Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog

Torbjørn Færøvik: Ernest Hemingway and His Moveable Feast

A hundred years ago, Ernest Hemingway lived in Paris — a city of beggars, drunks, and the ever-present stench from sewage carts pulled by horses through the narrow streets. And since it is now autumn and the rain is pouring down, it feels like the perfect time to read his incomparable A Moveable Feast once again.“Then the bad weather set in,” he wrote. “It came suddenly one day when autumn was

Torbjørn Færøvik: Farvel regntid, velkommen sol!

Farvel regntid, velkommen sol!Denne uken skulle jeg gjerne ha feiret regntidens slutt i Ayutthaya, min thailandske favorittby. Festivalen, som thaiene kaller Loy Krathong, falt i år på 6. november, mens fullmånen speilet seg i elvene og risåkrene som omgir byen.Ayutthaya ligger et par timers kjøretur nord for Bangkok, ved Chao Phraya, landets viktigste vannåre. Byen var i en lang periode landets

Schools go hybrid as Delhi's air quality worsens

Schools in Delhi have been asked to run hybrid classes for primary students and non-essential construction activity has been banned as air quality worsens in the Indian capital. On Tuesday, authorities enforced stricter anti-pollution measures which include limiting movement of goods carriers in the capital and its suburbs. Delhi's air quality has deteriorated to "severe" levels according to

Australia at risk of 'high-impact sabotage' from China, says spy chief

Australia's spy chief says hackers linked to the Chinese government and military are targeting the country's critical infrastructure, warning the country was increasingly at risk of "high-impact sabotage". Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), said "unprecedented levels of espionage" meant a growing threat of "cyber-enabled sabotage" in the next five

Two meals for $1: Why China's youth are not spending

China is facing a number of economic challenges and its government wants the next generation of consumers to start spending more for the good of all, but it is not having much luck convincing them to do so. Officials say insufficient domestic consumption across much of society is dragging on growth, but recent graduates have more reasons than most to be cautious.Youth unemployment has been

How the Japan PM's Taiwan remarks provoked the fury of China

Over the past week, China and Japan have been locked in an escalating war of words.It all started when Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested that if China attacked Taiwan then Japan could respond with its own self-defence force. Since then, foreign ministries on both sides have lodged serious protests with the other, and a Chinese diplomat made what some interpreted as a threat to

Trump defends enrolling Chinese students at US universities — and takes a swipe at France

President Donald Trump criticized the nation of France on Monday in a back-and-forth with a Fox News host as he defended the enrollment of Chinese students at universities in the United States.“I actually think it’s good to have outside countries,” the president said when asked about enrolling Chinese nationals at American universities.“They’re not the French. They’re the Chinese. They spy on us.

How Japan’s new prime minister has brought China’s ‘wolf warriors’ back out

In the end, there was no honeymoon period.Just two weeks ago, Japan’s new prime minister Sanae Takaichi was shaking hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Now, relations between the two Asian nations have dramatically soured, with escalating nationalist rhetoric in China and even an apparent threat of beheading from one of its diplomats.Takaichi, who was elected as Japan’s first female prime

Tariffs thaw, rivalry simmers: U.S.–China trade truce enters uneasy phase

Even as a U.S.–China trade truce appears to be holding, analysts caution that the détente remains fragile in a rivalry increasingly defined by strategic competition. A flurry of decisions, outlined in the sweeping trade deal struck by U.S. President Donald Trump with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month, took effect on Monday, with rollbacks of steep tariffs and export controls.The U.S. halved

CNBC’s The China Connection newsletter: Xpeng attempts a global transformation

Cultural shifts are subtle yet fundamental for any company aiming to succeed beyond its home market.When I visited Chinese electric car company Xpeng’s new headquarters in Guangzhou last week, what stood out wasn’t just how shiny it was compared to the building I’d visited last year, but the fluency of its global mindset, down to the small details like accurate English translations in signs and