The Week Unwrapped: Reincarnation, Jack Ma and the nature of time

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Jamie Timson, Mariana Vieira and Julia O’Driscoll.

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In this week’s episode, we discuss:

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Succession and the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama has this week proclaimed an 8-year-old American-born Mongolian boy the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third-highest rank in Tibetan Buddhism. The decision has caused consternation in China, where the ruling Communist Party has decreed that no new Buddhist spiritual leaders can be anointed without their say-so. Having lived in exile for nearly 65 years after leaving Chinese-ruled Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama is no stranger to upsetting Beijing but what will this new proclamation mean for geopolitical tensions in the region? And what will happen about the reincarnation of the 87-year-old himself?

Jack Ma returns to China

Two years ago, the Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma went missing amid reports that he had fallen out of favour with the authorities in Beijing. Now he is back in China, at least temporarily – but is this a sign of the thaw in relations? The government is keen to project the idea that the country is open for business after the long Covid lockdown, but many companies are cautious about its change of stance.

All change?

The clocks went forward this week, and Greenland's won’t be going back. The semi-independent territory is switching to year-round Daylight Saving Time, in an effort to forge closer business ties with much of mainland Europe. The debate over Daylight Saving Time has been raging globally for years. Do the benefits of an extra hour of sunlight in the evenings really outweigh the negatives?