XINHUA (China), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch CHENGPING – Twenty-two school children and a villager were injured in a knife attack at the outside a primary school in central China’s Henan Province Friday morning, reports Xinhua. A police officer said the attack occured in the village of Chengping in the province of Henan, shortly before 8 […]
Month: December 2012
Children’s privacy is of particular concern in Europe, even as US tech giants line up to oppose any new laws that could force Internet “de-indexing.”
CAIRO – On December 5, violent clashes raged for hours between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi, after the latter attacked a sit-in outside the presidential palace by protesters rejecting the constitutional declaration and a snap referendum. A total of 49 people were captured, beaten and kept overnight in makeshift holding cells as their […]
CHINA TIMES (Taiwan), XINHUA (China) Worldcrunch XIAMEN – Recently, a 17 year-old boy from the Chinese northeastern city of Changchun, in Jilin Province, secretly sold the four tires of his parents’ sports car to buy an iPhone 5. He sold the tires for about a sixth of their real value. His mother had previously refused […]
LENS – Matthieu Debas, the owner of the “Chez Cathy” bar, is peeling some potatoes for tonight’s French fries. Across the street, he can see the faint lights of the construction site. On Rue Paul-Bert, cars are zigzagging around heavy equipment, lit up by the lights of the diggers. As the inauguration date of the […]
Categories
Soccer Night Of Shame In Brazil
GLOBO ESPORTE, FOLHA DE S.P. (Brazil), FOX SPORTS, THE WASHINGTON POST (USA) SAO PAULO – With less than two years before the kick-off of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, things are not looking good for Brazilian soccer. Local team Sao Paulo FC were crowned the winners of the Copa Sudamericana final Wednesday, after Argentinan […]
PARIS – On November 27, Reporters Without Borders launched a new website called “We Fight Censorship,” that “publishes content that has been censored or banned or has led to reprisals against its creator.” The content is selected by an “editorial committee,” posted in its original language then translated – mostly into English or French. The […]
-Essay- BEIJING – “Eat, drink, man and woman – the greatest human desires reside in them…” It is an ancient Confucian proverb, meaning that food and love are basic to human nature. Were the public invited to vote on what they’d like most to know about their nations’ leaders I’m convinced it wouldn’t be their […]
NOUMEA – Stanley Jemes’ dream is to move back to Maré Island. There, he would grow sandalwood and yams, far away from town, “where everything is for sale.” On the island where he was born, Stanley would live with his family, like a tribe. “In Maré, we all live together. Here in Tindu, it’s everyone […]
BERLIN – Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former Prime Minister who harbors ambitions to return to his old job, has had a year to adjust reality to his private world view. And now he’s letting fellow Italians and Europeans know how he thinks. The widening of the Italo-German government bond “spread” shortly before his government fell last […]
NHK, ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan), XINHUA (China) Worldcrunch The Japanese government accused China of violating its airspace Thursday morning, after Chinese maritime surveillance planes flew near the islands disputed by the two powers. China’s Xinhua news agency confirms that Chinese planes were sent to patrol the territorial waters surrounding the disputed Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku in Japanese) […]
FRANCE 24 (France), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch FRANKFURT – European Union finance ministers have agreed on a deal giving the European Central Bank (ECB) new powers to supervise eurozone banks. This agreement came early Thursday after the ministers held talks for more than 14 hours in Frankfurt following months of tense Franco-German divisions. All finance ministers […]
THE CANBERRA TIMES (Australia) Worldcrunch CANBERRA – Though still holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has declared his intention to run for the Senate in his native Australia, and to launch a WikiLeaks party early next year, reports the Canberra Times. Photo – Mataparda/espenmoe In an exclusive interview with […]
Worldcrunch NEW YORK – Former Beatle Paul McCartney will perform with Nirvana’s Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic at 12.12.12 benefit gig for Superstorm Sandy. Here is an imaginary mashup setlist of the songs they might play tonight in New York: 1- Smells Like The Walrus 2- Come As Lady Madonna 3- Lucy In The Sky […]
By some calculations, Fabian Thylmann is the biggest porn king of all time. But right now, he’s stuck inside a Belgian jail.
AL AHRAM, MASRAWY (Egypt) Worldcrunch CAIRO – The very first Egyptians, those residing abroad, began casting their ballots Wednesday to say “yes” or “no” for the country’s new Constitution. They will have until Saturday to either send their voting card by post or present themselves in the voting bureaus in voting offices in their respective […]
SANTIAGO – Enrique Peña Nieto hasn’t stopped moving. Since he took over as president of Mexico, two weeks ago, he has signed enough documents and made enough promises to keep his government busy for the whole six years they have in front of them. In his inaugural address, he laid out a 13-point plan with […]
BERLIN – Uri Chanoch has sent a statement to the Committee on Labor and Social Affairs of the German Parliament reminding them of the historic significance of the task they now face. The 12 members of the Committee are debating whether to make an amendment to the Ghetto Pensions law. The law, enacted in 2002 […]
Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – It’s been a long time coming, but Pope Benedict XVI has finally graced the world with his first few tweets. Two weeks after establishing his Twitter handle, @Pontifex (Latin for “Pope”) in eight different languages, he finally sent out some 140-character blessings Wednesday morning : Dear friends, I am pleased to […]
UKRAINE “WANTS TO SIGN EU DEAL,” ASHTON SAYS SYRIAN OPPOSITION LEADER FORCED OUT BY ISLAMISTS ACCIDENTAL EXPLOSION NEAR U.S. EMBASSY IN KABUL A powerful explosion that hit an arms depot near the U.S. embassy in Kabul early this morning was apparently accidental, alleviating fears of an attack, Reuters reports. According to Afghan officials, nobody was […]
REUTERS INDIA, TIMES OF INDIA (India), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch SAN DIEGO – Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar, who influenced everyone from the Beatles to Guns N” Roses guitarist Slash, has died at the age of 92 after he failed to recover from recent heart surgery in San Diego. Ravi Shankar in March 2009 – […]
Lately, it seems like the whole world is finding fault with the French. Ratings agency Moody has downgraded France and the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the European Commission have all acknowledged that the country needs to undertake critical economic reforms to avoid decline. The so-called “Five Wise Men” […]
ABC NEWS, CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK), Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama has recognized the leading Syrian opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the country’s people. “We’ve made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them […]
KCNA (North Korea), THE KOREA HERALD (South Korea), NHK (Japan) Worldcrunch North Korea’s state-run news agency has announced the country has successfully put a satellite into orbit Wednesday. Pyongyang says the three-stage, long-range rocket was successfully launched off the west coast of North Korea Wednesday morning, after its previous attempts failed earlier this year. “The […]
MOSCOW – There are four global logistics companies (DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT) that are generally considered barometers of the global economy. They told of a crisis before it had engulfed the world, when international exchanges began to lag as trade was slowing down, and the price of shipping packages became cheaper. That’s why economists […]
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch BERLIN – Lufthansa is planning to launch a fourth class on long distance flights: Premium Economy Class. The entire long-haul fleet would be equipped with the new cabin, according to Die Welt. The company released a statement saying that its supervisory board had agreed to invest in an “introductory project” that […]
Is the American-born Wang the Jeremy Lin of the fashion world?
GRENOBLE – Since she joined as staff at the Dojo Grenoblois — the judo and ju-jitsu club located in the heart of the housing projects of Villeneuve, south of Grenoble — Laëtitia Cardaci has gotten used to locking the door of the room where she gives her class in Japanese taïso exercise. For this bubbly, […]
LONDON – Londoners were left slightly bemused on Tuesday when they stumbled across a giant rubber duck floating down the River Thames. First a monkey wearing a coat roaming around IKEA in Toronto? Now a rubber duck swimming up the Thames? Has everyone gone quackers? Is it already the end of the world? No, it […]
LE FIGARO, FRANCE 24, LIBERATION (France), DAILY TELEGRAPH (UK) Worldcrunch PARIS– French acting legend Gérard Depardieu has come under criticism for reportedly declaring permanent residency in Belgium to duck out on France’s high taxes on the rich. Left-wing newspaper Libération took a shot at the 63-year-old following confirmation that the actor has taken up residence […]
SITTWE – If it weren’t for the flattened gaps in the standing rows of houses, Sittwe would seem like any typical Burmese city, with its decadent colonial façades. But the isolated blocks, leveled to the ground, are the price to pay for the apparent quiet: A brutal urban war begun last June that emptied the […]
EL GOUNA – In Samih Sawiris’ world, “small scale” is not a concept that gets much play. Over the years, the scion of Egypt’s richest family has shown a flair for the oversized, even to the point of eccentricity. Twenty years ago Sawiris bought up around 40 million square meters of sand and rock and […]
AL AHRAM (Egypt), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch CAIRO – As the calm reigns over Tahrir square, cyber activists are multiplying their calls for Tuesday’s protests that will start at 4 P.M. in Cairo and later in other cities, according to tweets under the hashtag #Tuesday’s_mobilization. Protesters in front of the presidential palace. Photo Gigi Ibrahim Al […]
SOWETAN, THE MAIL & GUARDIAN (South Africa) Worldcrunch South Africa’s former president and national hero Nelson Mandela is being treated for a lung infection. After much speculation, South African officials finally revealed Tuesday why Nelson Mandela, aged 94, was initially admitted to hospital in the nation’s capital Pretoria on Saturday. President Jacob Zuma’s office released […]
REUTERS, BBC NEWS (UK), WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – Mali“s Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra announced his resignation on Tuesday, hours after being arrested by soldiers while trying to leave for France, reports Reuters. Diarra addressed the nation on national television saying: “Our country is living through a period of crisis. Men and […]
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, AAP, THE AUSTRALIAN (Australia) Worldcrunch Turn right, then after 200 meters, you have reached your destination. NOT. A glitch in Apple’s new iPhone mapping system is putting lives at risk by sending motorists into isolated parkland, the Australian news agency AAP reports. Over the past month, police officers in Mildura, a […]
PARIS – Everyone was expecting Mahmoud Abbas. Serious rumors claimed that, given his success at the UN, the president of the Palestinian Authority would head for Gaza, where he hasn’t set foot since 2007, when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup. In the end, the surprise came from Khaled Meshaal, Hamas’s exiled […]
BUENOS AIRES – When Nicolás Maduro was named president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, in January of 2006, Cilia Flores – his “life partner” – hung amulets above all the doors. “They are to ward off the bad vibes,” Flores said in an interview. She was right to worry. Maduro’s gradual rise within the governing […]
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch BERLIN – A forensic analysis of the psychiatric and psychological profiles of 78 German Catholic priests accused of child abuse between 2000 and 2010 shows that only nine were pedophiles. Four showed homosexual tendencies towards adolescent boys. Of the remaining 65, 54% were heterosexuals, 37% were homosexual, and nine were bisexual. […]
BBC MUNDO (UK), EL NACIONAL, EL UNIVERSAL (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS– On Monday, the Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information, Ernesto Villegas, tweeted that Hugo Chávez has returned to Cuba for a new operation for his cancer according to Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional. BBC Mundo reports that despite a year and a half of treatment that […]