Some of contemporary art’s biggest names have lent their talent to what is essentially an advertising object. A new book shows how the result, time and again, has been art of the highest order.
Month: July 2011
As many as 1,200 Somali refugees per day are crossing over to Kenya to escape violence and drought. The UN is sounding the alarm about the effects of drought, two years after its Refugee Agency and other humanitarian groups were forced out of Somalia by t
A report has resurfaced that says radioactive waste from World War II was brought in1967 to a storage facility in Asse, in northern Germany, raising old questions about Hitler’s quest for an atomic bomb. But historians dispute that Nazi scientist
With Elie Saab as their leader, Rabih Kayrouz, Zuhair Murad, Georges Hobeika and Georges Chakra round out the “Fab Five” of Lebanon’s high-end design world.
Taking off from Sicily, a reporter chronicles a night of airborne surveillance of movements on the ground in Libya, and coordination of strikes against Gaddafi-controlled targets.
Latin America lost one of its most beloved folk musicians this past weekend, when unidentified gunmen in Guatemala shot and killed Facundo Cabral of Argentina. Overun by gangs and mafia groups, Guatemala has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
Zhang Xiaobai learned the hard way just how difficult it can be to live openly as a homosexual in China. Being honest about his sexual orientation allowed Zhang to embrace his true identity, but cost him custody of his son and sparked a cold war with his
A new law designed to crack down on NGOs is one of several signs that Cambodia is edging back toward authoritarianism nearly two decades after the UN stepped in following brutal civil wars. The international community, by turning a blind eye to government
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Swiss Politicians Let It All Hang Out
The head of Switzerland’s FDP-Frauen party is baring more than her soul in an effort to promote women’s rights. Some of Switzerland’s male politicians have make similarly revealing pitches.
Op-Ed: Though politicians from all corners have declared their desire for a new Constitution, they all slip back into outdated rhetoric when it comes time to hash out the words to help build Turkey’s future.
Op-Ed: The United States has little reason to celebrate the end of its 30-year-old space shuttle program, according to France’s Le Monde. The 1970s-era space ships accomplished little and cost far too much – both in terms of dollars and human lives.
As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei quarrel, the guardians of the Islamic Revolution are growing stronger.
An Italian mobster is on trial for allegedly killing his ex-wife. Their teenage daughter, hoping to “re-start her life,” will take the witness stand — testifying not only against her father, but also against a pair of gangster uncles an
Swiss winemakers Gérald and Patricia Besse have watched their daughter Sarah prepare for the family business since middle school. After a period of doubt, she has now immersed herself in the “art” and hard work required to continue the s
Scientists working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are researching the many different ways human waste can be put to good use — such as powering electrical current with human excrement, or purifying urine into drinking water.
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou has made good relations with China a cornerstone of his administration, but suspicions still simmer on either side of the Taiwan Strait.
Hailing from Guadeloupe, the 30-year-old Yohann Gène’s presence in the Tour de France is a watershed, challenging a competitive cycling world described as “homogeneous” and even prone to racism.
As South Sudan declares its independence, its capital city Juba is a complicated and fast- growing metropolis, teeming with prostitutes, adventurers, refugees and NGOs
With major doubts about the reliability of the alleged victim, France is buzzing again with conspiracy theories around the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case. The latest focuses on the Sofitel hotel, site of alleged act.
Original Pablo Picasso ceramics made between 1947 and 1973 – the year the famous Spanish painter died – are sold at quite reasonable prices: between 500 and 8000 euros a piece.
Since the beginning of protests in Yemen, women there have not only been taking off their veils, they’ve been giving speeches and confronting Islamists.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا ONE DEATH*As the English-language media reports the latest death toll out of the central Syrian city of Hama with figures varying from 11 to 22 dead, the Arabic media and social networks are focusing on the death of one man in Hama named Ibrahim Qashoush. Qashoush, a […]
Egyptions are wary that US financial aid to government and civil society programs is Washington’s way of whitewashing its past support for Mubarak – and laying the groundwork for future meddling.
A Russian submarine provides a rare expedition to the bottom of Switzerland’s largest lake to view the wreck of a 19th century lake steamer, and a peek into a forgotten tragedy.
New rules in the Italian city could require all public workers to get docked for every time they step outside the office for a smoke.
Despite dissent among top Iranian leaders, Tehran appears to be now throwing its weight behind Gaddafi’s regime rather than the rebels. Iran hopes the West gets bogged down in Libya and can’t pursue Syria or Iran’s own nuclear program.
Is cycling up and down the Alps, and around every other corner in France, not tiring enough? Now cyclists are expected to tweet in between exhausting stages. And from their bikes?
Bicycle paths in some Swiss cities are about to crowd up as motorized, 3-wheel rickshaw taxis come to town.
Thai wine is gathering growing praise from world-renowned wine experts. Many tourists – including some who sign on as grape pickers – now include vineyards on their list of things to see in Thailand.
After all these years, are people still suspicious of the quality of products Made in China? Shi Jihongof the Xinxiu group luggage makers says the answer is a resounding ‘Yes’.
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Is Russia Really Such A Solid Investment?
Op-Ed: Right now, Russia is ‘in’ with investors. But the giant economy is both less dynamic and more risky than many realize.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie TENSION RISINGLebanon’s A-Nahar daily reports on the growing acrimony between the new Hezbollah-backed government and the March 14 opposition faction, headed by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The UN’s Special Tribunal for Lebanon last week indicted four men, believed to be members of Hezbollah, […]
Like hundreds of others in Germany, and a few cases popping up elsewhere, one 29-year-old is lucky to be alive, but otherwise facing major health problems.
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The Libyan Diaspora And The War
Libyans who have left, and others with experience abroad, play a key role for the anti-government forces in coordinating and communicating with the outside world.
A political battle erupts when locals objecting to the arrival of bears decide to hold a very particular kind of barbecue.
Fifteen months after losing its president in a tragic plane crash, Poland takes stock of its past — recent and not-so-recent — and looks to a future that is once again charged with a sense of opportunity for a nation still looking to fulfil its potentia
A R A B I C A ارابيكا THE CITYBBC Arabic features an in-depth report from the central Syrian city of Hama, which had been the site last Friday of the largest demonstrations in the past four months of unrest. “Witnesses said about 30 buses full of armed police officers and soldiers entered the city […]
In interview with Le Monde, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi doesn’t exclude a cease-fire and negotiations, but otherwise strikes an aggressive posture toward the rebels and the West.
Long before Fukushima, or even Chernobyl, Austrians pulled the plug on nuclear power with a 1978 referendum. The physical legacy of that narrow vote is a completed – but never used – power plant called Zwentendorf, now open to the public.
Since Strauss-Kahn’s arrest on attempted rape charges, and with the latest news that his accuser’s credibility is in doubt, those who know him best paint the picture of a public enigma whose desire for freedom – and women – always risked undermin