International

Egyptian author gives voice to homosexuals in taboo-breaking novel

Mohammed Abdel-Nabi’s novel on homosexuality is one of six works competing for the Arab world’s top literary prize on April 25. Even though same-sex relations remain taboo in his home country, the author tells dpa that Egyptian society is becoming receptive to discussion on issues long regarded as off-limits. Cairo (dpa) – For the second

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International

BOOK REVIEW: ‘John Quincy Adams and the Politics of Slavery’

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND THE POLITICS OF SLAVERY By David Waldstreicher and Matthew Mason Oxford University Press, $29.95, 308 pages Good biography should not just bring the subject individual into clearer focus, it also should inform us about how that life has something to tell us about current events. This meticulously annotated selection from the

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

Take a Tour of Russia’s Giant New Arctic Military Base

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has unveiled the country’s newest Arctic military base on one of the northernmost points of its remote Franz Josef Land archipelago. Moscow has invited internet users on a virtual tour around the facility known as Arkticheskiy Trilistnik or ‘Arctic Trefoil’. Despite its college dorm aesthetics, the base can comfortably support 150

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International

Trump’s First Easter Egg Roll Was One for the Books

President Donald Trump’s family and cabinet did more than just host 21,000 people for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday—they finally got caught reading. First lady Melania Trump perched on a seat before a crowd of children and read aloud “Party Animals,” a 2010 book by TV host Kathie Lee Giffords, telling

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

UK: Theresa May calls snap general election to be held on June 8

May calls early election UK Conservatives odds-on favourites Opposition Labour Party welcomes call British Prime Minister Theresa May has called an early election for June 8. May says she needs to strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union and hopes the poll result will shore up support. Standing outside her Downing Street

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International

Man kills 3 people in shootings in downtown Fresno; officials probe any terror links

FRESNO, Calif. — A Fresno man known for advocating black separatism and making militant comments on social media shot and killed three people in downtown Fresno on Tuesday before surrendering to authorities and uttering the phrase, “Allahu akbar,” according to the Fresno Police Department. The suspect was identified as Kori Ali Muhammad, a 39-year-old man

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USA

Carrier strike group wasn’t headed toward N. Korea, despite Trump’s saber-rattling

WASHINGTON — An aircraft carrier strike group that the Trump administration had said was headed toward North Korea in a powerful show of force has instead spent the past week thousands of miles away — and heading in the opposite direction. Adm. Harry Harris, who heads U.S. Pacific Command, initially announced in a news release

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International, USA

United Airlines CEO: No one will be fired in passenger-dragging incident

CHICAGO — United Airlines will not fire employees involved in the recent dragging of a passenger from his seat, an incident CEO Oscar Munoz on Tuesday called “a system failure.” Executives of the Chicago-based airline sought to assure investors that United is working to learn from the recent uproar over viral videos of Chicago Aviation

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USA

Hemingway’s love letter to Marlene Dietrich goes on the auction block

“Dearest Marlene: I always love you and admire you and I have all sorts of mixed up feelings about you […] please know that I love you always and forget you sometimes as I forget my heart beats. But it beats always.” The letter was addressed to Marlene Dietrich and written by Ernest Hemingway, one

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Sierra Snowpack Bigger Than Last Four Years Combined: NASA

New NASA data show that snowpack in the Tuolumne River Basin in California’s Sierra Nevada — a major source of water for San Francisco and California’s Central Valley — is currently larger than the four previous years of snowpack combined. NASA’s Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) measured the Tuolumne Basin snowpack on April 1, a critical

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The World We Share, USA

Netanyahu rips New York Times for Barghouti op-ed

Prime minister says calling terrorist jailed for murder a ‘parliamentarian and leader’ is like calling ‘Assad a pediatrician’ By Times of Israel staff Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara attend the Jewish Moroccan celebration of Mimouna, in Hadera on April 17, 2017. (Ido Erez/POOL) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday slammed The New

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Middle East

Liberman: I hope the Arab MKs join the hunger strike

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) addressed this afternoon, Tuesday, the hunger strike being held by imprisoned terrorists. “In everything pertaining to the hunger-striking terrorists in Israeli prisons, I suggest adopting the approach of Margaret Thatcher,” Liberman said. A former Prime Minister of Britain, Thatcher had, during her tenure, taken a firm stance against hunger

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Middle East