Performers from Cirque du Soleil take part in a full dress rehearsal for their show Kooza

Photograph: Liang sen/Xinhua Press/Corbis
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Bronx Cheer

The New York borough that once symbolized urban decline is safer and more stable—but most Bronxites’ lives are still precarious. By Harold Meyerson.
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Water Clock from Fez: photo of a model in an Instanbul museum

Constructed in 1362 it was used by the astronomer of the Qarawayin Mosque in Fez who was in charge of calculating prayer times. The water flow was calculated to remain uniform over 24 hours. The sinking float in the basin causes a pointer to move every four minutes. This in turn results in two carriages with balls, one indicating four minute intervals, the other hourly intervals dropping balls into ringing bowls. Every hour a door behind one bowl also opens.
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Lockdown: the End of Growth in the Tar Sands

Just a few days ago, Hurricane Patricia became the strongest hurricane ever measured as it made landfall on the western coast of Mexico. It hit as we approach the end of another year that is expected to break last year’s record as the hottest year of recorded temperatures.
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Did this sleepy village stop the Black Death?

Today, tourists amble through the pretty village of Eyam. But 450 years ago, during the plague, the town’s terrible sacrifice meant its streets were filled with the wails of the dying.
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Too Weak, Too Strong

Patrick Cockburn on the state of the Syrian war.
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The Nightmare Of Grocery Shopping In Venezuela

Venezuela's economic model has imploded. With food production, import and distribution now controlled by the government, shelves are bare. A day's hunt for groceries in Caracas can prove futile.
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