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Stuck in 1915 How Turkey and Armenia blew their big chance at peace. BY THOMAS DE WAAL   |   APRIL 15, 2010 Not many borders are closed in our globalized world, but the frontier between Armenia and Turkey is still a dead zone where the railroad stops. The closed border is a strange anomaly in the new Europe that stems from two old tragedies: the still unresolved conflict of the early 1990s between Armenia and Turkey's ally Azerbaijan, and the catastrophe of 1915 when the entire Armenian population of eastern Anatolia was deported or killed in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. People on both sides of this closed border want it open. Last month I flew between the Armenian capital of Yerevan and Istanbul -- the two countries do at least have an air connection. The standard look of the Armenian businessmen packing the plane was slightly menacing at first. They all had dark leather jackets and hair cut short to the scalp, concealing a cheerful friendliness toward Turks. The...

A farmer took this picture of the Eyjafjöll volcano shortly after its most recent eruption.  http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/04/16/2273156.aspx

http://photo.newsweek.com/2010/4/largest-volcano-eruptions.html Volcanic eruption grounds thousands of fliers across Europe By Anthony Faiola and Karla Adam Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, April 17, 2010; A01  LONDON -- With a monstrous cloud of volcanic ash closing down airports from  Britain  to Finland to Austria on Friday, much of Europe was confronting a bizarre question: What do you do in a world without air travel? Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, returning from Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, was managing matters from his iPad in Madrid. European royals, who had planned to attend the queen of Denmark's 70th birthday party in Copenhagen, sent their apologies. And tens of thousands of ordinary would-be passengers turned to videoconferencing or made a mad dash for trains and ferries. Plumes of  ash from an Icelandic volcano  have spread across 12 nations. As of Friday, 17,000 flights -- more than double the number Thur...

Allure of the Automobile A new show at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta is displaying “rolling works of art” built from 1930 to 1965. Rarely seen on the road, they are collectors items now owned by museums and by enthusiasts. Shown here is a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900B, Touring Berlinetta Chassis No. 412035. Lent by Jon and Mary Shirley of Bellevue, Wash. Only 30 of these were built for road use because they cost so much at the time. “In 1948, when owned by Frank Griswold, this 10-year-old 8C2900B Berlinetta won the first Watkins Glen Grand Prix, beating many newer cars,” the High Museum says. “The Allure of the Automobile” runs through June 20, 2010. 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato Lent by David and Ginny Sydorick of Beverly Hills, Calif. 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante, Chassis No. 57562 Lent by William E. (Chip) Connor II, of Deepwater Bay, Hong Kong. Only 710 Type 57s were built between 1934 and 1940. A sister of this car was discovered mouldering in the garage of a reclusive orthop...