Concerned by the serious strains clouding its strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, the United States is striving to patch up yawning differences with its oil-rich Arab ally over key regional issues. Late last week, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in an attempt to improve relations. It was his second trip to […]
Quedlinburg, a somnolent town of 28,000 in the foothills of the Harz Mountains, is caught in something of a time warp. Quedlinburg’s historic 1,300 half-timbered buildings are its chief claim to fame, attracting visitors from all over Germany, the rest of Europe and from around the world. For that reason, Quedlinburg has been a UNESCO World […]
On March 26, Field Marshal Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s minister of defence and strongman, announced his resignation from the army and his decision to run for the presidency. No one was surprised by the announcement. It had been widely expected. Sisi’s ascendancy in Egyptian politics has been nothing short of meteoric. Hosni Mubarak appointed him head […]
On Aug. 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain for the New World, ushering in an era of boundless exploration that changed the world. He started his historic voyage one day after a royal decree, signed by Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, went into effect. The decree, which ordered all professing Jews […]
The latest round of nuclear talks between Iran and the world’s six major powers — the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — ended in Vienna on March 19 on an upbeat note. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he evinced “signs” that last November’s interim agreement could be turned into a […]
Tens of thousands of Soviet Jews have settled in the United States in the past three decades, but few have left as lasting an impression as Igor Semyonovich Shteyngart. For many years, his parents considered him a “little failure” because he did not take their advice and become a lawyer. Instead, much to their consternation, […]
The 17th edition of CineFranco, the biggest French film festival in North America, gets under way on Friday, March 28 and ends on Sunday, April 6. Twenty five feature films and 14 shorts from several countries, including France and Canada, will be screened at the Royal Theater in Toronto (608 College). A sampler: Bright Days […]
Cuba is an open-air museum of vintage American cars. On a per capita basis, no other country on the planet has as many. At last count, 60,000 of these clunkers from the pre-1959 era were still plying Cuban roads. It would not be an exaggeration to say that old American cars are as synonymous with […]
The new interim government in Ukraine, led by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, has been acclaimed in the west as a plucky defender of freedom and liberty resisting Russian intimidation and aggression in Crimea. Last week, in a show of sympathy for Ukraine, Yatsenyuk was invited to the White House by U.S. President Barack Obama, and […]
At one juncture in Ritesh Batra’s bitter-sweet Bollywood film, The Lunchbox, which opens in Canada on March 21, the main character, Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan), muses, “Sometimes, the wrong train will take you to the right address.” The observation is apt. Just look at what happens when Saajan’s boxed lunch, punctually delivered to him at his […]