By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang has declined to celebrate and refused to address a press conference after winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, citing the deaths, destitution, pain, and suffering of people affected by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. As reported by the Korea Times, Han Kang’s father Han Seung a renowned Korean writer conveyed her daughter’s message that “with the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?” She said that “she won’t hold a press conference”.
By Bhaskar Sur* The death of Yahya Sinwar, mastermind behind the October 7 massacre last year, came on October 16, after a life marked by violence and radicalism. Born in 1962 in a refugee camp, Sinwar harbored intense hatred towards Jews, which ultimately defined his actions and worldview. He masterminded the killing of 1,200 Israelis, and, like Hitler, envisioned a "Final Solution"—the destruction of Israel and a second Holocaust.