Watched over by a yellow Easter chick, I have in recent days once again been reading Albert Speer’s Memoirs. Speer was Hitler’s long-serving Minister of Armaments. As an architect, he was also tasked with realizing Hitler’s grandiose building projects, such as the Reich Chancellery and the unreal domed hall in Berlin.
“The Führer loved everything colossal,” he writes. “A building was not merely to be a place to be in, but to convey ideas, visions, and the message of the Führer’s greatness.”
Speer was 25 years old when, in 1930, he had the opportunity to hear Hitler deliver a lecture on architecture. The experience made a deep impression on him, and shortly afterward he joined the Nazi Party. Their personal relationship developed later, especially after 1933, when Hitler seized power.
At first, Speer received several minor commissions, but over time they became dizzyingly large. His breakthrough came in Nuremberg, where he was given responsibility for designing the setting for the Nazis’ great party rallies. The massive stands and rigorously organized spaces gathered tens of thousands of people into a carefully choreographed community.
torsdag 2. april 2026
Hong Kong bookstore staff reportedly arrested for selling Jimmy Lai’s biography
A Hong Kong bookstore owner and his staff were reportedly arrested on suspicion of selling seditious publications, including a biography of jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, sparking fresh concerns about the city’s eroding freedoms.
Separately, officials on Tuesday ordered three companies linked to Lai’s now-shuttered newspaper, Apple Daily, removed from the city’s companies registry. A government statement said the companies were dissolved and became “prohibited organizations,” warning that anyone associating with them would violate a national security lawintroduced in 2024.
Lai and the three newly de-registered companies — Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited, and AD internet Limited — were convicted in December of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. They were also found guilty of conspiring with others to publish seditious materials under a separate sedition law.
Separately, officials on Tuesday ordered three companies linked to Lai’s now-shuttered newspaper, Apple Daily, removed from the city’s companies registry. A government statement said the companies were dissolved and became “prohibited organizations,” warning that anyone associating with them would violate a national security lawintroduced in 2024.
Lai and the three newly de-registered companies — Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited, and AD internet Limited — were convicted in December of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. They were also found guilty of conspiring with others to publish seditious materials under a separate sedition law.
Pakistan and Afghan Taliban officials meet in China for ceasefire talks
Pakistan and Afghanistan held the first round of peace talks on Wednesday, with China mediating to broker a durable ceasefire after weeks of fighting, two Pakistani officials said.
But even as the talks were held, Afghanistan accused Pakistan of firing mortars into its territory. Representatives from the two countries were meeting in Urumqi, in northern China, the officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. The first round of talks concluded on Wednesday afternoon and were expected to continue on Thursday, they said.
China has not commented. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs neither confirmed nor denied the talks were taking place.
But even as the talks were held, Afghanistan accused Pakistan of firing mortars into its territory. Representatives from the two countries were meeting in Urumqi, in northern China, the officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. The first round of talks concluded on Wednesday afternoon and were expected to continue on Thursday, they said.
China has not commented. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs neither confirmed nor denied the talks were taking place.
This small city in India has the world’s worst ai
The city of Loni is less than one hours’ drive from Delhi, but this rapidly growing industrial base beats the Indian capital when it comes to one unenviable title.
Last year, according to Swiss company IQAir, it had the world’s worst air quality. Here, fumes from factories, exhaust from traffic and dust from construction produce a toxic mix that makes breathing an act of endurance for its 700,000 residents. “Forget coughing, even breathing is difficult here,” said Manoj Kumar, 45, an e-rickshaw driver, who has lived in Loni his whole life.
Resident Mohammad Mohmin Khan said the pollution is so inescapable that he wears a mask every time he steps onto the city’s poorly paved roads. “It’s here 24 hours a day,” he said. “No matter where you go.”
Last year, according to Swiss company IQAir, it had the world’s worst air quality. Here, fumes from factories, exhaust from traffic and dust from construction produce a toxic mix that makes breathing an act of endurance for its 700,000 residents. “Forget coughing, even breathing is difficult here,” said Manoj Kumar, 45, an e-rickshaw driver, who has lived in Loni his whole life.
Resident Mohammad Mohmin Khan said the pollution is so inescapable that he wears a mask every time he steps onto the city’s poorly paved roads. “It’s here 24 hours a day,” he said. “No matter where you go.”
As arms agreements fray, China secretly expands its nuclear weapons infrastructure
When three villagers from China’s Sichuan province wrote to local officials in 2022 asking why the government was confiscating their land and evicting them from their homes, they received a terse reply: It was a “state secret.”
That secret, a CNN investigation has found, centered on China’s covert plans to massively expand its nuclear ambitions. More than three years after the evictions, satellite images show, their village has been flattened and, in its place, new buildings erected to support some of China’s most important nuclear weapons production facilities.
The expansion of the sites in Sichuan province, observed in satellite imagery and a review of dozens of Chinese government documents, supports recent claims by the administration of US President Donald Trump that Beijing has been conducting its most significant nuclear weapon modernization campaign in decades.
That secret, a CNN investigation has found, centered on China’s covert plans to massively expand its nuclear ambitions. More than three years after the evictions, satellite images show, their village has been flattened and, in its place, new buildings erected to support some of China’s most important nuclear weapons production facilities.
The expansion of the sites in Sichuan province, observed in satellite imagery and a review of dozens of Chinese government documents, supports recent claims by the administration of US President Donald Trump that Beijing has been conducting its most significant nuclear weapon modernization campaign in decades.
CCP’s Show Biz Policy in Tibet: A Sinister Agenda Hidden in Plain Sight
The CCP’s show business policy in Tibet is not a celebration of Tibetan culture but a sinister strategy to control and manipulate it. By promoting the visible aspects of culture while suppressing its core, the CCP seeks to create an illusion of harmony and preservation, deceiving both the international community and the Tibetan people themselves.
We must remain vigilant and discerning, recognizing this façade for what it truly is: a calculated effort to erode the essence of Tibetan identity. Only by exposing these tactics and advocating for the authentic preservation of the Tibetan language, religion, and traditions can we hope to protect Tibet’s rich cultural heritage for future generations.
We must remain vigilant and discerning, recognizing this façade for what it truly is: a calculated effort to erode the essence of Tibetan identity. Only by exposing these tactics and advocating for the authentic preservation of the Tibetan language, religion, and traditions can we hope to protect Tibet’s rich cultural heritage for future generations.
Tsering Yankey: A Heartfelt Appeal to the Tibetan Diaspora Communities
The survival and identity of any people depends fundamentally on the preservation of their language. Religion, culture, history, and collective memory are all preserved and transmitted through language. If a language disappears, the identity of that people gradually fades with it. With Tibetan children in Tibet being denied the right to learn their own language, we are approaching a critical threshold that threatens our existence as a distinct people in the world.
China celebrates Serfs’ Emancipation Day to mark terminating one country, two systems policy for Tibet
China has marked on Mar 28 the 67thanniversary of its termination of what was akin to a one-country-two-systems promise it had made to Tibet in 1951 with the raising of its Red Star flag before the Dalai Lama’s Potala Palace in capital Lhasa. It organized Tibetan public cultural performances – including a Sinicized one in Beijing – and carried out a blaze of online publicity about having put an end to “the dark, cruel, barbaric, and backward theocratic feudal serfdom” in Tibet as if that justifies its current occupation rule there.
People from all walks of life attended a flag-raising ceremony at the Potala Palace Square in Lhasa on Mar 28 morning to mark the region’s 18th Serfs Emancipation Day, reported China’s online Chinadaily.com.cn Mar 28.
Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai declared the dissolution of the “local” Tibetan government on Mar 28, 1959 and he replaced it with a temporary Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region (PCTAR) following the largely peaceful Tibetan uprising protests earlier that month, on the 10th.
People from all walks of life attended a flag-raising ceremony at the Potala Palace Square in Lhasa on Mar 28 morning to mark the region’s 18th Serfs Emancipation Day, reported China’s online Chinadaily.com.cn Mar 28.
Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai declared the dissolution of the “local” Tibetan government on Mar 28, 1959 and he replaced it with a temporary Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region (PCTAR) following the largely peaceful Tibetan uprising protests earlier that month, on the 10th.
China has jailed disappeared Tibetan monk in secret trial
A Tibetan Buddhist monk who remained disappeared since his arrest by Chinese police in Tibet’s capital Lhasa more than four and half years ago has been found jailed for seven years after a secret trial, reported the Tibetan-language tibettimes.net Apr 1. The monk is originally from Golog (Chinese: Guoluo) prefecture of Qinghai province and was on an extended religious visit from his monastery in Kardze (Ganzi) prefecture of Sichuan province.
The monk, Dhargay, aged around 63, is suspected to have been persecuted for having allegedly sent religious offerings to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader despised by China as a “splittist”, and helped some fellow-monks to leave their Chinese-rule homeland.
Dhargay was arrested and forcibly taken away on Aug 5, 2021, along with a relative named Tsering and a nun named Choekyi. Tsering and Choekyi were released after several months, but there was no information on the fate and whereabouts of monk Dhargay.
The monk, Dhargay, aged around 63, is suspected to have been persecuted for having allegedly sent religious offerings to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader despised by China as a “splittist”, and helped some fellow-monks to leave their Chinese-rule homeland.
Dhargay was arrested and forcibly taken away on Aug 5, 2021, along with a relative named Tsering and a nun named Choekyi. Tsering and Choekyi were released after several months, but there was no information on the fate and whereabouts of monk Dhargay.
The happiest day of an Indian bride’s life can lead to years of debt
Naveena Vanamala sits very still as her makeup artist leans in close, carefully pressing tiny white dots of pigment in an arc above her brows on the most important day of her life. Her phone keeps ringing. Flowers for her hair are missing.
Normally the father of the bride handles problems with vendors, as part of his role as ceremony funder and host, but her father died six months ago, and now she’s making last-minute decisions about a Mumbai wedding she isn’t sure she can afford.
The 26-year-old social media marketing executive earns about $145 a month. Yet, what began as an already stretched wedding budget of $3,200 quickly doubled. She took out a bank loan. Her fiancé, who already had a home loan, borrowed against his house again.
Normally the father of the bride handles problems with vendors, as part of his role as ceremony funder and host, but her father died six months ago, and now she’s making last-minute decisions about a Mumbai wedding she isn’t sure she can afford.
The 26-year-old social media marketing executive earns about $145 a month. Yet, what began as an already stretched wedding budget of $3,200 quickly doubled. She took out a bank loan. Her fiancé, who already had a home loan, borrowed against his house again.
onsdag 1. april 2026
Torbjørn Færøvik: Det er en nær sammenheng mellom stormannsgalskap og pompøs arkitektur
Overvåket av en gul påskekylling har jeg de siste dagene lest Albert Speers «Erindringer» nok en gang. Speer var Hitlers mangeårige rustningsminister. Som arkitekt ble han også satt til å virkeliggjøre Hitlers grandiose byggeprosjekter, som Rikskanselliet og den uvirkelige kuppelhallen i Berlin.
«Føreren elsket alt som var kolossalt», skriver han. «En bygning skulle ikke bare være et sted å være i, men formidle ideer, visjoner og budskapet om Førerens storhet.»
Speer var 25 år gammel da han i 1930 fikk sjansen til å høre Hitler holde et foredrag om arkitektur. Opplevelsen gjorde et sterkt inntrykk på ham, og kort tid etter meldte han seg ikke i nazipartiet. Det personlige forholdet utviklet seg først senere, særlig etter 1933, da Hitler grep makten. Speer fikk i begynnelsen flere mindre oppdrag, men med årene ble de svimlende store.
Gjennombruddet kom i Nürnberg, hvor Speer fikk ansvaret for å utforme rammen rundt nazistenes store partidager. De veldige tribunene og de strengt organiserte rommene samlet titusener av mennesker i et nøye regissert fellesskap. Men det var særlig «lysdomen» som gjorde inntrykk. Hundrevis av lyskastere ble rettet mot himmelen og dannet et takløst rom som omsluttet massene og løftet dem inn i en religiøs stemning.
«Hitler ble fra seg av lykke», skriver Speer, som nå ble Førerens favorittarkitekt.
«Føreren elsket alt som var kolossalt», skriver han. «En bygning skulle ikke bare være et sted å være i, men formidle ideer, visjoner og budskapet om Førerens storhet.»
Speer var 25 år gammel da han i 1930 fikk sjansen til å høre Hitler holde et foredrag om arkitektur. Opplevelsen gjorde et sterkt inntrykk på ham, og kort tid etter meldte han seg ikke i nazipartiet. Det personlige forholdet utviklet seg først senere, særlig etter 1933, da Hitler grep makten. Speer fikk i begynnelsen flere mindre oppdrag, men med årene ble de svimlende store.
Gjennombruddet kom i Nürnberg, hvor Speer fikk ansvaret for å utforme rammen rundt nazistenes store partidager. De veldige tribunene og de strengt organiserte rommene samlet titusener av mennesker i et nøye regissert fellesskap. Men det var særlig «lysdomen» som gjorde inntrykk. Hundrevis av lyskastere ble rettet mot himmelen og dannet et takløst rom som omsluttet massene og løftet dem inn i en religiøs stemning.
«Hitler ble fra seg av lykke», skriver Speer, som nå ble Førerens favorittarkitekt.
Why US hasn’t dared try to take the Hormuz Strait
Since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in late February, Iran has retaliated by targeting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, effectively shutting down the narrow channel of water.
It’s caused a global fuel crisis, even though some ships are managing to get through the strait. US President Donald Trump has given Iran an ultimatum to fully reopen the waterway to oil and gas shipments, and called on NATO allies to help in the effort.
We asked naval expert Jennifer Parker, who served for 20 years with the Royal Australian Navy, to explain what kind of military force would be required to reopen the strait to commercial shipping and why the US hasn’t yet taken this step.
It’s caused a global fuel crisis, even though some ships are managing to get through the strait. US President Donald Trump has given Iran an ultimatum to fully reopen the waterway to oil and gas shipments, and called on NATO allies to help in the effort.
We asked naval expert Jennifer Parker, who served for 20 years with the Royal Australian Navy, to explain what kind of military force would be required to reopen the strait to commercial shipping and why the US hasn’t yet taken this step.
Only China can end the Iran war
There is a certain dark comedy in watching Washington once again discover — after the bodies have piled up and the treasury has been bled — that the war it started cannot be won on the battlefield.
The US conflict with Iran, like so many of its predecessors in the region, was launched with the intoxicating rhetoric of decisive force and regime change, and has since settled into the familiar quagmire of escalating costs, strategic drift, and an enemy that refuses to play by the Pentagon’s script.Into this mess steps an unlikely — and, to many in Washington, unwelcome — potential peacemaker: the People’s Republic of China.
The irony is rich. For years, American hawks insisted that confronting Iran was inseparable from confronting China — that Tehran was merely a forward operating base for Beijing’s grand anti-American coalition.
The US conflict with Iran, like so many of its predecessors in the region, was launched with the intoxicating rhetoric of decisive force and regime change, and has since settled into the familiar quagmire of escalating costs, strategic drift, and an enemy that refuses to play by the Pentagon’s script.Into this mess steps an unlikely — and, to many in Washington, unwelcome — potential peacemaker: the People’s Republic of China.
The irony is rich. For years, American hawks insisted that confronting Iran was inseparable from confronting China — that Tehran was merely a forward operating base for Beijing’s grand anti-American coalition.
Iran war teaching Taiwan hard lessons about US resolve
The United States and Israeli strikes on Iran have become increasingly concerning for the world due to the risks of further escalation and the impact on energy markets. In Taiwan, however, the focus has shifted in a different direction.
Rather than treating the war as geographically distant, Taiwanese political leaders and analysts are viewing it as a real-time indicator of how the US operates under strategic pressure.The key question is less about whether the US would act if a conflict with China were to break out in the Indo-Pacific region, and more about how it would manage competing pressures if multiple crises unfolded at once.
There is growing recognition in Taiwan that US resources are not unlimited. The Middle East war has caused energy prices to fluctuate and stoked fears of rising inflation in the United States, demonstrating the domestic costs of military operations.
Rather than treating the war as geographically distant, Taiwanese political leaders and analysts are viewing it as a real-time indicator of how the US operates under strategic pressure.The key question is less about whether the US would act if a conflict with China were to break out in the Indo-Pacific region, and more about how it would manage competing pressures if multiple crises unfolded at once.
There is growing recognition in Taiwan that US resources are not unlimited. The Middle East war has caused energy prices to fluctuate and stoked fears of rising inflation in the United States, demonstrating the domestic costs of military operations.
Iran war pushing India to edge of a currency crisis
In Asia, no national leader has been more effective in spinning an underperforming economy than India’s Narendra Modi.
Anytime the numbers disappoint, the prime minister rolls out the latest version of his party’s ad campaigns. Most recently, this has been a Goldilocks moment for growth. Yet Modi is being confronted by an economic indicator he can’t explain away: a chronically weak rupee.India’s currency was Asia’s worst performer in 2025, falling 5%. That trajectory has carried over into this year at a disastrous moment for the most populous nation, as surging oil pricesshake up the global economy.
The rupee has lost another 5.5% since January 1. And given that India is near the top of the list of current-account-deficit economies, the rupee remains “particularly vulnerable to further depreciation,” says economist Priyanka Kishore at Asia Decoded.
Anytime the numbers disappoint, the prime minister rolls out the latest version of his party’s ad campaigns. Most recently, this has been a Goldilocks moment for growth. Yet Modi is being confronted by an economic indicator he can’t explain away: a chronically weak rupee.India’s currency was Asia’s worst performer in 2025, falling 5%. That trajectory has carried over into this year at a disastrous moment for the most populous nation, as surging oil pricesshake up the global economy.
The rupee has lost another 5.5% since January 1. And given that India is near the top of the list of current-account-deficit economies, the rupee remains “particularly vulnerable to further depreciation,” says economist Priyanka Kishore at Asia Decoded.
Iran Peace Plan Proposed by China and Pakistan
China and Pakistan have put forward a five-point proposal to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, now in its fifth week. The roadmap was unveiled by China's Foreign Ministry late Tuesday following talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Beijing.
Pakistan maintains close ties with both Washington and Tehran and has in recent days positioned itself as an intermediary, saying it conveyed to Iran a U.S. peace plan.
China and its Pakistani ally have opposed the U.S.-Israeli strikes since they began on February 28 while also condemning Iran’s retaliatory actions in the Gulf, including attacks affecting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has slowed sharply.
Pakistan maintains close ties with both Washington and Tehran and has in recent days positioned itself as an intermediary, saying it conveyed to Iran a U.S. peace plan.
China and its Pakistani ally have opposed the U.S.-Israeli strikes since they began on February 28 while also condemning Iran’s retaliatory actions in the Gulf, including attacks affecting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has slowed sharply.
China As The Policeman In Traditionally US-Aligned Pacific Islands
China's growing police presence in the vast Pacific region is reshaping the security landscape in ways that are both troubling and helpful, and is part of Beijing's sweeping vision of global security, according to a new report.
Officers from China's Ministry of Public Security have been accompanied at joint policing cooperation events in Pacific island states by people with alleged criminal connections, or have engaged in intimidating behavior toward law enforcement advisors from Western countries who are also present on the ground, the report said.
Officers from China's Ministry of Public Security have been accompanied at joint policing cooperation events in Pacific island states by people with alleged criminal connections, or have engaged in intimidating behavior toward law enforcement advisors from Western countries who are also present on the ground, the report said.
Trump says he’s considering pulling U.S. out of ‘paper tiger’ NATO
U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering pulling the U.S. out of NATO, in the latest threat to America’s allies after their reluctance to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, the president described the 77-year-old defensive alliance as a “paper tiger” and, when asked if he would reconsider the U.S.′ membership of the bloc after the Iran conflict ends, Trump told the paper: “Oh yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration.”
“I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said, in comments published Wednesday. Trump has been angered by European allies’ refusal to send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas maritime passage controlled by Iran, and at their refusal to let the U.S. use military bases to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic.
In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, the president described the 77-year-old defensive alliance as a “paper tiger” and, when asked if he would reconsider the U.S.′ membership of the bloc after the Iran conflict ends, Trump told the paper: “Oh yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration.”
“I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said, in comments published Wednesday. Trump has been angered by European allies’ refusal to send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas maritime passage controlled by Iran, and at their refusal to let the U.S. use military bases to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic.
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