What if reading could help us heal? That’s the wager some doctors are taking these days — prescribing books alongside medication. Here’s a look at stories that might just do you good.
Month: November 2025
A new study found that even tiny amounts of ingested plastic can be fatal to marine animals, with lethal doses far lower than previously believed. More than ever, this highlights the urgent need to reduce plastic pollution to protect vulnerable ocean species.
As we mark the 50th anniversary of Franco’s death, it is important to remember the private acts of memory and remembrance, especially as far right forces are rising again.
In the language of math or geography: two thousand kilometers and three and a half years — that’s five settlements. Bucha. Hostomel. Narovlya, Belarus. Novozybkov, Russia. Pakino, Russia. Udarnoye, Russia.
Long dismissed or mocked, menopause is finally being seen as a profound transformation: an ending that opens onto freedom.
The U.S. president won’t invite South Africa to the next G20 on American soil and is cutting all funding to the country, accusing it of carrying out a genocide against Afrikaners. Official denials have changed nothing — Donald Trump is continuing to pursue South Africa with his absurd vendetta.
The EU’s new military mobility push is turning delayed infrastructure projects like Germany’s Murr Railway into potential defense assets, reshaping transport priorities across the continent.
Instead of bringing home knickknacks, some travelers choose to collect tattoos — etching their memories into skin rather than stowing them on a shelf. Whether carefully planned or struck by impulse, these journeys suggest that ink itself has become a kind of passport. And sometimes, the whole point of the trip.
Because of her comments that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would constitute an “existential threat” to Japan, the Japanese prime minister has been facing Beijing’s wrath for three weeks. Taiwan is the central issue in East Asian tensions, and Donald Trump has stepped in with characteristic ambivalence.
Ukraine’s president must confront demands to concede occupied territories while navigating red lines set in Kyiv and mounting pressure from both Washington and the Kremlin.
The removal of over 100 Muslim employees in an Indian market is just the latest anti-Muslim incident that has occurred in recent years, following the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP party.
Exclusive reports by Bloomberg show transcripts of two secret phone calls involving the Trump administration’s apparent collusion with the Kremlin on the 28-point Ukraine plan Donald Trump seeks to impose on Volodymyr Zelensky.
As natural disasters intensify, insurers are withdrawing from high-risk regions, mortgages are failing, and real estate values are weakening. Analysts fear a chain reaction that could resemble, or surpass, the 2008 crisis.
Followers of Sarna, a nature-worshipping faith, want visibility, respect — and political power.
“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land” tweeted Vice President Vance to explain why professionals are being dismissed, both on Gaza and Ukraine. The delegitimization of expertise is a major trend of our time.
The reality is that Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to Israel, but rather to the Lebanese state itself; whereas Israel represents an existential threat to the state, to Hezbollah, and to Lebanese society as a whole.
Choosing a partner from another culture often comes with a fight to make the relationship work. The challenges are unpredictable, and the emotional toll — as well as the effort required — can be immense.
To Kyiv and the Europeans, the American 28-point plan for Ukraine looks like a demand for surrender, but Sunday’s negotiations in Geneva with the Americans attempted to amend it, at the risk of making it unacceptable to the Russians. The Trump method is once again in question.
Since the opening of six automated lines in the Saudi capital last December, more than 122 million journeys have been made on public transport.
In a new book, Steve Ramirez explores the potential of memory manipulation to ease depression and other afflictions.
Venezuela is being held hostage. Rather than outrage, the appearance of a U.S. armada has produced an almost sacrilegious sigh of relief in many. But is even that enough?
Space research is becoming a laboratory for technologies that return to Earth as concrete advances for industry, science and daily life.
A sharp mind despite little sleep, and easier nights ahead? Non-sleep deep rest, or “sleep yoga,” promises just that. But what does science actually say about this latest wellness trend?
A controversial warning from France’s Army Chief of Staff coincides with sabotage in Poland and a divisive Russian-American plan for Ukraine, raising concerns about Europe’s security.
From embryo editing to dreams of eternal life, Silicon Valley’s new faith in machines blurs the line between progress and eugenics, raising the question of what humanity is willing to sacrifice for perfection.
An investigation has been opened into Grok, Elon Musk’s generative AI, after it gave Holocaust-denying answers. The problem comes from the reference data it uses and from differences between Europe and the United States. This raises questions about digital regulation at a time when Europe wants to ease the few rules that currently exist.
Packed with more and more digitally-powered features, today’s vehicles are more advanced than ever, and more prone to failure. As recalls surge, experts warn that the race for innovation may be pushing quality control to the limit.
In a world of excessive information, genuine and authentic freedom nowadays is not in accessing more, but in knowing what to give up.
An accident in an illegal mine near Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has left at least 70 people dead. It is yet another tragedy in a region where hundreds of thousands of people work with no rules or safety measures, extracting the minerals used in our digital devices. It’s the latest chapter of a recurring story of exploitation.
Economist Tommaso Nannicini argues that the true threat to the country is not low fertility, but the steady flight of young talent that weakens growth, innovation, and the future of the welfare state.
Chronic pain affects millions and often resists medical treatment. German researchers are exploring how the brain’s pain matrix can be retrained, offering hope to those trapped in cycles of constant pain.
France has promised to deliver 100 Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine, but the planes won’t be appearing in Ukrainian skies for a long while. The real issue is Ukraine’s long-term military alignment within European defense cooperation. But the funding for such a program remains an open question.
This isolated Central Asian nation, ruled by a tightly controlled regime and sitting on vast natural gas reserves, is being driven to seek new energy markets as the war in Ukraine reshapes global supply routes.
The author remembers a Chandigarh of proportion and quiet pride and mourns what its beauty has become.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected in Washington on Tuesday, a visit that is preceded by a series of contradictory signals that reflect the kingdom’s current standing with the U.S. president. Every detail of the trip will be closely examined, especially in Israel.
When conservative German politician Jens Spahn urges Syrian refugees to return home out of “patriotic duty,” his words reveal more about Germany’s politics than about the Syrians themselves.
Why do a few U.S. megachurches boom while most barely survive? A decade of data reveals the secrets — and limits — of evangelical growth.
Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart’s 1970s classic How To Read Donald Duck still offers a mirror to today’s politics and media circus — from Uncle Scrooge to Uncle Sam. Its thesis has been both reaffirmed and turned on its head in the Trump era.
Smartphones have transformed the way we go about our lives. Street names, squares — even the very sense of place itself — seem to have vanished.
Sex educator Joris Kern explains to German weekly Die Zeit why good sex is not about rules or performance, but about curiosity and the courage to ask and listen.