Worldcrunch
Bad blood abounds along the Chinese-Russian border. But the lives of the borderland’s Russian and Chinese residents are also intertwined. In the Russian city of Chita, university students have the option to study German or French, but tend to prefer Manda
A R A B I C A ارابيكا LIBYA: DANGERWith Libyan state television now off the air, a key indicator that the regime is about to fall, a spokesman for the rebels remains cautious. “As long as Gaddafi is free, danger remains,” said Mohammed Abdul Rahman. LIBYA: DAUGHTERThe network also reports the rebels as having […]
As Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year reign comes to an end, Libya’s rebel forces must now focus on establishing an orderly transition in a nation with built-in political, historical and tribal fault lines.
Liu Changjiang, 58, was never planning on having children. But that didn’t stop a local health clinic in Henan Province from giving him a vasectomy. Though the surgery won’t affect China’s population numbers, it does help Changjiang’s village meet its ann
Seventeen winners of the Nobel Prize for economics are gathered this week on Lindau, an island in Germany’s Lake Constance. Die Welt asked the laureates for their take on the ongoing debt crisis and the splintering of the euro zone. The bad news is they a
Teenage would-be models in Switzerland often end up in an apprenticeship instead of finishing high school. But experts in the field say the versatility that comes from a standard education is a better bet for achieving supermodel stardom. Yes: brains matt
A debate over child custody laws is one example that things could be changing for Egyptian women following the country’s April revolution. Women are also being kept out of the new government, where Islamist parties now have far more influence than in the
Name the color, name the odor: Local factories have long been dumping all kinds of pollutants into the river north of Athens. Will the arrival of legendary American activist Erin Brockovich make a difference?
Since China organized the 2008 Olympic Games, its revolutionary national stadium – dubbed the “Bird’s Nest” – has been the symbol of a country turned toward the future. But it also serves as a reminder of the country’s unresolved internal tensions.
Recently elected Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has made something of a surprise appointment for his new culture minister: Susana Baca. A well-known singer, Baca is also thought to be Peru’s first black cabinet minister.
The Russians are launching a project for a commercial space station with a hotel that will supposedly be ready for occupancy by 2016. Guests would pass the night very much under the stars – at 350 kilometers above the Earth.
After the anti-Pope protests in Madrid, politicians and church officials alike have rushed to assure His Holiness that the demonstrators were little more than social parasites and vandals. That could prove a dangerous move, because the anger of Spain’s yo
China’s media and general public are abuzz about the country’s first aircraft carrier, a converted Soviet-built behemoth that set off earlier this month on its maiden voyage. But they’re missing some key information, like how much it cost, and what it’s e
Italy recently approved a new “solidarity tax” for high income earners. The country’s soccer players don’t want to cough up the cash. Impatient, the government fired back by calling the players “a caste of spoiled people.”
With its handling of an ongoing spill in the North Sea, it would seem oil multinational Shell has not absorbed the lesson of BP’s 2010 catastrophe. Small compared to last year’s Gulf of Mexico spill, the Shell leak is nevertheless the worst for the North
Security problems in Somalia have kept Western aid workers at arm’s length. Famine relief efforts are instead being coordinated by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which works with humanitarian groups from a host of Muslim countries.
The Chaos Computer Club is hosting a summer camp for 3,000 hackers from around the world in Brandenburg, formerly in East Germany. Participants talk, try stuff out on their computers and party. They’re also planning an ambitious project: a trip into outer
Analysis: In a recent nationally-broadcast interview, President Medvedev reminisced about Russia’s 2009 war with Georgia. His recollections have Russian pundits wondering if Medvedev is now preparing for a new fight – on the political front.
Anonymous offshore bank accounts are nearly as old as banking itself. While pressure in Europe may be mounting to crack down on tax evaders, there are still plenty of options — from Asia to some familiar European havens.
Italy will still need lighthouses. But with new technology, lighthouse keepers are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Already just 62 of the country’s 161 “faros” have actual human operators.
Brooklyn’s Brownsville, one of the toughest neighborhoods in New York, is also home to one of the city’s three juvenile detention centers. There, a social worker and a choreographer are using yoga and meditation to help rehabilitate the center’s troubled
The bankruptcy of America’s Evergreen Solar has sent chills down the spines of German solar manufacturers. Solar energy company stocks are crashing on the market. But just how vulnerable is the industry?
Russia has just reached a deal that gives Belarus discounted natural gas in exchange for control of the satellite country’s Beltransgaz utility. Will the agreement encourage Ukraine to the same?
Chile’s Colonia Dignidad is infamous as a place where children were raped and opponents of the Pinochet regime tortured. The sect’s founder, serial child abuser and ex-Nazi doctor Paul Schäfer, died last year. But his right hand man, Hartmut Hopp, is on t
Once upon a time, he was addicted to everything — sex, drugs, alcohol, hooliganism. Fast forward and he’s talking us through the UK riots. Why British entertainer Russell Brand, known for his excesses, has suddenly become a voice of reason.
Believe it or not, good bread can sometimes be hard to find in the French countryside. Some farmers are rising to the occasion, swapping their work gloves for baker’s mitts and offering customers some genuine country cooking.
A handful of Roman families are accused of intimidating both tourists and other would-be faux ancient gladiators treading on their cobblestones. Police use some ancient tricks to trap them, but they always come back for more.
China has introduced a new modification to its national marital law, with a focus on defining a couple’s rights with respect to their shared real estate. What getting hitched – and divorced – says about modern China.
ISTANBUL – Earlier this month, a federation of Balkan and Greek Turkic organizations held a huge Iftar dinner to end the Ramadan daily fast. Held at the Topkapi-1453 public grounds, the dinner included notables from the art, business and political worlds. Many of the guests were Turkish citizens, but with family roots in the Balkan […]
Growing demand and rising world food prices have brought about an agricultural boom in Argentina. But it’s also meant a steady increase in the use of farm chemicals, which critics say is responsible for climbing cancer rates and other serious health probl
The municipality of Kursumlija is the poorest in all of Serbia. But a determined lady mayor and fellow female officers intend to turn it into “a Serbian Switzerland.”
The Beth Shalom synagogue in Havana has undergone something of a renaissance over the past decade. The same could be said for Cuba’s Jewish community as a whole, which lost roughly 90% of its members after the island’s 1959 revolution.
Author Louise Jacobs creates characters from a milieu she’s familiar with, and writes about how money, lots of it, can create spiritually impoverished people numbed to the passion, caring and contribution that make life rich and beautiful.
The standing wave of Munich’s Eisbach River has encouraged a lively surf scene – and a new niche industry along with it. Some of the city’s river riders are starting to make a name for themselves outside of Germany as well.
Looking back across urban uprisings of the past half-century, a French scholar of modern British history says the summer riots of 2011 show that the questions are above all about haves and have-nots.
Up close as the Russian Prime Minister takes an archaeology tour, by land and by sea — and resurfaces with some loot. A surreal snapshot of the spectacle of contemporary Russian politics.
Analysis: big questions linger after a week in which French bank shares were walloped on the stock market, and some began to wonder if France was the next country whose finances pose major structural risks.
Canada is looking for ways to exert its authority in the Great North, as global warming invites competition for the region’s valuable resources. Of particular concern is Russia, which is seeking permission from the UN to extend its Arctic borders.
Some Palestinians take pride in knowing the ongoing protests in Israel were inspired by revolts in the Arab World. But others fear the demonstrations could justify more Israeli settlements – or even a violent crackdown — in Palestinian territory.
Op-Ed: deep uncertainty in markets around the world doesn’t change two basic structural facts that will stave off recession: credit is available, and emerging countries are joining the world economy’s top ranks.