NEWSWORTHY
Dutch court rejects bid to ban 'Black Pete' pre-Christmas character
A court in the Netherlands has rejected a request by activists to ban the holiday character Black Pete from state television but encouraged debate over a tradition that has prompted protests on both sides. Citing technical grounds, district Judge Antoon Schotman said a summary filing ...
In a community hall, a group of men sit cross-legged on mats, poring over documents and maps marked with forests, farmland, a river and the village of Gajah Bertalut on Indonesia's Sumatra island. They are gathered to work on their claim to legal rights and ...
Journey to the afterlife: Indonesia's Toraja live among the dead
Martha Kande's family lived with her graying, shriveled corpse at their home in Indonesia for seven months as they prepared an elaborate funeral that is central to the Toraja people's centuries-old death rituals. "We keep the body in a coffin at home," said Meyske Latuihamallo, ...
Tradition, and mobs, keep women of childbearing age out of Indian temple
At the Indian temple that is the focus of a battle over gender equality, Hindu hard-liners are in festive mood, successful — so far — in their bid to keep women out. A supreme court decision to end a ban on women of "menstruating age" ...
The mighty Heera marched through a crowded slum chewing bamboo, oblivious that freedom from life as one of Delhi's last six elephants at work in the polluted city could be just around the corner. After years of pressure from activists who accuse the animals' owners ...
Scientists look to Chinese soup ingredients to treat dementia
The ingredients in this experimental brain treatment may be better known to enhance cooking, not cognition. Chinese scientists have borrowed three ingredients from its traditional medicine practice — a 3,000-year-old approach that aims to regulate the flow of energy in the body — and used ...
People with disabilities make an impact in Kyoto's traditional crafts industry
People with intellectual disabilities are playing key roles in the traditional manufacturing industry in Kyoto, where a shortage of company heirs is becoming a serious problem. Such individuals aiming to acquire skills to make traditional crafts, including Nishijin-ori (textiles) and warōsoku (Japanese candles), are among ...
Japan's traditional festivals struggling with financial difficulties
Traditional festivals are having a more difficult time securing financing for their events these days. In the city of Tokushima, famed for its traditional Awa Odori folk dance festival, attendance hit a record low this year, partly due to confusion over financing. And similar stories ...
An 11-year-old child bride has returned to Thailand after widespread outcry over her marriage to a Malaysian man 30 years her senior, an official told AFP on Saturday. Malaysian Muslims below the age of 16 are allowed to wed with the permission of religious courts ...
The incoherent, divisive dogma of cultural appropriation outrage
Clueless online crusaders risk doing real harm to the very cultures they claim to represent
A 28-year-old woman wearing a niqab on Friday became the first person in Denmark to be fined for violating a controversial new law banning full-face Islamic veils in public places, media reported. Police were called to a shopping center in Horsholm, in the northeastern region ...
Sushi's balancing act: Tradition versus adaptation
For leading food critic Masuhiro Yamamoto, sushi is part food, part theater, a dining experience unique among Japanese culinary traditions. From the closed-off tuna auctions of Tsukiji to the chefs who meticulously craft morsels of fish for loyal customers, each player has a role ...
