Burkina Faso’s production of local chicken, nicknamed “bicycle chicken,” has been declining in recent years, with the traditional delicacy being slowly replaced by a cheaper imported version.
Month: January 2024
After 100 days of war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that he has no plans to listen to what any other country has to say, including his closest allies. There’s every reason to expect the situation to get worse.
By electing William Lai, the Taiwanese people have reaffirmed their desire for sovereignty and independence from China in the face of Chinese threats. And meanwhile, Donald Trump’s comeback could reshuffle the cards again.
It was 15 years ago that U.S. Airways Flight 1549 was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River. There would be no casualties, and the 2009 incident would come to be known as “Miracle on the Hudson.” What happened to US Airways Flight 1549? US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled […]
Overweight, permanently exhausted and only able to work two hours a day: a few years after founding the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck was facing burnout. Then a young doctor came onto the scene. The diet he prescribed worked wonders, and may be worth reactivating for our busy modern lives.
The killing of Hezbollah commander Wissam al-Tawil, which came after the Lebanese group launched its biggest strike on Israel since the war began, shows that Israel is more confident than ever of its military and intelligence superiority.
Updated Jan. 14, 2024 at 12:20 p.m. The Sex Pistols’ final concert was held on this day in 1978 at Winterland, San Francisco. Who were The Sex Pistols? The Sex Pistols were a music group who helped found the British punk movement of the late 1970s. Their song “God Save the Queen” became a symbol […]
Stuffed toys, fetish objects, lucky charms, pets — we all have our comforting objects or companions, even if we sometimes find it hard to admit to ourselves. It’s an anthropological need that makes our lives more comfortable. But with smartphones, chatbots, and soon robots, taking up a new role as our future companions, we need to rethink whether our new, digital teddy bears create more harm than they provide comfort.
Houthi rebels are now blocking the strategic Red Sea, by striking or seizing merchant ships, while also attempting to launch rockets into Israeli territory. This has sparked a strong response from the U.S and Britain, escalating a situation that could impact global security in major ways, with competing powers ready to cash in.
Updated January 13, 2024 at 11:05 a.m. The Costa Concordia cruise ship crashed and sank on this day in 2012. What happened to the Costa Concordia? The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Tuscany after hitting a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a […]
Saturday’s election is bound to create tensions, if the favorite, William Lai, candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), wins. Xi Jinping has warned against voting for him. But is it just posturing?
Ecuador’s President has called in the army to fight the country’s rampant drug gangs. Sadly he can at best sever the fingertips of a criminal hydra, as big as the world itself.
Following South Africa’s genocide allegations against Israel, Netanyahu’s government now has to defend itself at the International Court of Justice. But the lawsuit does not come as a surprise. For decades, there have been tensions between Israel and South Africa, where there is great sympathy for the Palestinian cause going back to the times of apartheid.
To avoid succumbing to machines, we must understand the difference between risk and danger, argues noted Italian technology ethicist Paolo Benanti.
Displaced Palestinian families are streaming into Rafah on Gaza’s southernmost border, with Egypt, fleeing Israel’s relentless bombardment. With more than one million people now cramped in the town, conditions are dire and many fear another “Nakba,” pushed out of their homeland for good.
Updated Jan. 12, 2024 at 11:45 a.m. An earthquake in Haiti that killed 220,000 people happened on this date in 2010. Why was the 2010 Haiti earthquake so devastating? The earthquake registered a magnitude 7.0, which is a high level of energy at the point of impact. But it occurred at 6.2 miles below the […]
January 15 – January 21, 2024
Cicero declared that when weapons speak, the law goes mute. So what happens when the law speaks up even as the weapons keep firing? That’s what happening now at the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
Women in the Islamic Republic are fighting to recover social rights and freedoms granted some 80 years ago by a monarchy that was once reviled and is now keenly missed by younger generations.
The UN Security Council resolution providing for the safe, unhindered and widespread delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza has done little to avoid the most dire conditions from spreading in the war-torn enclave.
Updated Jan. 11, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. The Sidi-Hamed massacre took place on this day in 1998, one of the bloodiest attacks of the Algerian Civil War. What was the Sidi-Hamed massacre? The massacre took place in the town of Sidi-Hamed, 30 kilometers south of Algiers. It was one of the bloodiest attacks on civilians […]
Some pastors are teaching the gospel in Johannesburg communities plagued by gang violence and murder, even trying to win the souls of gangsters and helping some to rehabilitate. But this makes them a target for rival gangs.
For decades, countries like Germany have resisted implementing school uniforms. But dress codes in schools are not just for the elite. They can help reduce social stigma for students living in poverty, as well as helping fight the climate crisis.
As Mexico’s president seeks to consolidate his power ahead of the 2024 general elections in the fall, will voters and institutions react to safeguard the country’s democracy or fall deeper into outgoing President López Obrador’s authoritarian impulses?
Nearly two years on, the Ukraine war is confirming to be one of those decisive moments where history calls on us to respond. The Spanish Civil War was one too, and despite its obvious differences, there are lessons about the failure a century ago that should make us redouble our support for Kyiv.
Ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s arrival, Israeli officials declared that the army will shift to a more targeted campaign in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu may just be bidding his time.
Israel is pushing for more control of the disputed passage near the Egypt-Gaza border, testing Egypt’s security stance and threatening the peace treaty between the two nations.
It’s the first big election of 2024, and it may well prove one of the most contested — and significant ones. As these vote on Saturday, Taiwanese citizens will be picking the fate of their identity and democracy.
New HIV infections and AIDS deaths have plummeted, but stigma is on the rise. The solution may come from the era when the epidemic was at its worst.
Since October 7, the Israeli army has imposed more restrictions and treated Palestinian residents of Jerusalem with unprecedented brutality, appearing to follow up on intention of some of Israel’s leaders to empty the holy city of its longtime Arab residents.
Beginning with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Moscow’s actions against its supposed “brotherly” neighbors have yielded decidedly mixed results. Yet there are certain outcomes of Russian aggression against Ukraine that have weakened the West and the post-Cold War global order.
Hassan Nasrallah, the longstanding leader of Lebanon-based Hezbollah, grows stronger in direct relation to the declining influence of his rivals, foreign and domestic — embodying the formula for regional influence of Iran’s axis of powers.
Updated Jan. 9, 2024 at 1:10 p.m. The daguerreotype photo process, which gave the first photograph of a person, is announced at the French Academy of Science on this date in 1839. What is a daguerreotype? Invented by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, the daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process (1839-1860) in the history […]
The pandemic brought a massive effort to limit the spread of bad health information. Did it do more harm than good?
For almost two years, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the West has been trying to salvage its relationship with the countries of the so-called Global South, unconvinced by the sincerity of its discourse on international law.
Donald Trump’s comeback at the White House could cause major disruptions for the war in Ukraine, the Middle East and more generally, global security. Europe has to acknowledge this reality, and see in it an opportunity to reaffirm its own place in the world.
It is rare that a wartime leader doesn’t gain the support of his people. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, instead, has the most dismal popularity ratings in memory. But he is also Israel’s longest-serving leader for a reason. The coming days and weeks will be crucial in deciding his fate, along with that of his troubled nation.
For eight months, the conflict in Sudan has been overshadowed by larger wars in Ukraine and Israel, even if the death toll and accounts of alleged war crimes are no less disturbing.
Updated Jan. 8, 2024 at 1:10 p.m. Elvis Presley was born on this day in 1935. Who was Elvis Presley? Born into a poor family in Mississippi, he rose to become a global icon and the “King of Rock and Roll”. He has been inducted into five Halls of Fame and sold over one billion […]
For a combination of spiritual and political reasons, Rastas developed a diet based on healthy, local ingredients that was a precursor, it turns out, to some current food trends.