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Afro-Cuban artist, cook, and queer activist Nancy Cepero on questioning everything
Nancy Cepero, vegan chef, queer anti-racist activist and artist, on trying to change Cuba’s food culture, self-care, and queer activism after the backlash against same-sex marriage. A new generation of Cuban activists is questioning everything, including the heavy, meat-laden Cuban diet. Nancy Cepero, vegan chef, queer anti-racist activist and artist, is proud to be counted among them. This is an edited and condensed transcript from my conversation with Nancy. You can listen to the full episode, for free, on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nathan Thornburgh: Let’s start with your your profession. You were a cook, a caterer, a chef. How do you define yourself? Nancy Cepero: I am not just a cook. First of all I’m an artist. I’m a visual artist. I’m ...
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
NCDC: Many health workers still doubt existence of coronavirus
Oladipo Ogunbode, assistant director, department of prevention programmes and management, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says it is surprising that health workers still doubt the existence of COVID-19. According to newsmen, Ogunbode stated this on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at a conference to mark the 2020 health week, themed: “Outbreak of Disease in Nigeria: Are We Ready?” Ogunbode said it is hard to understand how health workers who had come in contact with victims of COVID-19 in the line of duty, still doubted the existence of the virus. “Health workers should create awareness on COVID-19, but many of them still doubt its existence. We must work hard to remove such doubt,” he said. “It’s amazing and inexplicable for medics to doubt the fact that the pandemic was a real...
The 77 most inspirational travel quotes ever penned
Our favourite inspirational travel quotes that encouraged us to travel – with abandon – over the years. Maybe they will do the same for you… For us, there is no such thing as luxury travel; travel is, by default, a luxury. It is a privilege provided by the country of our birth, a privilege that many are not as fortunate to enjoy. Sometimes, we have to pinch ourselves at just how ridiculous our lives have become: an ex-teacher and jobbing writer travelling the world for a living. It is absurd, it is astonishing, and it is a luxury. When I first went travelling at 21 years old, my father gave me this quote scrawled on a piece of card. Atlas & Boots One of the most inspirational travel quotes ever penned It motivated me to get out, make the most of my privilege, see the world an...
Most dangerous countries in the world 2021 – ranked
The most dangerous countries in the world to visit in 2021 have been revealed in the latest Travel Risk Map Now in its 12th year, the Travel Risk Map is an interactive tool produced by security specialists at International SOS. It is used to predict the safest and, conversely, the least safe countries in the world. The map comprises three sections: medical, security and road safety. For the security section, countries are indexed according to their travel security risk rating, which uses five risk definitions: insignificant, low, medium, high and extreme. International SOS uses a number of criteria to assess how the conditions in the country may impact visitors’ safety and security. These include the threat posed to travellers by political violence (including terrorism, insurgency, po...
Juventus hit back to beat Torino
Juventus came from behind to beat Torino 2-1 on Sunday with US midfielder Weston McKennie among the scorers for the first time since he joined the Italian champions on loan. McKennie’s close-range header on 78 minutes put Juve level after Nicolas Nkoulou had given Torino a first-half advantage. After McKennie’s equaliser, Leonardo Bonucci produced an 89th-minute winner to lift Juve to second in the table, three points behind AC Milan who visit Sampdoria on Sunday. Inter Milan can overtake Juve by beating Bologna in Saturday’s late match. Before the game in Turin, Cristiano Ronaldo was presented with a special jersey commemorating his 750th career goal. But Ronaldo played a supporting role for once as 22-year-old McKennie, on loan from German club Schalke 04, scored a first Serie A goal and...
Raiding the wine cellar with Billy Wagner
Drinking unique wines in Kreuzberg at the home of Billy Wagner, sommelier and proprietor of Berlin’s Michelin-starred Nobelhart & Schmutzig. Drinking unique wines in Kreuzberg at the home of Billy Wagner, sommelier and proprietor of Berlin’s Michelin-starred Nobelhart & Schmutzig. This is an edited and condensed transcript from my conversation with Billy. You can listen to the full episode, for free, on Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to build a vineyard, that’s a lot of paperwork. Nathan Thornburgh: All right, well, let’s pour and toast, and then we’ll talk about this beautiful thing. Cheers. Billy Wagner: This is a wine from 2011 made by Sven Leiner from the winery Weingut Jürgen Leiner, from Ilbesheim in Palatinate Pfalz. Thornburgh: Palatinate ...
Best hiking trails in every US state (according to hikers)
We share the three best hiking trails in every US state, according to America’s most popular hiking app The US knows how to do wilderness. Wedged between the two great oceans of the world, it is home to practically every landscape under the sun. Beaches, lakes, mountains, rainforest, deserts, canyons and glaciers all rise and fall across this continent-sized country. And thanks to the outstanding National Park Service, huge swathes of it are readily accessible. When, in 1872, the US established Yellowstone, its first national park (and the world’s second after Bogd Khan Uul in Mongolia), it signalled the start of something truly special. Yellowstone became a global model for the preservation of biodiversity and cultural history; a model that has been replicated all over the world. The...
US braces for continued surge in coronavirus cases, hospitalisations
As newly reported cases of the coronavirus continued to spike across much of the United States, breaking records for hospitalisations, some local leaders are moving to enact more stringent restrictions. US officials had pleaded with Americans to avoid travel and limit social gatherings as the nation entered its winter holiday season. But many appear to have disregarded those pleas over the long Thanksgiving weekend as the Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 1.2 million airline passengers on Sunday, the highest since mid-March. That number is still about 60 percent lower than the comparable day last year when 2.88 million passengers were screened, the highest ever recorded by the agency. Health officials say they are now preparing for a wave of cases over the next two or ...
Mónica Baró on committing independent journalism in Cuba
Cuban independent journalist and Nathan Thornburgh talk about their respective arrests in Cuba, and about why she does what she does, despite all the risks. Something unusual and even a little hopeful happened in Havana this weekend. There was a rare public protest outside of the Culture Ministry building. The people speaking, and clapping, and singing, actually forced the Cuban government into dialogue about censorship in the country. Who knows where things will go from there, but I do know this: Cuba, for all of its moldering beauty, should scare us. Not just because its regime is so cynical and self-aware enough of its own rot that it actually punishes people by preventing them from leaving their country. No, it should scare us also because of people here in the U.S., people who hate th...
Holiday shopping moves online amid surging coronavirus, retailers face shaky prospects
File Photo Long lines and crowds at shopping centers have been as much a Thanksgiving tradition as the turkey dinner, but this year, things could look different. As COVID-19 numbers continue to surge, rushing to brick-and-mortar retail stores might seem not so appealing to many, and the holiday shopping season is moving online. “More and more shopping was already moving online, but COVID-19 concerns are definitely accelerating the shift to online buying,” David Reibstein, a marketing professor from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, told Xinhua. The trend is evident as shown by recent data. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, reported that its third-quarter e-commerce sales surged 79 percent from a year ago. Amazon, the largest e-commerce retailer, reported a 37 percent ...
Manchester City ease into Champions League last 16
Manchester City booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League but there were more concerns for Pep Guardiola over his side’s lack of ruthlessness in a 1-0 win at Olympiakos on Wednesday. Phil Foden’s low strike nine minutes before half-time ensured City deservedly kept up their 100 percent record in Europe this season. But a one-goal margin of victory was a scant reward for the visitors’ dominance even with a heavily-rotated side. Guardiola made five changes to the team beaten 2-0 at Tottenham on Saturday to see City off to their worst league start since the first few months of the club’s Abu Dhabi-backed ownership. Scoring goals has been City’s big problem in the Premier League, but they had scored three in each of their opening three Champions League wins over Porto, Marseill...
