A warning this week from the British aid group Oxfam that the humanitarian crisis in Somalia is the worst in Africa is not new. Last year, the U.N.
Why the World Cares More About Somalia’s Pirates Than its People
Tag Archives: netherlands
UK, Netherlands vote in Euro elections
Voters in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands became the first European Union citizens to go to the polls Thursday to elect a new European Parliament. The massive election, involving all 27 member states, around 375 million eligible voters and 736 MEP seats, is the biggest exercise in transnational democracy the world has ever seen, with voters from Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, participating for the first time.
European Train Travel: Working on the Railroad
As any of the millions of young people who have roamed the Continent with a pack on their back and Eurail pass in hand can attest, there is something quintessentially European about traveling by train. Or was.
Vice Versa: Amsterdam Cleans Up
For Maurits Van Brunschot, the breaking point came nearly 21 years after he first settled amid the cobblestone alleyways of De Wallen, Amsterdam’s red-light district.
From Berlin to Bangkok, Hard Times Hit the Sex Trade
In Patpong, one of Bangkok’s most notorious red-light districts, go-go girls count their livelihood by the number of sex tourists they entertain. “Three inches, three minutes, 3,000 baht ,” laughs Goy, a 25-year-old bargirl
Hezbollah denies link to Hariri murder
The militia group Hezbollah has dismissed a German magazine report that it was behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, calling the accusations "fabrications." The report in Germany’s Der Spiegel is intended to “influence” the outcome of the upcoming elections in Lebanon, Hezbollah said Sunday in a message posted on the Web site of its television station Al-Manar. A Hezbollah-led alliance is running against a U.S.-backed parliamentary majority in elections scheduled for June 7. “It is nothing more than police fabrications made by the same black room that has kept on fabricating such stories for over four years,” Hezbollah said.
Bright Lights May Hold Off Dementia
When it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, no one yet knows the best way to halt the gradual slips in memory and other brain functions that are the hallmarks of the disease. But researchers in the Netherlands have found that a simple nonmedical intervention may be just as effective as drugs to keep elderly patients sharp.
Happiness conference promises key to inner joy
The state of the economy may be out of people’s hands, but their happiness isn’t, according to a group of researchers meeting at an international conference on happiness Thursday. Experts from fields ranging from neuroscience and philosophy to psychology and theology will gather to discuss the latest insights on living happier lives at the meeting in Sydney, Australia. Drawn to workshops with titles like The Architecture of Sustainable Happiness and Practical Tools for Positive Relationships, more than 2,000 participants are expected to attend the conference.
Mexico lowers swine flu alert as businesses in capital reopen
Mexico lowered its swine flu alert one notch Thursday as more than 6 million students returned to classes and thousands of shuttered businesses reopened their doors. The alert went from orange (elevated) to yellow (medium). Mexico has reported 1,112 laboratory-confirmed cases, including 42 deaths, according to the World Health Organization
Dutch ‘royal attack’ death toll rises
The death toll from the suspected attack on the Dutch royal family has continued to rise as more details emerged about the man who slammed his car into a crowd during a holiday parade. The Dutch defence ministry announced late Friday that a military policeman, 55-year-old Roel Nijenhuis, had died in hospital — bringing the death toll to seven, including the suspected attacker. Twelve people were also injured.