Interviews

Crickets Train, Have Pre-Bout Sex, Fierce Fights: Lewis Lapham The combatants were strong, well- matched and ready to go. One zoomed in for a quick assault only to be rebuffed by a fierce lunge from his opponent, making onlookers collectively gasp. Circling, they locked and wrestled, repeatedly flipping each other over. After a heroic battle, one cricket finally went off in defeat, and the money changed hands.

Poachers Kill Off Gentle Giants: Interview With Cyril Christo From green-suited Babar to sweet, soaring Dumbo, people love elephants, ascribing to them qualities of wisdom and compassion. Weighing up to 26,000 pounds, these largest and most powerful of land animals have no natural predators, except, of course, for human beings, who are destroying their habitats and using automatic weapons to slaughter them for ivory.

Mexican Street Food Adds Spice to Sun-Starved London: Interview Mexican food had barely made its presence felt in London until recently, unless you count tourist joints where the fare bears as close a relation to the cuisine as Walkabout bars do to fine Australian dining.

Sex Slaves, Scandals Drive Fairstein’s `Hell Gate': Interview When the rusty Ukrainian freighter ran aground on a sandbar near New York City’s Rockaway Beach, the bodies started washing ashore. The boat was crammed with human cargo, poor men and women desperate for a new life, exploited by traffickers known as “snakeheads.”

Severed Nose Takes a Walk Through St. Petersburg, Met: Review A nose goes rogue, running off to experience life at its absurd best.