For those in the gay, lesbian and transgender community rejected by their own loved ones, a shelter in the Colombian capital offers comfort, but also practical support to build a new life.
Author: Liz Garrigan
-Commentary- BEIJING — Reports about rich Chinese men snapping up French chateaux for big bucks have been prolific lately. Many Chinese are astonished that these French cultural relics are available to private buyers at all, much less foreign ones. But I believe this represents not so much how open France is but rather how closed […]
In the Netherlands, a growing movement to lease clothing rather than piling up ever more cheaply-made, environmentally damaging jeans, shirts and sweaters.
The German driving legend has been in an artificially induced coma for more than a month since a ski accident. Doctors take us inside the state-of-the-art head trauma treatment.
-OpEd- MUNICH — During these past years of economic crisis, we Europeans learned that our fate was inextricably linked to that of the banks. We’re accustomed to the idea that numbers will decide how the continent fares. A good European, then, is a thrifty European. And now the pictures from Kiev come crashing in. They […]
A Die Welt editor spent four months living and working in California, and though many of his countrymen are critical of the U.S., he fell in love with its cool, can-do spirit.
Yakuza, Japan’s notorious crime syndicate, is trying to emerge from two decades of economic stagnation, and is betting on the much-discussed stimulus from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
BERLIN — According to a popular German carnival song, “fat girls have pretty names.” Perhaps, but what’s abundantly clear is that heavier models have much prettier faces than their gaunt, undernourished counterparts. Any visitor to last week’s Curvy is Sexy expo in Berlin could see that. During the simultanous Fashion Week, stressed-out, expressionless stick models, […]
Berlin wanted Washington to agree to hands-off rules on spying to help mend fences after Edward Snowden. Now Germany is convinced the best bet is a deal with European partners.
SANTIAGO — Believe it or not, food production waste can have more healthy components than the end product itself. That’s the conclusion of Chilean food research institute CREAS, which conducted a joint project with juice-makers Bayas del Sur in which they recovered juice production leftovers to obtain a berries-based concentrate with super-high antioxidant levels. In […]
Categories
In Colombia, Displaced Farmers Start Anew
YOTOCO — “The first thing we did was to look for land, thinking not so much about crop productivity as security…” Efraín Sierra, one of countless farmers forced off his land by Colombia’s long-running civil war, recalls having had to move in the past from the district of Buga when paramilitaries moved in nearby in […]
CAIRO — Tayarah, which calls itself a new mixed-media hub, launched in late August with its first video campaign, entitled “Laffah,” with a very specific objective: to bring back tourism to Egypt. The project invited people to film themselves shooting short videos by turning in a circular motion to give a 360-view of their surroundings, […]
GORODISH — In the streets around a village near Moscow, the stores don’t sell official, licensed vodka because they apparently have never obtained a license to. It’s just as well, as government levies on the official drink have caused its prices to surge. But on regular trips to my Gorodish country house, I’ve noticed that […]
Fate Of Dissidents In Rouhani EraIranian President Hassan Rouhani has yet to release two leading dissidents, Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, from house arrest, which broadcaster Deutsche Welle“s Persian-language outlet characterized as “disappointing.” Both detainees were reformist candidates during the 2009 presidential elections and backed massive protests after incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected amid what […]
The modern consumer is bombarded by advertising that exploits our “addiction” to visual stimuli. But after the holiday rush, can we still become discerning buyers?
Latvia becomes the 18th member of the European single currency zone, adopting the euro just as the small Baltic nation starts to enjoy economic growth. Will Latvians come to regret it?
While Pope Benedict XVI sought to consolidate Catholic doctrine in a secular world, Pope Francis is devoting more of his papacy to bringing peace to the world’s conflict zones.
Dec. 24, 2014 MISSOURI POLICE KILL ANOTHER BLACK TEENA crowd of about 300 angry protesters gathered near Ferguson, Missouri, in the early hours this morning after St. Louis police shot and killed a teenager in the nearby town of Berkeley, NBC News reports. Local media reported that the victim, who police say was threatening an […]
Like generations before who’d set off for North America, Asia and Western Europe, emigrants from the Philippines have arrived over the past decade in a growing Poland to find work.
HO CHI MINH CITY — Vietnam’s latest economic experiment has both significant government funding — $110 million — and an ambitious moniker: Silicon Valley Vietnam. Though it could take years before the country sees the same kind of success as the California tech companies it hopes to emulate, Vietnam’s GDP growth is at its slowest since 1999 and it is in dire need of an economic boost. So it’s now betting on start-up companies to tap into a domestic market of over 90 million people and a burgeoning young population in particular. One popular meeting place for start-ups in Ho […]
BEIJING — After months of public debate, China’s Education Ministry has finally decided that the college entrance exam will no longer include the subject of English. Instead, students will take several English tests spread over the course of the school year. This recurring topic is once again heated, bitterly dividing those with starkly divergent viewpoints. […]
Your weekly shot of what the Arab world is saying, hearing and sharing.
In this opium-rich nation, addiction is on the rise as other cocktails are invented including a mix of pure heroin and methamphetamine.
BEIJING — Belly dancing has long been associated with the Middle East, but there seems to be plenty of evidence to suggest that its future may be here in China. There has been a huge growth in popularity of belly dance shows, contests and schools across the country. A recent belly dancing convention in Beijing brought stars from around the world for a weekend of workshops and performances. Two dozen dancers are going through their routines at an afternoon class at the Wen Kexin Belly Dancing School, located in a plush new commercial complex on Beijing’s east side. Fan Hui […]
Your weekly shot of what the Arab world is saying, hearing and sharing.
Masters in the art of skirting real estate regulations…
Monday, November 24, 2014 DEADLINE DAY FOR IRAN NUCLEAR DEALLast-minute talks in Vienna hold little hope that Iran will reach an agreement with world powers today, the deadline, about the country’s nuclear program and the lifting of economic sanctions. U.S. officials admitted yesterday that negotiations might be extended for a second time, The New York […]
After Sweden failed to qualify for the soccer World Cup, Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn’t disappoint; Nazi-era art mystery revealed; The red line for Iran in nuclear talks; and more newsworthy quotes of the past week.
DUSSELDORF — The air is ice cold without a hint of wind. As night falls over Düsseldorf, they come flocking from all directions: thousands of ring-necked parakeets. They land on the plane trees that line the luxury Königsallee shopping street. Men in expensive suits and women in fur coats look up in amazement. A little […]
Using the power of light to combat the dark ideology of the Taliban. It sounds like the start of a bad movie, but that is exactly what Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of the Pakistani province of Punjab, intends to do. “More jobs will mean fewer extremists because we can give people a better chance in […]
RAWALPINDI — When 40-year-old government employee Danial Ahmed has problems with his teeth, he goes to a quack on the streets of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. “The price of dental treatment is expensive,” he says. “I cannot afford it. These quacks offer cheap treatment. For just a few hundred rupees, we can get relief from toothache and other oral infections.” These cheap alternatives to real doctors can easily be found on virtually any roadside in Pakistan. They sit along the streets or in a small kiosks, where patients are treated on the spot. According to the government, there are more than 600,000 […]
Some 100 million people have emerged from poverty since the 1980s. Is that enough?
After Typhoon Haiyan, the scale of misery in the Philippines is hard to measure. For one mother and father in the hardest hit city, it is infinite.
BEIJING — The Chinese authorities have recently introduced a “Ten Thousand Talents Support Program,” a nationwide project for selecting outstanding talent in all areas of scientific and technological innovation. Among those, 100 people would be identified as potential Nobel Prize winners. Similar programs, equally generous and costly, have been put in place before. But regrettably, […]
-Op-Ed- BOGOTA — The urge to wander the streets and feel the adrenaline rush that comes when painting on a public wall or bridge is condemned in our society, which has demonized this colorful art form and freedom of expression. This is a fundamental right — to communicate through letters and images painted on surfaces […]
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford lets loose again, so does Silvio Berlusconi. There’s also a controversy over FARC rebels on a yacht, up-close memories of Pope John Paul II and more of the week’s news, collected in quotes. (cover photo: Danielle Scott)
Nearly three decades after a bloodbath between guerrillas and the government, prison sentences, judicial expenses, and international prosecutions are costing the country dearly.