The photos and videos showing dozens of Syrian people and their children suffocating, slumped to the ground, lifeless, after what is likely to be a chemical attack in Douma, east of Damascus, shook the world this past Saturday.
In the meantime, Syria, the same power being accused of carrying the deadly attack, will assume the presidency of the U.N.’s Conference on Disarmament, the forum which produced the treaty banning chemical weapons, opening in Geneva on March 28.
When she moved from the East Coast to Tel Aviv in 2010, Cecilia Sibony introduced tahini into her kitchen. She was just looking for a healthier alternative to mayonnaise and sour cream, but little did she know that the sesame paste would one day be at the center of her business venture—and a possible synonym of peacemaking in the Middle East.
Next time you find yourself craving matzo ball soup on a chilly March evening in Tokyo, do not panic.
Head to Tokyo Station, then walk two blocks west, towards the Imperial Palace. You’ll find the soup waiting for you on the basement floor of the Marunouchi Building, a 37-story skyscraper, at the newly opened Japanese branch of San Francisco’s Jewish-style deli Wise Sons. Treat yourself to an original pastrami sandwich, bagel and lox, and a slice of matcha-flavored babka.
The Italian people wanted change, but they couldn’t agree on what kind of change they wanted. The results of the parliamentary elections which took place on Sunday will for sure shake the political landscape of the country, but it’s still unclear which direction they will lead it to.
The populist Five Star Movement is the party with most votes, about 32 percent for both parliament chambers. Another party that skyrocketed is the right-wing Northern League, led by Matteo Salvini, which got 17 percent of the votes and may be able to determine the future of Italy’s politics. Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party, which has ruled the country for the last five years, barely reached 19 percent of votes.
In January, just a few weeks away from the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Italy, a candidate from the Northern League party visited a local radio station for an interview. When asked about the issue of immigration, the candidate said: “We must choose if our ethnicity, the white race, our society, should continue existing or if it should be erased. It’s not a matter of xenophobia or racism,” he continued. “We can’t accept everyone.”
It’s 2018. About 80 years have passed since World War II. You’d think Italian politicians have learned a lesson from their predecessors, but apparently they have not.
