Worldcrunch
TEL AVIV — The Israeli middle class is tired of paying a full hour’s salary for a few bites of street food — and the market is reacting. Cofix, a leading coffee to-go chain, broke all the rules and came up with the symbolic price of 5 shekels ($1.40) for either a cup of coffee, […]
Friday, October 17, 2014 EBOLA: A CZAR, LOW DONATIONS, MORE TROOPSUnited Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched an urgent donations appeal in the fight against the Ebola virus. This came after it emerged that despite receiving pledges of about $20 million from various governments, the UN Trust fund had received only $100,000 from Colombia, The […]
IWAKI — Our meeting with one of the “liquidators” of Fukushima’s power plant takes place in a discreet location, out of sight. Talking to journalists is risky, and the man’s nervous employers could use it as a pretext to fire him. “It’s the same thing for workplace accidents — there’s a collective solidarity,” he says. […]
Kiev doesn’t want to risk its ties with Moscow, but can’t afford to pass up economic opportunities in Europe. And where does that leave jailed opposition chief Yulia Tymoshenko?
The tragedy earlier this month off the coast of the island of Lampedusa, which left more than 300 dead, is a cruel reminder of the treacherous journey across the sea to Italy’s southern coastlines made by so many would-be immigrants. But Italy is typically just the entry point for immigrants, a springboard for other European […]
A quick tour around the world of news, by the numbers: from Mad Cow Disease and Brazilian price gouging to U.S. government shutdown costs and a suspect donation by BMW in Germany…
Ankara had bet on Islamist rebels taking down the Assad regime. Now they may have helped create a monster right across the border.
Thursday, October 16, 2014 ISIS RETREATING FROM PARTS OF KOBANI ISIS fighters were retreating this morning from parts they previously occupied in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, on Turkey’s border, a Kurdish official told AFP, explaining that the terrorists now “control less than 20%.” The same official told German news agency DPA that they […]
SAO PAULO — A Brazilian version of Ronald McDonald, the famous clown mascot, has taken to visiting nursery schools, kindergartens and primary schools. The well-known face of the fast food chain has been performing shows for young children and even babies, at both public and private schools. But not everyone is so amused. A growing […]
Following fast on the heels of President Xi Jinping’s recent trip to Indonesia and Malaysia, China’s Premier Li Keqiang also showed up in Southeast Asia, attending the East Asia leaders’ meeting before bilateral visits to Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam. It is rare in China’s diplomatic history that its president and premier visit the same region […]
GENEVA — The resumption of talks this week on Iran’s nuclear program will provide a clear opportunity to verify Hassan Rouhani’s true intentions. During his charm offensive at the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September, the new Iranian President, a moderate religious figure, surprised many by meeting with French President François Hollande, […]
Eid al-Adha is a central holiday on the Muslim calendar, celebrating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to God. Muslims all over the world go to mosque for prayers and thank Allah for their blessings. Those who can afford it then sacrifice a sheep, or sometimes a goat, as a reminder of Abraham’s obedience and […]
TEL AVIV — The Nobel Prize ceremony is usually an occasion for celebration in Israel, as there is often at least one Israeli citizen among the honorees. This year, two Israelis were awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, but the country’s pride was bittersweet since both scientists live in the United States. The rise in […]
Russians have one of the highest levels of indifference, or anomie, in the world. They don’t know whether they want tea or coffee, much less democracy or authoritarianism.
A young climber discovered a treasure believed to be from a 1966 Indian plane crash and turned it in to authorities. Now nearby alpine towns fear wreckage seekers may come in droves.
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014 U.S. AND RUSSIA TO TEAM UP AGAINST ISIS The United States and Russia have agreed to share more intelligence on ISIS, as part of a renewed cooperation on global security and counter-terrorism efforts, Secretary of State John Kerry said after he met with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Paris […]
Taybeh was also the toast of a unique Oktoberfest celebration in Ramallah.
Balloons, Ben Franklin, Banksy share center stage in our photographic wrap of the past seven days…
Peace is a process, never a single event. Negotiations for peace are always far more complicated than the public understands, and the results are not always miraculous. Even so, the majority of modern conflicts — 80%, according to the School for the Culture of Peace in Barcelona — eventually end after negotiations. The school’s reports […]
Al-Mouadamiyah’s ordeal is not over yet. After being one of the targets of the Aug. 21 chemical attack, this stronghold of the Syrian rebellion, located in the southwestern suburbs of Damascus, is now facing such a severe siege that its inhabitants are starting to starve to death. According to local sources, nine people have already […]
SAO PAULO — Watch out William Tell wannabes: There’s a big group of archers training from dawn until dusk in the hopes of golden glory at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. What makes them different from any other athletes training for the Olympics? Well, just a minor detail: Until very recently, they had been […]
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 KURDS RECAPTURE STRATEGIC KOBANI SITE Kurdish fighters battling ISIS jihadists in Kobani, Syria, near the Turkish border, announced this morning that they regained control of the strategically crucial Tall Shair hilltop following air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition. ISIS captured it more than 10 days ago. According to the Syrian Observatory […]
BEIJING — In China, questions over how to treat workers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) has always been controversial. LGBT people in China are referred to as tong-zhi, which literally means “comrade.” Today’s Chinese entrepreneurs need to look at the issue from a new perspective. That is, how to be more open-minded […]
SAINT-GIRONS — Jean Benazet is still in shock. In the early morning of Sept. 9, he discovered 30 of his sheep lying motionless at the bottom of a cliff. It was clear right away that they had all fallen to their death. He and his herd had been spending the season in the summer pastures […]
Public smoking bans, written warnings, shocking images on cigarette packets: Deterrent measures grow worldwide, though consumption in developing countries continues to rise.
Monday, October 13, 2014 TURKEY AGREES TO SHARE BASES Turkey has agreed to allow the U.S.-led coalition to use its military bases as part of the campaign to fight the ISIS terrorist group, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice told NBC in an interview Sunday. Rice said the White House welcomed this “new commitment,” as […]
LIMETE — Three times a week here, in this municipality within the Kinshasa province of Congo, street children gather in the square to practice Brazilian capoeira, a martial art that incorporates dance, music and acrobatics. For the past seven years, these unlikely enthusiasts of the disclipline have occupied a portion of an abandoned basketball court. […]
Edward Snowden’s father spoke up this week, so did Bashar Al-Assad. Meanwhile in Washington…
The popular TV dramas were once considered a reflection of the Syrian President’s will for reform. Things have changed since the uprising in 2011, even if the shows must go on.
MUNICH — It only takes two minutes to gather enough material to make a person squirm or provoke them to pick up the phone to call a lawyer. Two minutes to see that racism flourishes not only on the fringes but also in the heart of our societies, in the minds of philosophy students and […]
To satisfy Russian apetites, frozen shipments of the low-end *red caviar* have come in from Alaska. Not all are pleased.
Panhandlers, window-cleaners and street peddlers would be targeted in plan put forth by the mayor of the heavily indebted Spanish capital. Good luck collecting…
TUNIS — It is a tale of sex and sheikhs, war and religion, all fueled by a combustible mix of the Internet and ideology. There are YouTube clips of Saudi sheikhs counting men’s celestial sexual partners, devout Muslims offering to adopt illegitimate children, and Tunisia’s anti-Islamist news outlets busily looking for ways to use the […]
Here are some of the songs topping the charts from music hot spots around the world. Worldcrunch Pick: On Thursday, Paul McCartney played a surprise concert in New York’s Times Square, after announcing it only minutes before on Twitter. Come on down to Times Square… It’s all going to be happening there! — Paul McCartney […]
-Editorial- SANTIAGO — What’s happening in the United States, with the partial federal government shutdown and the threat not to raise the country’s debt limit, is perhaps the most serious political crisis the country has seen in more than 100 years. There are those who downplay these developments, because the government has been shuttered before […]
VATICAN CITY — There’s a joke going around St. Peter’s Square: Next thing you know, to comply with his ecclesiastical vows of poverty, the pope is going to put the Vatican up for sale! That day hasn’t yet arrived, but the idea speaks as much to Pope Francis’ unpredictability as to his now famous acts […]
Animal-related crime was making news around the world this week, including 30 lizards in a Japanese suitcase and two tons of elephant tusks in Vietnam. Take a tour of Crime Int’l… (photo: iisg)
Since returning from Camp Grounded, Anastasia Savvina sees the world differently. “On the bus, everyone stares at their cell phones,” she says. “People don’t look each other in the eye anymore. And I, who only have an old phone without any connection, I look at them.” Camp Grounded is a retreat for those who want […]
One native of Sierra Leone, who arrived in Italy via the now notorious island of Lampedusa, is trying to find peace in a Roman slum.
NOBEL WINNERS: MALALA AND SATYARTHIMalala Yousafzai, the now-17-year-old Pakistani activist shot by the Taliban on her way to school in 2012, has won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize alongside Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel committee announced this morning. “Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right […]