world.

Biggest, but also baddest Can ocean liners ever be green?

The world's largest cruise ship may run on LNG, but campaigners dispute its environmental credentials

Fighting talk Is Europe right to be ready for a wider war?

A wave of anxiety has gripped European defence ministers and armed A forces as politicians and military leaders believe Nato-sceptic Donald Trump could be elected as the next president of the US and that Russia may not be forced out or defeated in Ukraine. This febrile mood has prompted growing warnings that Europe could find itself involved in a war in Russia, even though at present Russia is embroiled in Ukraine.

Drone raids help Kyiv carry the fight deep into Russia

Last week, a motorist driving in Russia's Leningrad region came across something unusual. Men had blocked off the road. In front, a large olive-green military vehicle with cigar-shaped missiles on the back was reversing and then parked up on a snowy verge. \"Fuck! It's an S-300,\" the driver exclaimed, before adding: \"So guys, let's prepare for the worst.\"

UN urges donors to rethink Gaza funding halt

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has appealed to the 10 donor countries that have withdrawn funding from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to reconsider.

ICJ order UN court's Gaza decision puts the west to the test

In seeking a provisional order from the international court of justice restraining Israel from committing potentially genocidal acts in Gaza, South Africa put not just Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the dock but also the whole post-second world war rules-based order, including the authority of the ICJ itself. Never has there been such a high-profile case brought in the middle of such a bloody conflict.

Not so fast...Trump seems unstoppable-but here's why he's vulnerable

You'd think a week spent in the snow and ice of New Hampshire, watching Donald Trump stroll to a double-digit victory over his last remaining Republican rival, would have left me filled with angst about the presidential election in November.

Veep power In the hunt for Trump's running mate, only devotees need apply

The last Republican who occupied the job of US vice-president ended up the target of a violent mob calling for him to be hanged. Even so, as Donald Trump closes in on the Republican nomination for 2024, there is no shortage of contenders eager to be his deputy.

Trump's dark side

The former president looks almost certain to win the Republican nomination. But his lashing out at a rival exposed a weakness that could yet be pivotal in the election

Use your noodle: DIY ramen is a no-brainer if you've got the time

Can you make good ramen at home, and is it worth the effort?

Nature trail A physicist turns his hand to life science, to explore how commonly held models of why we're here are wildly oversimplified

You might think, with the completion of the Human Genome Project more than 20 years ago, and the discovery of the double helix enjoying its 70th birthday last year, that we actually know how life works. In physics, the quest for a so-called Grand Unifying Theory has preoccupied the most ambitious minds for generations, alas to no avail. But in the life sciences, we managed to find four grand unifying theories in the space of 100 years or so.

Why China and India are tapping into Top Gun

The new superpowers have fallen for the action-packed world of blockbuster air force films, but can their efforts be anything more than military propaganda?

Outside in

The Chinese American screen director Lulu Wangon The Expats, her complex new TV series set in 2014 Hong Kong

Abuse of unaccountable power is at wicked heart of Post Office scandal

To the widely voiced reasons to admire Alan Bates, the heroically dogged leader of the campaign to achieve justice for the victims of the Post Office scandal, let me add another.

The pastoral Carer

not just about the future of their businesses, but about family, identity and even mortality.

Boeing's problems are bigger than just nuts and bolts

Aviation is an abundant source of metaphors, but not always as self-generating as the terrifying Alaska Airlines incident that has once again brought Boeing low: a hole blown in the side of an ascending plane, a gap that was not properly plugged, passengers staring into the void.

'He wins big' Trump storms the Republican caucuses in Iowa

For some Americans it's a nightmare from which they cannot wake, but for others it's a new chapter in the Maga saga

Word perfect Activist poet embracing essence of being African

After giving birth, Vanessa Chisakula started writing poetry as a way of processing the changes and struggles she was experiencing as a new mother.

Happy haus How Vienna became the world's most livable city

The Austrian capital's radical social housing tradition bucks the trend for soaring rents elsewhere. What is its secret?