In January 2020, several European news outlets, including The Daily Telegraph, reported that a famous set of antique jewellery were offered for ransom on the dark web. The diamond studded pieces worth almost a billion dollars were looted from a museum in Dresden in 2019. It was reported that Israeli investigators were offered a few of the pieces as a ransom. The messages on the dark web also claimed that it would be futile to try to identify and locate them. The ransom was also to be paid off in Bitcoin, a digital currency.

CAMBRIDGE – In my recent study of 14 presidents since 1945, Do Morals Matter, I found that Americans want a moral foreign policy, but have been torn over what that means. Americans often see their country as exceptional because we define our identity not by ethnicity, but rather by ideas about a liberal vision of a society and way of life based on political, economic, and cultural freedom. President Donald Trump’s administration has departed from that tradition.

“If you have pissed them off, you have commanded their attention”, seems to be the settled wisdom of our time. Liberal restraint is out of vogue while instigating anger is the new fad. Though somewhat reprehensible tactic and mentally exhausting, it is shrewd. But it has its limitations.

Agriculture in Nepal has slow growth over a protracted period despite a number of policies and strategic approaches being followed in the past. The Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP), unveiled in 1995 with a 20‐year vision, adopted a Green Revolution‐type approach based on massive investments on key inputs such as irrigation, fertilizers and rural roads to be focused on high potential areas. Based on it, the Government of Nepal (GoN) has formulated several broader policy frameworks since then. Of these, Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS) and National Agriculture Policy 2061 (NAP 2004) remain main policy documents to date. All these policies are judged to be sound in design but have suffered greatly in implementation. In many cases, they lacked the supporting legislation and resources for implementation.

According to UNESCO, around 1.5 billion students are out of school in over 165 countries affected by the pandemic. In China, the government is working at an unprecedented scale and speed with private platform providers to continue classes. At least 260 million students from elementary to high school have signed up for on-line platforms during the epidemic. Across the globe, governments have taken initiatives to combat the challenges thrown in by the Covid-19. Japan was one of the first countries to shut down schools from beginning of March affecting around 13 million children. In the first week of April, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh launched 'DigiLep Learning Enhancement Program' to ensure that learning of the students does not get affected while the schools remain shut. It relied heavily on WhatsApp. Countries soon figured a way to keep engaging their children, to minimize the damage done by closure of schools.

As the world, including Nepal, progresses towards easing the lockdown, it is imperative for Nepal to find its way through this new world order post the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to the rising COVID-19 cases, there are various challenges in the forefront that need to be dealt with economic and political foresightedness. Especially for women in Nepal, easing of the lockdown has potential to further compound pre-existing gender inequalities based on caste, class, geographical location and various religious conventions and beliefs. There is a possibility that the current situation could be worsened by an inevitable economic crisis given the distinct lack of consideration by the state to accept women as equal citizens rather than a ‘category’ that needs to be considered while ticking a few boxes. A particular focus on women and their needs is crucial to ensure that we traverse to the second stage of this pandemic smoothly.

With the monsoon each year in South Asia comes the danger of floods. Communities in the Himalayan foothills brace for impact, with floods wiping away infrastructure, causing landslides, and resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods.

The world, it seems, is obsessed with China. President Trump is raging against China and until recently there was a call from some Western countries for compensation from China for the loss caused by the pandemic outbreak.

The very unruly, coincidental and downright comical nature of our reality is that we are living on a floating mass in the middle of a vast expanse of nothing; and yet we are alive, and a top dog in our niche.

World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year to raise awareness and to support action to protect and preserve our environment. With the decision of the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, the first World Environment Day was organized in 1974 with the theme: "Only One Earth". The theme for this year is "Biodiversity", the resources that support life on earth. Colombia will host the World Environment Day in partnership with Germany. The World Environment Day engages people, communities, private sector and governments around the world to take action on critical environmental challenges facing the planet.