The Internet has made it easier for Indian families to arrange marriages. But there’s a downside. Future in-laws don’t always know who they’re dealing with. That’s where private detectives come in. For outfits like the
Category: Society
Overly reliant on commodities and energy exports, and grossly out of balance on the agricultural front, Russia’s Soviet-era economy was doomed to collapse, argues Hungarian historian György Dalos. It didn’t help that the USSR kept boosting alcoho
‘Coercion’ is already a crime under Swiss law. But a new bill coming up before parliament would single out coercion in the form of forced marriages. Not surprisingly, debate over the issue is bound to be highly charged — and about much
While mobsters and terrorists have walked on probation, Antonio Marano – first jailed for theft of a motorcycle – has spent virtually every hour behind bars since 1971. Indeed, the man who has served more time than anyone in post-War Italy became a true c
Latvians will decide this weekend whether to make Russian the country’s official second language. Demographically, doing so makes sense. A third of the population is Russian. Many Latvians, however, still associate the language with their years u
Âlâ is the first Turkish women’s fashion magazine with ‘conservative chic’ sensibility. Founded last year, it’s a hit in a country that is both increasingly Islamic and worldly.
Florent Goncalves was running the Versailles prison where Emma Arbabzadeh, a 17-year-old who had lured the Jewish victim of a high-profile hate crime, was an inmate. The warden and prisoner fell in love. Now he’ll be serving time of his own.
It seems like everyone wants a piece of New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and his improbable journey from overlooked Harvard player to overnight NBA sensation. But with Taiwanese origins and a grandmother from the mainland, both China and Taiwan are
On the southern outskirts of Paris, Grigny-2 is an often desolate, and dangerous, place. Three Catholic nuns have chosen to move into the vast housing project and spread the gospel by, first of all, being good neighbors.
Tensions are growing in Hong Kong as more and more wealthy Chinese cross over from the mainland to shop, spend – and give birth. Now the first arrest has been reported of someone accused of helping a woman from China to arrive in Hong Kong just in time to
Many Germans keep working past retirement age, often on a part-time basis or in so-called “mini-jobs.” Why? Some no doubt need to the money to supplement paltry pension payments. But for the financially secure, very different factors drive them back to wo
It’s no secret that Mexicans are crazy about fútbol, aka, soccer. But there’s also growing interest in the kind of football played north of the border, where local teams have loyal supporters, and fans who make pilgrimages to Dallas and San Diego for NFL
Has technology made love letters obsolete? Not quite. Old-fashioned epistles take time to write and send. But in these days of nearly instantaneous communication, that “delightful delay” – and the thought that goes into it – may be just the thing to set h
Italian police have busted a nationwide operation that passed off ordinary water from local faucets as having special powers from such Catholic holy shrines as Lourdes and Fatima.
A group of Swiss Muslim organizations are hoping to set up a national parliament of sorts. The Umma Schweiz, as the representative body would be called, could be up and running by 2013. But not all of Switzerland’s 400,000 Muslims are convinced it’s a goo
Keeping up a tradition that dates back more than five centuries, some contemporary collectors continue to assemble “curiosity cabinets,” privately-owned assortments of skulls, stuffed animals, preserved octopi and other natural odds and
Indonesian-born twins Lin Backman and Emilie Falk used scraps of anecdotal information and Facebook to find each other after 30 years. Adopted as babies, both women grew up in Sweden, work as teachers and even chose the same song for their weddings.
Dance officials at the world-famous Milan opera house were forced to issue a formal denial this week of reports of rampant ballerina eating disorders. Now a second dancer, and the mother of another, have added new accusations of a troubling atmosphere at
At 86, Father Gabriele Amorth still performs several exorcisms per day. He sees the devil everywhere, including in the music of Marilyn Manson. And he’s convinced that Satan – as much as he feared John Paul II – fears Pope Benedict XVI even more.
Michel Debout, a well-known psychiatrist and forensic science professor, used historical data linking unemployment to suicide, concluding that France’s economic woes prompted at least 10,000 people to try to take their lives during the three year
Theater director Emma Dante is a singular voice in contemporary theater. The Sicilian director’s theater company is based in her native Palermo, which serves as a troubled muse, and yet offers little tangible support. That she finds in the top th
Tensions are simmering between locals in Hong Kong and the many mainland Chinese who come to spend their newfound riches, and even give birth, in the former British colony that in many ways is still set apart.
The rumors are real: Rebel film director Abel Ferrara plans to shoot a film about the Dominique Strass-Kahn sex scandal with legendary French actor Gerard Depardieu as the lead. Filming could begin as early as June, Ferrara has told Le Monde.
What do Rafael Nadal, Marion Cotillard and Zinedine Zidane have in common? They’ve all had their portraits taken at the legendary Parisian photo studio Harcourt. Now you too can get one of Harcourt’s distinctive glamor shots – in a photo
As a cold snap covers much of Europe, the Italian capital was hit with record snowfall over the weekend, but is largely cleared of major disruptions. But surrounding towns, which were hit with even more snow and strong winds, have been largely cut off fro
Villa Altachiara is among the most luxurious residences on the Italian Riviera. After the mysterious death of the last owner, it has become impossible to find a buyer. Superstitious locals blame a curse dating back to ancient Egypt’s King Tutankh
Some call her the anti-Kate Moss: Bar Refaeli, the Israeli-born supermodel, is natural in her own skin. Lately she has taken up the drums, and begun thinking about motherhood. But for the moment, boys, she’s free as a bird. Just ask Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
Nikolai Winter can be sure his latest sculpture will get some attention: located on a mountaintop at one of the jet set’s favorite ski resorts, his “elegant” female hand is flipping the bird to all the rich and famous who whiz by.
Op-Ed: The Berlin opera house scheduled a performance of Richard Wagner’s “Rienzi” – Hitler’s favorite opera – for April 20, the Führer’s birthday. After complaints, the show was rescheduled. Still, how could the Deutsche Oper have organ
A blog post on the French site of Elle magazine declared that black fashion has finally become “chic” thanks to the high style of Michele and Barack Obama. The article has come under sharp criticism from several prominent black leaders a
Whether they know it or not, Internet users are constantly building up their digital legacies. But what happens to that ‘dot-com estate’ when someone dies? A growing number of companies are making it their business to bury the cyber lives of the truly dep
In the swinging 70s, the long-locked “German Hair Force” was a major source of embarrassment for the country’s military leaders. Forty years later, the German Armed Forces are once again struggling with image issues, this time related to tattoos and pierc
In the face of both economic and identity crises in Europe, Italy’s leading public intellectual pleads for more human exchanges across borders, to go beyond Erasmus university students, who in any case, are beginning to get together to breed a ne
Ciccolella is an Italian family business that leads Europe’s flower market. In 2004, the company forged a unique partnership with Edison, to use hot-water runoff from a new power plant to heat its green houses. Now more expansion — and innovatio
In the early 20th century, European migrants headed in droves to Latin America in search of work and to escape wars and poverty. A century later, the ongoing euro zone crisis is prompting a new generation of Europeans to set out across the Atlantic.
The 71-year-old Brazilian soccer icon is an ambassador for both his sport and his booming homeland. Those two hats are set to blend into one with the next World Cup slated for Brazil in two years. In the meantime, he’s also glad to talk about &am
Part military strategist, part philosopher-king, Frederick the Great ruled what is today the heart of Germany through nearly half of the 18th century. Exactly 300 years from his birth, one German writer takes an unflinching (and ironic) look at Frederick&
Analysis: The sheer volume of producers, along with arcane systems of public oversight, means tainted food scandals are a regular affair in China. Beijing would be wise to look westward for business-driven systems of reducing food safety risks.
Some 500 people annually spend a night in Zurich’s so-called “Boozers’ Hotel,” a sober-up facility run by local police. City officials agree they need to keep the drunk tank operating, but debate over who should pay for
Zurich’s “2047 Crew” is believed to be using paint-filled fire extinguishers to reach higher and wider with their signature tags in the otherwise immaculate Swiss city. It is another sign of graffiti writers getting bolder – both in terms of tools and tar