BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS, AP Worldcrunch BAGHDAD – A series of car bombs targeting security forces killed at least 14 people across Iraq, leaving dozens wounded. Car bombs and roadside devices exploded almost simultaneously in Baghdad and several other Iraqi cities. The wave of attacks took place on the eve of the […]
Month: November 2012
The Republican Party’s losses in last week’s election have brought about a moment of reckoning for conservatives, as GOP leaders, grassroots activists, and political strategists try to make sense of their defeat and figure out how the party can rebuild itself before the next election cycle. By most accounts, Republicans were stunned by the election […]
Worldcrunch Tens of thousands of Australians turned out to watch a rare total solar eclipse Wednesday morning, with the spectacle plunging the northeastern state of Queensland into darkness for two minutes. Residents of New Zealand and eastern Indonesia were also able to see a partial eclipse. Take a looks at these photos as the next […]
MADANG – Armed with thousands of test tubes, flasks, microscopes, mouth aspirators, gillnets and compressors, Olivier Pascal and Philippe Bouchet have arrived in Madang, their departure point for their new expedition in Papua New Guinea, which started last month. The botanist for an NGO, Pro-Natura International, and the zoologist specializing in mollusks at the National […]
THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch MAKHACHKALA – Herding cattle can be a dangerous proposition in Russia’s southern province of Dagestan, reports The Guardian. But Aishat Maskudova was ready when a wolf who had previously gone after her calves came for some human flesh. After being bitten by the wolf, the 56-year-old woman used an axe to […]
SANTIAGO – Some time ago, Derek Mossman went to a New York restaurant and asked if they served any Chilean wines. The waiter answered: “No sir, this is a nice restaurant and we only serve good wines.” Mossman is the owners of Garage Wine Co, a Chilean winery. He was in the United States promoting […]
MOSCOW – It has only recently emerged that Russia and Iraq have been secretly working on major arms deals. During Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s visit to Moscow in October, it was revealed that Iraq had already signed a contract to purchase 30 Russian-built military helicopters and 42 rocket launchers for $4.2 billion, with plans […]
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch A Europe-wide study produced by the GfK research group for Swiss insurance company Zurich Versicherung has found that worry, stress and anxiety about the future affect young Europeans to such an extent that many of them can’t sleep at night. Asleep in school. Photo: Mc Quinn In September, reports Die Welt, […]
PARIS – She has always wanted this kind of assignment. As far back as she can remember, Mireille Ballestrazzi, 58, has dreamed of a job where “adventure and exercising responsibility” would come together. In many ways, it has already been her mission for the past 30 years inside the French police force. But now things […]
REUTERS, THE AUSTRALIAN, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) Worldcrunch SYDNEY – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called for a Royal Commission, the highest form of investigation in the country, into the hundreds of child abuse cases within the country’s institutions, including abuses and cover-ups by the Catholic Church. Gillard sais she wants the commission […]
THE WASHINGTON POST, LOS ANGELES TIMES (U.S.) Worldcrunch The Pentagon announced early Tuesday that the scandal surrounding departed CIA chief David Petraeus has apparently ensnared General John R. Allen, Petraeus’s successor as commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, an anonymous senior defense official announced Tuesday that the FBI […]
Worldcrunch Almost three quarters of central Venice was underwater Monday as severe weather and strong tides submerged the Floating City. However, nothing could put a damper on tourists’ spirits, choosing to snub the gondolas for a dip in St. Mark’s Square. Take a look at these 15 photos that show Venice as one of the […]
BERLIN – Drivers have been communicating with each other for 125 years with brake lights, turn signals and horns. But a new era is beginning: Car-to-X Communication (C2X). This is connectivity between vehicles making it possible for them to exchange information and warn of dangers. In early 2007, with about 40 million euros of taxpayer […]
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, BBC (U.K.), DER SPIEGEL (Germany) Worldcrunch LONDON – A long-term international study of wild Atlantic salmon has discovered that large numbers of free-ranging salmon are being killed by parasitic sea lice, the BBC has reported. Sea lice, which attach themselves to salmon and then eat their flesh, blood and tissue, […]
BEIJING – First you have to get through the police cordons, four or five of them. Tourists on their way to the Forbidden City are asked to remove their hats and open their coats for inspection. On the steps of the Great Hall of the People, a Tibetan woman in traditional dress and other delegates […]
MASISI – Every day at 6 a.m., a parking lot near a roundabout in this northeastern Congo city fills with minibuses, motorbikes and heavy cargo trucks. The atalakus (ticket sellers) shout out names of destinations: “Masisi! Nyabiondo!” Passengers board with their packages: manufactured goods, drinks, salted fish…Everyone is pushing each another, trying to get the […]
GUARDIAN, BBC, REUTERS, INDEPENDENT Worldcrunch LONDON – Two more top BBC news executives stepped aside Monday, as the British broadcaster faces a spiraling scandal over two separate bungled reports involving pedophilia. News chief Helen Boaden and deputy Stephen Mitchell have been put on leave following the uproar over the November 2 airing of a report […]
ISTANBUL – Members of the Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) have joined more than 700 Turkish citizens on the 60th day of a hunger strike aimed at drawing attention to the imprisonment of Kurds linked to an alleged terrorist organization. Some 65 prisoners linked to the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), which Turkey, the […]
JERUSALEM POST, HAARETZ, IDF (Israel), AL-AYYAM (Palestinian Territory), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch Israeli politicians were divided on Monday over the possibility of military ground operations in the Gaza Strip, as rockets rained down on Israel for the third day in a row, reported the Jerusalem Post. Opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich told Army Radio she was against […]
PARIS – The file will be at the top of the pile on the president’s desk. It is the singular priority for the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA – a political hot potato, a diplomatic puzzle, and a strategic nightmare. It is stamped “danger,” “highly explosive,” and could mean a new war in […]
LA STAMPA, LA REPUBBLICA, CORRIERE DELLA SERA (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME – Italy’s struggling economy appears to have at least one good shot at bouncing back: immigrant entrepreneurs. According to La Stampa, the businesses of non-EU immigrants account for 5.7% of Italy’s GDP. Confesercenti, the Italian association for small and medium businesses, says the number of […]
MOSCOW – This summer there was an unpleasant surprise for many Russian Internet users – the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia was shut down. Of course, it was only for one day. “Imagine a world without free knowledge,” the home page said, instead of the usual search functions. “The Wikipedia community is protesting censorship that is […]
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch In his latest book, American National Geographic photographer and reporter Michael Yamashit writes about the Yartsa Gunbu miracle mushroom that could also be called Himalayan gold. Die Welt’s Bettina Seipp reports that depending on the quality of the shriveled Caterpillar Fungus, Chinese buyers are prepared to spend tens of thousands of […]
BERLIN – Two of the world’s economic superpowers have spent the past days picking their leaders for the future. Barack Obama and the Democrats are now ensconced in the U.S. while China’s big political show began with this week’s opening of the National Congress of the Communist Party, where over 2,000 delegates will decide on […]
Barack Obama’s victory on Tuesday was very different than his win four years ago. In 2008, he won the White House with a powerful message of change; a fresh start for the nation. Charming a majority of Americans back then was a young, black senator, breaking both the political status quo, and longstanding racial barriers. […]
PARIS – Ever seen a human scalp transformed into a drumhead? Or a shrunken head with its lips sewn shut to keep the dead from casting spells from beyond the grave? With their hair uncannily preserved, these centuries-old trophies seem to have retained all their eerie powers. They are some of the key pieces of […]
AUSTAR, SOUTH WEEKLY (China), CHINA TIMES (Taiwan) Worldcrunch BEIJING – For some time now there has been talk in China about “naked officials.” These Chinese Communist Party officials work in Mainland China while their families live abroad, out of harm’s way. The idea is that, if need be, the (corrupt) official can escape the country […]
MANDALAY – A narrow little street between two houses, filthy walls on both sides, baby clothes hung out to dry – is this really where the enemies of the state reside? But the taxi driver is sure. He gets out of his car, walks down the alley and turns to wave me on. We reach […]
MOSCOW – Barack Obama’s re-election has allowed many people in Moscow to sigh with relief: The Cold War really is over. And that is the most important take-away from the Russian capital after the 2012 presidential election in the United States. The Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, had surprised everyone during the campaign by citing Russia […]
-Essay- SANTIAGO – As recent nationwide municipal elections proved once again, there’s never a shortage of surprises when it comes to politics in my country. The elections were a real blow to the rightist government of President Sebastián Piñera, a businessman who three years ago displaced the center-left Concertacion coalition that had led Chile since […]
SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, DEUTSCHE WELLE (Germany) Worldcrunch The European Court of Human Rights has upheld a German ban on a poster campaign by (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in Germany, reports Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The campaign used gruesome Nazi concentration camp imagery to evoke the suffering of factory-farmed animals today. The decision said that limiting […]
THE MIAMI HERALD, WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS (U.S.) Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – Fresh from his election victory and emotional Thank You’s (see below), Barack Obama will turn back to the gritty business of trying to turn the U.S. economy around. The first order of business will be a Friday appearance to address the so-called “fiscal cliff,” a […]
LA NACION, BUENOS AIRES HERALD (Argentina), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch BUENOS AIRES – Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Argentina’s capital — and other cities in the country and around the world — in a coordinated protest against the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, reports La Nacion. The massive […]
His name is Xi Jinping (pronounced Shee Jin-ping). The future Chinese leader was born into privilege as a child of the “red dynasty.” His father was an old revolutionary companion of Mao’s. But after his father’s fall into disgrace, Xi experienced poverty, prison and the hardships of peasant life. What kind of leader will he […]
TEL AVIV – Following the example of President Shimon Peres, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak did not bide their time in congratulating Barack Obama on his electoral victory November 6. They declared that the two countries “will continue to work together” and that their strategic alliance is “stronger than […]
To say that the U.S. is more divided than ever has become a cliché. The country has been largely divided down the middle ever since Ronald Reagan’s runaway victories in the 1980 and 1984 elections, when the Republican candidate won respectively 44 and 49 out of the 50 U.S. states. What Americans call “a landslide” […]
ATLANTICO, MARIANNE (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – Since becoming France’s first lady, Valerie Trierweiler has caused “nothing but trouble” at the magazine where she’s been working, according to a new biography of her boss, French publisher Arnaud Lagardère. Lagardère, the billionaire owner of French celebrity weekly Paris Match, is said to view the 47-year-old divorcee and […]
VIENTIANE – The feeling of lethargy still lingers in the streets of old Vientiane. Things, however, are beginning to change: the time for indolence is over. The capital of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River, is brushing off its image as a sleepy, colonial market town by hosting the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) this […]
Being overweight is unhealthy. The medical community never tires of predicting an early demise for obese people, and strongly urging them to lose weight. But in fact, the latest science says that fat people live longer and can tolerate higher levels of stress. “The classic view is that obesity is an illness that has to […]