Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’s three daughters were killed by an Israeli air strike in 2009. For the past seven years, the Palestinian doctor just wants an apology from Israeli officials.
Category: In The News
Maybe the West’s low birth rate arrived when sex was defeated by boredom? One writer’s offbeat reflection on how sexuality overload has backfired.
-OpEd- PARIS — A lot is being said and written about the “Molière clause,” first introduced by Vincent You, an elected representative in the western French city of Angoulême, and which mandates the use of French language on construction sites. This is, first and foremost, a case of guaranteeing safety at dangerous sites. A large […]
It wasn’t long ago that Turkey was a nation envied around the world for growing freedoms and a growing economy. Things have changed fast.
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The Diamond Inn
The half-timbered Feathers Hotel in Ludlow, western England, is a gem of Tudor architecture. Strangely enough, when I took this picture, all I could think of was the time it must take to clean the inn’s dozens of diamond-paneled windows … See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World.
Fascism fears were greatly exaggerated in a system that puts limits on any individual’s power.
It’s a looming question for any reader of the news and follower of current events:Time magazine’s “Is Truth Dead?” cover this week does well to capture the zeitgeist of public discourse in the early months of Donald Trump’s presidency. The central article travels through the place of truth in American public life, all the way […]
BEIJING — For rich and single Chinese women who want it all, America is there to help. The Beijing-based website Tencent Finance reports that U.S. fertility clinics are increasingly catering to single Chinese women who want to have a child on their own. Annie Liu, a successful high-end real estate dealer in New York, saw […]
It’s a pattern that, sadly, is becoming too familiar in Europe. The initial shock of the latest terrorist attack soon gives way to anger, sadness, prayers, and a gnawing sense of powerlessness. And then, eventually, we move on — until the next time. Yesterday’s attack in London had the particularity of actually occurring on the […]
A British-born attacker killed four and injured about 40 others yesterday in an attack on Westminster in the heart of London. The attack coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Brussels bombings, leaving police on high alert around Europe. Here’s how international newspapers reacted to the attack on the British capital: UNITED KINGDOM The Daily […]
Murderous paramilitary organizations that formed in the 1980s were supposedly dismantled. Elements, however, continue to live on through what the government now calls Organized Armed Groups, or GAO.
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Tallying The Flood Toll In Peru
After several weeks of heavy rains, Lima daily Peru21 has tallied the death and damage from flooding that stretches from north to south in the Latin American nation.
The anniversary of the March 22, 2016 terrorist attacks is a time to reflect on the humanity of the capital of both Belgium and the European Union bureaucracy.
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Cod’s Country
It is cold in the Lofoten islands of Norway, even in the summer. Not so cold that the fish freezes — just cold enough that salted cod can dry on racks in the sun and wind without rotting. The resulting delicacy, klippfisk, is pretty darn good. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World.
AMATRICE — Seven months after a powerful earthquake in central Italy reduced Amatrice to rubble and killed almost 300 people, mayor Sergio Pirozzi has declared the town a free trade area, Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reports. Amatrice’s town council approved a motion to establish an Amatrice County Free Trade Zone (ZFCA), under […]
Apple CEO Tim Cook is betting on AR, which he sees as potentially as groundbreaking as the smartphone.
Kim Sul-song, the Supreme Leader’s enigmatic half-sister, has extended her influence to new heights. Could she be the real threat to her brother?
LAUSANNE — A Swiss-based charity, Race For Water Foundation, wants to turn the PlanetSolar catamaran into a floating display of emerging hydrogen technologies. “That’s unprecedented on a boat,” says Alexandre Closset, CEO of Swiss Hydrogen. “For the first time, a full hydrogen chain will be installed on a boat.” The electric vessel, the first to […]
Iran built itself a lavish modern art museum in the late 1970s, only to end up stowing away a priceless collection after the Islamic revolution. Signs of reform could open up Iranians to Giacometti, Picasso, Warhol and Pollock.
It’s official: Norway has toppled Denmark to become the world’s happiest country in 2017. Or, to put in local linguistic terms, the world’s lykkeligste country. This year’s rankings, which came this morning to coincide with the International Day of Happiness, surely has left more than one Danish unhappy, or ulykkelig (yes, Norwegian and Danish languages […]
Monday’s edition of Die Tageszeitung features a front page that, at best, we can call overly creative. The Berlin daily’s editors unlikely photoshopped mash-up is a blend of two big stories from over the weekend : the death Saturday of rock’n’roll legend Chuck Berry at the age of 90, and the unanimous selection Sunday of […]
Categories
Gilded Guardian
Behold this mighty Kinnari statue, half-human and half-bird, keeping an eye on Bangkok“s holy Wat Phra Kaew temple. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
Islam making major inroads in the east African nation. China pumping millions into infrastructure and industry. An Italian reporter gauges changes in the former colony.
-OpEd- SÃO PAULO — Any Catholic who has attended mass since Ash Wednesday will have noticed that the Church in Brazil is very concerned about the country’s environment. For the second year in a row, the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil is using its annual pre-Easter fraternity campaign to sound alarm bells over the […]
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Online Resistance In Turkey
ISTANBUL — The smartphone’s video camera zigzags through the crowd. Amid a joyful brouhaha punctuated by applause, the young videomaker captures the first smiles and the excited faces, still stunned by the good news. “Asli Erdogan, Necmiye Alpay and Zana Kaya are free!,” the journalist comments as she films the scene. The date was Dec. […]
WASHINGTON — In blocking the administration’s second attempt at a travel ban from terror-prone countries, a federal judge in Hawaii laid the blame squarely on President Donald Trump and his advisers, who had suggested the policy was aimed at barring Muslims. A different politician might have expressed disappointment and moved on. But Trump, taking the stage barely an hour later at a rally Wednesday night in Nashville, let loose on the “terrible ruling” – and doubled down on the sentiments that got the policy into trouble in the first place. “The order blocked was a watered-down version of the first […]
Many adolescents watch hard-core pornography online long before having their first sexual experiences. This changes how they deal with their own sexuality. Here’s Daniel’s story.
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Merkel, Martial Arts And Trump
-Analysis- The German press coverage of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday is occasion for all kinds of scrutiny of public comments, handshakes, smiles and anything else that body language might tell us. But the encounter that may count more happens behind closed doors. And Merkel faces […]
There is a religious litmus test for teachers in schools in this eastern stretch of Democratic Republic of Congo.
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ – We often confuse a phenomenon with its causes. We’re in the 21st century but we still believe that the problems we face are due to political personalities, whether it’s Donald Trump in the U.S., the combative former president Álvaro Uribe here in Colombia or Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and so many others […]
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Garden Of Mormon Eden
Taking a break from visiting Salt Lake City“s landmarks (including the Salt Lake Temple you can see in the background of this picture), we enjoyed a nice walk in the lush gardens at Temple Square. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
PARIS — Last month, I made my annual trip back to Taiwan around the Chinese New Year to see my parents. My mother, who is 86, has not being doing too badly even though she has a mild but progressive form of Alzheimer’s, diagnosed six years ago. She has continued to do her daily Qigong […]
The headlines this morning provide two bits of far-flung hope for those still shaken by Brexit and Donald Trump: the new version of Trump’s travel ban applied to six majority-Muslim countries was blocked by a judge in Hawaii; meanwhile, halfway across the world, Geert Wilders’ far-right party suffered surprisingly disappointing results in Dutch parliamentary elections. […]
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was credited with defeating Tamil guerillas, lost his bid for reelection in 2015. Now, his local fiefdom is suffering.
It is high time to provide a new perspective for Israel and offer the country a membership in the European Union. A uniquely German point of view on Middle East peace.
What Silvio Berlusconi’s 20-year hold on Italy tells those looking to bring down (as fast as possible) the marketing man occupying the White House.
Categories
On Labor, Language And Headscarves
-Analysis- Most talk of the “changing nature of work” focuses on the shift to freelance labor, the fracturing of traditional office culture and the entitlement of pesky millennials entering the workforce. But the established workplace — wherever it may be — is still here, and there are plenty of new tensions that have nothing to […]
“GO VOTE (and send us a pic from the voting booth),” reads the front page of the Dutch daily Metro inviting young voters to go to the polls as the country elects a new parliament Wednesday. As the colorful front page shows, Dutch voters will be using red pencils to tick boxes on old-fashioned paper […]
After a work-related accident that progressively made him blind, Vladir da Silva discovered an unlikely skill and passion taking pictures that relies on other senses. He tells his story.
The Turkish president is using Europe to stoke nationalist sentiment back at home before a referendum to expand his own powers. Enough is enough.