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Bhutan

How a deeply Buddhist Bhutan keeps religion and politics from mixing

Sacred Spaces

Bhutan is officially a Buddhist kingdom. It’s also a fledgling democracy trying to establish a balancing act to honor its Buddhist identity while maintaining a separation between religion and government. The compromise the country has settled on for now excludes clergy from political life. 

A tiny Himalayan nation’s big crypto gamble

Business, Economics and Jobs
A man and woman are shown sitting in chairs while medical workers administer vaccinations.

Virus surge, vaccine shortages spread beyond India’s borders

COVID-19
members of a battalion lining up in front of a palace

There are 28 other monarchies in the world

Global Politics
Shamans, like Tsering Yangzom in the Haa Valley, often treat patients experiencing symptoms of mental illness. She describes them as being afflicted by deities and treats them by invoking mantras.

Bhutan, known for its Gross National Happiness Index, comes to terms with mental health crisis

Health & Medicine
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"Tim" is a street dog in Paro, Bhutan. He didn't always have such a gorgeous fur coat. He had terrible mange when a tourist rescued him. This gorgeous boy is pretty typical of the Bhutanese canine look.

Bhutan carried out a nationwide program to spay and neuter its stray dogs

Health

Bhutan had a serious street dog problem that was turning off high-end tourists and spreading rabies. So the Buddhist kingdom did something no other country in the world has done: carried out a nationwide spay/neuter and vaccine program.

The architecture at the University of Texas at El Paso owes a lot to the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. It all dates back to a National Geographic article in 1914.

Tourists spend thousands of dollars to schlep to Bhutan when they can just go to El Paso

Culture

The University of Texas at El Paso is close to the Mexico border, but the buildings look like they belong in Bhutan

Immigrant_veggies4

Immigrants in New Hampshire are creating an unlikely ethnic food hub

Food

In New Hampshire, it wasn’t always this easy to get mangosteens and other produce from Asia and Africa. But with immigrant communities growing in the area, some locals are finding ways to get familiar foods from back home onto the plates of Nepalese, Bhutanese and other immigrants here in the US..

Osman Chandab in Melbourne, Australia contracted whooping cough before getting vaccinated.

No matter where in the world you are, opting out of childhood vaccines can be a catastrophic choice

Health

The new NOVA special, “Vaccines: Calling the Shots,” explores the lingering global resistance to vaccination campaigns. Case studies from around the world explain just how bad the impact can be when groups opt out of childhood shots.

Is Bigfoot a big myth? A new study testing hair DNA finds no proof

Environment

Bigfoot enthusiasts sent suspected hair samples of the creature to Oxford University for DNA testing, along with alleged hair samples in museums. The results turned up a huge range of animals — from bears to wolves — but no Yetis.Bigfoot enthusiasts sent suspected hair samples of the creature to Oxford University for DNA testing, along with alleged hair samples in museums. The results turned up a huge range of animals — from bears to wolves — but no Yetis.

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