Good morning. Talks. Istanbul. Thursday. In the geopolitical equivalent of a playground challenge, the latest move in the back-and-forth brinkmanship between Russia and Ukraine has seen President Zelenskyy call Putin’s bluff. The Russian president crushed moves by Ukraine and its European allies to force a ceasefire by instead demanding peace talk negotiations in Istanbul tomorrow….
After the unprecedented turmoil of the past six months, South Koreans could be forgiven for breathing a collective sigh of relief that the political focus has shifted from an impeachment crisis to economic policy ahead of next month’s presidential election. The economy is expected to dominate the campaign to elect a new president on 3…
In 2003, I was at a dinner of “the like-minded” (Oxford University code for gay) when an academic leaving for a sabbatical in New York asked a favour: would I take over his slot as a volunteer reader for a gay blind man living alone in east Oxford? I agreed, and so one evening in…
2025 NBA draft lottery: Mavericks, Spurs and 76ers big winners The Mavericks secure the top pick in the 2025 NBA draft lottery despite a 1.8% chance Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault described his team’s series against the Denver Nuggets as a “slugfest” prior to Game 5 on Tuesday. And as the Thunder looked like it was…
A California judge has given Erik and Lyle Menendez, who had been sentenced to life in prison for the murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills home, a chance at freedom after 35 years behind bars. Judge Michael Jesic shortens the brothers’ sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50…
An apple may not fall far from the tree, but for a leaf, it depends on its shape. Elm or apple leaves — oval and symmetrical, with few protruding lobes — fall quickly, making them likely to end up close to the tree’s base. Adding lobes and asymmetry to leaves slows their descent, causing them…