Section: The Atlantic (USA)
Gift Ideas for a Picky Mom
Zak Bickel / The Atlantic Age: 64 Place: Winnipeg Relationship: mother From the gift-giver: This is a tough one. Mom is picky, and she’s moving in the next couple of years so she’s downsizing “stuff” out of her house—she doesn’t want dust-gatherers, knick-knacks, etc., but she wants something tangible from me because...
Putin’s Wide-Ranging News Conference
Alexander Zemlianichenko / APRussian President Vladimir Putin held his annual news conference Thursday, a wide-ranging event that lasted more than three hours. Putin didn’t mince his words when discussing his country’s military intervention in Syria, its relations with Turkey after the shooting down of a Russian warplane, and its...
The Ironic Intensity of ‘Carol of the Bells’
Trans-Siberian OrchestraWelcome to Even without words, “Carol of the Bells” is laden with irony. The epic, Wagnerian Trans-Siberian Orchestra adaptation that’s packed arenas for the last decade takes as its subject a cellist playing Christmas carols in the town square of a devastated Sarajevo. “It was just such a powerful image,” said the...
Liveblog of the Republican Debate in Las Vegas
Mark J. Terrill / AP 10:36 pm: Bush, the candidate who famously said that illegal immigration can be an act of love, doubles down on the need to secure the border. As he lists off what he wants to see happen—more fencing, more border control—Bush sounds quite a bit like some of his Republican rivals who so far have staked out a position far to...
Darth Vader’s Day
Valentyn Ogirenko / ReutersWhile the world awaits the debut of the latest Star Wars installment, Ukraine’s Darth Mykolaiovych Vader has some chores to do. He’s got to iron his cloak, vacuum his apartment, and prepare dinner for his family. The Odessa resident, who enjoyed the spotlight earlier this year when he ran for office, invited...
A Sith Lord’s Story
A day in the life of Ukraine’s Darth Mykolaiovych Vader …read more Source: The...
2015: The Year in Photos, September-December
Damir Sagolj / ReutersAs the year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back at some of the most memorable events and images of 2015. Among the events covered in this essay (the last of a three-part photo summary of the year): Thick smog in Beijing raises “red alerts”, Canada elects a new Prime minister, Palestinian attacks surge in...
2015: The Year in Photos, January-April
Argiris Mantikos / APAs the year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back at some of the most memorable events and images of 2015. Among the events covered in this essay (the first of a three-part photo summary of the year): Conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels, the beginning of the new Star Wars hype, the growth...
Can Putin Bomb His Way Out of Sanctions?
A Russian Defense Ministry briefing in Moscow Sergei Karpukhin / ReutersIn Syria, some of Europe’s leading powers find themselves allied with Vladimir Putin in the military campaign against ISIS; in Ukraine, the Europeans have combined forces with the Americans to contain the Russian president’s imperialistic advances. The tangled...
Astronauts Come to Congress
Astronauts Kjell Lindgren (left) and Scott Kelly NASA / ReutersTo testify before Congress, you don’t actually have to be in the room. That’s the case for NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station, who occasionally beam into congressional hearings via satellite. On Wednesday, Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren appeared before...
