The Arab world’s revolutionary tide has so far bypassed Saudi Arabia, whose oil-rich royal regime is hoping to buy a bit of peace and quiet with billions in public spending.
Month: May 2011
Activists say earthquake-prone Turkey risks a Fukushima-style disaster if plans go ahead to build the massive Akkuyu power plant along the Mediterranean coast.
The Shanghai Auto Show is now the biggest car exhibition in the world, surpassing Geneva, Frankfurt and Detroit. The show will premiere some 75 new car models including Volkswagen’s highly anticipated new Beetle .
In recent weeks, Mexican authorities have extracted body after body from a series of clandestine graves in the northern state of Tamaulipas. Now comes the challenge of matching the remains to the country’s growing number of drug war disappearances.
Former inmates of the notorious Diyarbakir Prison, where hundreds of people were tortured in the aftermath of Turkey’s bloody military coup in 1980, may be on the verge of finally getting justice.
The Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in the French port of Saint Nazaire on the Atlantic Coast has opened its doors to the public. It is just one of a growing number of French industrial sites catering to a new kind of tourism.
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Does The UN Suddenly Matter Again?
The United Nations’ proactive response in the Ivory Coast and Libya has rejuvenated its image worldwide, though some question the motives of Ban Ki-Moon’s prompt intervention.
Red-hot contemporary sculptor Jeff Koons among 19 artists featured in Italian museum’s latest exhibition, which runs through Dec. 31, 2012.
Essay: A public appeal to the West from the leader of the Libyan rebels, Moustapha Abdel Jalil: ‘Give us time — and arms…’ for negotiating with Gaddafi is not an option.
A portrait of Italian activist and journalist Vittorio Arrigoni who was found dead in the Gaza Strip early on Friday, following his abduction on Thursday. His mother had been expecting him back home.
The Quai Branly Museum in Paris is exhibiting one of the biggest collections of Dogon art from Eastern Mali ever to be pulled together in one place.
Despite stiff government warnings, some residents from the evacuated zone around Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant are trickling back in. Others never left.
Chronic shyness and social phobia can make life a living hell. Identifying it early on in life can help.
Blogger Yoani Sanchez and dissident Guillermo Fariñas can taste the wave of the Arab uprising from the shores of Cuba. But the Castro regime shows no signs it’s wobbling just yet.
Editorial: The French daily Le Figaro gives a warm applause to the government for its timely and efficient intervention to help oust strongman Laurent Gbagbo
The newly reopened National Museum of China on Tiananmen Square sits uneasily amid the recent wave of repression that has led to the arrest of hundreds of people including avant-garde artist Ai Weiwei. Ironically, one of the first exhibitions is on the We
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Orphans Of The Dalai Lama
The surprise March 10 announcement of the Dalai Lama’s retirement from political life stunned Dharamsala, capital of Tibet’s exile community, where people fear their cause will be forgotten, and followers could turn to violence.
As British singer Adele breaks chart records on both sides of the Atlantic, the music school that launched her, Amy Winehouse and other top stars celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Counted out just a week ago, see up close how the Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo has held on despite much of his country and virtually all the world stacked against him. Amongst his weapons: his Christian faith, a mercurial wife and a canny surviva
Socially conservative Italy isn’t likely to embrace gay marriage anytime soon. That hasn’t stopped one same-sex couple from trying. While Savona’s Francesco and Manuel haven’t yet managed to tie the knot, they did come
After friendly fire deaths from NATO air strikes, rebels realize the West’s air support is not enough to topple Gaddafi.
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Is It A Sin To Be Elite?
Protestants of power and wealth in Germany struggle to balance faith and money, while Church leadership seeks a new way of addressing the modern quest for personal achievement with the greater good – and the Christian gospel.
Essay: Approximately 250 North African migrants died this week when their boat capsized off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa island. According to writer Ferdinando Camon, the tragedy challenges everything Europeans thought they knew about immigrati
Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest last December, launching the Arab Spring from the small Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid. Now his family has moved away, facing the scorn of locals who say they’re cashing in at the city’s expense.
Working hard doesn’t always work. Mental health experts say “burnout” is a real – and potentially dangerous – possibility for today’s highly driven professionals.
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That Timeless Chic Of The Parisian Woman
The fashion sense of Parisian women is renowned worldwide. Swanky Paris department store Galeries Lafayette salutes Parisian chic this month in a special event fronted by former top model and face of Chanel Ines de la Fressange.
Masters at preparing food, the French are also pretty good at tossing it away — to the tune of 44 pounds per person annually. They are not alone. According to an FAO study, only half of the world’s food actually makes it in to people’s
There was a time when Central Bankers were just supposed to look out for rising inflation. The 2008 financial crisis and the ongoing European debt crisis is forcing them to search for a new identity.
The German director talks about his new film on the work of the late German choreographer, Pina Bausch. Capturing the creative genius — and mystery — of one of the 20th century’s great artists. And doing it in 3D.
Essay: The upheaval in the Arab world is a reminder that the Turkish military — a NATO member — can play a major role in the region. The secularist military’s political power at home has been greatly trimmed in recent years, but some look to th
Ten candidates, including the 35-year-old daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori, square off in this Sunday’s election, which is likely to result in a runoff.
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The Polar Bear Autopsy Of The Century
Knut, the Berlin Zoo bear who captured the world’s attention after being abandoned by his mother, died last month. After the most complex investigation of an animal’s death in memory, officials say Knut died of a viral infection.
A project from highly touted French street artist JR lets Tunisian photographers take over the boulevards once patrolled by Ben Ali’s security forces — and watched over by his image.
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Everybody Loves… The Germans?
Nearly 70 years after WWII, have Germans finally come in from the cold? A recent BBC poll found that “friendly” Germany has the world’s best international image – for the third year in a row.
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How Laughter Saved Tunisia
Essay: Who says that all revolutionaries should be grim and gloomy? It certainly wasn’t the case in Tunisia, where humor has always been used as a political weapon.
The revolutionary wave has not reached Riyadh. The Saudi authorities are getting ready for only the second elections in the Kingdom’s history, and women are still shut out.
French umbrella manufacturer Veritable Cherbourg has unveiled a range of defense umbrellas straight out of a James Bond movie. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s security detail has already put in an order for these high-tech gizmos.
Frederic Monneyron, fashion sociologist, explains how Gaddafi uses his extravagant style as political propaganda.
From the Internet’s real-time encyclopedia of information to GPS navigators, new technology makes our brains work slower. But scientists show how we can kick our minds back into action.
While John Paul II relied on Polish nuns, Benedict XVI has turned to members of a Catholic lay association to maintain the papal apartment. His personal secretary Mons. Georg Ganswein keeps up his daily schedule. And when it’s lunchtime, they all