Society

When astronauts return from space, many of them report that their perspective of life on earth has been transformed for the better. All differences, borders and barriers seem less important when you’ve seen the planet from 250 miles (400 km) above the surface, they say. For this reason, BBC features …

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba | AFP |  Cuba will respect Fidel Castro’s dying wish that no statues be erected in his honor and no streets be named after him, President Raul Castro said. The national assembly will introduce legislation at its next session later this month so that “his wish …

Chengalpattu, India | AFP | A small scythe, a crowbar and a bundle of canvas bags are all that Kali and Vedan carry when they venture into the fields of southern India to catch some of the world’s deadliest snakes. Their skills, passed from generation to generation of the Irula …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has been charged with drink driving, police revealed on Saturday. Toure was driving in Dagenham in east London at the time of the alleged offence on Monday evening. The Metropolitan police said the 33-year-old was then charged on Tuesday …

Paris, France | AFP | A good night’s sleep may reinforce negative memories in the brain, researchers said on Tuesday, lending scientific credence to the time-worn caution against going to bed angry. Slipping into slumber while holding on to a freshly-formed bad memory engraves it in the brain, making it …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP |  A public television station in Morocco has apologised after uproar on social media followed its broadcast of an item on makeup to hide the facial bruises of battered women. The sequence — marking last week’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — …

  Breaking the norm, symbolism, and escapism Critics are always praising works of art for being urgent, challenging, disturbing, and provocative and so forth. But is that what people actually want from the art? It is well known that most (visual) art produced nowadays exists almost entirely to allow the …

Bishops’ statement on genocide seen as positive In 1994, violence erupted in Rwanda after a plane carrying then president Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down. Thousands of ethnic Tutsis, a minority group who became a target after Habyarimana’s death, sought refuge in the country’s Catholic and Protestant churches. Hutu militia surrounded …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis declared Monday that all priests would have the right permanently to forgive abortion, seen as a significant outreach by the Catholic Church to women. “I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who …

Ask Aline Kabanda the key to Rwanda’s future success, and she will tell you: educating and empowering women, writes Jennifer Mattson. “I like to quote Nelson Mandela, who said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,'” says Kabanda, the country director for the …