Worldcrunch
MOSCOW – Legal vodka production in Russia was down nearly 40% in June from the same month last year. Could this mean that Russians are suddenly less devoted to this nationally beloved libation? Do they have fewer sorrows to drown? Unlikely. Instead, tax hikes on alcohol have made it more difficult for legal producers to […]
Brazil is filled with young people wrapped in the flags of their different countries — but mostly South American. Pope Francis meets his flock at the World Youth Day event.
The American Human Ressources company Mercer has published a study of the world’s most expensive cities to live in for foreign workers in 2012. The study is based on the comparison between the prices of 200 products or services in 214 cities around the world. Here are the top ten, some might surprise you….
Friday, July 25, 2014 NO ALGERIAN FLIGHT SURVIVORS French President François Hollande confirmed in televised comments today that French soldiers reached the wreckage of Algerian Airlines flight AH5017 in Mali, and retrieved one of the plane’s two black boxes. None of the 110 passengers and six crew members survived. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told […]
Li Tianyi, son of a famous Chinese general, is currently being tried in a case of alleged gang rape along with four of his friends. Referring to this ongoing case, Yi Yanyou, a law professor at Tsinghua University, declared on his microblog account last week: “Even if it was rape, the harm of raping a […]
THE HERALD, NEW ZIMBABWE (Zimbabwe) Worldcrunch CHITUNGWIZA – Chiwoniso Maraire, one of Zimbabwe’s most famous singers, died late Wednesday at the age of 37. Born in Olympia, U.S., in 1976, Chiwoniso shot to fame in the 1990s thanks to her distinctive voice and her playing the mbira — also known as sanza, kalimba or “thumb […]
BBC (UK), XINHUA (China), REUTERS Worldcrunch JINAN– Bo Xilai, a former rising star of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chief of Chongqing Municipality, was charged on Thursday with corruption, abuse of power and embezzlement, reports Xinhua news agency. The indictment, delivered to the Jinan City Peopl’es Court, marks the latest twist to a political […]
A niggling feeling of doubt came over me. Had the school trip been educational? Was it even a school trip, i.e. was the presence of two teachers and a class of students any guarantee of learning? We had worked hard all year, I can tell you that much. We knew everything there was to know […]
BBC (UK), EL PAÍS (Spain), EL MUNDO (Spain) Worldcrunch SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA – The death count had risen to 78 by Thursday morning after an express train derailed in northwestern Spain. More than 140 other people were injured (including 20 in critical condition) in the crash near Santiago de Compostela, reports El Mundo. The train […]
After top tech companies were shown to be dodging taxes in several European countries, similar questions have now emerged in Israel. An exclusive from top Israeli business daily Calcalist.
MOSCOW – Honestly? Stanislav opens his eyes wide. “I swear!” he exclaims, “I gave him water, a glass of water to be precise. He often passes by to go to the smoking area by gate 31.” That is where the flights for Italy depart. We station ourselves by the smoking area for almost an hour, […]
BERLIN – It wouldn’t have to be a real monarchy. But a little royal glamor, just a taste of that feeling that we too had a special family with grand historic traditions: that would be nice. And how great it would be if we had something like a due date that stirred commotion nationwide, and […]
BOGOTA – Negotiators for rebel group FARC — engaged now in historic peace talks with the Colombian government — received an interesting visit in Havana last month. During a pause in negotiations with Bogota officials in the Cuban capital, FARC loyalists met with a group of former members of the IRA. Indeed, the veterans of […]
GAZA: NO TRUCE, BANNED BROADCAST, SEEN FROM SPACE 37 Palestinians were killed this morning in Gaza, taking the death toll after 17 days of the Israeli operation to 734, with more than 4,000 injured, Ma’an news agency reports. Hamas meanwhile claimed to have killed 8 Israeli soldiers early this morning, as Tel Aviv was targeted […]
LES ECHOS (France), TELEGRAPH (UK), REUTERS Worldcrunch PARIS – After six straight quarters of contraction, new signs were reported Wednesday that the recession in Europe’s single-currency euro zone may be set to end. Manufacturing in the euro zone increased for the first time in well over a year, boosted by higher private sector output in […]
Worldcrunch As the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent their first night at home with their newborn son, the Internet celebrated the royal baby’s birth in its own way. Twitter trolls had a blast: He’s not ginger 😉 #itsaboy — Prince Harry (@Prince___Harry) July 22, 2013 Dear William & Kate: If William is 100% royal […]
EL UNIVERSAL (Mexico), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch MICHOACAN – Twenty gang members and two federal police officers were killed in late- night clashes between the police and the Knights Templar drug cartel in this southeastern Mexican state, El Universal reports Friday. Police say 15 of its officers were injured when members of the drug cartel ambushed […]
In the latest edition of Fortune Magazine“s “Global 500,” exactly 85 Chinese corporations have made the list. That’s an increase of 16 companies compared with last year. But let’s take a closer look at the numbers. Of the companies listed, 90% are stated-owned enterprises (SOEs), and just two of the new batch on the list […]
GENEVA – For a long time, the brain was considered a kind of black box, whose internal workings were largely a mystery. But recently, this special organ has started yielding its secrets, thanks in part to the progress made in the field of genetics. Neuroscientists from the University of Geneva have achieved a breakthrough that […]
RIO DE JANEIRO – This modern pilgrimage through the heart of South America began last Friday at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires. The church, where the current Pope used to preside, was jam-packed with 500 young people from a dozen different parishes, their parents, priests and friends, as Jorge Bergoglio’s successor Archbishop Mario Aurelio […]
Wednesday, July 23, 2014 GAZA: WAR CRIME ACCUSATIONS An emergency UN Human Rights Council is being held in Geneva as Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” enters its 16th day, with the death toll in Gaza now standing at least 647, after new attacks this morning. UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay opened the meeting saying that […]
Worldcrunch On Monday, in a rather surreal moment a town crier annouced the birth of Prince William and Kate’s baby boy outside St Mary’s Hospital, in London. The British and world press had been waiting nearly nine months for the news. Here is how papers from all over the world covered the royal event. The […]
REUTERS Worldcrunch BEIJING– Share prices across global markets advanced towards five-year highs on Tuesday, as China’s made efforts to avoid a hard landing for its slowing economy, Reuters reports. Local media in China reported that the government was looking to increase investment in railway projects to reduce gluts in steel, cement and other materials, as […]
MUNICH – As a measure of Microsoft’s hold over the technology-driven economy, one American tabloid once published a “Countdown to World Domination” calendar in the lead-up to the company’s launch of its new operating system. That was nearly 12 years ago. Today, we are living in a completely different era as the number of PC […]
AL-AHRAM (Egypt), REUTERS Worldcrunch CAIRO – At least six people have died on Tuesday in clashes between ousted president Mohammed Morsi supporters and opponents in central Cairo. According to a health administration official, as many 33 people were also injured in the clashes that erupted near a Muslim Brotherhood sit-in at Cairo University, reports Al-Ahram. […]
A recent investigation of unsolved political murders and forcibly evacuated villages in southeastern Turkey cites JITEM, a clandestine intel unit linked to the Turkish military.
Royal baby madness has gripped both Britain and the world, with the birth of the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, aka Will and Kate. The healthy boy, third in line to the throne, was born late Monday afternoon, weighing in at 8 lbs., 6 oz. With photos of the little prince […]
Young people sign up for higher education solely for scholarship money, while officials turn a blind eye to those permanently absent from class. Is this a twisted way to buy social peace?
The 82-year-old “godfather” of F1 has built the motor sport into a billion-dollar business with a very Bernie-centric system. But bribery charges may force the sport to find a new formula.
MODENA – A place like this — where milk costs one point and olive oil four points instead of nine euros, where you can buy food even if you don’t have the money to do so — seems possible only here, between the Torre della Ghirlandina (the bell tower of the Cathedral of Modena) and […]
GAZA WAR ENTERS THIRD WEEK Israel’s assault on Gaza and Hamas rocket fire into Israel show no sign of abating. Gaza’s Health Ministry officials reports 604 Palestinians killed in 15 days, with more than 3,700 injured. Most of the victims are civilians. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday, taking the total to 27 since the […]
IL MESSAGGERO (Italy), BBC Worldcrunch RIO DE JANEIRO – Crowds of faithful gathered in this popular Brazilian city to welcome Pope Francis, who set off from Rome on Monday morning for his first official foreign trip and preside over the 28th edition of the Roman Catholic World Youth Day. Here are five things you need […]
BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch LONDON – The United Kingdom, its former empire and the rest of the world is following events at St. Mary’s Hospital in West London where Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William, was taken Monday morning in the early stages of labour. The royal baby, as the […]
BBC (UK), CHINA DAILY (China), CNN (US), XINHUA (China) Worldcrunch Two powerful earthquakes have killed at least 54 people and injured 337 in northwest China, according to state media. The quakes hit along the border of two counties — Min and Zhang — at around 7:45 a.m. local time, according to state news agency Xinhua. […]
–OpEd– BEIJING – China’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Zhou Qiang recently declared that any miscarriage of justice is an affront to social fairness. The Chief Justice also announced a preliminary plan for promoting independent and impartial trials, respecting and protecting the rights of lawyers, and establishing a sound mechanism for preventing and correcting wrongful convictions. […]
The Israeli Defense Forces’ one-of-a-kind Internet strategy aims to bypass an international media known for unfriendly fire.
Monday, July 21, 2014 GAZA DEATH TOLL TOPS 500 Israel pushed ahead with its military operation in Gaza, with Reuters reporting massive attacks, including one that killed 25 members of the same family, as the death toll reached 508 in 14 days of the operation “Protective Edge,” with at least 81,000 displaced. The Guardian also […]
The protests that led to the Egyptian president’s fall began in a tiny Cairo apartment, but ultimately got the backing of anti-Muslim Brotherhood businessmen — and the military.
It can get you out of a jam and open wine, but the iconic multi-use companion narrowly escaped collapse after the War on Terror made it suddenly hard to carry everywhere.
In some ways there’s been great progress in a woman’s ability to control her destiny in Russian society. But in other ways, it’s actually even worse than during the Soviet era.