Discovering and protecting Venice the city
Sept. 9, 2016 | The Sacramento Bee | VENICE, Italy – This city is undergoing an existential crisis as its once-dominant shipyards, mirror factories and traders have disappeared, to be replaced by a monolithic tourism economy. more…
Chinese art colony’s free-speech illusion shatters.
October 17, 2014 | The Associated Pres | BEIJING – In a tightly controlled society where dissent is quickly squashed, the artists of Songzhuang appeared to be enjoying a rarely seen degree of creative and political freedom. But then, on Oct. 1, that illusion was shattered. more…
Visiting Egypt in turmoil
September 9, 2013 | The Associated Press | CAIRO — More than two years of political turmoil in Egypt have devastated the country’s tourism industry. But for the traveler with a stomach for instability, visiting the country during a lull in the violence offered a glimpse into both Egypt’s modern and ancient history. more…
Chavez’s legacy gains religious glow in Venezuela
March 30, 2013 | The Associated Press | CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez’s die-hard followers considered him a living legend on a par with independence-era hero Simon Bolivar well before his March 5 death from cancer. In the mere three weeks since, however, Chavez has ascended to divine status in this deeply Catholic country. more…
China plays by its own rules while going global
February 16, 2013 | The Associated Press | MEXICO CITY — All over the world, from Latin America to the South Pacific, a cash-flush China is funding projects that others won’t, seemingly less concerned by the conventional wisdom of credit ratings and institutions such as the World Bank. more…