With French stepping up enforcement, more and more prostitutes are commuting across the border to work in Switzerland, where the practice is state regulated. It is part of an ongoing migratory ebb and flow in Europe within the world’s oldest prof
Category: Society
Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” where he lays out his Aryan ideology, remains taboo in Germany. A British publisher’s plans to sell excerpts of the book at German newsstands was scuttled at the last minute after legal thre
The recent drowning of a toddler in Bryansk has turned national attention to the city’s decrepit sewer system. But Russia’s infrastructure problems are nationwide. At least 10 cave-ins – like the one that killed 18-month-old Kiril Didenko – have
In the 1960s, Mitt Romney was a Mormon missionary in the French cities of Brest, Le Havre and Bordeaux. Though the Church of the Latter-Day Saints is still a tiny minority in this Catholic country, it may finally build its first church in France. But loca
Switzerland is gradually becoming more tolerant of gays. But many homosexuals say they’re still reluctant to come out at work, where clear cases of discrimination continue to occur.
A helpful lubricant for human relations or national corruption racket? Either way, the so-called “gift economy,” now in full swing as the Chinese New Year begins, is key to understanding social and economic interaction in China.
As it does every January, the upscale Belvédère Hotel in Davos will host World Economic Forum guests. Only this year, the VIP’s won’t receive their usual greeting from Ernst Wyrsch, the hotel’s recently-retired director, who has long min
In Germany, Weng Fine Art makes quick profits by buying 20th century art priced between 5,000 and 150,000 euros and selling it to galleries via auction houses. A new business model that tries to turn culture into commodity.
Cosmetic breast surgery and augmentation has been in the news recently following the scandal of dangerously defective breast implants by the French firm PIP. But what really motivates women to go under the knife?
Following a similar project outside of Amsterdam, Swiss developers plan to build an entire village for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The $27 million Swiss facility will recreate the environment of the 1950s. Not all think i
Starting later this year, all cigarettes sold in Australia must be packaged in absolutely identical greenish packets. Ciggies without a brand? Some say it could quietly kill the pleasure.
On the outskirts of Marseille, France’s second-largest city, a string of gangland murders has brought new attention to an ongoing drug war. Inside the perilous cité housing projects, a loose network of dealers, as well as children and single moth
An exhibit about the Cold War will open this spring in the “Black Box,” a building that now fills the space where American and Russian tanks faced off in 1961. It will eventually be part of a permanent museum exploring the Cold War, in the city where it b
Art might be the only thing harder than politics to pull off in Gaza, with limits imposed by both Islamists and Israelis. Still, there are small and big achievements, like Palestinian artist Mohamad Abusal’s dream of a full-fledged metro system c
We’re used to seeing blatant racism in children’s classics such as TinTin. But are contemporary books just as guilty of propagating African clichés?
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Rafael Nadal Gets His Game Face Back
The Spaniard is coming off a 2011 that saw him served as a whipping boy for Serbian sensation Novak Djokovic in a series of tournament finals. He insists that his game — and his will — are back in full stride.
The “veil,” a work from an Italian-French team, is the first new major architectural addition to the Louvre since the famed pyramid entrance of I.M. Pei opened. It will cover three floors and 4,600 square meters of new exhibition space d
Sweden claimed the 2011 Nobel Prize for Literature for one of its own. But a visit to the home of Tomas Tranströmer finds a complex road to communication, as the ageing poet relies on a few spoken words and gestures, his wife’s aid — and, of cou
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Meet China’s Most Open Party Leader
Both by what he says and what he blogs, Chinese politician Zhang Chunxian appears to want to truly hear from the people he’s charged to lead. But he may have pushed his luck by posting messages on his microblog account directly from inside a Comm
From portraits of world famous authors to pulsating religious rites in his hometown, Sicilian photographer Ferdinando Scianna has an expansive body of work. A major retrospective is on display now in two locations in Palermo.
Though he still gets his kicks doing motorcross and car rallies, Rossi, now 32, has secured his status as one of history’s best ever motoGP racers. Before the 2012 season, he reflects on the death of a fellow Italian racer, and eyes the road to one more c
In an in-depth interview, the legendary American director explains how he scanned dusty files from the past in search of the keys for understanding longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, one of the 20th century’s most powerful and indecipherable
Following the lead from a 2010 Harvard course on urban inequality, a French university is turning to the gritty television show “The Wire” as a unique tool for dissecting what is wrong in American society.
Atchoo! Swiss researchers have identified a new species of snub-nosed monkey living in the forests of northern Burma. It’s upside-down nostrils seem to cause it to sneeze its way through the entire rainy season
Argentine-born Lionel Messi has just been named FIFA’s player of the year for the third year running, further proof that the 24-year-old Barcelona striker is already a living legend. But who was the soccer world’s worst player in 2011?
A sit-down with the legendary director-producer who has lately spent most of his time back behind the camera. Spielberg says he has more free time now that his kids have left him a virtual empty nester. His latest release is War Horse, an epic World War I
In Italy, an otherwise happy 13-year-old Ethiopian boy set out last week from his adoptive home with perilous plans to journey by land and sea back to Africa. He headed south, adrift for five days in southern Italy, but ultimately didn’t get too
Dirk Nowitzki has earned himself some Facebook flack over a television commercial he did in his native Germany. Vegetarians are up in arms over the ad, in which the NBA all star makes an open plug for a national delicacy… sausage!
Essay: Jin Xing, one of China’s greatest modern dancers, has divided public opinion after she was barred from being a television show judge because censors thought she was a bad influence on teenagers. A close-up look at a unique role model in mo
Considered by many to be the greatest long-distance solo sailor, Giovanni Soldini now leads an Italian crew in a quest to break the speed record for crossing the Atlantic. The challenge coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking in the sa
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How To Catch A Chinese Millionaire
In Beijing, women take classes to learn how to charm wealthy men. Millionaires go crazy for participants, who pay over 2,000 euros for the course. A worthwhile investment all around?
Recent vows by Beijing to eliminate child begging by next year show that though Chinese may care about society’s most vulnerable, they don’t yet know how to really help them.
Essay: The small tragedies of the economic crisis have begun to creep into the daily headlines. Reading about a business owner’s suicide, an Italian columnist learns it’s not always easy to find the right way to speak — and write — abo
Located near Zurich, the upscale Küsnacht Practice has two goals: to treat their clients’ alcohol and drug problems, and make sure the experience is as comfortable as humanly possible. For those with the money to afford it, the establishment can arrange “
“Warm, sexy and always a little different,” is how perfumer Alberto Morillas describes oud, a pricey oil made from agar wood and its resin. Used for centuries in Arab countries, the perfume ingredient is now also a hit in Europe. If you
The Irish-German actor is now on everyone’s A-list, with a healthy dose of charisma and limitless range, from brainy films to major blockbusters. But it may be the current film “Shame” that consecrates him at the first top of hi
Physically allergic to the electro-magnetic waves of wi-fi coming from mobile phones and high-tension wires, two “electro-hypersensitive” women find refuge deep inside a cave tucked in southeastern France. A dark tale of a very modern ai
In the southern town of Oria, a shiny new “mini” soccer field and gym facilities have been built over the precious remains of 15 Messapian tombs dating from the Third Century B.C. The mayor defends the choice of youth activity over ancie
Television presenters have mostly gone headscarf-free on Egypt’s state-run Channel 5. The fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime – and a weekend court ruling – may soon change that.
Just a few years ago, booming manufacturing industry in the Pearl Delta Region was an unprecedented opportunity for well-paid jobs for millions of young Chinese domestic migrants. Now, shuttered factories and dashed hopes are creating social unrest.