Sábado, 2 de mayo de 2015 (Continuación)

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

"Can you please ask a doctor in America why my left eye has drooped and my lower lip has sagged? People tell me that there are good doctors in America."

My 62-year-old mother was asking me for help. She is living in a small apartment in the old district of Damascus. Her voice was garbled over the phone. It was the first time I could hardly understand her slurred words due to the dysarthric speech.

The tremble in her voice worried me, because her sister, Anisah, didn't survive last year. There was no access to a practitioner or hospital for her.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

A national election is always pending in some significant democracy: the United Kingdom this May, Turkey in June, Spain later this year, the U.S. in 2016, France and Germany in 2017, Italy sometime during the year after that, if not before. And so it goes on. All democratically elected leaders run scared of their electorates. As they conduct international negotiations, they are constantly looking over their shoulders.

Once upon a time, national elections were -- or seemed to be -- overwhelmingly domestic affairs, affecting only the peoples of the countries taking part in them. If that was ever true, it is so no longer.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

A large tin trunk filled with bottled water, canned food, blankets and a flashlight sat in our Katmandu garden for the four years we lived there. It was a daily reminder that tectonic plates were moving and a massive earthquake was overdue. I was privy to confidential reports that predicted what might happen when the earthquake hit. In a worst-case scenario, Katmandu Valley — an ancient dried-up lake bed — would "liquefy," turning to mush. Thousands of flimsy brick buildings would collapse, and several hundred thousand people would be crushed to death.

The devastation from last week's earthquake and its many aftershocks is absolutely horrible.…  Seguir leyendo »