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In a scene quintessentially Dutch, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte bid farewell to his office in The Hague on a bicycle, concluding a remarkable 14-year tenure. This symbolic departure marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter in Dutch politics. Rutte, a stalwart of Dutch governance, passed the baton to his successor, Dick Schoof, in a ceremony presided over by King Willem-Alexander.the World Economic Forum website in 2019, Rutte explained why he rides a bicycle.

Poverty is taken to be a homogeneous phenomenon irrespective of the mode of production that is under consideration. Even reputed economists believe in this homogeneous conception of poverty. In fact, however, poverty under capitalism is entirely different from poverty in pre-capitalist times. Even if for statistical purposes poverty is defined as lack of access to a set of use-values that are essential for living irrespective of the mode of production, the fact remains that this lack is enmeshed under capitalism within a set of social relationships that are sui generis and different from earlier. Poverty under capitalism thus takes a specific form associated with insecurity and indignity that makes it particularly unbearable.

Julian Assange, easily the world’s most persecuted and famous journalist, is free at last. At the moment of writing this column, Assange is onboard a private plane that is costing him half a million dollars (which his family plans to pay off via crowd-funding donations appeal), to fly from Saipan, the capital of Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, to Canberra, Australia, where his family awaits his return as a free man. His 14-year-long ordeal with the Anglo-American national security juggernaut that witch-hunted him most perniciously for his incredibly impactful guerilla journalism exposing countless crimes of the US-led “rules based order”, at last ends. However, the plea bargain that he was compelled to accept because of his failing mental and physical health, of pleading guilty to one count of felony under the obsolete US Espionage Act of 1917, exposes the ongoing injustice by the American empire of grotesque malfeasance.

LONDON: Julian Assange is free, or soon will be. For 12 years he has been a prisoner: for seven of them holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy as a political asylum-seeker, for five in HMP Belmarsh, his treatment compared to torture by international experts.

Donald Sutherland (1935–2024) who passed away on June 21 projected equal parts warmth, intelligence, and menace on the big screen. But he wasn’t just a brilliant actor — he was a man of the Left who never abandoned those values. There are some actors you can’t help loving. Not many, but the late Donald was definitely one.

The fundamental issue raised by Hollywood writers when they had gone on a strike against being replaced by artificial intelligence, somehow receded to the background after the resolution of that particular conflict; but it remains a fundamental issue. Much has been written about the various problems associated with the introduction of AI; but the one that concerns us here relates to the massive unemployment it would generate.

Do you remember Yohani Diloka de Silva, the young Sri Lankan singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and YouTuber who took the music world by storm with a folk song “Manike Mage Hithe” rendered soulfully with elements of contemporary pop and rap? If you are wondering where Yohani is, let us tell you that she is in Mumbai and her latest song “Kella” (girl in Sinhalese) launched in December 2023 has crossed one million viewers two months ago.

Menstruation remains a taboo topic, shrouded in secrecy and discomfort. Despite being a natural and healthy process, societal stigmas and misconceptions perpetuate discrimination against many adolescent girls and young women. This stigma, coupled with limited access to menstrual hygiene products, strips them of opportunities, infringes on their rights, and curtails their freedom.

Heera Mandi - the Diamond Bazaar - Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest Netflix production film has created waves globally among the viewers of the sub continent. The focus has shifted to this particular place, now in Pakistan which has been in existence for more than four centuries.

This time last year, theatre director Feroz Abbas was touring the US with Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical, which is often described as India’s most expensive stage production. It has “a cost and crew of over 150, more than 500 costumes, and set so extravagant, they were ferried around in eight 55-ft-long containers.