Worldcrunch
MOSCOW – Natasha writes “Frank, 11:20 a.m.” on a slip of white paper and hangs it on the pin board behind the counter next to “Nina and Katya, 10.55 a.m.,” “Sergei, 11 a.m.” and other names. Then she opens an antique cabinet filled with dozens of old alarm clocks and watches, all different, but with […]
LAUSANNE – This home hangs between heaven and earth. Its shapes are sometimes rounded, sometimes sharp. The structure stands on the hills overlooking Malibu. Its majestic roof appears to be gliding over a waterfall of glass suburban houses, perched on a hill. And in fact, this impression is correct – this home has wings. Literally. […]
SEPARATISTS CLAIM VICTORY IN EAST UKRAINE REFERENDUM The Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favor of political independence from Kiev, with regional Electoral Commissions claiming to have counted close to 90% in support in Donetsk and over 96% in Luhansk in what The New York Times describes as “chaotic and sometimes […]
The some 10 million Catholics in China remain divided between those loyal to the Pope and those in step with the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy.
Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – As the list of 2012’s most popular baby names in the U.S. was unveiled this week, it appeared that King and Messiah were among the fastest growing names for boys, said the AP. Major was another fast-rising name. Last week, however, New Zealand released its annual list of banned baby names and […]
BUTIHINDA – Here in the northeastern mining region of Burundi, some green is starting to grow again. Having caused rampant deforestation and drought, mining companies are from now on required to plant trees in the areas they exploit. Along the dusty road leading to Kamaramagambo, we can see several rocky slopes that for the first […]
NEW YORK – Some people are hailing it as a culinary revolution. One thing is certain, the re-introduction of certain banned Italian pork products after 15 years represents some serious business opportunities. Italian businesses will now be able to sell “Made in Italy” pork products such as salami, pancetta, air-cured pork, and culatello Parma ham […]
In spite of the economic growth and rising living standards in many Asian countries, the status of women has strangely stagnated, and even regressed. If women’s status is only measured by remuneration, Asia surely wouldn’t be the only place where there is a marked disparity between the sexes. For instance, according to the United States […]
SAINT-TROPEZ – Star, entrepreneur, chef, and the most decorated cook in the world, Alain Ducasse always has a place to be. He’s perpetually traveling around the world from one of his restaurants to another: from Paris to Tokyo, from Abu Dhabi to Las Vegas, he’s always curious to see where the flavors will take him. […]
ISLAMABAD – If Pakistan’s May 11 parliamentary elections unfold according to recent national opinion surveys, two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif will once again take power in Islamabad. Deposed in a 1999 coup led by General Pervez Musharraf, Sharif fled for nearly a decade of Saudi-sponsored exile. Today, however, it is Musharraf who lives under house […]
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
MONTBELIARD – The meeting point is located just outside the city limits of Montbéliard, in eastern France, on the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. A few steps away is the front gate of the Peugeot car factory. Twenty people or so are waiting for the bus that will take them to the workshops of […]
AFP, AAP Worldcrunch DHAKA – Bangladeshi rescuers have found a survivor in the rubble of a garment factory complex more than two weeks after it collapsed, the AFP reports. “She has been located in a gap between a beam and a column. Her name is Reshmi. She may have reserves of water or have drunk […]
LIMA – Nadine Heredia Alarcón, wife of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, has never expressed a desire to run as a candidate in the presidential election, but if she did, she could win and become the first female Peruvian president. Because of this possibility, leaders of the country’s political parties are pressuring Humala to confirm whether […]
YONHAP NEWS AGENCY, KOREA TIMES, KOREAN HERALD (Korea) Worldcrunch SEOUL – South Korean President Park Geun-hye fired her spokesman Yoon Chang-jung on Friday, amid allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman during an official visit to the United States. According to the President’s office, Yoon Chang–jung was dismissed on the grounds that he had […]
HAARETZ, JERUSALEM POST (Israel) Worldcrunch JERUSALEM – Police on Friday arrested five ultra-Orthodox Jewish men who tried to disrupt prayers by female Jewish activists at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem District Court recently ruled women were allowed to wear prayer shawls during their monthly service, reports Haaretz. The Women of the Wall activists […]
DAWN, THE NEWS, NATION (Pakistan) Worldcrunch ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s bloodiest election campaign ever came to an end overnight, marred by terror threats and attacks that killed at least 117 people including candidates, reports Dawn. On Friday, a motorbike bomb near party political offices killed three people and wounded 13 in the northwestern town of Miranshah, […]
BERLIN – A year ago, Suzanne and Andreas Willim were living in their romantic rural dream house in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Then the passionate sailors and their three sons decided on a radical break with their old life, and moved into an apartment complex. Now they have less living space than they […]
TUNCELI – The recent death of two Turkish soldiers by a mine blast has brought the land mine issue to the country’s agenda once more – and at a moment ripe with hope for lasting peace with Kurdish minority. Turkey, a signatory of the Ottawa Treaty in 2003 was supposed to clear its territory of […]
In a society designed around individual liberty, has marriage become little more than a temporary link-up of working people choosing to spend some free time together? And the kids?
Worldcrunch A year after Saudi Arabian women were allowed to participate in the Olympic Games for the first time, the government announced this week that girls could now play sports in private schools. The news on the Saudi sports front reminds us that advances on gender equality around the world remain both slow and uneven, […]
Italy’s Giulio Andreotti died this week at the age of 94. His handling of the abduction of fellow politician Aldo Moro tells us much about the seven-time prime minister.
After five long years of battle in court, Adidas has finally settled with Adivon, a Chinese sportswear company. The latter is to transfer its Chinese trademarks and the triangular logo to the German multinational and will not be allowed to use them again, in any store. Meanwhile, another unfinished lawsuit has aroused even more attention. […]
BBC (UK), AFP Worldcrunch DHAKA – A new fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh has killed eight people including the factory’s managing director and a police officer. The fire broke out overnight in a clothes factory in the capital Dhaka, racing through first three floors of the 11-story building. The factory’s 300 workers had […]
XINHUA, GLOBAL TIMES (China), AFP Worldcrunch WUXI – Zhang Yimou, one of China’s top film directors is being investigated over claims he has fathered seven children, the Chinese media reported on Thursday. The Wuxi City Population and Family Planning Commission, in eastern China’s Jiangsu Province, is investigating the Xi’an-born director, after it has come to […]
AP, CNN, REUTERS, WASHINGTON POST (USA) Worldcrunch CLEVELAND – Ariel Castro, 52, the man charged with keeping three women captive for almost a decade will appear in court for the first time on Thursday. Castro is accused of kidnapping Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, between 2002 and 2004. At the […]
GUNFIRE IN UKRAINE ON VICTORY DAY Members of self-defense groups in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol told news agency Interfax that Kiev’s law enforcement units had opened fire as they attempted to storm a building belonging to the city’s police and detained officers who had disobeyed orders from Kiev. According to RT, unconfirmed reports […]
How one of the world’s most isolated and ancient religious communities made mating exceptions to be sure it doesn’t disappear from the face of the earth.
How climate change looks — and feels — in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Four years ago, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford disappeared from the public eye for five days, telling his staff he was “Hiking the Apalachian trail.” Since then, the expression has become the euphemism in American popular culture for infidelity, but Sanford may have the last laugh. The 52-year-old Republican pulled off an unexpected political comeback, […]
Before the release of their first record in years, a rare sit-down with the legendary techno band, from their roots in France to surprising new inspirations from Hotel California.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE (Nigeria), BBC WORLD NEWS (UK), REUTERS Worldcrunch BAMA– Suspected members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram have killed 55 people during a raid on the Nigerian town of Bama, the military reported Wednesday. Around 200 armed members of the rebel group laid siege on this remote town in a predawn raid Tuesday, and […]
CORRIERE DELLA SERA, LA REPUBBLICA, RAI NEWS 24, LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch GENOA- A ship crashed into the control tower at Genoa’s port late Tuesday night, killing at least seven people. The ship had been turning to leave the harbor when it hit the tower, knocking most of it into the water, reports Corriere della […]
BBC, THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch MANCHESTER – Sir Alex Ferguson announced Wednesday that he will step down as coach of English powerhouse Manchester United after a career that rivals the best in the history of the sport. Ferguson, 71, has just clinched his 13th Premier League title in his 27-year reign of Man U. The […]
-Editorial- SANTIAGO – The month of April brought some very good news for supporters of gay marriage, and one piece of bad news. The best news in Latin America came from Uruguay, where the Chamber of Deputies gave same-sex couples the right to marry by the overwhelming majority of 71 to 21, topped off by […]
PUTIN REFERENDUM REQUEST IGNOREDPro-Russian activists in the region of Donetsk announced that a referendum on the region’s status would go ahead as planned on Sunday, despite yesterday’s call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone it, RT reports. Earlier Ukraine officials had said that the military operation in Eastern Ukrainewould continue regardless of whether the […]
Reinheitsgebot is the name of the German Beer Purity Law, which states that only barley, water and hops may go into beer. Reinheitsgebot is also the best-known German word in Namibia. April 23, marked the 497th anniversary of the proclamation of that law in Bavaria, and in Namibia the anniversary is always cause for celebration. […]
Unable to live up to the first wave of optimism, the uprising in the Arab world is nonetheless destined to change history.
Worldcrunch MANILA – The Mayon Volcano near the Philippine capital erupted Tuesday, killing four German climbers and their local guide. The BBC reported that they were hit by falling rocks. “Small phreatic event” is how it was characterized by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. This time, the mountain only spat ash and rocks […]
ROME – Springtime at her villa must have been something beautiful indeed. Livia was the wife of the emperor Octavian, also known as Caesar Augustus, and her villa was surrounded by a breathtaking landscape that was unparalleled anywhere in the surrounding areas of Rome: hills, fields, and the Tiber river flowing by. Built along the […]