Category: Trends

The pleasures of Roald Dahl’s work have survived several generations of children, numerous adaptations good and bad, and more than a few troubling charges of racism and antisemitism. The Welsh-born novelist didn’t even work very hard to hide the latter, admitting to it in an interview conducted shortly before his death in 1990, at age […]

Comment on this story Comment LONDON — King Charles III evoked memories Sunday of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as he broadcast his first Christmas message as monarch in a speech that also paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of Britain’s public service workers, many of whom are in a fight with the government […]

Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the “icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as “senseless.” At noon in Rome, Francis delivered the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “to the city and […]

Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world? Scientists don’t know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to Omicron variants circulating there now. It could be a combination of strains. Or something entirely different, they say. “China has a population that is very large and there’s […]

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Witcher: Blood Origin For anyone looking to ring in the holiday season with some good old-fashioned mayhem and monster-killing, Netflix’s The Witcher: Blood Origin, out Dec. 25, is a must-watch. Blood Origin, a prequel to The Witcher, Netflix’s series about a witcher named Geralt of Rivia, who finds himself embroiled […]

Comment on this story Comment JOHANNESBURG — South Africa was coming to grips Sunday with the full extent of the destruction and deaths caused by a Christmas Eve tanker truck explosion near Johannesburg as officials reported the death toll rising to 15. The truck was carrying gas when it got stuck under a low-lying bridge […]

Comment on this story Comment VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the “icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as “senseless.” At noon local time, Francis delivered the traditional “Urbi […]

Comment on this story Comment BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Dozens of hungry and weak Rohingya Muslims were found on a beach in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Sunday after weeks at sea, officials said. The group of 58 men arrived on Indrapatra beach at Ladong, a fishing village in Aceh Besar district, early Sunday, […]

Comment on this story Comment KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. has condemned the Taliban for ordering non-governmental groups in Afghanistan to stop employing women, saying the ban will disrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions. The Taliban takeover last year sent Afghanistan’s economy into a tailspin and transformed the country, driving millions into poverty and […]

Comment on this story Comment As Russia has launched relentless strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, leaving millions without electricity, water and heat, towns across Russia have been beset by their own, utility-related disasters. A huge gas pipeline explosion outside St. Petersburg last month, major fires in two separate Moscow shopping malls allegedly caused by dodgy […]