Postcard from Minneapolis

In a pioneering Minnesota charter school, you don't have to be Chinese to get a head start in Mandarin. Saying ni hao to language immersion in the heartland

How the Beans of Egypt, Maine, Sprouted a Militia

With a jumble of grizzly and wide-eyed allies from left, right and center, the novelist Carolyn Chute thinks of leading Maine out of the Union

Vratislavice nad Nisou

Czech Republic's E.U. Holdout Has Public Support

Czech President Vaclav Klaus remains the lone holdout on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty. He's intent on shoring up support among German-wary voters first

Detroit: Where Private Security Is Booming

With a police force decimated by budget woes, the Motor City's middle-class enclaves are hiring their own to fight rising crime. Where security is a booming business

Kolkata

The Battle for Mother Teresa's Remains

Kolkata, where Mother Teresa lived and worked for nearly seven decades, was shocked this week when Albania laid claim to the saint's remains

The Gay March: A New Generation of Protesters

Why would a generation wired to their mobile phones and Facebook accounts nearly from birth want to resurrect a form of political expression as old and musty as a mass gathering?

A Five-Star Ghost Town at the End of 'The World'

Psst. Wanna buy a continent? As the emirate's economy craters, its archipelago of man-made private islands sits empty. A property bust at the end of the World

Paris

Is France Doing Enough to Save Its Historic Buildings?

Preservationists are outraged by the government's approval of a Qatari prince's plans to renovate a 17th century mansion. Is France sacrificing its heritage to turn a profit? outraged preservationists in France. They say the government is ignoring its duty to protect one of its greatest assets — its history

Paris Expands
Looking Up to the Eiffel Tower
The Louvre: France's Iconic Museum

Chicago's Olympic Dreams

Dreams of Olympic glory along Lake Michigan face protest and fierce competition. Can Michelle Obama save the day? Looking to 2016, the Windy City holds its breath

Following in the Footsteps of the Mud God

A group of amateur archaeologists dig for medieval artifacts in the riverine foundations of an increasingly modern city. Following in the footsteps of the Mud God

Lost Treasures of Timbuktu

Scholars are rushing to rescue the medieval manuscripts that put one of the world's most remote towns on the map. Saving Africa's literary history from destruction

Java

Indonesia's Islamic Schools: More Female Friendly

While domestic suicide bombers and radicals have been traced to a few notorious schools, others have been incubators for a more benign trend in the world's most populous Muslim nation: the development of feminist readings of the Quran and Islamic traditions