DINNER PARTY INTEL: From opera on a diet to quirky dateline

1. Cutting a classic

An Italian opera director plans to stage La Bohème next month — and cut it by almost half. The short version will last 90 minutes, compared with the usual two hours and 40 minutes. As expected, not everyone is happy about reducing Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece, considered sacred by opera lovers, who scorn the TikTok version. Nevertheless, the fat lady will sing earlier than usual.

2. Will Lam mention the war?

To Lam, who won a vicious power struggle this year to become Vietnam’s leader and who had cracked a few heads as top cop in crushing dissent, heads for the US next month hoping to convince that country he’s not much of a communist. This comes half a century after the US fought a bloody and ultimately losing war against Vietnam to stop the tide of communism in Southeast Asia. Is this a reversal of the old “domino theory” fears?

3. Ripe Banana

DP World, a Dubai multinational, is building a deepwater port at the mouth of the Congo River on the coast of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The harbour is expected to boost trade and create 85,000 jobs. It will also raise the profile of the once obscure little town where it is situated, from which foreign correspondents covering wars of the 1960s liked to file copy on a weekend, just for the dateline: Banana, Sunday.