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Future

Yoga, Solar And Eye Scans: A Video Tour Of World's Most Innovative Airports

In Singapore's Changi airport
In Singapore's Changi airport
Anne Sophie Goninet

Airline passenger traffic is not slowing down, registering worldwide growth of 6.8% in 2015. The growing demand means more opportunity but also more competition, and airports need to be innovative to attract both business and pleasure air travelers.

Long layovers can be tiresome, but not necessarily in Changi, Singapore . With free video games, film screenings, a swimming pool and multiple green spaces, the airport has become a bonafide place to relax, part of which helped it get voted the best airport in the world last year.

No more fatigue in Helsinki airport either. Sleeping pods, yoga classes and massages are definitely a way to improve the weary travellers' well-being.

In Dubai , passengers don't have to waste time at immigration counters, thanks to automatic controls of passports, fingerprints and eye scans.
The creators of the new Beijing airport in China , which will be completed in 2018, also thought about efficient alternatives for travelers: With the design of a compact, vertically-oriented terminal, there will be only 650 yards separating the terminal center from the farthest boarding gate.
As for the managers of Kochi airport, in southern India , they've found a way to cut down on high electricity bills and at the same time, be more environmentally-friendly: A vast 45-acre field of solar panels makes it the world's first fully solar-powered airport.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Will Winter Crack The Western Alliance In Ukraine?

Kyiv's troops are facing bitter cold and snow on the frontline, but the coming season also poses longer term political questions for Ukraine's allies. It may be now or never.

Ukraine soldier firing a large cannon in winter.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — Weather is a weapon of war. And one place where that’s undoubtedly true right now is Ukraine. A record cold wave has gripped the country in recent days, with violent winds in the south that have cut off electricity of areas under both Russian and Ukrainian control. It's a nightmare for troops on the frontline, and survival itself is at stake, with supplies and movement cut off.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war , with our exclusive international coverage.

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This is the reality of winter warfare in this part of Europe, and important in both tactical and strategic terms. What Ukraine fears most in these circumstances are Russian missile or drone attacks on energy infrastructures, designed to plunge civilian populations into cold and darkness.

The Ukrainian General Staff took advantage of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's visit to Kyiv to ask the West to provide as many air defense systems as possible to protect these vital infrastructures. According to Kyiv, 90% of Russian missile launches are intercepted; but Ukraine claims that Moscow has received new weapon deliveries from North Korea and Iran, and has large amounts of stocks to strike Ukraine in the coming weeks.

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