Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has asked all government and media to use his family name only–not his tribal name. The president will no longer be referred to as “Ahmadzai,”a name the president used to appeal to voters in the Pashtun south and southeast during the presidential campaign earlier this year. Ghani signed a letter last week … Read more
Major charges brought against a man accused of plotting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin have been dismissed by a Ukrainian court. The man, Adam Osmayev, had been charged as a terrorist for trying kill the Russian president, but is no longer considered to be a participant in a terrorist organization or to have prepared for the assassination … Read more
Stuff people who work in news will find funny: The proper way to leave an interview The proper way to enter an interview But there’s also this: Every month, a YouTube channel publishes a compilation of news bloopers. They’re called NewsBeFunny. Read more
Photography by Lisa Lozano New Orleans’ biggest gun buyback was held last weekend, and it was a party. Art curator and artist Kirsha Kaechele and others brought together the community–as well as artists, musicians and performers–to create a gun buyback block party event where hundreds of guns were bought back from anonymous community members by … Read more
Have you ever wondered about fake art and the authenticators who can tell the difference between real and fake? In this article, world-renowned art authenticator Dr Kilian Anheuser of Geneva’s Fine Arts Expert Institute (FAEI) explains the problem of art fakes in the $60bn yearly art market, what types of paintings are more often forged or … Read more
When the film star was asked about reports he was now blacklisted, Yun-Fat replied, “I’ll just make less [films in China] then.” Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat, known to the West mainly through the 2000 blockbuster film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” is reportedly now banned from making movies in China. Recently, the actor met with … Read more
One day before politicians were to vote on a controversial new law, riots erupted in the capital of Burkina Faso. The parliament and government party headquarters were set on fire, the national television headquarters was attacked, cars were burned, and the airport was closed. Five people so far have died in the sudden chaos. Ouagadougou’s National … Read more
In Ethiopia’s western Gambella region, 540 people–mostly ethnic Amhara–were killed during a massacre that began in the town of Meti, Godere Zone. The massacre took place September 10, and was not reported until Voice of America’s (VOA) Amharic Service covered the killings last week. The massacre began after the Ethiopian government began to forcefully evict … Read more
The government of Ethiopia is guilty of ethnically targeted human rights violations, according to Amnesty International. The violence is directed against Ethiopia’s largest minority group, the Oromos, and is motivated by political fear. Thousands have been tortured, according the Amnesty’s report. Amnesty based its report on 200 testimonies gathered in Ethiopia. “We interviewed former detainees … Read more
Russia launched a Progress 57 Cargo Ship from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan Wednesday, bound for the International Space Station. The ship was launched just three hours after the failed launch of the American rocket Antares, which exploded over Wallops Island, Virginia. The Russian ship is expected to rendezvous with the International Space Station later Wednesday. The Russian ship, a Progress M-25M … Read more
The Western African nation of Niger is experiencing an outbreak of cholera. To date, 51 people have died of the disease this year–deaths are on the rise, with 38 deaths taking place in September alone. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported that 1,300 people have been infected with cholera so … Read more
Tuberculosis is a disease that is seldom heard about these days, but the WHO and MSF have said that forms of TB known as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have risen to the level of a global threat. TB is already carried in a latent form in approximately one-third of the global population, and MDR-TB is increasingly the form … Read more