News stories by Jan Lundius, page 8

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Aug 21 (IPS) - It is becoming increasingly common to be transfixed by the idea that character is reflected by appearances and thus many individuals become obsessed with obtaining, or maintaining, an aesthetically pleasing appearance. An entire business has developed around our cult of bodily beauty, as well as the youth, glamour and success assumed to be connected to it. Beauty contests, fashion shows, cosmetic surgery, fitness studios, make-up products and a host of other phenomena profit from this craving for human beauty.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Aug 10 (IPS) - COVID-19 has become a scourge affecting all levels of human society – morals, behaviour, human interaction, economy and politics. The pandemic has wrecked havoc on our way of being and its impact will remain huge and all-encompassing. It is not only affecting our globally shared existence, it is also changing what has been called "the little life", i.e. our own way of thinking and being, our personal life situation and the one of those close to us; people we love and depend upon – our friends and family.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Jul 29 (IPS) - On Friday the 24th of June, President Trump announced he was skipping a weekend at his New Jersey golf resort to "ensure law and order in Washington", tweeting:

I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues – and combatting recent Criminal Violence. Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country!

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Jun 30 (IPS) - Just as the U.S. is haunted by the 1963 murder of John F. Kennedy, Sweden is troubled by the 1986 murder of its Prime Minister Olof Palme. The American feelings were aired on Bob Dylan´s latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, containing a 16 minutes long song with lines like:

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Jun 15 (IPS) - The #MeToo movement triggered worldwide protests that hopefully was instrumental in making people better aware of a continuous and often hidden mistreatment of women. Maybe can the current I can't breathe movement make people realize that institutional racism is far from extinct.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Jun 05 (IPS) - Another episode of the spectacular show that could be called The Greatest Story Ever Told: The Saga of the Trump Presidency, scripted and acted by Trump himself, took place on 1st of June.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, May 22 (IPS) - It is easy to generalize about migration. Populist politicians often portray migrants as strangers and "our" homeland as a stable entity, rooted in an old agricultural society. When they do so they tend to forget that most of us are in fact migrants who have left that traditional farming community far behind and if it was not we who did so, it was our ancestors.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, May 01 (IPS) - You may proclaim that one must live not as a tool, a number or a link but as a human being — then at once they handcuff your wrists. You are free to be arrested, imprisoned and even hanged.¹

The United Nations has designated at least 170 specific days of the year as occasions to mark particular events or topics to promote the objectives of the Organization. ²

This might be considered as yet another sign of a supersaturation caused by the internet revolution. However, it cannot be denied that certain issues need to be globally recognized and amended.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 30 (IPS) - For some time Wuhan in China and Lombardy in Italy were epicentres of the COVID-19 virus, something that has changed when the contagion is spreading fast in the US.

A Lombardy in the grip of a deadly epidemic might among several Italians give rise to memories of their school days. For almost a century, Alessando Manzoni's massive novel The Betrothed (I promessi sposi) from 1842 has been obligatory reading for all Italians during their last primary school year. A quite impressive endeavour considering that the novel is more than 700 pages long.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 20 (IPS) - Epidemic diseases are not random events that afflict societies capriciously and without warning, on the contrary, every society produces its own specific vulnerabilities. To study them is to understand the importance of a society's structure, its standard of living, and its political priorities. Epidemics are a mirror, they show who we really are: Our ethics, beliefs, and socio-economic relationships. -- Frank Snowden ¹