It’s been two decades since the flight of many Kashmiri Hindus after an insurgency targeted them. Now even Kashmir Muslims want them to return.
Author: Justine De Almeida
The state security apparatus that secretly exerted control over much of Egyptian society during the Mubarak regime is firmly back in command.
-Analysis- BEIJING — There is a popular Chinese television series called “Tiger Mom: My Sweat, Your Success” that has prompted no shortage of debate in China. Indeed, discussion has even extended to Chinese people living in America, where the concept of Tiger Moms made waves after the publication of a book in by a hard-driving […]
Katrin Dölz is one of 385 officials in Germany handling cases of asylum seekers. Her days are filled with tragic immigrant stories and the power to change lives.
JERUSALEM — Three patients are sitting in the spacious waiting room at the offices of the Israeli medical tourism agency iMer. Through the large glass windows of its offices inside the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, they can see the scenic Ein Karem valley with the surrounding mountains and green forests. Despite the breathtaking biblical landscape, […]
Rich families from Guangzhou or Beijing are flocking to the new Asian “villages” of the famous French vacation brand. Activities include mahjong and karaoke but the beloved GOs (Genteel Organizers) are still here.
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Extra! USA Says Bye-Bye David Letterman
USA Today, May 20, 2015 USA Today dedicated most of its front page to David Letterman and the last episode of his Late Show slated for Wednesday night. Having hosted talk shows on NBC and CBS for more than 30 years, the affably sarcastic Indiana native has decided to retire. To honor Letterman, USA Today […]
Boundaries of personal space can depend on geography and wealth. City planners and interior designers should keep it all in mind when drawing up blueprints for the future.
Over the past two years, so-called “Female Virtues classes” have become popular across China, particularly among the less-educated. The classes mainly promote antiquated ideas about how women should be submissive. It’s obviously a shrewd businessmen’s way of cashing in — but the fact that flocks of women attend them also demonstrates a certain deep-seated ethical […]
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Extra! Let The Cannes Of Coen Begin
Libération, May 13, 2015 “Let the party begin!” The 68th Cannes Film Festival kicks off today and it looks like it’s going to be a hard one to choose from for jury co-presidents, American filmmaker brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. In its cover story, French daily Libération notes with a splash of irony that there […]
Latin America is starting to measure happiness or “well-being” levels to gauge social trends and set public policy. Surprising results in Cali, Colombia.
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Extra! Francois Hollande Meets Fidel Castro
Granma, May 12, 2015 French President François Hollande became the first top Western leader to visit Cuba since the island nation moved to reestablish relations with the United States late last year. Hollande spent Monday in Cuba, conducting talks with President Raúl Castro, as well as meeting his older brother and leader of the revolution, […]
War has compromised the mental health of millions of Syrians. The problem is also transcending borders, following people as they seek safety abroad.
Well-known brands such as Audi, Jagermeister and Granini are increasingly spending their advertising dollars to capture the attention of gay women, who tend to be high-wage earners and very loyal.
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Eurovision Contestants 2015: Norway
This might be one of the weirdest entries of the Eurovision Song Contest this year. For the first minute or so, Morland and Debrah Scarlett’s “A Monster Like Me” sounds a lot like a murder confession. Actual lyrics: “Honey, I’m telling the truth / I did something terrible in my early youth.” Right. In the […]
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Germany Has A Big Old Demographic Problem
Germany is expected to lose more than 13 million inhabitants by 2060. Even when immigrants and higher birth rates are factored into the equation, Germany is growing too old too quickly. Only drastic political solutions, such as moving the retirement age u
The American beverage giant has tried to pursue customers interested in healthier and more traditional beverages. But can they sell tea to the Chinese?
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Eurovision Contestants 2015: Montenegro
Nenad Knezevic Knez, a.k.a. Knez, is one of Montenegro’s most popular artists. He started his career in 1992 and has produced 10 successful albums. This year, the 47-year-old singer will represent his country at the Eurovision song contest with the song “Adio.” For those who don’t understand Montenegrin, this ballad is about a relationship that […]
The Daily Mail, May 5, 2015 Two days after finding out that “It’s a girl,” the world now knows what to call the second child of Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge: the baby Princess of Cambridge is named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. The British tabloids had plenty of fodder interpreting the choice, with […]
Despite serious financial difficulties, Argentina is negotiating major arms purchases from Russia. Relations with the U.S., in the meantime, have gone from bad to worse.
BAGUIO — In South Korea, learning English is a national obsession. Families pay billions of dollars a year on extra curricular education so their children can enroll in top universities and later land high-paying jobs that require good English skills. But it’s not always affordable at home, which is why the Philippines, where English is one of the two official languages, has become one of Korea’s top destinations for overseas language education. Like almost every other South Korean high school student, 17-year-old Kang Tae-won spends every weekday evening at a private academy learning English. He believes his future depends on […]
Doctors in Germany have noted an alarming rise in psychotic episodes linked to excessive marijuana use among young people, which follows other studies around the world raising alarms.
In countries that once invested in free public university systems, higher education is increasingly becoming an investment option turned over to the private sector. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
LONDON — At London’s Ladbroke Grove Tube station, a very steep set of stairs leads down to street level. If you turn right at the foot of the stairs it is only a short stroll to the famous Portobello Market and the even more famous Nottinghill, with its pubs and clubs, designer shops and cream […]
For the past 50 years, religion has been a key element in Moroccan diplomacy with its African neighbors. Now it’s part of the fight against Islamic terrorism on the continent.
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Across Siberia, Across Time
An online series of photographs brings the writer back to his first great journey, via the Trans-Siberia rail, from his native Yugoslavia to post-Mao China.
As the European Commission targets Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom for antitrust violations, tensions between Europe and Russia over Ukraine are only bound to rise.
Bags, pouches and purses are among the world’s oldest fashion items, used through the ages for carrying seeds, weapons and eyeliner. A history of this most indispensable adornment.
At the border between Serbia and Hungary, the number of illegal arrivals has increased dramatically over the past few months. Syrians and Afghans who take the road in the Balkans cross paths with migrating Kosovars.
In our always plugged-in era of uber immediacy, some of us are willing and eager to wait ages to buy the latest smartphone or eat a certain hamburger from a truck.
Argentina may be at the forefront of high-tech farming, but a growing number of the country’s urban dwellers want food produced by organic, local farmers.
SHANGHAI — The Ford Motor Company is taking a notably bling-bling approach to this year’s Auto Shanghai 2015 exhibition, leaving the peppy-sporty market to competitors like Toyota and Volkswagen as it angles instead for China’s high rollers. As part of its push for the Asian giant’s upscale markets, the U.S. auto manufacturer debuted its Taurus […]
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Eurovison Contestants 2015: Germany
Germany has had a hard time choosing its artist for the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Ann Sophie will have the honor of representing her country, but she was not the singer elected by the audience during the final rounds of Unser Song für Österreich (Our Song for Austria), the German contest to chose who […]
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Extra! Deadly Attack In Barcelona School
La Vanguardia, April 21, 2015 A deadly attack by a student in a Barcelona high school was the lead story throughout the Spanish press on Tuesday. The headline on the city’s leading daily La Vanguardia reads: “Shock After The Murder Of A Teacher By The Hand Of A Child.” The newspaper reports that the 13-year-old […]
A German biologist spent two years on a project whose aim was to understand how people with Down syndrome think about the world. She wound up creating a magazine that capitalizes on their intelligence.
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Extra! Mediterranean Tragedy Seen From Italy
La Repubblica, April 20, 2015 “The Migrant Apocalypse.” Rome-based daily La Repubblica, like other newspapers around Italy and the world, featured the deadly accident in the Mediterranean Sea on the front page of its Monday edition. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called the traffic of undocumented immigrants a “new slave trade.” The newspaper featured both […]
The UK’s second-largest city has struggled to reinvent itself for the post-Industrial age, but it’s now looking to thrive as a startup hub known as the “Silicon Canal.”
Locals used to cook their food in bubbling pools of steaming groundwater. Now a project is underway to turn it into electricity.
REYKJAVIK — “Welcome to the Bloody Gate …” The solemn announcement is made by Asthor Agustsson, a local tour guide who could easily pass for a Viking warrior. The ten tourists with Agustsson appear awestruck, walking along a path that traverses two abrupt cliffs, covered in snow, with a large frozen lake in the distance. […]