As editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley once held a ‘boring headline’ competition. The standout was a snoozer from the New York Times: ‘Worthwhile Canadian Initiative.’ …Get it? Canadians are boring.
Well, America, I must admit that we’re maddeningly low on former bodybuilders, forged birth certificates or beauty queens. Our …
Osama’s Obituary — “I am a person who loves death,” the inspiration of the 9/11 attacks one said. “If I am to die, I would like to be killed by the bullet.” The U.S. obliged him on Sunday. Read TIME’s account of his life and death. His life in pictures, here.
Symbolic Victories — “The killing of Osama bin Laden is more of a …
What Wedding? — TIME’s Ishaan Tharoor writes the definitive non-wedding story: ‘Five Reasons to Hate the Royal Wedding.’ Love it anyway? Click here.
New Waves— Over the last 32 years, China’s remarkable growth has shown that Western-style modernism is not the only route to modernization, writes Eric Li for the Christian Science …
Have Oil, Will Fight — The West is considering blocking all oil trade with Libya. That’s ill-advised, argues Vivienne Walt. By tapping into the country’s own vast supplies, Gaddafi could keep his army fighting for a while.
Post-Racial — David Remnick calls out Donald Trump and his fellow ‘birthers’ in an essay for the New Yorker. …
Turning Points — Misratah, the besieged port city in western Libya, has become a symbol, for both sides, of the rebellion’s reach. Abigail Hauslohner and Aryn Baker explain why neither Gaddafi nor the rebels can afford to let it go.
New Leaders — The Wall Street Journal interviews Lobsang Sangay, the new prime minister of …
No return — Twenty five years after Chernobyl, TIME considers the disaster’s legacy and its lessons; Krista Mahr writes about what it’s like reporting in Japan’s nuclear zone.
America’s Shame — Amy Davidson’s sharp take on the Guantanamo files cuts to the dark heart of the matter: “We sacrificed our values and our moral standing …
East Timor was supposed to be the poster child for nation-building. In 2002, after two centuries of Portuguese rule and two decades of Indonesian occupation, this tiny half-island became the century’s first country. Its path to nationhood was paved by a host of international organizations keen to make the fledgling state a model of …
Guantanamo Files — The story of the day is the leak of 700 documents related to the notorious American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The disturbing details are, frankly, too many to list. To get you started, the Guardian has a useful summary and the New York Times’ multimedia package is worth a look. See the original documents, …
Berbers Do Battle — A rebel victory in Libya’s mountainous west may solidify the alliance between Arab rebels and Berber tribes, says Graeme Smith in the Globe and Mail; Read TIME’s Ishaan Tharoor on the fighting in western Libya, here.
Tempests, Teacups — Writing in the New Yorker, Peter Hessler, a Peace Corps …
Troublemakers — Damascus claims subversives out of Lebanon are inciting unrest in Syria, says Nicholas Blanford in a dispatch from Wadi Khaled. But his visit to the border seems to provide evidence that the traffic is the other way around.
Killed in Action — Two photojournalists were killed in Libya yesterday. The New York Times‘ …
During last week’s Songkran festival, three Thai teenagers danced topless in front of a crowd in central Bangkok. The footage was uploaded to the Internet and went viral, sparking a nation- and region-wide scandal. The police promised a crackdown and politicians denounced the incident as an affront to Thai culture and a national …
Mubarak’s Fate — Post-revolutionary Egypt is fascinated by the fate of the former president, his sons and their alleged cronies, reports Abigail Hauslohner from Cairo. But the question remains: what will justice look like?
Artists Under Siege — In an op-ed for the New York Times Salman Rushdie urges the international community to …
Rapprochement — The Economist notes the sudden silence on the notoriously deadly India-Bangladesh border. The neighbors still disagree on matters of trade, transportation and territory, but the drop in violence is good step forward, they say. Read TIME’s take on the border, here.
Revolving Doors— French strike craft pummeling …
