Julie Masis

Julie Masis is a freelance journalist. Her stories have been published in the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, the Montreal Gazette, The Globe and Mail, the Jerusalem Post, the Times of Israel, and in other newspapers and magazines. Other than journalism, she has also taught English to Buddhist monks in Cambodia, organized tours to the Khmer Rouge tribunal, wrote a book about how her grandfather lived to be 100, and is currently the publisher of the Russian Boston Gazette, a small newspaper for the Russian-speaking community in Boston. She speaks English, French and Russian.

In Catalonia, bullfights are out, human towers are in

July 23, 2018Culture

Bullfighting has been banned in Catalonia since 2011. But another dangerous activity — castells, or human towers — is gaining popularity.

This Canadian day care center re-creates ‘the spirit of a large family’ for kids and their single moms

June 7, 2018Health

A century after the revolution, Russians build monuments to the czars

November 7, 2017Culture

Roma prisoners in a concentration camp in the Transnistria region.

Moldova will build a monument to Roma victims of the Holocaust

October 27, 2017Culture

A former border crossing used by refugees walking from the United States to enter Canada at Emerson, Manitoba.

More US citizens — yes, citizens — are seeking refuge in Canada

March 2, 2017Justice

A young Syrian refugee looks up as her father holds her and a Canadian flag at the as they arrive at Pearson Toronto International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Dec. 18, 2015.

Way more migrants are now sneaking across the US-Canada border

January 12, 2017Development

The number of people crossing the US border into Canada illegally, and requesting asylum after they’re caught, is rising quickly. The migrants are not held in detention centers like in the US. And Canada often obliges, and lets them stay.

A still frame from a film shot by American doctor Ralph H. Major showing a German Nazi event in 1933 or 1934.

In which Adolf Hitler creeps into your home movies

October 13, 2016Culture

More than 70 years after he killed himself, the Nazi fuhrer has unexpectedly popped up in old family movie collections. Never-before-seen footage of Hitler is “a very rare thing indeed,” a documentary expert says.

Tetanus vaccinations like this one, at Palmview High School in Mission, Texas, are harder to come by in Ukraine.

Why rabies and tetanus are back in Ukraine

September 28, 2016Health

Sections of Ukraine’s national medicine cabinets have been running empty since the country’s conflict with Russia began. As a result, diseases that were under control for many decades are making a comeback.

Stray dogs wearing ear tags are the latest Ukrainian revolution

August 3, 2016Culture

The Soviets used to just shoot stray dogs dead. Now, after animal rights campaigning, a Ukrainian city captures, sterilizes and releases dogs back on the street — with tags on their ears. But Ukrainians are still getting bit.The Soviets used to just shoot stray dogs dead. Now, after animal rights campaigning, a Ukrainian city captures, sterilizes and releases dogs back on the street — with tags on their ears. But Ukrainians are still getting bit.

Quebec bangs pots and pans in growing protests

July 31, 2016Lifestyle

What started as a march against university tuition hikes has grown beyond students as the government moves to muzzle protest. Now even saucepan-wielding grannies are up in arms.