Ephrat Livni

Melania Trump, the first lady of the United States, was born in Slovenia. Earlier this month, an artistic tribute to her—carved with a chainsaw from a living linden tree—was revealed near her hometown, Sevnic. The statue, a crude and sturdy work, seems at first glance to bear little resemblance to the person—an elegant lady whose face is all sharp angles—and some have mused that it is a parody piece, intended to be a mockery.

For more on how the web went wrong, check out the tenth episode of our Should This Exist? podcast, which debates how emerging technologies will impact humanity.

Police, environmental authorities, wildlife and forestry agencies, border patrols, and customs agents in 109 countries last month banded together for Operation Thunderball, the world’s largest-ever anti-wildlife trafficking endeavor. And their joint efforts were enormously successful.

Iscar is a metalworking tool manufacturer in Israel that few people had heard of until the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, blessed it with an investment in 2006. It was the first time Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested in a company outside of the US, and one of the biggest foreign investments in an Israeli company ever, amounting to about $4 billion for 80% of the metalworks.

Caviar has long been associated with power. The name for the luxury sturgeon eggs is thought to be derived from the Turkish and Persian terms “chav-jar” and “khavyar,” which mean “piece of power.” Indeed, the earliest record of caviar being eaten dates back to 1240 when the powerful Batu Khan, Genghis Khan’s grandson, is reported to have enjoyed the fish eggs in Russia, accompanied by hot apple preserves.

Some people have seemingly impossible jobs. Shannon Sedgwick Davis is one of those people. She is a human rights lawyer and the CEO of the Bridgeway Foundation, a US-based philanthropic organization that aims to stop mass atrocities. Her mission is to bring international criminals to justice.

The US Supreme Court justices are on vacation. But already their fall workload is piling up. Among the decisions awaiting them is whether or not to review an extremely controversial case that turned texting into a homicide crime.

You know a nation’s in bad way when citizens are debating the definition of the term “concentration camps.” Yet this is where Americans find themselves today.

Earlier this week, US labor secretary Alex Acosta held a press conference about the plea deal the US Attorney’s office struck with convicted sexual predator and possible billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in Florida in 2008. During the conference, Acosta said he felt confident that he had president Donald Trump’s support. Today (July 12), Acosta and the president announced his resignation on the White House lawn.

The US Supreme Court ruled last month that the 2020 national census can’t include a question about citizenship because the Trump administration’s stated reason for including it may be a pretext for a more sinister intent, discrimination against minorities.

US president Donald Trump, also known on Twitter as @realDonaldTrump, has been blocking followers whose tweets displease him. Now, a federal appeals court has affirmed that this violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment free speech protections.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is famous for his book recommendations, so it’s unsurprising when he makes a literary reference. What is surprising is that Harry Potter is among Gates’s working references and that today he called himself a “minor wizard” in a discussion about the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who Gates claimed “cast spells” and had everyone else mesmerized.

Fans of the US women’s national soccer team are elated. The American players won their fourth World Cup today, beating the Netherlands 2-0 and holding on to their title as champions.

The US women’s national team just won its fourth Women’s World Cup, and its second in a row, beating the Netherlands today in the final game 2-0. The victory, which would be sweet on any occasion, is especially poignant this year as the women’s team fights for equal pay to that of their male counterparts, having just begun mediation in a lawsuit brought by all 28 US female players against their employer alleging gender discrimination last month.

The Boeing 737 Max hasn’t been taking off, neither literally nor figuratively. The jets have been grounded worldwide since this spring after two fatal crashes—one last October in Indonesia, and another in Ethiopia in March—that killed 346 people and raised serious questions about the plane’s features.

Noir just got a postmodern update. The hard-boiled detective genre made famous by American writers like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler in the 20th century has been taken up by a British professor of literature and given a tech culture twist. And it’s really good!

The US and the UK have long enjoyed a “special relationship,” as evidenced by a recent visit by US president Donald Trump and his family to meet with the queen of England. But that bond may have just hit a bump in the road now that secret diplomatic cables from Britain’s top ambassador to the US were leaked, revealing a not-so-diplomatic or flattering assessment of the American president and his administration.

Most adults would probably prefer to let children be innocents for as long as possible rather than broach difficult topics, like borders, walls, and the ruling of kingdoms and countries.

Green iguanas are charming creatures. They have a row of spikes down their back, which makes them look punk rock, like 5-foot-long lizards sporting mohawks. They come with a built-in throat fan, called a dewlap, to help regulate body temperature. They can swim in fresh or saltwater and survive on land. Also, they have great taste: They subsist on a diet of shoots, leaves, blossoms, and fruit, including jasmine, orchids, and roses.

The US Supreme Court last week wrapped up the 2018 term, having decided on the merits of 72 cases. These matters yielded many opinions, revealed surprising alliances, and proved you never know how the justices will vote.

Influencer extraordinaire Kim Kardashian West got mail on June 28 from the mayor of Kyoto, Japan about her newly unveiled shapewear line, which she calls “Kimono.” In an open letter on Facebook, Kadokawa Daisaku said it is his ”strong wish” that KKW rethink her use of the name.

The White House press secretary’s job is never easy. But Stephanie Grisham is in an even tougher position than her predecessor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who she replaced last week, because Grisham now handles media matters for two Trumps, the president and the first lady. And she just learned firsthand that working for the commander-in-chief requires that she be ready to take a literal hit if she wants to “be best.”

If you’ve ever booked travel to a destination based on online reviews, you probably know they aren’t totally reliable because, well, everything is in the eye of the beholder. This reporter, for example, once drove six hours to a supposed hotel in the Florida Keys based on enthusiastic reviews, only to find a motel and no sign of the promised beach, then drove home and bought new sheets for a staycation instead.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland is the bank for global central bankers. It’s the stodgiest of stodgy institutions, in other words, and it’s been slow-moving when it comes to cryptocurrency. Now it appears to be picking up the pace, however, spurred by Facebook’s announcement this month that it plans to issue a digital currency called Libra.