Since the opening of six automated lines in the Saudi capital last December, more than 122 million journeys have been made on public transport.
Tag: development
A small but worrying development could be making artificial intelligence less reliable. It’s all down to an internal mechanism that could eventually make it less effective and less dependable.
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Never Quit On A Bad Day
My eldest told me he wanted to quit going to football training. “When something feels hard, the mind and body resist because they seek comfort”.
The Mechi River serves as the border between Nepal and India. But much of the land east of the river is considered Nepali territory, due to changes in the course of the river. And there is no bridge connecting these Nepali exclaves to Nepal, which means wading through water to get to school each day.
To allow for 300,000 photovoltaic solar panels in the western Bolivian town of Ancotanga, local inhabitants gave up land in exchange for promises of jobs and healthcare — that they are still waiting to see.
Ambition and ambiguity are the unspoken rules utilized by the participating parties in China’s much touted Belt and Road Initiative, launched 10 years ago, to expand its economic power across the world. But what has actually come of it is not so clear.
On two or four legs, the robots from this MIT spin-off are among the most advanced in the world. And while their videos have conquered YouTube, their new playground is less spectacular, but just as strategic: logistics warehouses.
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The Way To A Doctor’s Heart
Our Neapolitan psychiatrist ponders the meaning of professional recognition, and lasagna.
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Facing The Shame, Sharing The Blame
Our Neapolitan psychiatrist is faced with the inadequacy of the Italian health system, and a mother’s helplessness.
The Egyptian coastal resort has been reinvented (again) to host world leaders for the COP27, as it aims to cast a climate-financing-hungry Egypt in a favorable light. But the cosmetic changes hide years of harm to the region’s ecosystem.
Officials want to revitalize the country’s ailing railway system. But it comes at a cost for the people who live in the way.
In an area the size of Singapore, Egypt is building its new capital. Constructed under the close control of the military and the head of state, the city embodies the grand ambitions of an increasingly autocratic president. But will it turn out to be a ghost city?
How do you rebuild a country decimated by four decades of war and embargoes? Following the withdrawal of the U.S. military, Iraq faces many challenges, from oil revenues captured by the militias and endemic corruption to religious segregation. However, there are glimmers of hope for the country’s future.
A new Vienna-Brussels line has just opened, while in France only two night lines still exist, compared to a dozen ten years ago.
Instead of perpetuating an established propensity toward ‘asymmetrical’ trade ties, Mexico can boost relations with China with an eye on environmentally-friendly opportunities.
The former docks in Buenos Aires have become a model of how to turn an area in the doldrums into a multi-million dollar investment magnet.
It’s high-time for an economic model that curbs waste while boosting productivity. But don’t expect market forces alone to bring about the necessary shift.
The outgoing Mexican president consolidated Mexico’s macroeconomic foundations. His socialist successor, the wildly popular López Obrador, may turn out to be a bigger disappointment.
Africa must not be industrialized like the Asian dragons. Instead, the continent must invest in a high-quality educational system to adapt to a new global labor market.
From individual artisans to prosperous wholesalers, this isolated place has developed a vibrant economy despite numerous obstacles.
The Asian giant is like a super-charged Formula 1 car racing past a beautiful, but old Fiat 500.
With billions in investments and a land distribution scheme not unlike the Homestead Act, in the U.S., Moscow is looking to revive a long-neglected region.
After a drop in oil prices left the Nigerian economy reeling, new government policies have boosted rice and other agricultural production. It’s a boost to stay home for Nigerians eyeing emigration to Europe.
Ground has been broken on the signature domestic project of the Chinese leader’s next term. It is meant to be a massive model city of innovation, forever linked to Xi’s Chinese Dream.
-Analysis- SAO PAULO — The idea of economic planning dominated the imagination of 20th-century economists. Unlike the classical liberal view, the planning concept supports clear government intervention in the spontaneous course of markets. By implementing one plan or another, the theory goes, governments can speed up a process or correct a wrong course. Plans are […]
For the ordinary Mexican, the free-trade agreement has been a chance to build a modern country based on the rule of law, and, above all, a ticket to economic development. Without it, Mexico could quickly slide backward.
Instead of global stability, the end of the Cold War has ushered in an age of high-tech changes and social turmoil. New tales of two cities for the 21st Century.
BALI — In the Indonesian resort island of Bali, music hasn’t always been political. But news of a Dubai-style development has galvanized local musicians and artists. The development involves reclaiming 700 hectares of Benoa Bay in southern Bali to make way for a string of artificial islands complete with resorts, shopping centers, theme parks and high-end apartments. A consequent tolak reklamasi or “reject reclamation” movement has inspired protest songs like one by the folk band Nosstress. Copok, a singer and guitarist for the local band The Bullhead, explains why residents are against the development. “They will put culture on the […]
When Rio de Janeiro won its Olympic bid back in 2009, Brazil was hailed as a nation on the rise. Now, it is the wrong place at the wrong time to host the 2016 Summer Games.
-OpEd- PARIS — As Europe barely recovers from an unprecedented crisis, the African continent is experiencing a vigorous period of growth. This long-awaited shift is slowly but steadily making investors more confident, even if they remain aware of the risks. According to a recent study conducted by Havas Horizon, investors are showing broad optimism concerning […]
Vast urban areas are home to much more animal and plant life than you might think, making their natural spaces crucial in the fight against global warming.
CAIRO — Questions abound in the wake of Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb’s announcement that the government will build a 700-square kilometer business and administrative center called The Capital Cairo. Topping the list of queries is whether Egypt, which has millions of vacant property units as it stands, even needs this type of project. The […]
RAWABI — Qatari flags, Italian kitchens, WiFi in the streets, green public transport, and apartments for 40,000 inhabitants: Welcome to Rawabi, the first Palestinian city built from scratch. Anwar Hussein, a 48-year-old professor at the University of Bir Zeit, is among the first “pioneer” families who, now that Israeli authorities have finally agreed to connect […]
Rolling sand dunes and ascetic silence. Kites and boards flying over lagoon waters. And tomato farms. It’s Dakhla, the windy Moroccan city of sustainability.
Spaghetti produced from the wheat of local farms is served in the restaurants of Ethiopia, which discovered pasta during Italian colonial rule but only now are developing an entire economy around it.
NAIROBI — The sun feels even more scorching under the cap of pollution. Through her binoculars, Patricia Heather-Hayes, nicknamed “Trish,” is scrutinizing a lioness sleeping under an acacia in Kenya“s Nairobi National Park. The energetic 60-something, who works in a legal office when she’s not out here observing wildlife, knows the name of every feline. […]
BEIJING — “Innovation” has become a favorite word for Chinese headline writers. From individuals to private firms and even public institutions, everybody and everything aims to be an innovator. Though the OECD Economic Outlook 2014 predicted that China will probably become the country in the world which invests most in Research and Development (R&D) within […]
The once sleepy coastal city is now buzzing with activity, and foreign investors.
-Analysis- PARIS — A decade after development began in earnest on the “continent of lions” — the result of vast riches in raw materials, and of Africa embracing globalization — the countries from the northern sub-Saharan Sahel region and large parts of central Africa are facing a double threat. Over the past few weeks, panic […]
KIRI SAKOR — It was 8 in the morning, and families living in Cambodia“s Kiri Sakor district were desperately fleeing from their homes. Backed by the military, a company called the Union Development Group was systematically burning down people’s houses. Children were crying while their parents fought authorities, who marched on their community with guns. Nearly 2,000 families had been living in the area since the 1980s. Local farmer Prak Sareth, who is 30, says her 49-acre piece of land was seized by the Chinese-owned company last year and now their houses have been burned down. “This is our parents’ […]