O Globo, March 14, 2016 “Brazil takes to the streets against Dilma and Lula and in favor of Moro,” Rio-based daily O Globo writes on its front page Monday, a day after an estimated 3.6 million Brazilians protested recession and corruption and called for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista (pictured […]
Month: March 2016
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Nice Set Of Pipes
With 11,623 pipes, the organ inside the imposing Salt Lake Tabernacle is one of the biggest in the world. It is used to accompany the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which we got to listen to during our visit, where we also learned about this uniquely American religion.
The Indian city is among the worst in the world for air quality. Automobiles share much of the blame, with some 1,400 cars a day joining the estimated 8.5 million vehicles already circulating there. But there are other factors too.
ROBERTSDALE — There are few clues that this is the home town of Apple chief executive Tim Cook, the place where he said his “most improbable journey” began and where he forged the beliefs that today put him at the center of a national debate over privacy. His name is not noted on the town’s welcome signs along the main drag, Route 59. There’s nothing in the local chamber’s brochures, and the local paper rarely has anything about him. His old high school keeps a glass case celebrating former NFL running back Joe Childress, Class of 1952, but not the […]
Rising populism in the West can be traced to continuing fallout from the 2007-08 financial crisis. The responses — from both left and right — share certain fundamental arguments.
Few island nations have had better pre-conditions for economic and social development than Sri Lanka, which investors recognize is ripe for growth and tourism. The country has a high literacy rate and free healthcare. But none has suffered as long as Sri
The temptation to get rid of coins and paper bills is evidence of the failure of the monetary policy of central banks, which has led to negative interest rates.
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Soup Kitchen — Video Quote Of The Day
From Latin America to Europe, the Middle East and beyond, newspapers around the world have expressed a growing mix of dismay and contempt as Donald Trump continues to rack up victories in the Republican party presidential primaries. But as the American billionaire moves closer to the nomination, international journalists are widening their analysis to note […]
MORE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR BOMBAST North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered further nuclear tests to improve attack capabilities, national news agency KCNA reports today. Pyongyang has stepped up its threats and statements boasting about its nuclear capabilities since the U.S. and South Korea initiated joint military exercises on Monday. Today’s statement was made three […]
Though a number of Asian countries have special menstrual leave policies for working women, the West hasn’t embraced the notion, in part because feminists have rejected the idea. But now a UK company has adopted time off for women facing monthly p
Libération, March 11, 2016 To mark the upcoming fifth anniversary of the start of the civil war in Syria, French daily Libération renamed itself Friday in Arabic, featuring a striking front-page image of children spinning on swings around a bomb. Calling itself Tahrir (“Liberation” in Arabic) for the occasion of the March 15th anniversary next […]
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To Fallen Vikings
Sweden boasts about 1,700 such runestones that feature the old Scandinavian runic alphabet. This one, outside of Gripsholm Castle near Stockholm, was erected in memory of fallen Vikings.
Five years since the devastating Japan earthquake prompted a tsunami that washed tons of refuse into the Pacific Ocean, ocean creatures in and around that underwater wreckage is burgeoning.
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Book Planting — Video Quote Of The Day
Moscow is quietly working toward a federal future for war-torn Syria, with a central government but the nation divided into three different ethnic zones. It’s a nod to Kurdish ambitions and lessons from the Balkans.
Switzerland-born globetrotter Olivier Racine does things because he can. He wanted to give the North Korean dictator two gifts from his country, a giant Toblerone chocolate bar and a piece of the Matterhorn mountain. This excerpt from his recently publish
ISIS DOCUMENTS LEAKED A disillusioned ISIS fighter gave a Sky News reporter a memory stick stolen from the terrorist organization containing tens of thousands of documents, as well as 22,000 names, addresses, telephone numbers and family contacts of jihadist fighters. The disclosure of these documents could prove to be a boon to Western intelligence. The […]
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Queen “Not Amused” By Brexit Report
A frowning Queen Elizabeth is making the Thursday front page of London-based Daily Express tabloid, and she is “not amused” by a report claiming she supports Britain’s exit from the EU. Queen Elizabeth filed a complaint with the British press watchdog yesterday after Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid The Sun reported that she supported Britain’s exit from […]
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Our Lady Of The Rocks
According to legend, the islets off the coast of Perast, in Montenegro“s beautiful Bay of Kotor, were built over the centuries by seamen who swore to leaving a rock at the bottom of the bay every time they returned from a voyage, until two man-made islands eventually emerged. And a church too.
The twin problems of the economic crisis and university studies taking longer than expected have conspired to force many young adults to return home to their parents. Problem is, sometimes they bring their partners too.
TEHRAN — Emerging after years of sanctions, Iran appears almost single-mindedly eager to boost its economic growth. Thus a photo op this week of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei planting and watering a tree, and cited as telling “all” Iranians to care for “green spaces,” was a minor newsstand surprise Wednesday around the […]
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On Horseback — Video Quote Of The Day
Reactions from both officials and the media to the murders of two Argentine women in Ecuador suggest that old-fashioned misogyny still commands in modern Latin America.
Sanders Surprises, Queen On Brexit, 5th Beatle Dies
Wanted in two countries for his actions to save endangered marine wildlife, the Sea Shepherd founder is now under the unofficial protective custody of France, where he manages an extreme conservation group that makes Greenpeace look like pikers.
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Greetings From The Desert
“As-salamu alaikum …” — “Wa-alaikum-us-salaam!”
Thirty years after the Chernobyl catastrophe and five years after Fukushima, scientists have had a chance to quantify their impact.
BERLIN — Employees at German companies say they don’t get enough pats on the back, their superiors too stingy in praising a job well done. But even amid such rising expectations for positive reinforcement, some experts warn that managers must dole out praise in moderation. Too much approval, for a variety of reasons, can prove […]
CAIRO — International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world on March 8. Egypt celebrates Egyptian Women’s Day on March 16, and March 9 marks the infamous day when members of the Armed Forces performed virginity tests on female protestors detained in Tahrir Square in 2011 — a crime no one has been held accountable […]
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Run In The Snow — Video Quote Of The Day
Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was detained as part of a widespread corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras. But the probe could actually prove to be the spark to help him succeed Dilma Rousseff.
Neighbors don’t always need good fences. The weekly Jeune Afrique reports some encouraging findings in a wide-ranging study on tolerance for diversity taken in 33 African countries. Overall, the results indicated growing levels of tolerance for ethnic and religious diversity, though this was contrasted with lingering prejudice against homosexuals. Research firm Afrobarometer conducted the poll […]
“BREAKTHROUGH” MIGRANT DEAL European leaders and Turkish officials have reached an agreement in principle that German Chancellor Angela Merkel described as a “breakthrough if it becomes reality.” The deal, whose final details still need to be settled, would see Turkey take back migrants who have traveled from Turkey to Greece but don’t meet criteria for […]