Medics in India have warned people that smearing themselves with cow dung will not protect them from Covid. Hindus have long used the dung to clean their homes and for prayer rituals, as it has therapeutic and antiseptic properties. However, as the pandemic rages in India, medical officials said there is no scientific evidence to suggest that it can ward off coronavirus.
Bare-knuckle fighting thrives
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Green burial benefits oceans
A burial service is using dead bodies to create new coral reefs. The service combines a cremation urn, ash scattering, and burial at sea to provide a “meaningful, permanent environmental tribute to life”. The company says that oysters, corals, invertebrates, “can attach to the reef ball very easily” and thrive from the experience.
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How will China’s $1 trillion trade surplus change the world economy?Today’s Big Question Europe may impose its own tariffs
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‘Autarky and nostalgia aren’t cure-alls’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Japan’s Princess Aiko is a national star. Her fans want even more.IN THE SPOTLIGHT Fresh off her first solo state visit to Laos, Princess Aiko has become the face of a Japanese royal family facing 21st-century obsolescence
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Normalising relations with the Taliban in AfghanistanThe Explainer The regime is coming in from the diplomatic cold, as countries lose hope of armed opposition and seek cooperation on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics and deportation of immigrants
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Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
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Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
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Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
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Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
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Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
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Will Starmer’s India visit herald blossoming new relations?Today's Big Question Despite a few ‘awkward undertones’, the prime minister’s trip shows signs of solidifying trade relations
