The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sets off youth groups to enforce lockdowns and wants to control the ‘demand’ for oxygen cylinders.
Category: In The News
Paris has considered Chad’s army to be the most solid, experienced and tenacious in the region. But the death of Idriss Déby could change the dynamics in the French-backed fight against jihadists in the Sahel region of Africa.
Belgium’s vaccination campaign is a prime example, computer scientist Hugues Bersini argues, of how technology can not only improve efficiency, but also, in some cases, make things more fair.
After the young Black American poet’s breakthrough at Biden’s inauguration, some say her work shouldn’t be translated by white non-women. One woman writer from Martinique says these critics are undermining the essence of translation.
In Austria, they call it Darmwind — literally “bowel wind.” In June 2020, a man was fined 500 euros for intentionally letting one such Darwmind go at police officers approaching him for an identity check as he sat on a bench in a Viennese park. The Vienna Regional Administrative Court has now reduced the fine […]
More than two years after the opposition leader proclaimed himself the country’s ‘legitimate’ leader, the man he was hoping to oust — President Nicolas Maduro — is still very much in charge.
Family members who lost a loved one in the early months of the pandemic, at the height of the restrictions, are now demanding a national day of mourning.
When I blew the candles on my 29th birthday cake, on March 27th 2020, it was only 10 days after the first lockdown had begun in France. Still, I felt lucky. I remember telling myself that, even though the day included no friends, at least in 2021 for the much more momentous passage into la […]
Besides partially destroying a key nuclear installation, the suspected sabotage at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility is also exacerbating tensions within Iran’s leadership ranks. Was that part of the purpose of the attack?
With water rationing, soaring food prices and an economic crisis brought on by COVID-19, Algerians begin the month of fasting in difficult conditions.
As part of a medical study, the mid-sized Brazilian city of Serrana is now nearly 100% vaccinated, even as the rest of the country is crumbling under COVID’s toll.
From a Swiss music box to a Chilean quilt, different projects seek to leave a tangible sign of those we’ve lost.
Women in Egypt have definitively broken the silence around sexual violence — but what comes next?
This was a different kind of monkey business. Police say they’ve arrested two men in New Delhi for allegedly using monkeys to rob people in motorized rickshaws. The case came to light in early March, when a man in the Indian city’s Malviya Nagar neighborhood reported that three men carrying monkeys had robbed him of […]
For the first time in 20 years, Myanmar regime fighter jets dropped bombs on territory partly controlled by the KNU, an armed group that has been fighting the central government for seven decades and bears the name of a large ethnic minority, the Karen.
Residents of the state’s ‘bastis’ get free rations and state-provided services on the back of ID documents with proof of address. But their homes are also subject to frequent demolition on the grounds that they are illegal encroachment.
The University of Oxford is planning to change its curriculum to focus on fewer white composers and more non-European music. But does it really make sense to bury Beethoven and Brahms?
Across the globe, mafia syndicates, white-collar criminals, hackers and scammers are finding novel ways to profit from the ongoing health crisis.
By closing bars and restaurants, we are not only depriving the sharing of meals but also the real exchange of ideas.
Only about 150,000 of the country’s 100 million people have been vaccinated so far against COVID-19, and in some crowded health centers, people wait hours only to be turned away.
Mexican President López Obrador has made it clear that he prefers keeping the United States at arm’s length.
A century ago, during the Spanish flu pandemic, Americans were eager let down their guard and get on with normal life. The consequences were enormous.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/SvrqUfd_El8 expand=1] One year into the coronavirus pandemic, Brazil registered its deadliest month in March. In the 31 days that have just passed, 66,573 people were killed by COVID-19, more than double the previous monthly high. The explosion of cases is largely blamed on the local virus variant, believed to be more contagious, having […]
Perhaps it was looking to make a statement about the carbon footprint of the food industry, or maybe it was hoping to hop up the Eiffel Tower some day. No one will ever know why (or how) the tiny Guadeloupean frog clung to a banana for 6,400 kilometers to land in Europe, but the odd […]
ROME — A deep dive into Italian anti-vaxxer social media groups leaves me stunned. For them, AstraZeneca, Pfizer/Biontech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and the others are very dangerous, lethal poisons. They keep track of all the alleged casualties of the vaccine roll-out — even if they are just a repetition of the same articles, drawn […]
The usually hushed words of international diplomats is a reflection of our real-time communication age, but also of rising tensions on an unsettled geopolitical chessboard.
A year after the world’s second most populous nation went into quarantine, a new study aims to calculate the cost in terms of mental health illness, suicide and inability to receive medical care.
Alexander Lukashenko’s regime is sending more and more protesters to prison to try to prevent a new mass mobilization.
A major bust last week of a Colombian-led narcotics ring deep in the Spanish Pyrenees led to the arrest of 12 people, the seizure of two kilograms of cocaine and the discovery of the laboratory where the drug was processed. Police say they discovered the traffickers while on the trail of the killer of a […]
The Islamic Republic allows girls as young as 13 to marry legally. On top of that, a lack of enforcement means that elementary school age children may be forced into marriage as well.
The enduring pandemic has forced the world to develop new ways of working. What once were casual chats at water coolers are now endless WhatsApp group message chains, while cubicles and corner offices have been replaced by everyone’s home kitchen table… not to mention your children doing (or not doing!) their schoolwork beside you. The […]
Close brushes with bulls are part of the culture of Arles, which maintains a strong tradition of bullfighting in local Roman ampitheaters and annual festivals with well-organized courses of the bulls through the streets of the southern French city. But on Tuesday, it was the bulls who chose the time and place to brush with […]
Thousands of tons of trash are sent from Italy to Bulgaria illegally each year. Between poor controls and political complicity, wealth-hungry entrepreneurs — and the mafia — and local oligarchs earn millions as Eastern Europe turns into a rubbish dump.
In one of the world’s poorest countries, cheese is still a niche market. And yet, little by little, even the working class are starting to getting a taste.
Chile planned its COVID vaccinations in advance, and reserved millions of doses while Argentina dithered.
The official announcement came Thursday evening from European Union health officials, but it simply confirmed what we already knew: the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe. And most European countries will recommence distributing the jab, as the vaccination campaigns continue to be far slower than promised. For Guy Vallancien, a member of the French Academy of Medicine, […]
In our digital era, having a pretty face is more important than ever. We spend our workdays staring at ourselves on Zoom cameras, and our off-time watching TikTok and Instagram videos. Applying online face filters for slimming noses, tucking cheeks, perfecting skin is always an option. Of course, there are also more, well, permanent effects […]
As elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s decision to suspend the use of the vaccine makes no logical sense when you weigh the risks and benefits in concrete figures.
Too generous…with others.
Even with his blood pouring out, Jorge Eduardo Yaso exhibited serious sang-froid. The Colombian policeman had intervened to break up a brawl earlier this month in San Cristóbal, just south of Bogotá, when his lower right arm and his right hand was severed with a machete. In spite of the “stress’ of the situation, Yaso […]