Worldcrunch
MULTAN – Malik Sarfaz, a simple farmer, has been administering justice in his village of Chah Peppal Wala for more than 30 years. Tucked into a particularly poor and rural corner of southern Punjab in Pakistan, this village is situated more than 10 hours away by car from the capital Islamabad. The man with the […]
CLARIN, C5N, MINUTOUNO, JORNADA DE CHUBUT (Argentina) Worldcrunch GIRONA – The son of a prominent Argentinian businessman who lived as a squatter and participated in the Indignados movement in Spain died recently in this city north of Barcelona. His family insists that Juan Pablo Torroija died after Spanish police inflicted a brutal beating, while Spanish […]
DIE WELT (Germany)Worldcrunch LONDON – Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes – although different courses for different horses might be more apt as far as the four-legged athletes competing in the Summer Olympics go. What makes the horses happy makes the riders happy, and that includes providing their mounts with the equine […]
A glimmering reminder that Europe still has some spare money (and time) to spend: even as Spain’s economy spirals out of control, vacations are still on -though shorter, cheaper and closer to home.
BEIJING – We all know about China’s economic growth. But the country also has the world’s fastest growing obese population in absolute numbers, according to data from the World Health Organization. This is not only because China has the world’s biggest population, but also because it has seen proportionately sharp rise in obesity. In 1980, […]
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch HAMBURG – Penguins may look as if they’re wearing tuxedos, but they feel more comfortable in a sweater – when, that is, the sweater can protect them from the disastrous effects of oil slicks. Since February, German woman Angelika Regenstein has been knitting wooly jumpers for penguins and has developed a […]
THE NEW VISION (Uganda), CHANNELS TV (Nigeria), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch An outbreak of the Ebola virus has emerged in rural western Uganda. 19 cases of the deadly virus were reported at Kibaale Hospital on Tuesday morning, Uganda’s daily The New Vision reported. Fourteen people have died from the virus in the past three weeks, one […]
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, PHILIPPINE STAR (Philippines) Worldcrunch MANILA – Seven people have been confirmed killed from the onslaught of typhoon Saola (also named typhoon Gener) in the Philippines, the Philippine STAR reports. Several others are still missing. Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that 8,298 families or 40,477 […]
THE INDEPENDENT, THE GUARDIAN (UK), BRISBANE TIMES, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) Worldcrunch LONDON – Sixteen-year-old Ye Shiwen is the teenage torpedo, the Chinese swimming prodigy whose devastating performances have already made her the Games’ most talked-about new star, writes the Independent. But on Monday, after winning the 400 meters individual medley in a world-record […]
SAO PAULO – With an average of 14 murders a day over the past 18 months, the southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has a bona fide violence problem. In the first six months of the year, the number of homicides was 8% higher across the region than the first six months of 2011. And […]
LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch Baddre-Eddine Bentaïb, a French Muslim from the city of Orléans, has set up a website mapping and providing information on mosques throughout France. Now, he is embarking on a “Ramadan road trip” that will take him around the country. When travelling around France for his work, Bentaïb discovered there was no […]
LE POINT , NICE MATIN (France) Worldcrunch NICE – Overzealous forest rangers of the Mercantour National Park in the French Alps, gave a 1,500 euro fine to an association for organizing a catholic mass without authorization. At first, the rangers told them that it was forbidden to hold a religious event or play the saxophone […]
The election of an Islamic president in Egypt hasn’t, as many had predicted, resulted in the full opening of borders between Gaza and Egypt. President Morsi, it seems, is in no rush to irk Israel or the U.S. with full support for Hamas-run govern
In Rwanda, where 60% of people live below the poverty line and land is scarce, burying the dead comes at too high a price. A new bill before Parliament would introduce cremation, a totally novel concept in this country.
ADEVARUL, ZIARE.COM (Romania) Worldcrunch BUCHAREST – For the second time since his election in 2004, Romanian President Traian Băsescu survived an impeachment referendum on Sunday. According to the latest numbers from the National electoral bureau, only 46% of the population voted in the poll. Romanian legislation demands 50% participation for a ballot to count. An […]
ITESPRESSO, LE POINT (France) Worldcrunch A column published on the New York Times’ website had the web abuzz on Sunday, reports French website ITespresso. It was revealed later in the day, after many people including journalists and college professors had retweeted the column, that the whole thing was a hoax. On Sunday, Bill Keller, former […]
The Tate Modern museum in London, is not like any museum you’ve every seen. It’s an ever-evolving space, adapting to new art forms as they come along.
JAPAN TIMES, ASAHI SHIMBUN, JAPAN TODAY (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – Thousands of people gathered in Tokyo on Sunday to form a human chain around the parliament building, to protest against the reopening of nuclear power plants, after the Fukushima disaster reports the Japan Times. Organizers set up “family” area for parents/children, wheelchair-bound at the Diet. […]
THE TIMES OF INDIA, THE HINDU, HINDUSTAN TIMES (India) A fire on a passenger train in southern India has killed at least 47 people in the early hours of Monday morning. The fire broke out at around 4:30am on a train travelling from Delhi to Chennai, when passing through Nellore in the state of Andhra […]
Blackmailing, drug dealing, and murder…. if you think the female mafia bosses are softer than their male counterparts, think again.
During the month-long Ramadan fast, Muslims have to refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk. A look in Morocco, when an extra burden for those who can’t indulge in their nicotine habit. But there may be a silver lining.
SCIENCE DAILY (USA), LE FIGARO, AFP (France) Worldcrunch Scientists in Norway and Italy have analyzed sewage samples from European cities to compare the drug habits of their inhabitants, the Science Daily reports. Tracing the urinary biomarkers of cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and cannabis in sewage from 19 cities in 11 European countries during seven consecutive […]
The news has spread over the social networks in the Argentinean region of Cordoba: “The government of Cordoba pays the ticket for prostitutes to go back to their home region.”
A new study, co-signed by more than 20 international scientists, says the irreversible damage we are doing to the Earth’s ecosystems could lead to a brutal biological collapse – and the end of the world as we know it.
AFP, LE NOUVEL OBS (France), LE SOIR (Belgium) Worldcrunch PARIS – Queen of pop – Madonna – was booed at the end of her concert in honor of “tolerant France,” on Thursday night in Paris, French news agency AFP reports. Although she waxed lyrical during the show about the importance of France to international artists, […]
Although 80 percent of the population would like to see the end of nuclear power in Japan, electrical companies are gradually reopening their plants.
EUROPE 1, FRANCE TV INFO (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – Supporters of the Syrian opposition movement unfurled a huge flag smeared with blood under the Eiffel Tower on Friday, France TV Info reports. “@siyaseee: @alRifai1 #Syria happening in Paris at Eiffel tower twitter.com/celine_lussato…“ — الـثورة الـسورية (@alRifai1) July 27, 2012 The red, white and green flag […]
JAKARTA GLOBE (Indonesia) Worldcrunch The Jakarta Globe reported that Indonesian zookeepers moved Tori the smoking orangutan to an isolated island in the Taru Jurung Zoo this week to help the female primate kick her nicotine habit, zoo officials said. @TammyLeitner: Smoking orangutan is moved to island in Indonesia to kick her habit. Seriously??? Check out […]
Brigadier General Manaf Tlas is the most senior Syrian army deserter since the beginning of the uprising. One of President Assad’s oldest friends, Tlas has offered himself up as the man to rally the opposition. But many doubt the sincerity of thi
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch LONDON – Naples may be battling an infestation of large red cockroaches this summer, but not to be outdone is London which, experts say, will be awash in bed bugs (Cimex lectularius). So anyone planning to visit the British capital for the Olympics is likely not only to encounter heightened security […]
China talks the talk when it comes to innovation, with recent national conferences on the topic attended by high-ranking Communist party leaders. But scratch the surface, and you’ll find something that is the very opposite of innovation.
BBC NEWS (UK), ASSOCIATED PRESS (USA) Worldcrunch Inspectors from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund arrived in Athens on Friday to meet with Greek authorities, who hope to convince their international creditors that Athens should receive the final installment of 31.5 billion euros in bailout money. Greece is facing […]
THE GUARDIAN, THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH, ULSTER TV (UK) Worldcrunch In a statement released to the Guardian on Thursday, three republican terror groups announced they were merging to form a new IRA in Northern Ireland. The Real IRA, the vigilante group Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) as well as a coalition of smaller dissident groups will […]
EL PAIS, EL MUNDO, LA VANGUARDIA (Spain) Worldcrunch MADRID – The unemployment rate in Spain has registered a new record: 5.693.100 people- 24.6% of the Spanish active population are jobless, Spanish daily El Pais reports. This is the highest figure since 1994. El Mundo daily titles: “Summer hasn’t curbed unemployment. One in four Spanish people […]
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan targets PKK strongholds along the Syrian border after tensions last month sparked by Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish military jet. The move is part of a longstanding conflict over Kurdish minorities who live in b
CAIXIN, UNITED DAILY NEWS (China) Worldcrunch BEIJING – It was last Saturday when the heavens opened above the Chinese capital, bringing the most deadly rain storm to hit here in at least six decades. Now, five days later, the municipality of Beijing has finally updated the death toll, which officially stood Thursday at 77, including […]
In less than a decade, Slovakia has gone from bottom of the class to best in show, with a 2.5% growth in 2012. Will it be able to keep up the miracle, or will it turn out to be just a mirage?
FRANCE TV INFO (France), BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (UK), LOS ANGELES TIMES (USA) Worldcrunch “Is this the worst marketing in the world?” asks France TV Info. Every Olympic Games has to have their official clip, logo, mascot and anthem, says the French TV news channel, but the choices made by London 2012 are just terrible. […]
The small ceremonial daggers that Sikhs must carry at all times are such an important part of their religion that the London Olympic organizers allow them to be worn during events. So why does Italy have such a problem with them?
Satnav, infotainment systems equipped with internet access, web browsing, voice-controlled emailing and tweeting: car manufacturers are continuously finding new ways to divert drivers from the task at hand – driving.