(AP) Pollution disrupts sports events, travel in ChinaBy LOUISE WATTAssociated PressBEIJINGFog and pollution descended on northern China on Sunday, forcing international golf and tennis players to play in hazardous smog and leading to flight cancellations and road closures as millions
One fun thing about watching electoral politics is that it soon becomes clear who has won and who has lost. Elections are completely binary; one party enjoys the thrill of victory, the other suffers the agony of defeat. You’re either
Brazil’s tourist board Embratur said Thursday it had stepped up efforts to lure more foreign visitors as the Latin American giant gears up to host next year’s World Cup. Embratur said September had seen a major publicity push worldwide, including
You complete me Alan Turing and the answer is no. A few weeks ago, filming started on the The Imitation Game, a movie about logician and mathematician Alan Turing who cracked Germany’s enigma code during World War II. Benedict Cumberbatch
(AP) Global study: World not ready for aging populationBy KRISTEN GELINEAUAssociated PressThe world is aging so fast that most countries are not prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people, according to a global study going out Tuesday by
President Barack Obama’s telephone call with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani took place on the 75th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s appeal to Adolf Hitler for peace in Europe. Roosevelt urged that “negotiations [between Germany and Czechoslovakia] be continued until
Groundbreaking books about the history of communism, such as Robert Conquest’s The Great Terror, Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago or Viktor Suvorov’s Ice-Breaker, are never written by “professional” historians. Indeed, historians typically meet those books with remarkable hostility. Yet, non-academic history
(AP) Germany charges alleged Auschwitz guard, 93BERLINGerman prosecutors said Thursday they have charged a 93-year-old man who allegedly served as an Auschwitz death camp guard with being an accessory to murder. The suspect, Hans Lipschis, was charged in connection with
(AP) Militant group attacks Kenyan border townBy TOM ODULAAssociated PressNAIROBI, KenyaThe Islamic extremist group that killed scores of people at a Nairobi mall attacked two Kenyan towns near the Somali border, killing three people. The leader of the Somali group
By SARAH DiLORENZOAP Business WriterPARISThe French government has declared the economic crisis over and is promising that its budget for next year will bring growth and jobs, but experts are criticizing the proposal from all sides and a true rebound
(AP) Germany gets its 1st black members of ParliamentBy FRANK JORDANSAssociated PressBERLINA chemist and an actor — both with family roots in Senegal — have become Germany’s first black federal lawmakers, according to official election results released Monday. They were
By GEIR MOULSONAssociated PressBERLINChancellor Angela Merkel led her conservatives to a stunning victory in Germany’s election Sunday, a personal triumph that cements her position as Europe’s most powerful leader. However, she will need to reach out to center-left rivals to
Germany votes Sunday with Chancellor Angela Merkel poised to win a third term, making her Europe’s only major leader to survive its financial crisis but potentially forced into governing with her main rivals. After shepherding Europe’s top economy through the
Single-minded revellers gathered for the world-famous Oktoberfest beer festival Saturday, hoping the heady atmosphere of ale, lederhosen and oompah music will not be flattened by Germany’s election fever. The first keg was opened for the 180th edition of Munich’s Oktoberfest
A new study shows that Germany’s progressive Green Party is steadily becoming a party for the rich. According to Der Spiegel, the study conducted by Berlin’s German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) shows “a greater share of high earners and
By JILL LAWLESSAssociated PressLONDONIn Britain this week, a judge struck a blow against religious oppression. Or for religious freedom. It all depends who you ask. Judge Peter Murphy ruled that a female Muslim defendant may stand trial wearing a face-covering
By TOBY STERLINGAssociated PressAMSTERDAMKing Willem-Alexander delivered a message to the Dutch people from the government Tuesday in a nationally televised address: the welfare state of the 20th century is gone. In its place a “participation society” is emerging, in which
In 1975, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad told Henry Kissinger, “You abandoned Vietnam, you will soon abandon Taiwan, then Korea. We will be here when you abandon Israel.” The next month, Syria invaded Lebanon. Last week, his son, Bashar al-Assad, said
(AP) Bach elected IOC president, gets call from PutinBy STEPHEN WILSONAP Sports WriterBUENOS AIRES, ArgentinaWithin minutes of being elected to the top job in the Olympics, Thomas Bach got a phone call from a powerful leader he’ll work with closely
(AP) Ronaldo scores 1st international hat trickBy STEVE DOUGLASAP Sports WriterSpain, Germany and Italy won Friday to move to the brink of qualification for next year’s World Cup, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s first international hat trick kept Portugal on course for
Steven Salaita is an associate professor of English at Virginia Tech. Last week he wrote a piece for Salon in which he argued that “support the troops” was merely shorthand for support-the-plutocrats, and for that reason, it should be resisted.
(AP) After tough August, investors face scary SeptemberBy MATTHEW CRAFTNEW YORKAugust was tough on the stock market. Now, investors face an even scarier September. Disappointing news on consumer spending helped pull stocks lower Friday in a quiet end to the
A team of 20 social workers, police officers, and special agents raided a homeschooling family’s residence near Darmstadt, Germany Thursday, forcibly removing the family’s four children, aged 7-14. Law enforcement raided the home and seized the children solely because the
(AP) Zurich begins experiment with drive-in ‘sex boxes’By JOHN HEILPRINAssociated PressZURICHNo car, no sex. That’s the rule for a novel experiment Zurich is launching Monday to make prostitution less of a public nuisance and safer for women. Switzerland has long
On August 16, thelocal.de reported Germany will soon be divided into males, females, and “intersexual people.” The law recognizing this new gender goes into effect in November and is designed to apply to “people born with gender-intermediate bodies.” This “third sex” will
