| Amtrak crash: Why safety improvements lag even as industry advances Posted: 19 Dec 2017 01:21 PM PST ![Amtrak crash: Why safety improvements lag even as industry advances]( "Amtrak crash: Why safety improvements lag even as industry advances") Passengers on the Amtrak 501 leaving Seattle for Portland, Ore. were handed commemorative lanyards early Monday morning. After all, the new Cascades train was on its maiden run, part of a much-awaited expansion of commuter rail in the eco-conscious Pacific Northwest. As the brand new 4,400-hp "Charger" locomotive got underway – and just after one passenger quipped, "Wow, we're going fast" – witnesses said they heard "crumpling, crashing, and screaming" as the 13-car train derailed near Tacoma, Wash., killing three people and injuring more than 100.
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| A New Deal for South Africa Posted: 19 Dec 2017 12:02 PM PST ![A New Deal for South Africa]( "A New Deal for South Africa") The African National Congress flag consists of three colored bars: Black represents the people of South Africa, green the fertile land, and gold the abundant mineral wealth. With Nelson Mandela at its helm, the ANC in 1994 ended apartheid and white minority rule as the world looked on in awe and gratitude at a remarkably peaceful transition of power. While the ANC has been able to close somewhat the gap between a vast undereducated and impoverished black majority and a well-to-do white minority, a wide chasm of inequality in income, employment, and opportunity still exists.
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| Trolls, ogres, and giant cats: How Iceland celebrates Christmas Posted: 19 Dec 2017 08:30 AM PST ![Trolls, ogres, and giant cats: How Iceland celebrates Christmas]( "Trolls, ogres, and giant cats: How Iceland celebrates Christmas") Dozens of red and white-wax candles flicker in the home of Auður Ösp, in a bright red dress, her Christmas best, as she seats 10 strangers around her dining room table. There are old-fashioned Christmas cards hung across a string by Santa clips. The table is set with reindeer figurines and snow-dusted pine trees, as our tour group sits down to learn about the many Icelandic traditions at Christmas, called Jól in Icelandic.
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