A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie SYRIA: TORTUREThis disturbing video shows Syrian security forces beating a man named Loay Amr, who was teaching school in Saudi Arabia. He returned home to the village of Houla, near Homs, and was captured, beaten and killed. The soldiers force him to repeat an […]
Month: September 2011
In the towns of the West Bank, Palestinian residents are cautiously optimistic about negotiations at the UN, which could recognize Palestine as an independent state. But even if the vote does go their way, will things actually change? “Will the Israelis l
Op-Ed: As Palestinians arrive at the United Nations in search of recognition of their statehood, Israel’s isolation grows deeper. Israelis have justifiable existential fears, but must accept there is only one way to achieve lasting peace and security: a P
A Muslim woman has declared her candidacy for the French presidency in protest against a ban on Islamic veils.
Pushed out of Prague, Roma are heading to northern Bohemia. Their arrival has triggered a backlash from native Czechs in the region of Ústí nad Labem, which is also attracting right-wing extremists who come from the city to stoke local anger and shout the
Tunisia’s Nahda party is working to improve its image amongst foreigners and skeptical secularist voters. But it does not renounce its desire for a democracy based on Islamic values.
Overall birth rates have risen in the developing world, a sign that working women are better able to balance work and family. Indeed, the countries with the most working women have higher fertility rates.
Researchers from the French National Center of Scientific Research have found out that fundamental particles known as neutrinos can travel faster than light.
While red and white continue to be the most common colors for wine, pink is starting to gain ground. In France, the world’s leading producer of rosé wine, sales are up thanks to increases in both consumption and price.
Op-Ed: Too much attention is being focused on China’s role in helping bail out European and American debt crises. The best thing Beijing can do is focus on the domestic economy; for if it collapses, all will pay a heavy price.
Peter De Villiers first made headlines by becoming the first black coach of the powerful South African national rugby team. But it’s his controversial comments that have all the rugby world up in arms. The latest: disparaging remark about the New
Analysis: After last week’s arrest of a rogue trader accused of fraud that cost the Swiss bank $2.3 billion, UBS shareholders could actually wind up benefiting from a new structure that splits off the investment banking from the commercial business. But t
Good news: beer is good for your health! Bad news: only in moderate quantity! EU Scientists say moderate beer consumption has positive effects on cardiovascular diseases.
Categories
Pope Benedict XVI’s Troubles At Home
The Pope was met with protests as he began a four-day trip in his native Germany. But his challenges run even deeper in a country that was protective of their native son in the early days of his papacy, but now sees him as the ultimate symbol of rigid tra
Bolivia may be South America’s poorest country, but it now boasts the region’s most global firm, according to AméricaEconomía’s annual “Multilatinas” list. Another surprise? Brazilian’s Petrobras struck oil last year, but fell in the ranking.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie SYRIA SCHOOLING*It was back-to-school week in Syria for 5.6 million students, and pro-democracy activists called for a school boycott until President Bashar al-Assad resigns. CNN Arabic reports that protesters are urging parents to keep their children home from school. In a statement, a group […]
The Chinese Industry Ministry has created a new system for monitoring information on all companies that produce food. With awards to the best and a black list for the worst, it is a long-awaited response to a 2008 scandal involving tainted baby milk.
On the Left Bank, the Shakespeare and Company bookshop is a place where the physical book – and all the humanity that goes into it – is fighting to survive. Aspiring young writers are still offered bed and board: the only condition is that they read a boo
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Dogs Go Vegan
More and more vegetarians and vegans are keeping meat and animal products out of their pooch’s chow bowl. But some warn that even though they are omnivores, dogs need their meat. And by the way: don’t even think about trying to give a carrot to your cat.
Ain’t no party like a? Pyongyang party, ’cause a Pyongyang party is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY
Martin Meuli, a pioneer in the field of fetal surgery, is looking to operate on victims of spina bifida, a condition that can lead to severe life-long disability — and often prompts couples to choose abortion.
Earlier this month protesters attacked the Israeli Embassy in Giza and hurled stones at officers in the city’s Security Directorate. Anyone tempted to try the same thing on the Interior Ministry can expect to be shot, Interior Minister Mansour Al
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Yemen Violence Escalates
Reports say Yemeni government forces have killed more than 50 people in two days of oppression on anti-government protestors. As violence further escalates, Yemen has been plunged in the country’s bloodiest clashes for months.
Rape charges dropped, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is back in France. But the legacy of his May 14 arrest in NYC is expected to last, especially in the way French men and women interact in the working world.
A ruling by the Inter-American Human Rights Court has the potential of galvanizing support behind Leopoldo López, a 40-year-old opposition leader who is looking to run against Chávez in Venezuela’s 2012 presidential election.
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How To Make A Tree Talk — And Tweet
Researchers in Germany are using special sensors and data software to both gather and broadcast real-time updates on how the surroundings are affecting the health of oak trees. And you can follow the tree’s feed on Twitter.
Categories
Europe’s Debt Crisis: A View From China
Op-Ed: Until now, says a top Chinese economist, Europe’s political leaders have failed to find the courage or foresight to solve the debt crisis. But maybe Madame Merkel is changing her tune just in time.
Germany continues to shoulder much of the load when it comes to Europe’s bailout of Greece. For some Greeks, that’s just as it should be. After all, Germany still has billions of euros in unpaid reparations bills from World War II. Die Welt takes a closer
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie YEMEN: TAKING STOCK, COUNTING DEADProtests in Yemen have been ongoing for more than eight months, with the epicenter of the uprising at a square near the University of Sanaa. Protesters have been camped out, and despite periodic attempts by security forces to forcefully break […]
The largest “no nukes” protest to date, post-Fukushima, hit Tokyo on Monday, with tens of thousands of Japanese calling for an end to nuclear energy. The demonstration comes just over six months after the earthquake and tsunami that crip
China is already America’s biggest creditor. Now it’s setting itself up as savior of the euro by buying government bonds and company shares. Just how much money is being invested is still not clear. One thing, however, is: China’s moves are very much calc
After Brazil successfully turned the city of Manaos into a tropical Silicon Valley, now Argentina is bringing high tech down to the far southern island of Tierra del Fuego, where Blackberry, HP and Motorola are opening operations. But is the industrial pu
Chinese authorities have closed schools attended by the children of illegal migrant workers in the over-populated suburbs of Beijing. Other such schools may be shut down too.
A case just broadcast on local television reveals horrid conditions of 30 mentally disabled forced to work at a brick kiln. But it is hardly the first such story in China in recent years.
Phil Black, whose convoy came under attack, responds to reports that fighters loyal to Muammar Gaddafi no longer control parts of Sirte, Libya.
CPP Studios, a German media group, has no union. It doesn’t need one. Except for its two general managers, CPP’s employees all earn the same amount. They also have equal say in hiring and other management decisions.
Social Democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt has been elected Denmark’s first female Prime Minister to succeed outgoing PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
When Super-Rich Russian opposition leader Mikhail Prokhorov called the country’s party system a “sham,” he subsequently vanished from state TV after months of air time. The last oligarch to push too far was Mikhail Khodorkovsky, now serv
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie CAPTURED COLONELSyrian Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Harmoush, possibly the most well-known officer to defect from the army because of a candid, strongly worded condemnation of the government’s orders to kill unarmed protesters, was paraded on Syrian state television on Thursday night after being captured by […]
New exclusive footage of a crash in Argentina where a train hit a bus before smashing head-on into another train. The number of dead has risen to 11, with more than 200 injured.