January 17, 2018

From Harper's:

Forensic scientists described the case of a woman who appeared to be the victim of sexual homicide but was instead found to have taken off all her clothes and run around in a forest until she was bitten by insects and died.

From Harper's:

In the Amazon, a prominent shaman died of snakebite, and two other shamans located a lost tourist by communicating with his soul through a recovered sock, though the man later claimed he was also assisted by generous monkeys.

From The New York Times (Niall Ferguson on "And which novelists do you especially enjoy reading?"):

Everyone has at least one vice. Mine is reading (and re-reading) 19th-century novels. It’s hard to pick just a couple of favorites but I unreservedly adore Wilkie Collins (e.g., “The Moonstone”) and Theodor Fontane (“Der Stechlin”). 

From The Economist:

Marriage, it turns out, is still the best place for children

From The Economist:

According to one recent estimate, the chance that an African child will die before turning five is about 25-30 per 1,000 for those born into stable families, but 35-40 per 1,000 for the children of single, divorced or widowed parents.