The Two-Way - News Blog

U.S. Treasury Cracks Down on Luxury-Home Money Laundering

The feds are trying to make it harder for criminals to turn ill-gotten gains into clean cash by anonymously investing in expensive real estate, then selling and walking off with the money.

Commentary

Everyone Uses Singular 'They,' Whether They Realize It Or Not FA

The singular, gender-neutral usage of "they" is now acceptable on college campuses, among the genderqueer and in The Washington Post. Linguist Geoff Nunberg traces the rise of the new "they."

Fresh Air

People pay tribute to British singer David Bowie in front of a mural by artist Jimmy C in London on Jan. 11.

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

It Is To Space That We Go With David Bowie

While the late musician produced many hits, he was in love with the space race, as evidenced by songs like "Starman," "Life on Mars?" and "Space Oddity," says astrophysicist and fan Marcelo Gleiser.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign stop at the Electric Park Ballroom on January 11, 2016 in Waterloo, Iowa.

Politics

Clinton Would Raise Taxes On The Wealthy. Here's What You Need To Know

The Democrat's latest proposal would raise rates on the very (very) richest Americans and raise revenue, but it would further complicate the tax system and could be a minor drag on the economy.

Plates piled with traditional Syrian food cover the table at Orijinal Halep Lokantasi, a restaurant in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.

The Salt

For Exiles In Turkey, Syrian Eateries Offer Taste Of Better Times

Having fled a bloody civil war at home, these Syrian refugees are determined to keep alive something even terrorists can't kill: their love of traditional dishes.

Budapest Foodies Hope Cuisine Can Help Heal Anti-Migrant Prejudice

Monte Irvin poses during spring training in this 1952 photo. The Hall-of-Famer died Monday at age 96.

The Two-Way - News Blog

Willie Mays Remembers Mentor Monte Irvin

Irvin, who died on Monday at 96, was one of the first black players in Major League Baseball. He showed Mays the ropes when Mays entered the league. Irvin, Mays said, was "like my father."

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Sending a probe to Pluto — based on the cost of the New Horizons probe — would be out of your budget.

The Two-Way - News Blog

What The Powerball Cash Could — And Couldn't — Buy

It's a big chunk of change. You could make the next two Star Wars movies! But it's not Koch Brothers big. It's not saving-Miami-from-climate-change big. It's not buying-BuzzFeed big.

Great Expectations: Dickens And The Powerball

This 2011 photo shows the heavy water nuclear facility near Arak. International sanctions relief will be triggered when Iran follows through on commitments to reduce its nuclear program.

The Two-Way - News Blog

Iran Tells Kerry It Is Dismantling, Destroying A Key Nuclear Component

It would be a big step toward reducing Iran's nuclear program and triggering sanctions relief. Relations forged in nuclear talks may have helped get U.S. sailors released after Iran detained them.

Iran Releases 10 U.S. Navy Sailors, After Detaining Them Overnight

In Iranian Funds Case, Justices Ponder Extent Of Congressional Influence

General Electric will move from Connecticut to Boston for tax breaks and other advantages.

The Two-Way - News Blog

GE Brings Things To Life In Boston; Lights Out In Connecticut

GE says it will move its headquarters from Fairfield, Conn., to Boston. The company will be getting huge tax breaks, but more than that, it will be gaining access to universities and nonstop flights.

Health workers suit up for their final day of training about Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia.

Goats and Soda

This Is How Unprepared We Are For The Next Pandemic

A report predicts that new diseases will emerge even faster in the 21st century. Ebola was a wake-up call, a leader on the analysis says: "We need to step up our game."

Shots - Health News

How A Little Boy's Cancer Diagnosis Inspired A Haunting Video Game

Joel Green was just a baby when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. His dad, Ryan, used his skills as a video game developer to tell the story of the family's struggle with that dragon, cancer.

The Salt

Wheels, Pyramids, Plates: USDA's Struggles To Illustrate Good Diet

The USDA has been doling out nutrition advice since 1894. As the science changed, so did the government's efforts to visualize its best advice – sometimes, with amusing results to our modern eyes.

New Dietary Guidelines Crack Down On Sugar. But Red Meat Gets A Pass

When is it easier to ignore that text message than reply to it?

Commentary

Going Away Without 'Ghosting': A Better Way To Say 'I'm Not Into You' FA

The simple answer? Honesty. Commentator Sarah Hepola says that once she learned how to turn down dates with men she wasn't interested in, it became much easier to say yes to the ones she liked.

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Fresh Air

A Jan. 2 sonar image, released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Wednesday, shows a shipwreck on the ocean floor off the coast of Australia. The undersea search for the Malaysian airliner that vanished almost two years ago came across the wreckage deep in the Indian Ocean off the coast of western Australian, officials said.

The Two-Way - News Blog

Extended Search For Missing Jet Finds ... A 19th-Century Shipwreck

There's no sign yet of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed far off the coast of Australia in 2014. But sonar did locate another lost vessel: likely an iron or steel ship.

Passerby Lena Lauschuss prepares to donate Lego pieces for Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in Berlin in October.

The Two-Way - News Blog

Lego Says It's Changing Its Policy After Ai Weiwei Controversy

The Danish company encountered a social-media backlash in October after refusing to sell bricks for a project by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley gave the Republican address to President Obama's final State of the Union on Tuesday night.

Politics

Trump And His Supporters Hit Back At Nikki Haley's Jabs

The South Carolina governor said she did have Donald Trump in mind when she criticized the "angriest voices" within the GOP in her response to the State of the Union last night.

Politics Podcast: Obama's Humblebrag, Regret And The Nastiness Of Politics

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Alejandro Aravena, winner of this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize, "understands materials and construction, but also the importance of poetry and the power of architecture to communicate on many levels," the jury citation states. (Above) Aravena's 2005 Siamese Towers, which he designed for his alma mater, Universidad CatÃ³lica de Chile.

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Bicentennial Children's Park, Santiago, Chile, 2012: Built into a hillside, this 10-acre park was designed in celebration of Chile's bicentennial.

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Mathematics School, Universidad CatÃ³lica de Chile, 1999: "We identified the corridor as a design opportunity â as the moment where you see other people before they disappear into the isolated retreat of the individual working unit," Aravena says.

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Medical School, Universidad CatÃ³lica de Chile, 2004: "We were asked to do all kinds of classrooms, from seminars to auditoriums, in a very dense context," says Aravena. "The only way out, was to go high."

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Monterrey Housing, Monterrey, Mexico, 2010: "In the Mexican housing market, the cheapest solution that is offered is about $30,000. So the poor are not being reached," Aravena says. His Monterrey houses have an initial cost of $20,000, and additions can increase their value.

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Writer's Cabin, Montricher, Switzerland, 2015: "This suspended cabin had to balance comfort and compactness," Aravena says, adding that "the length of the cabin [allows] the writers to transit through different situations: cooking, eating and sharing."

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UC Innovation Center, San Joaquín Campus, Universidad Católica de Chile, 2014: "We proposed a rather opaque construction toward the outside, which is also efficient for the Santiago weather, and then have a very permeable architecture inside," Aravena says.

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View from inside the UC Innovation Center.

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Another view from the inside of the UC Innovation Center. "A powerful structure from a distance, it is remarkably humane and inviting," the jury citation reads. "Through a reversal of convention, the building is an opaque concrete structure on the exterior and has a light filled glass atrium inside."

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Seaside Promenade, Constitución, Chile 2014: "Developed in the context of the Post-Tsunami Sustainable Reconstruction Plan (PRES) ... the project consists of a series of coastal lookout points," Aravena explains. The lookouts "reinforce and highlight the natural heritage embodied by the huge rocks of this landscape."

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Aravena says he was overwhelmed by emotion when he learned the news of the prize. "More than the weight of responsibility, our feeling is that of freedom," he says — now, he no longer has to prove anything to anybody.

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