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Eyes on the U.S.

What Watching Whistleblowers Tells Us About Ourselves

Why did he do that? And if you ever thought to do the same…?

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Future

He Traded In His Career At Google To Rescue India’s Polluted Lakes

GENEVA – He quotes Mahatma Gandhi and wears the traditional Indian dress, but Arun Krishnamurthy is not living in the past. On the contrary, it is his desire to build a better future that led him to give up a promising career at Google and create an organization to help fight environmental degradation in his […]

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Future

Neuromarketing: How The Price Of A Wine Can Influence Its Taste

GENEVA – Chances are that at least once in your life you’ve found yourself at a restaurant, sitting next to someone who claims to know everything about wine. They usually hold their glass up toward the light to see the color of the wine, talk about tannins, grape variety, soil quality… Of course, the most […]

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Geopolitics

Robots At War, What If The Weapons Start Thinking For Themselves?

The invention of “killer robots” could radically change the way wars are fought — and raises a whole array of legal and ethical questions. The UN calls for a moratorium.

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Food / Travel

Forget Disneyland, Dare To Take Your Kids To The Swiss Countryside

GENEVA – Have you ever thought about the fact that a couple with three children is at a numerical disadvantage and faces the risk of munity every day? Imagine what would happen if the kids started forming alliances – that would be the end of parental authority. Did you know that just two very determined […]

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Geopolitics

On Edge In Kashmir, Where Neither War Nor Peace Reigns

SRINAGAR – An eagle boldly splits the air, to and fro, between disputed territories. On the ground, an electrified fence hurtles down the jagged flank of the mountain, bumps into the river, then resumes its straight race up heights. In the Uri district, in Silikot, the fence sharply cuts an odd borderline: dividing the Muslim […]

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Ideas

Why The Time Is Ripe For Switzerland To Finally Join The European Union

-Essay- GENEVA – May is the month of Europe, celebrating the anniversary of the creation of the Council of Europe on May 5, and of the European Union on May 9. It is the opportunity to commemorate a man who played a determining role in Switzerland’s prosperity. This man was Robert Schumann, the French foreign […]

Categories
Global Gourmet

Seeking The True Source of Arabica Coffee In The Ethiopian Forest

MAGNATE – The jeep makes its way along a path of red earth, bordered on either side by forest trees. We have not passed a living soul for miles, apart from a few baboon troops scampering away as we approach, quickly climbing up trees for a better perch to watch us drive by. We are […]

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Society

Architecture, Recycled: Beautiful Homes Rising From Scrap Heap

LAUSANNE – This home hangs between heaven and earth. Its shapes are sometimes rounded, sometimes sharp. The structure stands on the hills overlooking Malibu. Its majestic roof appears to be gliding over a waterfall of glass suburban houses, perched on a hill. And in fact, this impression is correct – this home has wings. Literally. […]

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Society

A Smithsonian For The Web: The First Museum About The Internet

It’s online of course…

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Geopolitics

“They Have My Address…” Interview With Accused Mumbai Mastermind

Lashkar-e-Taiba is the terrorist group responsible for the 2008 deadly attacks in Mumbai. Le Temps conducted a rare interview with its founder, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.

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Society

Gaza’s Archeological Treasures At Risk

GAZA – At first sight, it is just a wasteland. Sand – blown in from a nearby beach – covers the scattered bushes. Here and there, ruins, where sometimes children play, barefoot. Welcome to what used to be the spectacular Anthedon Harbor, one of the crossroads of antique civilizations, which for 2000 years was used […]

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Society

Meet Gael Faye, Jamming Poet Extraordinaire From Burundi

CULLY – He is majestic. The concert has just ended, and the audience is on fire. Opening his long thin arms, he takes a bow; in his checked shirt, he has the body of a Maasai warrior. The Cully Jazz Festival audience is shell-shocked by the performance they have just witnessed – totally under the […]

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Society

Boys Don’t Cry – The Taboo Of Male Depression

GENEVA – Depression is usually associated, in our minds, with women. Yet of course men suffer from it too, and often it comes with an extra stigma even in our modern society. Genevan psychiatrist Theodore Hovaguimian talks about it in his new book, La Depression Masculine (Male Depression). This breakthrough book helps break a taboo […]

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Geopolitics

Does Boston Marathon Attack Trace A Straight Line Back To Oklahoma City?

After the most serious terror attack on US soil since 9/11, some believe the culprits will turn out looking more like Timothy McVeigh and Anders Breivik than Osama Bin Laden.

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Society

Muslim Sisterhood: Can Women Have A Voice In Egypt’s Islamic Revolution?

CAIRO – The Latin word, and not just any word, jumps right out amidst the medley of Arabic writing on the classroom blackboard. “G-Spot,” repeats Nehal Badie out loud from under her grey hijab. The woman’s firm tone stands in contrast with the unlikely words she uses. Some giggles break the silence in the room, […]

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Geopolitics

Real Passports, Fake Drivers’ Licenses – How Hezbollah Slowly Infiltrated Europe

SOFIA – While Cyprus was in the middle of a financial crisis, the court of Limassol, the island’s second largest city, made a ruling that largely went unnoticed. Yet it was a judicial first. On March 28, the Cyprus court condemned a 24-year-old Swedish-Lebanese man, Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, to four years in prison for helping […]

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Society

In Pakistan, Where The Taliban Bomb One Girls Schools After Another

The shooting of teenage blogger Malala Yousafzai was just the tip of the iceberg. Extremists are taking aim at all girls schools of northwest Pakistan. What does the Taliban fear?

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Society

Dalai Lama On Knowledge, Poisons And An Unlikely Father Figure

During a long sit-down in his Dharamsala residence, the Dalai Lama answers hard questions about the self-immolation of Tibetan monks and Chinese leaders, old and new.

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Geopolitics

Women Of The PKK: Fighting For Kurdish Rights And Gender Equality

With the announcement this week of a historic ceasefire from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, a look at the feminist side of the Kurdish fight for greater autonomy.

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Geopolitics

“I’m Still Alive” – An Exclusive Interview With Yulia Tymoshenko

In a state hospital after growing ill in jail, the Ukranian opposition leader denounces the “cannibalistic” tactics of those who have condemned her — and vows to fight on.

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Society

After Michelin Stars, Italian Chef Sends Out-Of-This-World Menu Into Space

Vac-packed pesto risotto never tasted so good!

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Geopolitics

Tear Down This Wall – Trapped Inside The New Barricades Of A Divided Cairo

CAIRO – It just happened one day, without prior notice. On Jan. 26, Moheddin Marwan lowered the iron curtain of his grocery store at lunchtime. When he came back to work the next day, he just stood there petrified, as motionless as the new barricade that blocked the access to his shop. Stacked up like […]

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Society

An Alpine Ghetto For Switzerland’s Rejected Asylum Seekers

LANDQUART – He stirs his spaghetti with one hand, holding a cigarette in the other. Mohamed* has drops of sweat beading on his forehead despite the near-freezing temperatures. “It’s really tough here,” he says in his broken English. “Last week, there was a knife fight between the Afghan and the Nigerian. They were drinking, shouting. […]

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Society

The “End Of History Illusion” – Why We Like Change, As Long As It’s In The Past

A new Swiss study helps explain why we think that our important changes are behind us — and how this false belief can drive us to make poor decisions.

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Society

The Tragic Fall Of Oscar Pistorius, A Modern-Day Icarus

The Greek tragedy featured man-made wings melting under the sun. In South Africa, the bladerunner may have gotten too close to the gods as well.

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Society

Islamism Espresso: Cairo’s First Halal Cafe Is Trendy And Segregated

In Egypt’s capital, “D.capuccino” is the latest sign of piety since Mubarak fell. In separate sections for men, women and families, it serves up Italian coffee and “pure, Islamic values.”

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Society

It’s Toddlers And Tiaras, European-Style

A casting call for kids in the Swiss Alps offers a somewhat softer image than the all-or-nothing American children’s paegants.

Categories
Ideas

Along Turkey’s Border, Smugglers Supply Syrian Refugees And Rebels

Up close with Syrian smugglers and Western NGOs. Turkish troops turn blind eye to arms trafficking, but worries grow about who is getting their hands on the weapons.

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Society

“Operation Owl” – How Organic Pest Control Could Aid Middle East Peace

KFAR KAMA – Bent down in his field in this lower Galilee town, Amjad Shami points out the countless underground tunnels dug by voles. Three years ago, he says, these rodents destroyed his entire harvest. Shami says he continues to try to fight them with pesticides, which do little more than poison his land, infect […]

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Society

The LP Company: When Imaginary Records And Fake Reviews Create Real Music

This musical and cultural project in Switzerland aims to redefine the very essence of the creative process.

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Society

Why A New Book About Hitler Returning Has Become A German Bestseller

GENEVA – He’s back. Adolf Hitler is back, in a book by Timur Vermes – a comedy in which Hitler returns to Berlin in the summer of 2011. The book, which has reached the top of the German bestseller list, is causing much controversy in a country that would rather forget it has been 80 […]

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Geopolitics

In Egypt, So Much At Stake – And So Much Going Wrong

-OpEd- CAIRO – As Egypt sinks deeper into crisis, the main political parties, which are fighting for power, are now starting to talk about a “national dialogue.” If they are unable to reach an agreement, the army might have to step in. When he confused the democratic ideals of the Egyptian revolution with the political […]

Categories
Food / Travel

A Real-Life Indiana Jones Who Converted To Islam And Discovered An Ancient City

BASEL – Johann Ludwig Burckhardt’s bust can be seen at the foot of the monumental staircase of his family’s palace in Basel, Switzerland. It is hard to believe that this is his family home when you see his long curled beard and oriental turban. Burckhardt – also known as Sheikh Ibrahim – who died at […]

Categories
Future

They Work, They Sting, But Fire Ants Also Possess Rare “Social” Chromosome

Sounds a bit like Mark Zuckerberg?

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Future

The Venom Cure: Turning Deadly Animal Poison Into Miracle Drugs

GENEVA – Reto Stöcklin can boast owning the world’s largest collection of venom. He has 1,200 samples in a freezer. A biochemist by training, he’s also a “serial entrepreneur.” The five start-ups he has created are all linked to his famous library of samples taken from snakes, fish, insects and venomous shellfish. Founded in 1995, […]

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Society

Adieu, Claude Nobs – The Eccentric Swiss Genius Who Jazzed Up Sleepy Montreux

Local memories and a final salute from French-speaking Switzerland to the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, who died on January 10.

Categories
Geopolitics

China’s “String Of Pearls” Strategy To Secure The Ports Of South Asia

CHITTAGONG – In the port of Chittagong, containers pile up like colorful cubes of sugar. Dozens of ships scurry down the estuary of the Karnaphuli, the river that winds around the economic capital of Bangladesh to finally stream down into the Bay of Bengal. The port is bustling. The newly built mooring container terminal (NCT) […]

Categories
Future

Virtual Thinning: Websites Offer Expert *Photoshop* Services For The Masses

BARCELONA – The couple looks in love and relaxed. The evening twilight gives the picture perfect lighting and the background is idyllic. But right next to them, in front of the Alpine range, there’s a herd of tourists with their horrible fluorescent bobble hats. You know them – the photo bombers, the people who just […]

Categories
Future

Introducing The ‘Polypill’ – Should Everyone Over 50 Start Taking This Wonder Drug?

Set to be available in the US this year, this mixture of medicines in one pill is aimed at reducing heart attacks. Its inventor says even middle age people with no symptons should take it.

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