BREAKING (WHICH you may know as breakdancing) will make its Olympic debut—the only sport to do so—at this summer’s Paris games. It joins new urban sports BMX, skateboarding and 3v3 basketball, which debuted at Tokyo 2020, and is part of a broader shift by the International Olympic Committee to include more youth-oriented events. Yet breaking is judged...

FROM AN ESTATE agent’s perspective, the lunar surface has little to recommend it. Its none-too-metaphorical lack of atmosphere means it is bombarded by meteorites, cosmic radiation is unrelentingly harsh and temperatures range from lows of -246°C to highs of 121°C. Subsurface lunar caves, on the other hand, with stable temperatures and cover from projectiles,...

Letters are welcome via email to [email protected]Backing Joe BidenPresidential effectiveness is not measured by televised debates. Presidents govern by making decisions after thorough preparation and detailed consultations with their advisers. In questioning Joe Biden’s candidacy, you offer no reason for doubting his ability to make good decisions...

To outsiders, and indeed many in the country, Indian cinema is all about masala movies. Named after the blend of spices ubiquitous in the country’s cuisine, these films feature a mix of genres, formulaic plots and larger-than-life heroes. Most of India’s highest-grossing movies—many from Bollywood, the behemoth Hindi-language film industry—can be classified...

When Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, took office in May, his first meeting was with Santiago Peña, the president of Paraguay. It is one of just 12 countries that recognise Taiwan as the legitimate China, rather than the larger People’s Republic of China. China claims Taiwan as its territory. Formal links with other countries lend legitimacy to...

Elections to the European Parliament saw the hard right making the most gains overall, though the European People’s Party, representing the centre-right, and the Socialists and Democrats, on the centre-left, remain the biggest voting blocs. Green parties lost a quarter of their seats. In France Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally took a third...