GOOD DAY FOR: Chaste online adventures, after IBM unveiled a 3-D virtual tour of Beijing’s Forbidden City that lets visitors assume one of nine roles, including court eunuch. The virtual eunuchs, modestly called “imperial servants,” can meet palace courtesans, but that’s about as racy as it gets. The virtual tour took three years to develop at a cost of more than $3 million. (Reuters)
BAD DAY FOR: Russian oligarchs, after the combined wealth of the top 25 Russian billionaires, as counted by Forbes, dropped 62 percent between May 19 and Oct. 6, erasing more than $230 billion in wealth. The biggest loser was steel magnate Vladimir Lisin, 52, whose worth dropped by $22 billion. Foreign investors have pulled $74 billion out of Russia since early August, amid the credit crunch, falling commodities, and the war with Georgia. (Bloomberg)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
July 13 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include new TSA rules, FEMA cuts, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy complimenting Donald Trump's new wardrobe
-
5 weather-beaten cartoons about the Texas floodsCartoons Artists take on funding cuts, politicizing tragedy, and more
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
