So that is it for 2020, not that the fault lies in the stars, which have a decided impact on the measurement and organization of time, but in ourselves. We ought to know that by now. What is more significant, calendar-wise, is that it is the eighth day of Christmas and my true love gave to me eight maids a-milkin’, essential food, friends, of life. As are the eight Beatitudes of Jesus, spoken on a mount in Galilee, Israel. Jack Kerouac, one of our great American writers, thought about them all the time. If you do, too, you will improve your attitude. They are a suggestion to be humble, to be charitable, be a mensch. This is well in line with what Hillel, the well-beloved sage, noted when challenged to explain the whole law while standing on one foot. “No problem,” said he, “Do not to others what you would not want done to you; now go and study.” Hillel was one of the first and greatest of those who produced what would become the Talmud. He had a rival — how could there be Jewish idea men without rivalry? — named Shammai, known for not suffering fools. Surely we
MADRID: Three people were killed and several others injured after a large explosion destroyed a building in the centre of Madrid, according to authorities.Addressing reporters, the Spanish capital's Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said that an 85-year-old woman and man died in the blast, which occurred at Toledo Street close to the emblematic Plaza Mayor just before 3 p.m. on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.Later in the day, government delegate in Madrid, Jose Manuel Franco, confirmed that a third person had died, while another was "missing".The missing person is understood to have been working on the building's heating system when the explosion occurred.Among the dozen people reported to have suffered injuries was a man, aged 26, who was in "moderately serious" condition, and a man in his 50s, who suffered "light" head injuries, and others sustained minor cuts and bruises.Although the cause of the explosion is yet to be confirmed by the Fire Brigade, Martinez-Almeida explained that a gas leak was the most likely cause.The explosion completely destroyed the top three floors and damaged the remaining floors of the six-storey building where it occurred.Nine fire engines and 11 ambulances were sent to the scene. Rescue teams are using dogs to search
WUHAN: "People Supremacy, Life Supremacy" reads the sign at a Wuhan exhibition, where visitors are greeted by a paean to China's triumph over the pandemic and the agility of its communist leadership in a crisis.Saturday marks one year since the start of a 76-day lockdown of Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus was first detected before sweeping across the world and killing more than two million people.With China's official death toll from the virus under 5,000, Beijing is on a prolonged victory lap to promote its narrative of how it contained Covid-19, engineered vaccines and rebooted its economy.China this week reported 2.3 percent GDP growth in 2020 - the slowest in decades but still the only major economy to post positive figures during the pandemic.As the official data was released, state media trumpeted the "resilience and vitality" of China's economy.In Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, scenes of relaxation, travel freedoms and safety this week contrast with the rolling lockdowns, surging death rates and overwhelmed health services in many other parts of the world.Wuhan's wet markets throng with shoppers, elderly dancers rehearse in the parks, and bars sell "Wuhan Stay Strong" craft beer.At the Wuhan exhibition hall,
