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The market was due to take place on Sunday (November 24), ahead of the town's Christmas lights switch-on. READ MORE: Latest updates: flooding danger as Storm Bert hits Herefordshire It was expected to offer more than 40 stalls and vendors selling a range of goods. A spokesperson for Ledbury Town Council said it is with sincere regret that they announce the cancellation as a result of health and safety concerns. "Despite our anticipation for improved weather conditions by tomorrow afternoon, it seems unlikely that the rain and winds will subside significantly," the spokesperson said. ALSO READ: "Therefore, we have decided to cancel the market and instead host a brief event under the Market House. This gathering will include a limited number of entertainers and will focus on the ceremonial lighting of the lights. "We are currently refining a reduced programme of entertainment and will share more information as soon as it is finalized. Please stay tuned to our social media channels for the latest updates. "We would like to extend an invitation for you to join us at the revised schedule of events, which we expect to begin at 3.30 pm tomorrow (Sunday, November 24), leading up to the lights switch-on at 5.00 pm."
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers designated safety Jordan Whitehead for a return from injured reserve Tuesday, opening his 21-day practice window. Whitehead, 27, landed on IR on Nov. 29 due to a pectoral injury sustained in a Week 12 win against the New York Giants. Whitehead has recorded 76 tackles and three passes defensed in 11 starts this season. He has 554 tackles and 11 interceptions in 104 games (100 starts) with the Buccaneers (2018-21, 2024) and New York Jets (2022-23). With two games to play, the Buccaneers (8-7) are tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC South lead. Tampa Bay hosts the Carolina Panthers (4-11) on Sunday. --Field Level MediaIt’s a common seasonal refrain: “Christmas just isn’t like it used to be.” This is not a new complaint. History shows that Christmas traditions are just as subject to change as any other aspect of human societies, and when customs change, there are always some who wish they could turn back the clock. In the 1830s, the English solicitor William Sandys compiled a host of examples of Britons bemoaning the transformation of Christmas customs from earlier eras. Sandys himself was especially concerned about the decline of public caroling, noting the practice appeared “to get more neglected every year.” He worried that this “neglect” was indicative of a wider British tendency to observe Christmas with less “hospitality and innocent revelry” in the 19th century than in the past. Yet the 19th century also produced new holiday customs. In fact, many of the new Christmas practices in Sandy’s time went on to become established traditions themselves – and are now the subject of nostalgia and fretted over by those who fear their decline. Take, for example, the humble Christmas card. My research shows that these printed seasonal greetings borrowed from the customs of the past to move Christmas into a new age. A British tradition Annual sales and circulation of Christmas cards have been in decline since the 1990s. Laments over the potential “death” of the Christmas card have been especially vocal in the United Kingdom, where the mailing of Christmas greetings to family and friends via printed cards was long considered to be an essential element of a “British Christmas.” Indeed, historians Martin Johnes and Mark Connelly both argue that throughout the 20th century the Christmas card was viewed as just as essential a part of Britain’s distinctive blend of holiday traditions as children hanging stockings at the end of their beds, Christmas pantomimes, and the eating of turkey and Brussels sprouts. Yet, as these same historians are quick to note, at one time Britons did none of these things at Christmas. Each of these traditions became an element of the customary British Christmas only during the second half of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th. This makes them all relatively new additions to the country’s holiday customs, especially when viewed in light of Christmas’ more than 2,000-year history. Industrial revolution and Christmas cards The custom of mailing printed Christmas cards began in the middle decades of the 19th century and was a product of the industrial revolution. It was made affordable by new innovations in printing and papermaking and more efficient modes of transportation such as the railway. The development of this new tradition was also facilitated by Parliament’s introduction of the Penny Post in 1840, which allowed Britons to mail letters to any address in the United Kingdom for the small price of a penny stamp. Most historians date the Christmas card’s arrival to 1843, the same year in which Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol.” In that year, the inventor and civil servant Henry Cole commissioned the artist John Callcott Horsley to design a card to help Cole handle his Christmas correspondence more efficiently. Printed versions of Cole’s card were also made available for sale, but the high price of one shilling apiece left them outside the bounds of affordability for most of the Victorian population. Cole’s experiment, however, inspired other printers to produce similar but more affordable Christmas cards. The use of these cheaper cards began to spread in the 1850s and had established itself as a holiday tradition by the final decades of the century. A Victorian invention? While the Christmas card may have seemed like an entirely new invention to Victorian senders and receivers, the first Christmas card’s design was actually influenced by other, older British holiday traditions. As historians Timothy Larsen and the late Neil Armstrong have demonstrated, Christmas’ status as an established holiday meant that new Christmas customs developed during the 19th century needed to connect with, supplement or replace already existing traditions. The Christmas card was no exception to this recorded pattern. In 1843, many Britons bemoaned the disappearance of a variety of “Old English” Christmas customs. Foremost among these were traditions of Christmas “hospitality,” including Christmas and New Year’s visiting, when family, friends and neighbors went to each other’s homes to drink toasts and offer best wishes for the holiday and the coming year. Scholars argue popular belief in these traditions depended on a mixture of recalled reality and constructed fictions. Foremost among the latter were the popular stories depicting “old English hospitality” at Christmas by the American writer Washington Irving, published in the 1820s. In fact, Britons regularly invoked Irving’s accounts of Christmas at the fictional country house, Bracebridge Hall, when debating the changing character of their nation’s Christmas observances. Regardless of these “old” customs’ historical reality, they nevertheless came to feature prominently in discussions regarding the supposed disappearance of a range of community level Christmas observances, including feasting, caroling and public acts of charity. All of these, it was believed, were endangered in an increasingly urban Britain characterized by class tensions, heightened population mobility and mass anonymity. A union of the old and the new While it is unclear whether these ongoing debates inspired Cole’s decision to commission his 1843 Christmas card, the illustration Horsley designed for him alluded to them directly. The card features a family framed by trestles adorned with holly and mistletoe, accompanied on either side by charitable scenes involving the feeding and clothing of the poor. The center of the card – and the symbolic center of Horsley’s Christmas vision – however, is the family of three clearly defined generations enjoying a collective feast, including the classic English Christmas pudding. They face the viewer, their glasses raised in a toast, directly above a banner wishing them a “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” The central visual imagery of the card – as a “paper visitor” to the home of the recipient – replicates the social act of toasting associated with the older custom of holiday visits. In fact, Horsley’s design invoked many of the same elements featured in Irving’s stories. This is not surprising, given that in later life Horsley recalled the impact of reading Irving’s depictions of the “Christmas at Bracebridge Hall” as a boy, and how he and his sister Fanny had been “determined to do our best to keep Christmas in such a notable fashion.” Refashioning ‘old English hospitality’ Early Christmas cards favored similar imagery associated with the “Old English” Christmas of carolers, acts of charity, the playing of country sports, games such as blindman’s bluff, copious greenery, feasting and the toasting of Christmas and the New Year. These Christmas cards were thus novel, industrial products adorned with the imagery of British Christmases past. The development, and ultimate triumph, of the Christmas card in Victorian Britain demonstrates how nostalgia was channeled into invention. The Christmas card did not revitalize the traditions of Christmas and New Year’s visiting; it offered a paper replacement for them. Industrial production and transportation transformed the physical visitor into a paper proxy, allowing more people to visit many more of the homes of others during the holiday season than they ever would have been able to in person. The desire to hold on to one element of an older, supposedly declining Christmas tradition thus proved instrumental in helping to create a new holiday tradition in the midst of unprecedented changes in the character of communications and social relations. Today, a similar context of social and technological changes has caused some to predict the “death” of the Christmas card. The history of the 19th century suggests, however, that should the tradition die, whatever replaces it will thrive by drawing selectively on the Christmas customs of the past. Christopher Ferguson is Associate Professor of History, Auburn University. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. The Conversation is wholly responsible for the content.Stanford knocks off Cal in both teams' ACC openerThe trunk of my late-model car is filled with old coats, sweatpants and stocking caps. They're not real flashy and you'll find holes if you look real close. But those clothes have come in handy in the chilly Treasure State, where so many of us take pride in making the most of challenging weather days. I think of the Montana defense the same way I do those 30-year-old wind pants I pull out of the trunk to wear at football games. Both have been largely underappreciated the last five weeks. On Saturday in Bozeman, the Griz defense surrendered 34 points, so nobody is going to be comparing them to Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain of 1975. Certainly fans of the maroon and silver had a lot of reasons to be flustered. But take a step back and consider Montana State possessed the ball for almost two-thirds of the first half. Then the Cats had some good field position in the first 13 minutes of the third quarter and Montana's defense refused to relent, clinging to hope despite a 20-3 deficit. "They chucked it down the field a few times and made two catches — it's not a high percentage play for them and we've gotta live with that," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said coming out of the locker room after halftime. "Other than that we're tackling well. I think we're playing pretty well on defense." The most prolific scoring team in the FCS was limited to 20 points through the first 43 minutes. Kudos to the Montana defense for its hustle and heart. It's just that the Grizzly offense, held scoreless in the first half at home last Saturday against Portland State, was held to three points through three quarters in Bozeman against the best defense in the Big Sky Conference. Sure, we all expected Montana to do better in its 123rd annual rivalry game at MSU. Maybe at least score more than one touchdown with so much motivation. But give credit to Montana's defensive coaches for again coming up with a strong game plan against Montana State senior quarterback Tommy Mellott. And credit the defense for its vast improvement since giving up 55 points at home earlier this season to Weber State (3-8) and 49 at Eastern Washington (4-7). Not to beat a dead horse, but I can't help wondering how things might have been different had Clifton McDowell stayed around. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback led Montana to the FCS title game last December with a knack for picking up tough yards on the ground and doing just enough with his passing. He entered the transfer portal last winter for reasons unreported. Maybe he was looking for more NIL money. Maybe he disliked Montana's weather. You could say it's all ancient history now and doesn't matter. But it does matter. It matters a lot because Montana could have been much better. The banged-up Grizzlies need to regroup in a hurry now with a playoff game — likely at home — coming up next weekend. If the defense plays the way it did against the Bobcats, I like Montana's chances. But something needs to be done with the offense and I'm not even sure what it is at this point. Maybe go back to Keali'i Ah Yat at quarterback, assuming he's healthy, or give 6-4 sophomore Kaden Huot of Helena a few snaps. Montana has beaten only one conference team with a winning record (Northern Arizona), so maybe Griz fans should be grateful their guys are in the playoff mix with an 8-4 record. Any postseason success would feel like a bonus at this point.
Jaylen Blakes, Maxime Raynaud and Oziyah Sellers combined for 35 points in a 47-point, first half explosion Saturday afternoon and Stanford ran away from California for an 89-81 Atlantic Coast Conference road win in Berkeley, Calif. Raynaud and Blakes finished with 20 points apiece for the Cardinal (8-2, 1-0 ACC), who won their first ever game in ACC competition. Andrej Stojakovic had a game-high 25 points and Jovan Blacksher Jr. added 14 for the Golden Bears (6-3, 0-1), who dropped their second in a row after a 6-1 start. Playing just its second true road game of the season, Stanford scored 14 of the game's first 18 points and never looked back. Raynaud and Ryan Agarwal hit 3-pointers in the run. Blakes had 14 points, Raynaud 11 and Sellers 10 in the first half, which ended with Stanford in front 47-31. Cal was still down 81-65, after two free throws by Stanford's Chisom Okpara with 3:58 remaining before making a little run. Mady Sissoko converted a three-point play and Rytis Petraitis and Joshua Ola-Joseph connected on consecutive 3-pointers in a 9-0 flurry that made it a seven-point game with still 2:13 to go. It got as close as six when Stojakovic drilled a 3-pointer with 1:21 left, but Okpara and Blakes dropped in late layups to keep the hosts at arm's length. Seven of the nine Cardinal who saw action hit at least half his field goal attempts, led by Raynaud's 8-for-15 and Blakes' 7-for-13. Stanford finished 52.6 percent as a team. Both were deadly from the 3-point line as well, with Raynaud going 4-for-6 and Blakes 2-for-4. With Sellers adding 3-for-6, the Cardinal made 11 of their 23 attempts (47.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Raynaud also found time for five blocks, while Agarwal and Aidan Cammann shared Stanford rebound honors with seven. Blakes complemented his 20 points with a team-high six assists and two blocks. The Cardinal registered 19 assists on 30 baskets, while Cal had just five on its 30 hoops. Agarwal and Okpara each also scored in double figures with 11 points. Facing his old team for the first time after transferring to Cal over the summer, Stojakovic shot 11-for-25. The Golden Bears finished at 42.3 percent overall and 38.1 percent (8 of 21) on 3-pointers. Ola-Joseph and Sissoko, who had 11 points, were the game's leading rebounders with eight apiece. -Field Level MediaFor many people watching the Davos public programme, it can seem overwhelming. Much like a COP or G20, it can be hard to relate to any tangible outcomes. There are around 300 sessions covering a plethora of topics, from EV supply chains to the global debt burden, and from carbon pricing to reinventing retirement. Accords and initiatives are announced, pledges made, and prognoses given. But it’s what happens during the other 51 weeks of the year that the impact of the meeting and the World Economic Forum gathers speed. Davos, like the Forum itself, is a sum of many parts. It is the hard work of thousands of people year-round – whether they are a business leader advocating for change, a Forum expert managing an initiative or one of the many individuals who make up its communities worldwide and take action locally – that generate the progress that ultimately makes a difference in the world. Many face hurdles made all the more difficult by the current challenging geopolitical and security environment, but they are united in trying their best to deliver change for the better. The Forum seeds hundreds of ongoing initiatives. Some of these remain managed by expert teams in house, others take on a life of their own. One of the best examples of this is Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. What began as an idea to reverse declining immunization rates resulting from unaffordable vaccines, has, 25 years later, become an international network, responsible for vaccinating more than one-half of the world’s children. Davos has witnessed the launch of scores of initiatives in its more than 50-year history. Here are some of the most memorable in recent years – and ones that are already having a sizeable effect. Tackling the issue of unlocking climate finance, GAEA has spent the past year raising awareness of what it describes as the ‘4P approach’ – public, private and philanthropic partnerships. By bringing philanthropy into the more traditional public-private dynamic, not only is this initiative helping give rise to new funding streams, but also a different mindset and type of expertise. Broadly, philanthropies are typically more comfortable with the risk of trialling new ideas and providing seed capital, which offers a good basis on which to then bring in private capital and a public-sector partner to construct the enabling environment. During Davos 2025, the initiative will reach a new milestone with the launch of the GAEA Awards, celebrating the successes of the scheme since its founding. Cybercrime is as ubiquitous as the internet users on which it feeds. A significant problem for those tackling cybercrime is its pervasive, yet disjointed nature. Typically, cybercriminals operate without borders, and yet often, measures to counter them are localized. Out of this problem emerged the Cybercrime Atlas, which as the name suggests, seeks to map the cybercriminal ecosystem. Using open-source research, the Forum’s team is piecing together cybercriminal groups’ activities and structures worldwide, which in turn, makes them easier to disrupt. Decarbonizing the world’s most hard-to-abate sectors is a primary challenge for policy-makers. Without major progress in this area, we will struggle to meet net-zero targets. With this in mind, the Forum helped launch the Mission Possible Partnership, an alliance of climate leaders seeking to supercharge efforts within a decade. The Forum is now one of four partners, the others being the Energy Transitions Commission, RMI and We Mean Business Coalition, offering support to a community that includes the CEOs of carbon-intensive industries, and their financiers, suppliers and customers, to agree ways to decarbonize industry and transport. In the spirit of inventor and businessman, Thomas Edison, the forefather of electric power generation, the EDISON Alliance seeks to provide equitable access to the digital economy. With a focus on education, financial inclusion and health, the Alliance is working with academia, business, civil society and policy-makers to address the challenges of improving access to the internet, making data and smart devices affordable, and facilitating digital literacy. As the name suggests, the goal of this global initiative is to grow, restore and conserve one trillion trees around the world. Activity takes place in many countries, but there is a focus on areas that are home to large percentages of forest, including Canada, Europe, Mexico and the US. Forests are vital to planetary health, helping to sequester carbon, regulate global temperatures, recharge groundwater, and act as flood barriers. The aim is to restore this element of biodiversity, in turn, countering climate change. The workplaces we inhabit and the jobs that we do are changing exponentially in an era defined by the rapid growth and development of emerging technologies. Millions of new opportunities are emerging, but access is unequal and many are finding their livelihoods at risk. Reskilling and upskilling is already invaluable to current and future education and job prospects, and with this in mind, the Reskilling Revolution aims to empower one billion people with better education, skills and with this, economic opportunity, by 2030. Inventors and early-stage entrepreneurs rarely have the finances or business networks to bring their ideas to life, and yet in an era where innovation is essential to tackling climate-related challenges, their potential solutions are vital. UpLink is a platform that seeks to marry eco ideas with support. Innovation challenges are regularly posted, and a team of subject experts, investors and partner organizations assess the viability of these before selecting a number of winning entries. These then appear on UpLink with the ambition to be nurtured into action. Emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) are set to represent 90% of the growth in global energy demand by 2035, while hosting the lion’s share of the global population. Yet, to date, they account for less than one-fifth of global clean energy investments. Since its launch in Davos, the Network to Mobilize Investment for Clean Energy in the Global South’s 45+ members, have shed light on 100+ concrete policy interventions, de-risking tools, and finance mechanisms that can help increase capital for clean energy in the Global South. These were compiled in the Playbook of Solutions, launched by the World Economic Forum at the occasion of and as a direct contribution to 2024’s G20 and Clean Energy Ministerial Meetings, in October. Source: World Economic ForumUnionaire Group, a leading home appliances manufacturer, has unveiled plans to launch a state-of-the-art factory with an investment of approximately EGP 6bn, marking a significant expansion in Egypt’s manufacturing sector. The company is positioning the new facility to become the largest home appliances factory in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with a target export capacity of nearly $100m annually. Operations at the factory are expected to begin in 2026. Mohamed Osman, Chairperson of Unionaire, revealed during a press conference that the company is set to invest between $200 million and $300m in expanding its Egyptian operations from 2025 to 2028. He also emphasized the company’s plans to form manufacturing partnerships in Morocco and Tunisia as part of its broader regional expansion strategy. The new factory, spanning 100,000 square meters, will also focus on third-party production for global companies, underlining Unionaire’s commitment to boosting Egypt’s position as an attractive investment hub. Osman noted the importance of Egypt’s robust infrastructure in fostering investment and the growing interest of international firms in entering the Egyptian market. As part of its technological innovation strategy, Unionaire also announced a range of new AI-integrated home and electrical appliances, including refrigerators, stoves, and air conditioners. These products reflect the latest advancements in global technology. Among the notable launches, the company introduced AI-powered stoves capable of cooking food without human intervention, marking the first such product in Egypt. Additionally, Unionaire has developed refrigerators equipped with technology that can eliminate bacteria and viruses, including the coronavirus, while also featuring bottom-freezer and dual-cooling systems. The company has also introduced an energy-efficient electric water heater, designed to heat water only during the specified period of use, reducing electricity consumption while providing comfort to consumers. Youssef Osman, Vice Chairperson of Unionaire, highlighted the company’s extensive experience in the Egyptian market, with 16 factories and nearly 30 years of operation. He also reiterated Unionaire’s commitment to offering consumers the best options, combining the latest technology with lower operational costs and longer product lifespans. Unionaire, recognized as the first company to manufacture air conditioners locally in Egypt, continues to push the envelope in both innovation and production capacity, aiming to expand its footprint in Egypt and abroad..Is the famed Bridgerton palace haunted?
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lopsided, shutout loss has left the beat-up New Orleans Saints limping into the final two games of a lost season — and into a rather cloudy future beyond that. Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi figured that a visit to playoff-bound Green Bay would be a tall order for his injury-riddled squad, whose prominent missing players included starters at quarterback, running back and receiver. And when New Orleans’ mostly healthy defensive front struggled against a Packers ground game led by running back Josh Jacobs, the rout was on. Nothing “stuck out on film other than a lack of execution and lack of playmaking,” Rizzi said Tuesday after reviewing video of Monday night’s 34-0 loss at Green Bay . “We played against a playoff team, at their place, that has very few holes on their team,” Rizzi added. “It was a little bit of a perfect storm.” Rizzi, a special teams coordinator who has made no secret that he sees his eight-game interim stint as an opportunity to further his head-coaching ambitions, has two more games left in what has been an up-and-down audition. The Saints are 3-3 on his watch, which includes one of New Orleans’ most lopsided losses since the turn of the century. With the playoffs unattainable, and with a lot of reserves pressed into service, the final two weeks will serve primarily as a player-evaluation period heading into the offseason, when there are bound to be myriad changes on the roster and perhaps the coaching staff. Rizzi said the Saints, realistically, have been in evaluation mode “for the last month or so,” but added that there maybe be additional young or practice-squad players getting longer looks in the final two games. “My big thing this week is to see how we can respond,” Rizzi said. “We’re going to find out a lot about a lot of people.” What’s working Of the Saints’ four punts, three were inside the Green Bay 20 and New Orleans did not allow a single punt return yard. The punt team might have been the only unit that executed its job (even the kickoff unit allowed a 38-yard return). What needs help The Saints had trouble protecting the quarterback (three sacks) and protecting the football (two turnovers). They couldn’t run the ball (67 yards). They couldn’t stop the run (188 yards allowed). They couldn’t pass the ball consistently (129 yards) or stop the pass when they needed to. As former Saints coach Jim Mora once said, they couldn’t do “ diddly poo .” Although rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler largely struggled and was responsible for both New Orleans turnovers, he had enough highlights — including a jumping, first-down pass on third-and-long — to keep him penciled in as the starter if the injured Derek Carr remains unable to play, Rizzi said. “It was definitely a performance where we got to take the good with the bad,” Rizzi said. “We’ve got to get rid of those negative plays.” Stock up New Orleans native Foster Moreau has emerged as one of the Saints’ most reliable offensive players. The sixth-year NFL tight end made two catches for a team-high 33 yards on Monday night, giving him 25 catches for 335 yards this season. His four TDs receiving entering the game remain tied for the team lead. Stock down Rizzi was riding high after two wins to start his interim term as head coach, but Monday night’s ugly loss is the club’s third in four games and took a lot of luster off his candidacy for a longer-term appointment. Injury report Center Erik McCoy left the game with an elbow injury, while guard Lucas Patrick hurt his knee in the closing minutes. Rizzi said McCoy won’t need surgery but could miss the rest of the season. The coach said Patrick needs more tests but is not expected to play again this season. While the chances of Carr (non-throwing, left hand) or top running back Alvin Kamara (groin) playing again this season appear slim, the Saints have declined to rule that out. Rizzi said Carr is getting closer to being able to play and wants the opportunity to go against his former team, the Las Vegas Raiders. Meanwhile, Rizzi said Kamara “is working his tail off to try to come back” this season. “Alvin told me this morning, in my office, that he really would like to play again,” Rizzi said. Key number 24 — The number of years since the Saints suffered a more lopsided shutout loss, 38-0 against San Francisco in 2002. Up next The Saints’ home finale against lowly Las Vegas will be an anticlimactic affair bound to generate a level of fan interest similar to, if not less than, a preseason game. But the game will be important to the current regime, which needs victories in each of the club’s final two games to avoid the franchise’s worst record since it was displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and went 3-13. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLMalabar Coast, Arabian Sea. There’s romance enough just in the names. I’m rattling along in a rickety local bus (no windows, driver perched on the springs of a seat that long ago lost its padding) towards Kochi in Kerala state, south-west India. The city, once known as Cochin, was a relatively sleepy place in the 1960s. Since then, the population has exploded from a manageable 250,000 to more than 31⁄2 million. What you’ll see today is a colonial-era district, Fort Kochi, surrounded by a vast Indian city of shopping malls, high-rise apartment blocks and motorways – pumping with life and energy 24/7. Traditional Kathakali dance on New Year carnival in Fort Kochi, Kerala, India. Credit: Getty Images Fort Kochi was a significant trading port long before the local raja (king) negotiated a deal with the Portuguese in 1500. He got the worst of the arrangement, slowly losing power to his erstwhile ally. The Portuguese built a fort, hence the name, and held on to the territory for the next 163 years before losing it in turn to the Dutch. The British wrested it away in 1795, holding on to the growing town until India gained its hard-won independence in 1947. It’s no surprise Kochi is a major tourist attraction. It’s small enough to navigate around easily and is packed with the magnificent architecture of three successive colonial influences alongside Indian, with the whole lot surrounded by sea. With an international airport well serviced by flights from Australia, Kochi is a great place to begin your Indian adventure, especially if you’re a first-time visitor to India. Kerala is considered a politically and socially progressive state relative to the rest of India. It’s also one of the wealthiest and this is evident in Kochi. It’s a city of fine restaurants, hipster cafes, boutiques packed with original designs and a surprisingly large number of art galleries, many housed in exquisite, well-maintained colonial buildings. The city is home to the government-supported Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which has had quite an impact on the art world since its inception in 2012. The sixth edition gets underway in December this year. Wander in the narrow, winding lanes edged by buildings in the Dutch and Portuguese styles housing shops, cafes and private homes. Drop in for coffee at Kashi Art Cafe. Stroll with the locals at sunset on Kochi Beach, dine at a waterfront restaurant watching the boats coming and going across the harbour. There’s a wide range of accommodation here, from luxury hotels to modest guesthouses. Take a state-of-the-art electric ferry to the wharf near the iconic Chinese fishing nets and next door to the gorgeous Brunton Boatyard Hotel, which began life as a British colonial shipyard on the waterfront. Stay here, or pop in for a drink or a meal on the promenade. Nearby, tucked down a quiet, flower-filled lane, you’ll find SeaCoast Inn. This newly built, mid-range guesthouse is owned by Kochi local Shaan. The former IT executive has drawn on his own international travel experience to organise this attractive residence in a way that works for foreign visitors while still being essentially Indian. It’s pristine, well designed and full of lovely artisanal furnishings and fittings that reflect the Portuguese heritage of the area. Fort Kochi is not nearly as busy as many Asian cities with similar attractions. There’s still a homely feel to it, easygoing and genuine. My first day in Kochi, I lunch at Qissa cafe and find myself gravitating back there often during my stay. On one visit, as I step out into the street to take a phone call, I notice I’ve left my bag at my table. I’m about to double back when the waiter, a young man with the delicate beauty typical of the people of this region, his abundant black hair hauled into a topknot, makes me a sign: “No worries, I’ve got my eye on it, go do what you need to do.” Kochi is still that sort of place. Get the best of Sunday Life magazine delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Sign up here for our free newsletter .King and Northeastern knock off Florida International 60-58
SRF: What does the group of 100-year-olds in Switzerland look like? Daniela Jopp: There are 2,086 centenarians in Switzerland. Of these, 80% are women. Almost half of them live in care facilities, the other half live in private households. That’s quite astonishing, because 80 years ago there were only a handful of 100-year-olds. SRF: How are 100-year-olds doing in Switzerland? DJ: A look at well-being reveals an astonishing finding: in Switzerland, 92% of centenarians say they are satisfied with their lives. This is a remarkable result that has also been observed in previous studies in other countries, but never to such a high degree. It seems that Swiss centenarians are particularly satisfied with their lives. SRF: What factors explain this satisfaction? DJ: Objective health does not play a central role. Although centenarians have an average of six physical limitations and often also cognitive impairments, these factors have little influence on satisfaction. What’s far more important are psychological aspects, such as the feeling of not being lonely. So-called psychological strengths are particularly decisive: a belief in one’s own control over life, optimism, a positive view of the future, a sense of meaning in life, and a strong will to live. These elements are the most important drivers of well-being in old age. SRF: What kind of personalities are these centenarians in Switzerland? DJ: We know that certain personality traits, such as extroversion, that is, whether you like approaching people, or a positive basic attitude, play a role and are partly genetically determined. We also see that many of the Swiss centenarians have not had an easy life. A third have lost at least one child, one of the most difficult life events. It is a combination of a genetic predisposition for optimism and dealing with crises that helps them to remain exceptionally resilient and thus probably live longer. SRF: How important are genetics? DJ: Numerous studies have investigated this and show that it is not primarily our genes but our lifestyle that is decisive for our lifespan. Genetics only play a role of around 25%. The larger proportion of 70% to 80% depends on a healthy diet, exercise, mental fitness and social relationships, as well as a positive attitude to life and a sense of purpose. SRF: What role do personal interests and hobbies play? DJ: An exciting observation from my studies on centenarians is that many of them pursue a deep passion. Whether it’s a close bond with their family, for example, by actively supporting their grandchildren, or a strong interest in politics, art or other areas of life – this dedication seems to inspire them. I think we can learn from the centenarians how important it is to realise at a younger age what really inspires and drives us. It is precisely these passions that not only give us purpose and energy, but often carry us into old age. Translated from German using DeepL/amva/gw