Palm Desert

Readers write: Enjoying home, recycling programs, and resilience in Flint

Enjoying home

Global Newsstand: The EU is more unified than many people think, and more

“The notion that the European Union has never been less united than now has taken hold in the public consciousness,” writes Miguel Otero Iglesias. “The recurring theme is that EU countries are unable to agree on euro reforms, on migratory flow management, on how to deal with growing aggressiveness from the US, Russia and China.... Divisions exist, and they are serious, but a calm and collected analysis, with historical perspective, shows that Europe is probably more united today than ever before. “When it comes to internet censorship, Russia has long followed China’s example...,” writes Leonid Kovachich.

US-Taliban talks: Is Afghanistan ready for real peace?

With the United States eyeing a withdrawal from America’s longest war, a fledgling peace process in Afghanistan involving direct talks between the US and Taliban insurgents has created the most optimism in years. The colossal challenges yet to come in bringing the Islamist Taliban and Afghan government to a peace agreement are encapsulated in a story surrounding a single “hanging” tree in Wardak Province, southwest of Kabul. It was from that tree that the Taliban, three years ago, hung the body of Rahmatullah, an off-duty army officer and father of seven, after kidnapping, starving, and torturing him for two weeks.

Bring on the ice and snow: Ottawa’s Winterlude celebrates a frozen north

The polar vortex that dipped from the Arctic down through North America in January briefly turned the Canadian capital into the world’s coldest, with thermometers reading -24 C (- 11.2 F.). Ottawa has been walloped by blizzards, including one this week that dumped 31 centimeters (12.2 inches) of snow. In a country that prides itself on its northern stoicism but increasingly finds itself begrudging the climate, the festival is an ode to Canadian winter.