Mostar, Bosnia
Mostar’s 16th-century Ottoman bridge, blown up in 1993 during the Balkan wars, was reopened this week. The bridge over the Neretva river connected the Bosnian Croat side of the city with the Bosnian Muslim side, and its destruction by Croat shells was seen as a symbol of the bitter ethnic strife that tore Yugoslavia apart. At the gala ceremony to dedicate the repaired bridge, Muslim and Croat dance groups and musicians performed together. As a climax, 12 young men dove headfirst from the bridge, a traditional rite of passage in Mostar and one that had been missed in the past decade. “Mostar was full of love,” said Sarajevo’s Dnevni Avaz newspaper. “The streets have a special smell—they say it is the smell of goodwill.”
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.
-
‘If regulators nix the rail merger, supply chain inefficiency will persist’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump HHS slashes advised child vaccinationsSpeed Read In a widely condemned move, the CDC will now recommend that children get vaccinated against 11 communicable diseases, not 17
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
