Worldcrunch
BEIJING – Conduct a survey anywhere in the world and ask respondents to describe the United States with one word, many will surely choose the word “arrogant.” In their view, this superpower has become synonymous with conceit and a bald sense of superiority. In Lord Acton’s famous words: “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Typically, such people […]
She remembers her panic attacks at age six, whenever she lost sight of her mother at the supermarket. Later, to avoid getting lost on her way to high school, she was constantly accompanied. Andrea* is now 47-years-old and lives with her father in Vancouver, Canada. To go to work, she follows an itinerary that is […]
FRANCE INFO, LE FIGARO (France) Worldcrunch MARSEILLE – On the small island of Porquerolles on the French Riviera, the police have turned a blind eye to helmetless motorcyclists, reports Le Figaro. The person to blame is … the local prefect. Paul Mourier, the State’s representative in the Var department in Southern France, was repeatedly spotted […]
PALO ALTO – Daphne Koller has a grudge against school. As a child, Israeli-born Koller wanted to solve third degree equations and learn more about dancing, Ancient Greece and poetry. But like any other pupil, she had to follow the curriculum and adapt to the system. Her thirst for learning faced the limits of mainstream […]
The news out of Afghanistan is that the Taliban beheaded 17 men and women who had gathered for a mixed-gender social event with music and dancing. This, of course, is not the first time the excesses of Muslim jihadists have included beheadings. Dozens of headless bodies were found in the Tigris River years ago in […]
DER SPIEGEL, DIE WELT (Germany), LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a cold, power-hungry would-be dictator overseeing the insidious collapse of democracy, according to a new book causing a political stir in Germany. Gertrud Höhler’s book, Die Patin (which means “the Godmother” in English and retains all of its mafia […]
MOSCOW – Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring the state of health in various countries for the past 60 years, it has never explicitly compared countries with one another. So Bloomberg news, using WHO data as well as other data from the World Bank and the United Nations, put together a rating […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) LIFE NEWS (Russia) KAZAN – Investigators found the bodies of a 76-year-old retired woman and her 38-year-old daughter in an apartment in Kazan. Both women appeared to have been stabbed to death. Heinous as the crime was, it wouldn’t have bound to generate national press coverage, except for what police found on one […]
Wandering around Scottish putting greens — this is how Pascal Bonvin, a 52-year old Credit Suisse executive, chose to improve his English language skills. He flew to Edinburgh early this summer to learn English with a private professor. Once his daily language class was over, Pascal Bovin swapped textbooks for golf clubs. Language lessons in […]
THE TELEGRAPH, THE GUARDIAN (UK), LA TIMES (US) Worldcrunch An 11-year-old Brazilian boy born without feet has been invited to train at FC Barcelona’s youth academy. After impressing the Spanish football club during a TV appearance on Brazil’s TV Globo, the young whiz kid will travel to the Catalonian capital in September. The Telegraph reports […]
GOMA – They look tired and drawn, weeks of suffering written across their faces. “We haven’t had any assistance since we arrived: nothing to eat, no toilets, no medical treatment,” says Mandevu Amani, a church minister who has fled the Kimumba camp. Since July 7, thousands of families have come to settle in the Kanyaruchinya […]
REUTERS, AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch The Syrian delegation walked out of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, after Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi called Bashar al-Assad’s government an “oppressive regime” in his speech, Al Jazeera reports. Speaking to representatives of more than 120 countries, Morsi said: “Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people […]
XINHUA (China), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch An explosion in a coal mine in southwest China has killed 19 people and left 28 trapped, reports Chinese news agency Xinhua. According to state media, rescue efforts are still underway to rescue the remaining miners, reports BBC News. The accident occurred Wednesday at around 6 p.m. at Xiojiawan […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) KREMLIN NEWS (Russia) GAZETA.RU (Russia) NEWSRU (Russia) Worldcrunch SMOLENSK – A young mother and political activist, Taisiya Osipova was lucky enough that her case caught the attention of then Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, who came to her defense in January. But so far, at least, that has counted for little. Earlier this week, […]
VENICE – Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously said of academic writers that “they muddy the water, to make it seem deep.” Architects, we can say, have been known to do the same. Let’s think for a moment about what we have been forced to endure over the past decades thanks to an alleged building language that […]
FUERA DE SERIE (Spain), LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch Spanish magazine Fuera de Serie has sparked controversy by depicting the U.S. first lady as a topless slave on its new cover. The cover features Michelle Obama’s face pasted over a famous 19th century French painting showing a slave with one breast exposed. The image was designed […]
JERUSALEM – It is almost prayer time in Ramot, the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in north Jerusalem, and men in black suits, white ties and black hats with wide brims are hurrying to the synagogue. On July 31, the 10-year-old “Tal Law” exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military duty expired, sparking a nationwide debate in Israel over the […]
BUENOS AIRES – The July winter vacation was coming to a close and José’s decision was maturing: he would simply tear down what remained of the “closet” he’d slowly been coming out of. So on July 30, José arrived at the elementary school that he works at in Buenos Aires as “Melisa,” and became the […]
Worldcrunch YEDIOTH AHRONOTH (Israel), LA STAMPA (Italy), THE IRISH TIMES (Ireland) JERUSALEM – The appointment of Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto as Papal Nuncio to Israel last week has sparked controversy in Jerusalem after it emerged that he was linked to the pedophile priests scandal that hit the Irish Catholic Church in 2005.. The country’s biggest-circulation daily […]
It is hard to dispute that Iran’s geopolitical importance, both internationally and regionally, has been on the rise over the past decade. With the Arab Spring, the Islamic Republic saw a new opportunity. For Tehran, the Arab uprisings meant “the awakening of Islam,” the rise of Islamist political parties sympathetic to Iran’s plight, and a […]
USA TODAY, CNN, NEW YORK TIMES (USA) Worldcrunch NEW ORLEANS – Hurricane Isaac made a second landfall in Louisiana early Wednesday with strong winds and torrential rains, providing the first real test of flood control systems and emergency services in New Orleans on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The storm first hit Port Fouchon […]
ADDOUNIA TV (Syria), AL ARABIYA (UAE), LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the situation in Syria is getting “better,” although his government needs more time to “win the battle” against rebels trying to overthrow him. Al-Assad was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Syrian pro-government TV station Addounia, which will be […]
DUTCH NEWS (Netherlands), BBC NEWS (UK), DER SPIEGEL (Germany) Worldcrunch Terminal C of Amsterdam’s Schipol airport in the Netherlands was closed on Wednesday after building work uncovered a suspected World War II unexploded bomb, barely a day after authorities in Germany had to detonate a war-era bomb in the heart of Munich. A bomb disposal […]
TASHKENT – Fundamental changes are afoot in the relations between the United States and Uzbekistan — and Russia isn’t happy. Until recently, the central Asian country was on the U.S.’s black list of human rights offenders to whom it was forbidden to provide any sort of military technology. But with a special decree, Secretary of […]
BWERA – It’s market day in Bwera, a Ugandan city on the banks of the Rubirihiya river that separates the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, east of the Beni region. Ugandans and Congolese sell from the same stalls. It is hard to distinguish them because they all discuss products and prices in “Kinande,” […]
-Essay- BERLIN – Some people live with the past. Others prefer to throw the past away like it’s smelly trash. In present-day Germany, where the goody-two-shoes live, the second has been the preferred option for a long time now. Take for instance street names: Germany’s streets and squares are routinely re-baptized. When the Nazis came […]
RTL, L’EXPRESS (France), LA STAMPA (Italy) PARIS – The scraggly hitchhiker with his thumb out on the road has given way to the plugged-in free (or almost free) rider with both thumbs on his smart phone. And it is Europe that’s leading the way in finding efficient new ways of hitting the road on the […]
HURRIYET, RADIKAL (Turkey) Worldcrunch ISTANBUL -There was hope that Turkey’s top technology experts could provide some clarity in the ongoing OdaTV case that’s roiled the country’s media and government elite for the past 18 months. But the long-awaited computer files report by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, TUBITAK, has only fed more […]
JAKARTA – The color of the brackish water running down the drain across Pak Udis’ paddy field changes everyday: it goes from blue to green or red. One only needs to take a look around to understand why. A textile factory was built a few meters away from this Indonesian peasant’s parcel. Over the last […]
JERUSALEM POST (Israel), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch An Israeli court ruled Tuesday that the state of Israel was not at fault in the 2003 death of US activist Rachel Corrie. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Haifa District Court has ruled against the Corrie family, who have been fighting for justice for the pro-Palestinian activist after […]
CNN, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER (US), REUTERS Worldcrunch Residents in New Orleans are rushing to complete last-minute preparations, bracing themselves for Tropical Storm Isaac, which will begin to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast late Tuesday, as forecasters set to upgrade it to Hurricane status. The Tropical Storm is gaining strength, poised to become a “robust” hurricane […]
-Analysis- PARIS – Whether or not they pose a real threat to the traditional book publishing industry, e-books are indisputably the talk of the town. Still, few in the sector are able to fathom the full extent of the ongoing digital transformation, which is both far-reaching, yet still largely invisible. From booksellers to printers, everybody […]
DAILY MAIL, BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (U.K.) Worldcrunch British Police are investigating reports on Monday of a lion on the loose in the southeastern county of Essex, near the village of St. Osyth. Residents of #stosyth are advised to enjoy the bank holiday Monday but to be cautious. Officers still in the area conducting searches […]
CNN, NEW YORK TIMES (US) REUTERS Tropical storm Isaac raged into the Gulf of Mexico Monday, threatening to become a hurricane and make landfall in Louisiana, almost seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina decimated southeastern American cities and towns. Governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have declared states of emergency, with Alabama Governor […]
REUTERS (UK) AL JAZEERA (Qatar) BBC NEWS (UK), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch KABUL – Fifteen men and two women were found beheaded in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province on Monday. Reuters, Al Jazeera and other news outlets reported that the victims had attended a “mixed-sex” party where men and women were socializing. The bodies were found in […]
AFP, REUTERS Worldcrunch Rebels shot down a Syrian combat helicopter while it was bombarding the Damascus neighborhood of Jobar. State television confirmed a chopper crashed near a mosque in the capital, but gave no further details, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it believed it “was hit while it was being used in […]
Until now, showing off was more of a male thing: for many representatives of the so-called stronger sex, flashing status symbols like fast cars and conspicuously expensive watches is, it seems, important. But women are catching up. “As a result of their increasing economic independence, more and more women are encroaching on what has traditionally […]
Worldcrunch PARIS – Neil Armstrong has died at the age of 82. The American astronaut was not only the pride of the U.S. space program, he was the first earthling to touch the planet’s only moon. As such, the whole world — or at least its major press outlets — reacted largely in unison to […]
SAO PAULO – While the U.S is suffering the worst drought in decades; Brazil is expecting a record-breaking grain harvest this year. But is the country’s infrastructure up to the task? Good prices for raw materials means Brazilians will be planting more soybeans and hiking their investments on technology, which will contribute to an unprecedented […]
Los Angeles 12:53 PM: a steak topped with pieces of pineapple, three girls showing off their necklines, a black convertible sport car and a black mug shot in low-angle. São Paulo, 4:53 PM: a manicure seen close-up, a SpongeBob cup, a diamond tattooed on a thigh and three friends drinking champagne. Tokyo, 4:53 AM: a […]