Iran’s Presidential Debate: Will Ahmadinejad’s Attacks Backfire?

Iran’s voters had been anticipating a heated discussion in their country’s first-ever presidential candidates’ debate, but even then, Wednesday night’s showdown between incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and moderate challenger Mir-Hossein Moussavi was a rough-and-tumble affair that exceeded expectations. And the new season of televised politics could get even nastier

Share

Why our ‘amazing’ science fiction future fizzled

At the 1964 New York World’s Fair, people stood in line for hours to look at a strange sight. They wanted to see the “Futurama,” a miniaturized replica of a typical 21st century American city that featured moving sidewalks, computer-guided cars zipping along congestion-free highways and resort hotels beneath the sea

Share

German Policeman Unmasked as Stasi Spy

When Benno Ohnesorg was shot on June 2, 1967, by a policeman in West Berlin during a demonstration against the Shah of Iran, the young German student became a martyr for a generation of left-wing activists. The killing triggered the radicalization of the mass protest movement in West Germany, which directed its anger against the police, the government and the conservative establishment.

Share

TV Networks Change Programming

If you’ve been watching HGTV in the past few years, you may have become seduced by its lavish renovations and tales of real estate riches. You may have decided to stretch your budget to buy your own overpriced house. And you may now, like the contestants on HGTV’s newest reality show, wish you had a little cash to get out of the hole.

Share

Russia and Ukraine Battle Over Their Shared History

Fresh from their conflict over gas in January, Ukraine and Russia are again in the midst of a heated battle — this time about the countries’ shared Soviet past. As Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko this week lamented that Ukraine had become “a hostage in the fight between two totalitarian regimes — fascist and communist” and called for Soviet-era symbols around the country to be torn down, his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev ordered the creation of a presidential commission “to counter attempts to harm Russian interests by falsifying history.” These latest salvoes represent an intensification of the ongoing war of words between the two countries over their closely linked histories.

Share

Ida: Humankind’s Earliest Ancestor! (Not Really)

From the beginning, Ida’s unveiling has been a master class in ballyhoo. A week ago, the first breathless press releases began to arrive, portending the presentation of the now famous 47-million-year-old primate fossil from Germany: “MEDIA ALERT,” the notice shouted in all caps. “WORLD RENOWNED SCIENTISTS REVEAL A REVOLUTIONARY SCIENTIFIC FIND THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING.” The press releases were followed by an international press conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the publication of a book, The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor , an ABC News exclusive and on May 25 a primetime television special on the History Channel

Share

Autumn of the Capo: The Diary of a Drug Lord

Prison bars have long inspired infamous inmates from revolutionaries to mass murderers to record their tales and thoughts on rusty typewriters or hidden scraps of paper. So it is perhaps unsurprising that the first published writings of a major Mexican drug trafficker have emerged from one of the nation’s top security penitentiaries.

Share