All Global News Blog
Cow smuggling ... it's how Bangladesh gets its beefBeef is a delicacy in Bangladesh, but Hindu-majority India refuses to sell their sacred cows. The demand is so high, however, that a dangerous $920 million cow smuggling trade has popped up.
What the Dalai Lama said about the India rape case at the Jaipur Literature FestivalThe Dalai Lama made his first ever appearance at Asia's biggest literary festival and was promptly pressed by reporters about the Delhi rape case.
- Contrary to reports, the Irish haven't legalized drunk driving
Reports concerning an Irish county council's proposal to allow rural inhabitants to drive after drinking have been greatly exaggerated.
Good Reads: 'purdah' culture in India, born good, finding purpose, a Jedi responseThis week's good reads includes a young woman's perspective on India's 'purdah' culture, the morality of babies, on whether a life's purpose brings happiness, and an unusual petition to the White House for building a Death Star.
Famous bridge in India is in danger of coming down ... because of spitEngineers say that Kolkata’s landmark Howrah bridge is in danger because gutkha chewing tobacco spit is corroding its pillars. Now activists are trying to ban the acidic tobacco.
French flags selling out in Mali's capitalFrance's military intervention has been widely greeted here. Normally, Malian attitudes towards its former colonial ruler range from resentment to admiration.
Kumbh Mela: A million man dipThe Hindu festival is billed as the world's largest gathering, a chance to wash away karmic debt and liberate oneself from the cycle of rebirth and death.
Good Reads: Thick financial fog, unskilled workers, self-helped Americans, and a forgiveness that healsThis week's good reads includes a look at the billowing fog surrounding bank regulations, the disappearance of unskilled labor jobs, the American tradition of self-help, and a profound act of forgiveness by a victim's family.
Israelis offer a 'Yom Huledet Sameach' to Ben Yehuda, resurrector of Hebrew languageEliezer Ben Yehuda, who transformed Hebrew from the rusty language of ancient Israel and the Bible into the dynamic, dominant language of modern-day Israel, would be 155 years old today.
Good Reads: Boomtown slum, democracy in progress, and 'rewilding' in the NetherlandsThis week's good reads include a day in Kenya's bustling Kibera slum, the struggle to promote democracy in the Arab world, and a radical conservation theory in the Netherlands.
India anti-rape protesters: Don't just get angry, do somethingAt a moment when many angry Indians are demanding that the rapists of a young woman who died this week be hung, one group encourages women to tackle social attitudes.
Gerard Depardieu's latest drama: a Russian passportRussian President Vladimir Putin has given a Russian passport to the famous French movie star in what some see as part of an escalating war of words between Russia and the West.
Russia plans biggest war games since Soviet eraSome see the naval exercises scheduled later this month as cover for a massive evacuation of Russian citizens from war-torn Syria.
Putin signs antiadoption law, throwing pending adoptions into confusionAbout 1,000 Russian children were adopted by US families in 2011, and around 50 such adoptions are pending.
India gang rape spurs national dialogueAn Indian woman who was the victim of a gang rape and brutal beating earlier this month in New Delhi has been flown to Singapore for treatment, while the rest of India debates women's safety.
Deep emotions run beneath Russia's adoption banThe Duma's bill to ban US adoptions of Russian children, which passed another legislative hurdle today, appeals to Russian pride and concerns about the US.
Good Reads: gun laws, lottery winners, online education, and tech gets sensoryA round-up of this week's long-form good reads include Britain's gun laws, the burden of lottery winners, online courses vs. the college experience, and sensory developments in high-tech.
End of the world on 12/21/12? Not just yet, says the Vatican's top astronomer.The director of the Vatican Observatory dismissed talk of a Mayan doomsday on Dec. 21, 2012, saying that the end of the Earth, if it happens, is billions of years away.
In passport kerfuffle, Taiwan is stickin' it to ChinaTaiwan is fighting back with stickers after China issued passports showing ownership over the entire South China Sea.
Good Reads: Mexico’s rise, Lincoln’s precedence, and tomorrow’s truthA round-up of this week's long-form good reads include a look at Mexico's competitive growth, the virtues of compromise in multiple administrations, and how facts 'decay.'
