Source: Euronews
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Saturday 9 September 2023 11:19:36
Will India Be Renamed Bharat? Here’s Why Some Countries Change Their Name
Bharat is a Sanskrit term found in scriptures from around 2,000 years ago and the G20 summit in India is a perfect platform to let the world know.
Official invitations for guests at the G20 summit dinner have sparked speculation that India may be changing its name.
The invites refer to Droupadi Murmu as “President of Bharat” instead of the usual “President of India.”
A recent tweet posted by a senior spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also referred to Narendra Modi as the “prime minister of Bharat.”
While India is the most commonly used name for the country, it is often called Bharat and sometimes Hindustan by Indian officials and the public.
Bharat is a Sanskrit term found in scriptures from around 2,000 years ago.
Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP government has already renamed several cities linked to the Mughal and colonial periods.
Critics see it as an attempt to erase the Muslim Mughals who ruled the country for 300 years.
The opposition party has also warned against removing the country’s long-established name.
“While there is no constitutional objection to calling India ‘Bharat’, which is one of the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with ‘India’, which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries,” lawmaker Shashi Tharoor posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
“We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world,” he added.
Countries often change their names for political, geographic and religious reasons. Here are some other nations that are now known by a different name.
Why is Turkey now called Türkiye?
In 2022, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed the United Nations that his country should now be termed “Türkiye” in all languages.
“The word ‘Türkiye’ represents and expresses the culture, civilisation, and values of the Turkish nation in the best way," the president said.
He added that it was a better representation of the nation rather than the name of a bird.
Why has the Czech Republic been renamed Czechia?
Although the Czech Republic is still an official name for the central European nation, the government prefers the simpler title Czechia.
Authorities say it makes it easier for the nation to be recognised in international events like sporting competitions and in tourism marketing campaigns.
“I use the word Czechia because it sounds nicer and it’s shorter than the cold Czech Republic,” President Miloš Zeman said in 2019.
Why has Holland been rebranded as the Netherlands?
In January 2020, the Netherlands dropped the name Holland as part of a rebranding campaign.
The government said the Netherlands better represents the country as open, modern and inclusive.
Why is Macedonia now called North Macedonia?
In 2019, the Republic of Macedonia officially became the Republic of North Macedonia.
The name change occurred during political disputes with Greece and was used to distinguish the country from the Greek region of Macedonia.