It is easy to miss the spirit gate that guards the entrance to Phiyer, a remote village in northern Laos. Half submerged in weeds beside a field of towering sugarcane, the simple wooden structure resembles a set of miniature rustic goalposts
Tag Archives: northern
Caffeine and Pregnancy: How Risky?
Several studies suggest a link between caffeine consumption and risk of miscarriage. But the cause and effect has never been clear: does caffeine increase a woman’s risk of miscarrying, or do women who are already at low risk for miscarriage tend not to drink caffeine?
Palin’s Pipeline to Nowhere?
In 2001, a burly anchorage longshoreman named Scott Heyworth turned up in the nearby town of Wasilla for a meeting with its mayor, Sarah Palin. Heyworth, a local Democratic activist, had grown tired of waiting for the Big Three oil companies to tap their huge natural-gas reserves in the state’s North Slope, the long swatch of northern Alaska tundra that includes the largest oil and gas fields in North America
Another Ice Age?
In Africa, drought continues for the sixth consecutive year, adding terribly to the toll of famine victims. During 1972 record rains in parts of the U.S., Pakistan and Japan caused some of the worst flooding in centuries.
How the G-Man Got His Groove Back
FBI Director Bob Mueller glanced at the black chronograph he wears Marine-style, the face inside his wrist. It was 7:38 a.m
China Tiger Deaths Spark Inquiry, Calls for Animal Rights
It is an irony not lost on the Chinese public that the Year of the Tiger has not been good for the big cats.
Will Goodluck Jonathan Bring Good Luck to Nigeria?
At first glance, the election of Nigeria’s incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, who took nearly 60% of the votes cast, signals more of the same.
Lebanon-Israel Tensions Rise over Offshore Oil and Gas
For most countries, the existence of a massive fossil-fuel deposit within its sovereign territory would be gratefully welcomed as an economic windfall. But the delight in Israel at the recent giant gas discovery off its northern coastline is tempered by the knowledge that it could provide the spark to ignite the next war between the Jewish state and its mortal foe to the north, Lebanon’s militant Shi’ite Hizballah.
Hanoi’s Reclusive Lake Turtle Forced Out of Its Shell
It was a lengthy, set-back laden struggle watched by a city of increasingly curious people.
Barry Bonds Trial: Why the Government Should Get Over It
This weekend, college basketball will whittle its postseason tournament down to the Final Four.