Away From the Spotlight, a Debate Rages Over a Postwar Ukraine Economy
Beyond the enormous cost of rebuilding the country are difficult and delicate choices about how to best connect the nation to European markets and commerce.
Patricia Cohen, who focuses on the economic impact of the Ukraine war, reported this article from London.
With Russian missiles pounding apartment buildings, power plants, schools and roads, a glimmering vision of a reconstructed postwar Ukraine seems impossibly far off. But an urgent battle of ideas has already begun over how to manage what would be the most extensive rebuilding project in Europe since the end of World War II.
The sparring has engaged heads of state and the leaders of humanitarian groups, universities and banks from around the world — representing the governments, organizations and companies ready to donate or lend the hundreds of billions of dollars that could be needed, as well as those who stand to profit from it.
Iranian forces shooting at faces and genitals of female protesters, medics say
Exclusive: Men and women coming in with shotgun wounds to different parts of bodies, doctors say
Deepa Parent and Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Iranian security forces are targeting women at anti-regime protests with shotgun fire to their faces, breasts and genitals, according to interviews with medics across the country.
Doctors and nurses – treating demonstrators in secret to avoid arrest – said they first observed the practice after noticing that women often arrived with different wounds to men, who more commonly had shotgun pellets in their legs, buttocks and backs.
While an internet blackout has hidden much of the bloody crackdown on protesters, photos provided by medics to the Guardian showed devastating wounds all over their bodies from so-called birdshot pellets, which security forces have fired on people at close range. Some of the photos showed people with dozens of tiny “shot” balls lodged deep in their flesh.
More suspects wanted in foiled German coup plot
Police are searching for more people connected to the far-right Reichsbürger movement after Germany-wide raids revealed the advanced scale of a plot to overthrow the government.
As investigators comb through evidence collected in raids targeting a far-right plot aiming to topple the German government, officials are indicating that the number of people involved could grow.
The head of Germany's criminal police (BKA), Holger Münch, said Thursday that two more individuals were found to be connected to the anti-government plot, bringing the total number of suspects to 54. The number of suspects could continue to grow, he told the ARD public broadcaster.
Münch said other people had been "identified" and police were working to determine their status in relation to the network. At least 25 people have been arrested so far in connection with the plot.
Iran executes first Mahsa Amini protester as fears grow for other detainees
Iran said Thursday it executed a prisoner convicted for a crime allegedly committed during the country's ongoing nationwide protests, the first such death penalty carried out by Tehran.
The execution comes as other detainees also face a possible death penalty for their involvement in the protests, which began first as an outcry against Iran's morality police and have expanded into one of the most serious challenges to Iran's theocracy since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Activists warn others could be put to death as well soon since prosecutors say at least seven people so far have received death sentences over their involvement in the demonstrations.
‘The world changed overnight’: Zero-Covid overhaul brings joy — and fears — in China
Workers across China have dismantled some of the physical signs of the country’s zero-Covid controls, peeling health code scanning signs off metro station walls and closing some checkpoints after the government unveiled an overhaul of its pandemic policy.
But as many residents expressed relief and happiness at the obvious loosening of measures, some worried about its impact and questioned how the new rules would be rolled out.
“The world changed overnight, and that’s really amazing,” said Echo Ding, 30, a manager at a tech company in Beijing. “I feel like we are getting back to normal life. This is important to me because if I don’t get back to a normal life, I might lose my mind.”
Singing rickshaw operators pulling their weight in Tokyo’s Asakusa
During the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, a trio of singing and dancing rickshaw pullers in Tokyo’s Asakusa district proved they were not just pretty faces.
The Tokyo Rickshaw group used its spare time, particularly during the anti-virus states of emergency, to build bonds with other hard-hit residents and businesses through cooperative projects in Taito Ward.
With tourism now on the rebound, the musical rickshaw pullers are seen as key ambassadors in promoting the culture and attractions of one of the most popular sightseeing spots in Japan.
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