Rosa Roisinblit was getting ready for her weekly salon appointment when she received the phone call that would alter the course of her life. “Se llevaron a los chicos,” she heard the distressed voice on the other line say. They took the kids. It was a Saturday morning in October 1978, two years after military … Read more
In 1992, Vladimir Putin— who at the time was deputy mayor of the Russian port city of St. Petersburg— commissioned a film about himself called “Vlast,” a Russian word meaning power. In it, he argued passionately for the West to invest in Russian industry. After he became Russia’s president in 2012, he continued to project … Read more
Want to look evil straight in the eye? Scientists have put a face to a notorious name after digitally reconstructing the visage of one of history’s greatest monsters — Ivan The Terrible. “It was a very interesting experience as it involved not only facial approximation, but the study of his story,” graphics designer Cicero Moraes … Read more
In 2009, Mutassim Khadafy, the then 34-year-old son of the ruthless Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy and the African country’s National Security Advisor, wanted to vacation in Las Vegas. But he didn’t want his every move — particularly the illegal ones — to end up in the news. So he hired Phil Elwood, a self-described PR … Read more
Don’t even go there. The United States has renewed its “do not travel” warning for Venezuela, urging American travelers to understand that their government “has no ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens” who run into trouble. Officials blamed the notice — the most severe the Department of State can issue — on civil unrest, … Read more
Is it ale Qaeda? A UK brewery found itself embroiled in controversy when an Osama Bin Laden-themed beer sold out after going viral online. “We’ve woken up the last couple of mornings with thousands and thousands and thousands of notifications,” Luke Mitchell, owner of the Mitchell Brewing Co in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, told the BBC of … Read more
The first time Monica Macias met an American, she ran away. She was terrified, she said, convinced that she was in imminent danger. The teachings came from the men who raised her — not one but two brutal dictators. Francisco Macias Nguema, her biological father and the first president of Equatorial Guinea, committed so many atrocities … Read more
The reigning champion on “Jeopardy!” left Twitter on Tuesday after several viewers compared the Tennessee native to Adolf Hitler. Brian Henegar, who works at Pilot Flying J truck stop, appeared on the Monday episode and swept the competition — dethroning reigning champ Crystal Zhao with a whopping $23,201 in winnings. Sadly, the 40-year-old’s victory did … Read more