Various

From noodles to the car that rocks Tesla

Reporting from Vietnam

Guy Mettan,* freelance journalist

(6 December 2022) It is a story that begins with a noodle restaurant in Ukraine in 1993 and that continues today in Vietnam in the shape of the country’s largest conglomerate with a turnover of $5 billion by 2021. Meanwhile, its founder, Pham Nhat Vuong, (54), who had settled in Kharkov after completing his geology studies in Moscow, became Vietnam’s first billionaire with an estimated fortune of $8 billion and an enterprise that ranks among the 50 largest in Asia. A career that is in no way inferior to that of Bill Gates' and Steve Jobs' starting in a “garage”.
Book review

“Images of Education”

by Tankred Schaer

(29 November 2022) Jochen Krautz is an art educator at the University in Wuppertal and has become known by the educational political congresses he initiated. He is president of the Society for Education and Knowledge.
Book review

Who decides about war and peace nowadays?

An important analysis of global power relations

by Robert Seidel

(12 September 2022) At a time when the world situation is in the middle of a crisis, Wolfgang Effenberger* published a comprehensive analysis of geopolitical relations from a historical perspective. It is worth reading this book to identify the actors of the current developments without having to rely solely on the mainstream media guidelines.

The Forgotten ones in the House of Light

In Damascus, Catholic nuns take care ofsenior citizens who have lost their families

by Karin Leukefeld,* Damascus

(27 February 2022) In the Beit Nour retirement home in the old city of Damascus, old men spend their remaining years. Almost all of them are alone. Their children have left Syria. Others do not want to or cannot take care of their fathers.

Lost root vegetables are to return

by David Eppenberger

(17 February 2022) Many root vegetables once cultivated in Switzerland have been forgotten in the course of mechanisation. But seed expert Robert Zollinger is convinced that common salsify, rampion bellflower and greater burdock have many exciting flavours, colours and shapes that need to be rediscovered.
Book review

A declaration of love for Swiss literature

by Elisabeth Schriber

(15 October 2021) A friend handed me this book and asked me to write a review. I was greatly surprised that there are supposed to be 99 Swiss writers in Switzerland? A few came to mind from the time of my German studies at university. But 99 was a most impressive number. Of course, my interest was aroused and I started reading the preface, in which the publishers describe the makings of this work in a very vivid way. But read it for yourself: