Every Thursday, Brazilian psychiatrist Flavio Falcone trades his white lab coat for a red clown nose and heads to a decidedly unfunny place: a squalid Sao Paulo neighborhood known as "Crackland.". There are around 800 to 1,700 addicts in Crackland, 39 percent of whom have lived in or frequented the neighborhood for more than a decade, according to a study by the Federal University of Sao Paulo published last year.
Forced to flee by the Taliban, Fatima Haidari now offers virtual tours of Afghanistan from her new home in Italy -- with the proceeds funding secret English classes for women there.. A third of the money goes towards secret English classes for young women back in Afghanistan.
Western tourists, who flocked to Iran just a few years ago, are being advised by their governments to stay away, forcing the Islamic republic's struggling tourism industry to look elsewhere.. In the biggest blow to tourism, several European governments have issued travel advisories warning their nationals to stay away from Iran for fear of arrest during the government's crackdown on the protests.
The move was bold and intended to be decisive.. Representative Jim McGovern, a leading progressive Democrat in Congress, called the position a "holding pattern" and said Biden is "moving in the right direction."
The Canadian capital's iconic Rideau Canal Skateway -- the largest outdoor rink in the world and a UNESCO heritage site -- may not open this winter for the first time in five decades, due to a lack of ice.. The winding 7.8-kilometre long (4.8 miles) skateway though the heart of Ottawa is the size of 90 Olympic rinks, according to Guinness World Records, which in 2005 confirmed it was the biggest anywhere, and in recent years attracted an average of 22,000 visitors per day.
Many major global firms and financial institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to deforestation do not have any policies in place to protect forests, increasing the risk for catastrophic nature loss, a report said Wednesday.. "While there have been pockets of progress, the majority of companies and financial institutions are living on borrowed time, putting climate and nature goals at risk," Global Canopy director Niki Mardas said.
Hundreds of couples wed Tuesday in a mass ceremony on Valentine's Day in one of the last Mexican states to legalize same-sex marriage.. Same-sex marriage is now legal throughout the Latin American nation, more than a decade after Mexico City became the first to celebrate same-sex unions in 2010. bur-dr/dw
Airbnb on Tuesday reported its first annual profit, with revenue surging in the final three months of 2022 as travel bookings rebounded.. The home-rental platform said it made a profit of $319 million in the final quarter of last year on revenue of nearly $2 billion.
A pill that vibrates to relieve constipation, a sensor that can be tracked in the gut -- medical researchers are turning to tiny robots to treat or diagnose gastrointestinal disorders.. The device, 20 millimeters in length and eight mm in diameter, could help physicians diagnose gastrointestinal motility disorders that prevent food from moving normally through the digestive tract.
Pharrell Williams is the superstar behind scores of music's earworms, whose agelessness, sharp taste and forays into design have also made him a fixture on the fashion circuit for decades.. He and his longtime partner, the fashion designer Helen Lasichanh, wed in 2013.
