Worldcrunch
CAIRO- The khatba has made a comeback in the last few years. A modern and polished version of the modestly dressed middle-aged matchmaker from the movies who visits families with a collection of pictures of prospective brides and grooms, a few Cairo women are looking once again to facilitate marriages and help people find their […]
KABUL – “No, he was not hiding the bomb in his turban or in his briefs,” a high-ranking western military officer tells me. I look at him: his face a bit pale and an uncomfortable demeanor; perhaps, despite his familiarity with the ferocity of war, shocked by the new method used in the attempted assassination […]
CHAMONIX – Bruce Springsteen sang the song, but Lizzy Hawker was actually born to run. She just replaced the New Jersey rocker’s urban jungle for mother nature, open spaces, and most of all– mountains. Lizzy Hawker is the queen of ultra-trail running, an increasingly popular athletic and mystical sport. Ultra-trail running or ultra-marathon is any […]
BUKAVU – During the occupation of the Congolese city of Goma by the M23 rebels last month, the nearby border with Rwanda remained open, and daily exchanges between the two central African neighbors continued as usual. “We have no problem with the Rwandans as people. They are our brothers, our neighbors,” explains a Congolese teacher […]
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch The Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg, a Hamburg-based consumer association, has accused food company of marketing scams, particularly free online games for children, reports Die Welt. “Many parents have complained about the games, which are usually on sites advertising very sugary and high fat products,” says the organization’s nutrition expert Silke Schwartau. “Unlike adults, […]
LONDON- We’re at 70 Lower Clapton Road, northeast London, where David and Eleanor are manning the register. While the clock approaches noon, the machine passes the 500-pounds mark (more than $810). It’s been ages since the two owners of independent bookshop “Pages of Hackney” managed to tally such amount, all done without any special marketing […]
ERIZE – In the 1950s, the town had a thousand residents. Now it’s down to 17 souls. Among them are a group of women who have some ideas about how to stop the town of Erize, located in the eastern part of the Buenos Aires province, from disappearing from the map altogether. Earlier this month, […]
– Editorial – PARIS – A revolution is a riot that has succeeded. A riot is a revolution that has failed… For the second time since 1990, Algeria has missed another rendezvous with history, the Arab Spring. Like Saudi Arabia, it remained mostly extraneous to the unrest that overwhelmed the Arab world and led to […]
BERLIN – Christian Hummel knew he would suddenly be confronted with all sorts of new situations when, after nine years at a major German steel company, his boss offered him the job heading up a three-person development unit. Hummel thought long and hard before accepting. He would not only bear the responsibility for the work […]
Warnings by the United States and other countries threatening the Syrian regime with dire consequences if chemical weapons are used against rebel forces may have had the intended effect. Recent media reports suggest this concern has now diminished. It is just as plausible, however, that the regime had little intention of using its chemical weapons […]
-Essay- BEIJING – Lately there seems to be a refreshing breeze blowing through China, which might even change the very essence of our “national conditions.” What are these Chinese “national conditions” anyway? They are many things – each uniquely Chinese. For instance, our tradition of “official-orientated consciousness.” We are accustomed to seeing large crowds at […]
Using lasers for tracking objects through the sky has been possible for years, but there’s never been anything like Lockheed’s new laser defense system successfully tested last week. It’s not that using high-powered lasers to drop incoming missiles is anything new, and was achieved by Boeing with a nine-year Air Force project that was canceled […]
European law may require right to anonymity. Will Zuckerberg’s ad-based business model “crumble”?
PARIS – Boosting sales and maintaining the allure. Such is the challenge today for arguably the world’s most luxurious brand – Louis Vuitton. And that task falls to Jordi Constans, the former Danone food company executive, who is the new head of the largest subsidiary of the prestigious French LVMH (Louis Vuitton – Moët Hennessy) […]
LE MONDE (France), SKY NEWS (Australia), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – The United Nations Security Council has approved an open-ended resolution authorizing military operation to secure northern Mali from terrorist organizations. The design of this gradual intervention, authored by France and to be led by African forces (Ecowas) and supported by the UN military, has […]
WALL STREET JOURNAL, CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch European stocks and U.S. stock futures fell Friday after Republican House members canceled a vote on a tax bill intended to avert a massive budget crisis, reports the Wall Street Journal. Republican lawmakers have rejected party leader John Boehner’s proposal designed to win concessions from President Barack Obama […]
CAPITAL FM (Kenya), BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS Worldcrunch NAIROBI – At least 30 people have been killed Friday in clashes between rival farming communities in the Tana River district on the Kenyan coast, reports BBC News. The attacks, that come after weeks of sharp tension between rival Pokomo and Orma communities occurred […]
Also signs of additional facilities that could produce weapons-grade uranium.
PICHARI – Miguel doesn’t make a sound on his way to the plantation. “Best to keep a low profile, put away your microphone,” he advises. The path leads all the way over the Apurímac River, whose brown waters wind through the middle of the forest, to a clearing where shrubs of coca grow across 12 […]
DHARAMSALA – Sacrifice of life for Tibet. Under this scarlet red title, the giant poster displays photos of deceased Tibetans. The poster was put up on a steep road in McLeod Ganj, a village on the slopes of Dharamsala, home of the Tibetan government in exile, in northern India. The street leads to the Tsuglakhang […]
BUENOS AIRES – They’re the daughters of Argentina’s upper class, and they go to the most prestigious and traditional high schools in the country. Today, the differences in school curriculum for boys and girls are shrinking, and the social role that girls “are expected” to meet is being tied increasingly to the values imparted to […]
SIDI BOUZID – In town to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire two years ago, Moncef Marzouki and Mustapha Ben Jaffar were greeted with stones and tomatoes. The President of Tunisia and the Head of the National Constituent Assembly had to leave the stage that was set […]
The Aegean town of Sirince has just 600 residents, but thousands are flocking there to survive supposed “end of the world” on Friday.
PRETORIA – Jacob Zuma sang in the choir when he was a political prisoner on Robben Island in the 1970s. South Africa’s president has a remarkable voice, and these days he uses it particularly effectively during election campaigns. Not necessarily when he gives speeches (he tends to read these) but in the songs he sings; […]
CLARIN, NOLAPLANCHES.COM.AR (Argentina) Worldcrunch BUENOS AIRES – December 20 is the Day of the Wrinkled Shirt in Argentina. This unlikely celebration was called by nolaplanches.com.ar (translates as: don’t iron it). It sounds like a housewife’s dream, but the Day of the Wrinkled Shirt is actually an environmental initiative put on through the collaboration of three […]
LOS ANGELES TIMES, VOICE OF AMERICA (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – Four senior U.S. State Department officials resigned after an independent review board determined their operational responsibility for “grossly inadequate” security when Islamic militants killed four Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, reports the Los Angeles Times. Among them is Eric Boswell, the […]
SKYNEWS (UK), KOREAN TIMES (South Korea) Worldcrunch SEOUL – South Korea has elected its first female president, as Park Geun-Hye, the daugther of the country’s longtime autocratic ruler, defeated opposition candidate Moon Jae-in. Park, 60, the conservative party candidate, claimed victory early Thursday, after collecting 51.5% of the votes against Moon’s 47.9%. The campaign largely […]
PARIS – As the end of the year approaches, it is difficult to escape the gift-giving madness. Santa has the family covered, of course, but the office is a different matter. Here, a postman replaces the old man with the red coat. The person who sent the present is rarely from Lapland – most often […]
PARIS – Syria appears to be moving closer by the day toward the end of Assad’s regime. In Western countries, the debate on a military intervention to secure the country’s “hot zones” is gaining momentum. Until now, Western leaders have said that they would only support a military intervention if Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons. […]
The end of the world is slated for this Friday, December 21, and Chinese restaurants are fully booked. They are promising a wonderful atmosphere and are dubbing the special evening the “Last Supper.” We can already imagine the hordes of young people who will spend the evening in a bar – downing alcohol to help […]
MOSCOW – Barack Obama has signed into law a bill that establishes normal trade relations with Russia for the first time in decades, including the repeal of the 1974 Jackson-Vanick Amendment that denied “most favored nation” status to countries restricting human rights. But the bill also included the so-called “Magnitsky” Act, which calls for sanctions […]
TIME, THE ONION (USA) Worldcrunch Even though Kim Jong-un seemed like a shoe-in for Time’s Person Of The Year 2012, having accumulated more online votes than anyone by far, the magazine announced today that Barack Obama had won the coveted title instead. Barack Obama is TIME’s 2012 Person of the Year | ti.me/VQVajw #POY2012 — […]
DIE ZEIT, SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (Germany) BERLIN – Lotte, the daughter of German Family Minister Kristina Schröder, is not yet two years old, but her mother is already busy helping her grow up to be a modern woman. Toward that end, Schröder says she is very selective when choosing her classic children’s books, including the legendary […]
PARIS – Adam Lanza, killer of 20 children and seven adults, including his mother, is a mass murderer – he murdered a large number of people in a short time in one place. He then committed suicide in a classroom. Ending your life or having the police shoot you dead is often part of the […]
PUTIN TO PARDON KHODORKOVSKY After his annual press conference, Vladimir Putin stunned reporters by saying he will sign a pardon for jailed ex-Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky “in the nearest time,” RT reports. MARKETS ON THE RISE AFTER FED’S STIMULUS REDUCTION European and Asian stocks were on the rise this morning after the Federal Reserve’s announcement […]
BERLIN – She’ll never know why, on August 7 1970, her father was in the border area near the Berlin Wall. The only thing she knows is that East German border guards fired 177 shots at him. Monika N. was 13 when she lost her father. Her sister was a year older. The worst thing […]
BBC (UK), REUTERS Worldcrunch KARACHI – Three more health workers administering polio vaccinations in Pakistan were killed Wednesday, a day after five of their colleagues were killed in attacks blamed on Taliban militants. The nationwide campaign to immunize Pakistanis has been suspended after the latest shootings. The three killings came in two separate attacks Wednesday […]
JAPAN TODAY, NHK (Japan), AFP Worldcrunch HIROSHIMA – A worker at a waste disposal facility in Hiroshima in western Japan, has found more than 10 million yen (about $120,000) in cash in a pile of garbage. The money, whose origin has yet to be determined, was spotted by a monitor on a conveyor belt. Some […]
EL NORTE (Mexico), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch MEXICO CITY – At least 17 people were killed in a Northern Mexico prison on Tuesday, reports El Norte. Eleven inmates and six guards died in a shootout as the prisoners attempted to escape the prison through tunnels, reports CNN. “The inmates started to shoot with […]
US STATE DEPT. (USA), AFP Worldcrunch An independent inquiry has criticized the State Department for inadequate security at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on the day of the September attack that killed four American government personnel including Ambassador John Christopher Stevens. The 39-page unclassified report, which also cited intelligence failures, focused much of its […]