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Eyes on the U.S.

Bradley Manning Apologizes

THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch Speaking at his sentencing hearing, U.S. soldier Bradley Manning, convicted of leaking a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks, said he now regrets his actions and that he was “sorry that they hurt the United States,” the Guardian reported. “I am sorry for unintended consequence of my actions. When I made […]

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Society

Striving Chinese Kids Head West For Sleepaway Camp, Teen Tours And Summer School

Buyer beware: both prestigious boarding schools and summer tours have major drawbacks.

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Future Society

Peruvian Teachers Make The Grade Despite Hostile Working Conditions

The country’s best and brightest teachers celebrate what they’re able to achieve under less-than-ideal conditions. Here, the government is the enemy.

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Society

Yes, The NSA Is Tracking You. Get Over It

A German writer is fed up with the hypocrisy of an exhibitionist society outraged by the limits of privacy. Yes, you are being monitored. Now get back to your celebrity Twitter feed.

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Geopolitics

Israel Releases Palestinian Prisoners Just Before Peace Talks

BBC, GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH (UK), AL JAZEERA Worldcrunch JERUSALEM – Israel has released 26 Palestinian prisoners hours before the opening of renewed peace talks Wednesday. Eleven of the prisoners released in the West Bank were welcomed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while the other 15 were met by cheering crowds in Gaza. A total 104 long-term […]

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Geopolitics

UN Declares Iraq Emergency, Gaza Truce Extended, Robot Cooks

Aug. 14, 2014 UN SIGNALS RED ALERT IN IRAQThe United Nations has declared the situation in Iraq a “Level 3 emergency,” its highest for a humanitarian crisis, as deadly fights between the army and ISIS terrorists killed at least four children west of Baghdad, AP reports. This came as U.S. troops and aid workers arrived […]

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Geopolitics

Dozens Reported Dead In Cairo As Security Forces Clear Pro-Morsi Sit-Ins

AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AFP, REUTERS, RUSSIA TODAY (Russia) Worldcrunch CAIRO — Dozens of people are reported to have been killed in an Egyptian security forces operation meant to disperse protest camps in Cairo’s streets, where supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi were demanding his reinstatement. The exact number of casualties remains unclear, as reports […]

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Geopolitics

Slim Chances, But Middle East Peace Talks Could Be Different This Time

John Kerry has convinced Israeli and Palestinian leaders that the region’s upheaval requires them to at least search for a solution. Whether they find it is another question.

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Economy

German And French Economies Grow Faster Than Expected

THE LOCAL (Germany), LES ECHOS (France) Worldcrunch BRUSSELS – Data released Wednesday showed the economies of Germany and France grew faster than expected between April and the end of June, raising hopes for a recovery across Europe. The new figures show that Germany enjoyed its fastest growth in more than a year in the second […]

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Geopolitics

Criminals Without Borders: From Russia To Ghana, Crunching International Crime Figures

MOSCOW – Over the past couple of months, experts on international crime have started raising the alarm: criminal activity is crossing borders like never before. The response from law enforcement must therefore be no less transnational. The European Parliament has recently launched a Special Commission on Organized Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering (CRIM) that is […]

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Society

Mom’s Best Friend: Suspicious Parents Now Can Rent Drug-Sniffing Dog

An enterprising German trains his pooch to become the country’s first dope-busting dog-for-hire.

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Future

Resource-Rich Colombia’s Green Energy Gambit

Global warming is a big problem in Latin America, but the private sector is busy developing alternative energy sources. Has the rush to innovate arrived in time?

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Geopolitics

U.S. Advisers Sent To Iraq, Putin Convoys Barred, RIP Lauren Bacall

Wednesday, August 13, 2014 U.S. SENDS MORE MILITARY ADVISERS TO IRAQ Washington is sending 130 more military advisers to northern Iraq to assist in the evacuation of displaced people trapped on Mount Sinjar, The New York Times reports. The article quotes U.S. officials as saying that a ground presence is needed to secure the evacuation, […]

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Geopolitics

Israel Intercepts Rocket From Al-Qaeda-Linked Islamists In Sinai

HAARETZ (Israel), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AFP Worldcrunch EILAT — Israel says it intercepted a rocket fired from Sinai, Egypt over the southern city of Eilat early Tuesday. The attack, first reported by Israeli public radio, was later confirmed by an army spokesman. The Mujahideen Shura Council, an Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group, claimed responsibility for the attack, […]

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Society

How The French Far Right Is Perverting Voltaire

To counter Islam, conservative groups are twisting the ideas of the Enlightenment writer famous for his advocacy of freedom of religion.

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Geopolitics

Keita Wins Mali Presidency, Eight Months After French Intervention

AFP, JOURNAL DU MALI (Mali) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali’s presidency after his opponent conceded defeat late Monday. Former Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse, who had denounced electoral fraud during the first round, congratulated his rival on his victory in Sunday’s second round. Cisse told the AFP: “My family and […]

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Future

SF-To-LA In 30 Minutes? Futuristic Transport Hyperloop Plans Unveiled

LOS ANGELES TIMES, REUTERS Worldcrunch SAN FRANCISCO – California billionaire Elon Musk has unveiled the design of his Hyperloop, a $6 billion would-be high-speed transport system powered by solar energy. The network of crash-proof capsules could become “a fifth mode of transport after planes, trains, cars and boats,” Musk declared in a blog post. Hyperloop […]

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Food / Travel Society

A Flavor Out Of Favor: The Chinese Lose Their Taste For MSG

BEIJING — For more than 100 years now, the food additive commonly known at MSG (monosodium glutamate) has been used all over the world to make dishes more savory. But the Chinese in particular are losing their taste for the ingredient, having embraced an irrational fear of what authorities around the world regard as a […]

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Society

Brazil’s Favorite E.T. And The Politics Of Tourism

Even President Dilma Rousseff has now chimed in on the fate of the “E.T. of Varginha.”

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Geopolitics

How The Egyptian Army Reclaimed Tahrir Square

CAIRO – What has become of Tahrir Square? It is of course still right there, in the center of Cairo, just off the banks of the Nile, the eternal Egyptian Museum, the Nile Hilton hotel (under seemingly endless restoration) and the Mogamma — the huge Stalinist building that serves as permanent headquarters for the Egyptian […]

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Geopolitics

New Iraq Government, First Europe Ebola Death, Panda Triplets

NEW IRAQ GOVERNMENT “PROMISING” Iraqi President Fuad Masum is forming a new government to help halt the ISIS insurgency in the country’s north, replacing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a development U.S. President Barack Obama characterized as “a promising step forward.” Masum has asked veteran Shia politician Haider al-Abadi to replace Maliki, whose political support […]

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Geopolitics

Nazi War Crimes Suspect Csatary Dies At 98

MTI, BORS (Hungary), BBC Worldcrunch BUDAPEST – Laszlo Csatary, one of the world’s most wanted Nazis and war crimes suspects, has died at the age of 98. The death, first reported by Hungarian tabloid Bors, was confirmed Monday by Csatary’s lawyer, Gabor Horvath. Hovarth said his client had died on Saturday morning, BBC reports. “He […]

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Society

Striking Usain Bolt Photo Shows He’s Aptly Named

Worldcrunch MOSCOW – AFP photographer Olivier Morin snapped a breathtaking picture of World champion Usain Bolt just after he crossed the finish line, winning the 100-meter final at the Moscow world championships on Sunday night. See the photo HERE.

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Geopolitics

At Least One Dead, 45 Missing After Typhoon Hits Philippines

AP, BBC Worldcrunch MANILA – The season’s most powerful typhoon hit the north of the Philippine islands early Monday morning, leaving one person dead, with at least 23 others missing, according to the Associated Press. Typhoon Utor brought winds of up to 130 mph and torrential rains to the country’s main island of Luzon, toppling […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

The Wimp Factor: Why Obama Risks Winding Up Like Jimmy Carter

The legacy of the 44th president of the United States is in peril, as he is seen as weak-willed with an unfocused foreign policy. Is it 1979 all over again?

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Society

Nestle And The Chocolate Factory

In the French city of Noisiel, the old Menier chocolate factory is a grand architectural landmark of the industrial age. It’s now the luxurious headquarters of Nestle France.

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Geopolitics

Iraq Crisis Deepens, Hillary Chides Obama, Fifty Shades Of Frozen

Monday, August 11, 2014 IRAQ SINKS DEEPER INTO CRISISThe United States is providing weapons to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq as they battle Islamic State (IS) terrorists who are slaughtering civilian minorities, the AP reports. The Obama administration had previously said it would only sell arms to the Iraqi government, but that policy has changed. […]

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Society

In Germany, Home Is Where The Yurt Is

ÜBERLINGEN AM BODENSEE — Nadja Schotthöfer and David Schuster decided against the German Dream — a semi-detached house with garden, flat-screen TV, living room suite, fitted kitchen. They live in a yurt, where their child was born. Outside, a warm wind caresses the tall grasses, and it smells like hay drying in the sun. The […]

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Economy

Moniker Mayhem: Overcoming The Great Wall Of Name Squatting In China

How do well-known foreign brands react when unscrupulous profiteers swipe their Chinese names?

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Geopolitics Society

Confessions Of A Gay Ex-Priest, Who Pens A Prayer To The Pope

-Op-Ed- Andrés Gioeni, a 41-year-old Argentinian man, served as a priest in Mendoza, Argentina, for more than two years before giving up the cassock. Now working as an actor, director and writer of children’s plays, he lives with his boyfriend of more than nine years, Luis, in Greater Buenos Aires’ San Isidro. He recently wrote […]

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Society

Pssst, Russian Oligarchy, How About A Little Polygamy?

When there’s too much wealth inequality, there’s no strong middle class to drive economic growth. Dividing inheritances among more people would help. And that’s where harems come in.

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Mondo Society

Hit It! What’s No. 1 On World’s Music Charts

Here are some of the songs topping the charts from music hot spots around the world. Our pick of the week is a 70s’ funk classic: Sly & the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin” On, which was re-released as a new deluxe edition on July 30th. Roll up your sleeves, put those sunglasses on […]

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Geopolitics Mondo

Magazines, Mapped! Week Of August 9-16

What has the world been reading this week? Check out our selection of covers from top magazines around the world…

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Society

Not Just ABBA: From Pop To Death Metal, Sweden Rocks The Music World

A vast number of planet music’s cash cows – including a little act named Madonna – originated on the synthesizer keyboards of Swedish songwriters, but can the country hold its high note?

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Geopolitics

Four Killed In Mogadishu Plane Crash

AP Worldcrunch MOGADISHU – An Ethiopian Air Force cargo plane crash-landed at Mogadishu’s seaside airport on Friday, killing four people on board, the African Union said. Two crew members were rescued by emergency personnel and are being treated in the African Union military hospital near the base, said Mahamat Saleh Annadif, an African Union representative […]

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Society

‘Easy Rider’ Actress Karen Black Dies At 74

CNN (USA) Worldcrunch LOS ANGELES– Actress Karen Black’s long and public battle with cancer has ended with her death, her agent said Thursday. Black, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, was 74. Black took her fight to overcome her illness to a crowd-funding website earlier […]

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Society

Virtual Therapy Gives “Couch Surfing” A New Meaning

BERLIN — The understanding voice, the way the therapist slides the box of tissues over when you get emotional, the warm pat on the shoulder and the handshake as you leave. Can you imagine psychotherapy without these comforting human niceties? If so, consider replacing these face-to-face sessions with online therapy. Results of a University of […]

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Geopolitics

Attack On Mosque Kills At Least 10 In Pakistan

AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AFP Worldcrunch QUETTA — An attack on a Sunni Muslim mosque in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta has left at least 10 people dead and another 30 wounded, just one day after a suicide bomber killed at least 37 people in the same city. Friday’s attack in the capital of Balochistan […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Society

Detroit: A Cautionary Tale For Modern Civilization

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” wrote British historian Arnold Toynbee. Lessons from the downfall of the automotive industry’s once-glorious capital.

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Mondo

Quotes Of The Week: Obama, Berlusconi, Castro… and MORE!

Take a tour of what the world has been saying this week…

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