World Watch: News Digest

Elliot Page says he experienced a mixture of feelings when he came out as transgender on an Instagram post in 2021. “I felt utterly elated and beyond grateful to finally be in a place where I could accept and love myself and do what I needed to and wanted to,” the 37-year-old actor, director, and LGBTQ+ activist told the audience at the 2024 TIME100 Summit in New York City on Wednesday.

Dust clouds from the Sahara desert in North Africa have blown across the Mediterranean Sea and turned Greece’s sky orange on Tuesday. Historic landmarks in the country’s capital Athens, including the ancient citadel of Acropolis, were blanketed in orange dust. One image, taken from the famous Tourkovounia hills that bisect the city of Athens, shows a man in a face mask taking a photo of the Mars-like view of the city.

King Charles III bestowed honors on his family members and nobles, including a new historically significant title for his daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton. The King appointed the Princess of Wales to be a Royal Companion of The Order of the Companions of Honour on Tuesday, St George’s Day. The order was founded by King George V in 1917 to recognize outstanding achievements and major contributions over a long period of time to the arts, sciences, medicine, and public service.

As India’s marathon election kicked off its first voting phase last Friday, April 19, unemployment was looming large in the minds of millions of voters—despite the country’s rapid economic growth. Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, economists have been quick to serve India on a silver platter as a powerful rival to China, particularly for its global manufacturing, investment, and growth capabilities.

The International Monetary Fund issued a most unusual rebuttal this month. Its spokeswoman Julie Kozack told reporters in Washington that executive director Krishnamurthy Subramanian’s growth forecast of 8% for India did not represent the views of the IMF, which still maintained a projection of 6.5% for the country. Subramanian’s views—expressed at an event in New Delhi a few days earlier—were in his role as India’s representative at the IMF, she said.