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Geopolitics

Paris Conference On ISIS, Back To School In Gaza, Texting Lanes

PARIS HOSTS IRAQ/ISIS CONFERENCEFrench President François Hollande opened an international conference in Paris this morning on the subject of battling Iraq’s ISIS terror organization, warning that “there is no time to lose” in fighting the jihadist group. At the same time, France announced it had joined Britain in carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq. NEW […]

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blog Society

On Its 50th Anniversary, An Appreciation Of John Le Carre’s Classic Spy Novel

CORNWALL — Every year we holiday in a small village in Cornwall, where there’s a church, the odd gift shop, a gastro pub and a bar. From the main street, concrete steps lead to a beach that is almost always deserted, and buffeted by the wind. The few brave souls who venture into the water […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Exiled in Beirut: Upper-Class Syrian Youth Examine Lost Illusions

BEIRUT — Meeting for a drink, Lina, Ali and Johnny at first blush seem like normal young people enjoying a pleasant social gathering. But there is also heartbreak behind what has brought them so far from their homes in Damascus. Friends since childhood, these upper middle-class Syrians gather at one of their usual cafés lining […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas

Social Media – The Digital Breadcrumbs That Feed Our Souls

-Essay- BOGOTA — Have you heard? Your phone is spying on you, Apple isn’t as friendly as you think, and Facebook is getting scarier by the day! Today, information is an increasingly valuable currency, not only because it allows companies to generate strange intangible assets that are so difficult to replicate, but also because what […]

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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. Worldcrunch’s pick of the week is a 1963 live version of the Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. This Fab Fours’ classic will feature on their “new” album, On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2, which […]

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Future

Rotterdam’s Newest Police Enforcers Are … Rats

A port city just like Marseille, but less riddled with crime, Rotterdam is nonetheless equipping itself with an unlikely new unit to fight illegal activity. Forensic police plan to use five big brown rats to shed light on criminal plots. After two years of training that will soon end, Derrick, Magnum, Poirot, Dupond and Dupont […]

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Future Society

Addicted To Your Mobile Phone? You Might Be A Nomophobe

MOSCOW — One of the defining new features of 21st century life is an attachment to our mobile phones. In Britain, a company AppRiver has actually measured bona fide fear of being without it, with 54% of the UK’s residents saying they worry when they are not able to see or hear their phones, and […]

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Geopolitics

How Egypt Is Systematically Hunting Down The Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO — The show had just started. It was one of those debates that the new private Egyptian channels love to produce: Viewers can call in to denounce a terrorist, live on air. In front of his television, Yasser was listening to the host describe an “individual who seriously affects the image of the country.” […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Diary Of Humiliation And Faith From A Hostage In Syria

La Stampa’s veteran war correspondent Domenico Quirico was held hostage in Syria for five months by rebel soldiers. Earlier this week, along with Belgian writer Pierre Piccinin, the 61-year-old was released after what he described as a “very dangerous and complex” captivity. Here is his first account of what happened… TURIN — We entered Syria […]

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Economy

A Tiny Malaysian Island Has Quietly Become A Favorite New Global Tax Haven

Since January, more than $540 billion has passed through the tax shelters of the largely unknown island of Labuan. Here’s why the rich are increasingly hiding their money there.

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Geopolitics

New Russian Sanctions, Japan’s Centenarians, Early Snow

Sept. 12, 2014 SYRIA AND ALLIES OPPOSE U.S. ISIS PLANSyrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and its allies Russia and Iran reacted negatively to U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to launch airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, warning that such a move would violate international law if done outside the UN or without Assad’s approval, The Guardian […]

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blog Society

The Clash Between Environmental Reality And Utopian Dreams

-OpEd- BOGOTA — “Thinking that everything can stay the same is the biggest utopia of all…” Margarita Marino de Botero is a Colombian environmentalist who aims to be as creative as she is dedicated. Environmentalism — dynamic and obsessed with changing reality — is continually touching upon the concept of utopia. This is, in fact, […]

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Geopolitics

Victims of Beslan Terror Still Search For Comfort, Wait For Answers

On the first day of school in Sept 2004, after terrorists took hundreds of children and parents hostage in Russia’s Northern Caucasus region, a bloodbath ensued. Questions and scars linger.

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Geopolitics Society

Latin America’s Female Leadership Paradox

Despite the high profile women presidents of Brazil and Argentina, the fairer sex is notably underrepresented in cabinet positions across Latin American governments.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Next Door To Syria, Fears In Beirut Of “Total War” Scenario

Though Russia’s proposed diplomatic solution casts doubt over a U.S. military strike in Syria, Lebanese fear being caught in the middle if the fire spreads across the entire region.

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Geopolitics

Obama’s ISIS strategy, Pistorius verdict, Drowsy thief

Sept. 11, 2014 OBAMA OUTLINES ANTI-ISIS STRATEGYOn the eve of today’s 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks, President Barack Obama vowed to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Mideast’s ISIS terror group, also known as ISIL. Saying he had authorized air strikes against the jihadist group in Syria and the deployment […]

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Economy Society

What’s In Store As Starbucks Sets To Open In Coffee Mecca Of Colombia

BOGOTA — After a long, drawn-out build-up, Starbucks has confirmed it will be coming to Colombia. The arrival of Howard Schultz’s company’s in the South America country famous for its coffee production will be the start of a very interesting showdown with local chain Juan Valdez — as well as all the small coffee shops […]

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Economy Society

A New Bibi? The Paradox Of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Dominance Of Israeli Politics

TEL AVIV — It has been a while since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pulled out some impromptu economic graph or catchy slogan. You can say he matured. Netanyahu of the third term is not the same man he was during his first or second, where he’d been drunk on victory from decimating the left […]

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Future

Is The Internet About To Take Over Our Bodies Too?

First, ovens that already know a dish’s cooking parameters? Now, miniature computers that you can swallow like pills? After the Internet of Things, here comes the Internet of Bodies.

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Geopolitics

Kerry In Iraq, Cameron In Scotland, Tennis Tunes

Wednesday, September 10, 2014 OBAMA READY TO STRIKE ISIS IN SYRIA John Kerry arrived in Baghdad this morning where he will meet the country’s new Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to discuss the fight against ISIS, The New York Times reports. Kerry’s visit is part of a Middle East trip aimed at forging a broad coalition […]

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Geopolitics Mondo

How The World Reacted To Russia’s Diplomatic Proposal For Syria

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will hold off on plans for a military strike in Syria if the country agrees to surrender its chemical weapons to international gatekeepers, as Russia suggested Monday. But Obama has doubts that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Western countries are convinced was responsible for gassing his […]

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Future

Nokia Crash Shows How Far Europe’s High-Tech Has Fallen

Not prone to emotional effusiveness, the Finnish have developed a particular taste for euphemisms: “Naturally, this is a day of big change for Finnish industry,” Premier Jyrki Katainen affirmed modestly last Tuesday, when the country’s best-known company, Nokia, sold its mobile phone outfit to Microsoft for $7.2 billion. That is about 15 times less than […]

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Economy Future

China’s Burgeoning Robot Economy

China currently has just one-fifth the number of robots as Japan, and just one-third as many as the United States, but as manufacturing there grows, the country is poised for big bot growth.

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blog Society

So You Want To Be A Private Eye?

Bruno Strebel spends his days tracking missing persons, insurance scammers and white-collar criminals. The former cop founded a detective school that teaches others to do the same.

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Ideas Syria Crisis

Indecision In Syria: The West’s Public Opinion Problem

A strange thing has happened on the way to the war in Syria: U.S. public opinion, like in Turkey, has lined up this time alongside Europe’s perennial reflex against intervention.

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Geopolitics

Kremlin-Backed Mayoral Candidate Wins In Moscow

KOMMERSANT (Russia), BBC, AFP Worldcrunch MOSCOW — Kremlin-backed candidate Sergei Sobyanin has won the mayoral election in Moscow, reports the Russian paper Kommersant. With the support of 51.37% of voters, he secured just above the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second-round ballot. His main rival, Alexei Navalny, received 27.2% of the vote. According to […]

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Geopolitics

MH17 Report, Kerry Visits Mideast, iPhone 6 Unveiling

Tuesday, September 9, 2014 MH17 PRELIMINARY REPORT Dutch experts this morning published their preliminary report into the causes of the July 17 crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine. The report stopped short of saying whether a missile had hit the aircraft, explaining instead that it broke in mid-air after being hit by […]

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Geopolitics

Kurdish Rebels Halt Agreed Withdrawal From Turkey

REUTERS, AFP, BBC Worldcrunch ANKARA — Militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced in a statement Monday that they are halting their withdrawal from Turkey, citing the Turkish government’s failure to keep its part of the peace deal, Reuters reports. The militants said their decision did not affect the ceasefire it announced in March. […]

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Geopolitics

Italian Journalist Freed After Five Months As Hostage In Syria

LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME — Domenico Quirico, a veteran war correspondent for the Italian daily La Stampa, has been freed after five months as a hostage in Syria. Quirico, 62, who was released Sunday together with a Belgian teacher, Pier Piccinin, was kidnapped by Syrian rebels during his fourth trip to the country to […]

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Economy Geopolitics

Not-So-Friendly Neighbors: Russia’s Two-Front Trade War

Things are getting nasty between Russia and bordering countries Belarus and Ukraine. And then there’s the Syrian factor.

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blog Society

The Scourge Of Slots In The UK, And The Internet Billionaire Cashing In

High-stakes gambling machines involve billions of pounds, and prey on the destitute and unemployed. Most of the technology comes courtesy of Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi.

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blog Geopolitics

Unionist Queen, Post-9/11 Torture, Jack The Ripper Unmasked

Monday, September 8, 2014 RUSSIA THREATENS RETALIATION Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned in an interview that further Western sanctions against Russia will see Moscow “respond asymmetrically.” According to news agency Ria Novosti, Medvedev suggested that Russia could decide to close its air space to Western companies, a move that he believes would lead some […]

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Society

Wikipedia International: How Editorial Wars Vary Dramatically By Language

A study has identified the online encyclopedia’s most controverial topics by language. Ironically, the study may also offer clues for all about how to resolve conflicts.

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Geopolitics

Quotes Of The Week: Putin, Rafsandjani, Rudd … And MORE

Syria was very much at the center of global debate this week…but gay rights, Olympic radiation and Edward Snowden were also getting talked about.

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Economy Geopolitics

No, Colombian Farmers: Free Trade Is Not To Blame

Striking farmers in Colombia say free trade agreements are responsible for their woes. Better to look closer to home, including industrial cartels and all the contraband entering the country.

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Society

“Medical Tourism,” African-Style

Every since a private insurance system was launched in Rwanda, its citizens regularly cross the Burundi border to get better, cheaper care.

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blog

Cover Issues – Magazines, Mapped!

What is the world reading this week? The situation in Syria and its consequences features on several magazine covers, 21th century explorers from Portugal are preparing for Mars colonization and Quebec discovers it has surprisingly good wine. Check out our selection of covers from top magazines around the world…

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Not Just Russia: Italy, Other Europeans Sold Plenty Of Weapons To Syria

ROME — Way back in 1998, Bill Clinton bet on the young Assad. He was to be his father’s successor, and the United States believed that the young Bashar al-Assad, once he reached power, would be the person to bring Syria back into the fold among the civilized nations of the world. And so Clinton’s […]

Categories
Mondo

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. Worldcrunch’s pick of the week is Bob Dylan’s “Pretty Saro”, a single which features on the latest album of his bootleg series Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), released on August 27. The compilation revisits the songs of what is commonly […]

Categories
blog Economy

Why “Made In China” Is Still Synonymous With Low Quality

Chinese companies justify shoddy products because of fierce competition. One businessman explains why this approach is nothing but a dead end.

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