Worldcrunch
The number of wild animals living on our planet has drastically decreased over the past 40 years, according to research by scientists at the World Wildlife Foundation and the Zoological Society of London. “Unsustainable human consumption” is to blame — killing creatures for food, whilst polluting and destroying their habitats. The report suggests populations have […]
MOSCOW — At the beginning of the 1990s, no one was talking about fighting copyright piracy. It was a wild time, and the government in Moscow had more urgent things to think about as the Soviet Union was unraveling. Back then, amateur thieves didn’t think twice about slipping into an apartment — or even a […]
SEOUL – Alongside the highway that runs from Seoul to the barbed wire fences of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) there is an all but forgotten cemetery. For one South Korean Buddhist monk, this is a truly sacred site. Muk-gai chants — this is meant to ease the suffering of the spirits that inhabit this graveyard. With his shaved head and grey tunic, he taps on a small drum as he walks past the headstones that dot this hillside. These graves belong to 769 North Korean soldiers. The 58-year-old monk says he doesn’t consider them as enemies. “It isn’t about sympathy […]
The quotes making news, and the news making quotes…
In Colombia, a recent case of censorship – since reversed – shines a light on the role of art in a society that has all the signs of freedom. And yet….
Follow the money, which travels beyond borders more than ever before. But a new paradigm should be about more than just cracking down on evaders.
Spring, also known as the season of love, has arrived in South America. Experts point to “slow sex” and natural toys to help heat things up in the bedroom.
Could the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong spread to the mainland? The choices taken by the Chinese Communist Party could have long-term implications.
SURAT — It’s no longer a question of time. The city of Surat, on the western coast of India, will soon face flooding that could trigger outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever, and rising temperatures that could force companies to relocate their factories. Its 4.5 million residents are already preparing for the disasters triggered by […]
HONG KONG — Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets over the weekend in Hong Kong, flooding downtown around Admiralty, the government complex. Occupy Central activits rallied against the government’s plan to limit electoral changes. The city’s authorities had promised Hong Kong residents they would be allowed to choose their own leader by 2017, but the […]
It is nearly too little, nearly too late, but there is still a way for the U.S. President to be the leader the world needs in the face of ISIS extremism.
With its racist ideology and its customs from another era, the KKK is still poisoning the minds of children and wreaking havoc. The movement aspires to create a “new white America.”
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to India this month was the perfect opportunity to watch the “dance of the dragon with the elephant.” This visit was extremely important to both nations. China, in the face of its difficult diplomatic predicament in the South China Sea and the East China Sea as well […]
MYITKYINA — For the first time in 40 years, ethnic languages are going to be taught in schools in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Starting next June, students from different ethnic communities will be able learn their mother tongue not only at home, but also in the classroom. When the military junta led by General Ne Win came to power in 1962, Burmese became the official national language, and teaching ethnic languages in schools was banned under the “national language policy.” In the outskirts of Myitkyina, in the northern state of Kachin, there is a summer school where children are […]
With the arrest of former Polish Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the Pope is showing that he will crack down on child sex abuse in his Church by ending any protection of criminals.
It’s Friday! Why not check out what the world is listening to? Worldcrunch: The Human Beinz, “Nobody But Me” Bulgaria: Indila, “S.O.S.” Paraguay: Nicky Jam, “Travesuras” Botswana: Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass Bahrain: MAGIC!, “Rude” Papua New Guinea: Enrique Iglesias, “Bailando” (feat. Sean Paul, Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona) Source: Hot Music […]
The sense of unraveling across the globe is the result of a power vacuum. After the post-Cold War end of U.S. hegemony, no one is ready to impose order. And, no, economics can’t fix it.
In Peru, for example, keep your eye on the *Chopers.
The author of a new book on the U.S. drone program reveals an early attempt to pilot drones out of Germany, without the German government’s knowledge.
As the Ebola epidemic continues to sweep across West Africa, fear is so great that people have begun to abandon their pet big cats and monkeys out of panic, leading local zoos to take in these animals to prevent potential spread of the deadly virus. The AFP visited one Ivory Coast zoo where vets have […]
This week’s UN General Assembly highlighted the need for cooperation in the fight against ISIS and other Islamic terror networks. And that could extend to sworn enemies.
Making the most of the conditions and restrictions of size, shape and place is the essence of the architectural pursuit.
SAO PAULO – Nearly 3,000 years after King Solomon built the first Holy Temple in Jerusalem, Bishop Edir Macedo has inaugurated his own replica in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Drawing on Biblical depictions of the temple and archaeological findings, an extraordinarily elaborate shrine has come to life. It’s $300 million, a 74,000-square-meter building on 40 plots […]
The Irish War of Independence, prohibition and World War II nearly wiped out the Irish whiskey industry, but now the brew is making a formidable comeback on the shamrock island.
As white supremacists proliferate in Sweden, a reformed neo-Nazi has been dissuading youths from following his own former path. Now he’s trying to stem growing Islamic radicalism.
Activists from Turkey, Morocco, Spain, Egypt, Greece, Tunisia and Syria gathered to swap stories and compare notes about nearly four years marked by protest, liberation and repression.
Invented by Buddhist monks, secularized and developed by Western science, mindfulness seems to be everywhere. But the aim is to make the most of life, not to seek nirvana.
HONG KONG — Harvard University received the largest financial gift in its history earlier this month when the Morningside Foundation, founded by brothers and Hong Kong developers Ronnie and Gerald Chan, donated $350 million to its School of Public Health. “It could be asking for trouble to do good deeds in mainland China,” 65-year-old Ronnie […]
Images that captured the news around the world…
In the DRC, families increasingly send the remains of deceased loved ones back to their home villages rather than bury them in the city. It is both an age-old tradition and a way to protect against irreverence.
He’s one of the most prominent names on the Chilean electronic music scene but, for the release of his debut EP, 199x, Daniel Klauser chose to be called “1991.” The young DJ and producer, also the founder of Diamante Records, released this work earlier this month and the EP’s 8 tracks are perfectly located in […]
Teams of volunteers were combing the country to try to stem the spread of the virus during a recent three-day quarantine.
LAURINO — On the way to the mill, I stopped in Stazzema, in the heart of the Apuan Alps, where it was raining. I followed the step-by-step directions that Silvia gave me. She knows the trail well, as she and her partner Alex decided to move to the mill five years ago. This is “Friar’s […]
People and parliament are almost unanimously opposed to mining in one of the country’s exceptional natural reserves. But the nation’s president insists the mining must proceed.
BUENOS AIRES — Argentina’s “inflation effect” is being blamed for the “intensive” use of ATMs in the country. Or at least the attempts to use them, because dispensers are increasingly breaking down or spitting out receipts instead of cash. For an increasing number of customers, what they are mostly good for is putting people in […]
With his new Kickstarter project, “The DNA Project,” Israeli-born and Brooklyn-based musician j.viewz wants to produce a new kind of album in which his fans will be able “reach into and trace each song back to its origin,” he explains on the crowdfunding site. The project offers several different interactive innovations between the artist and […]
As world leaders gather in New York this week for the UN’s climate summit, one expert warns not only about the dangers of delayed action, but also the costs.
-Analysis- One year since taking office, Iran President Hassan Rouhani and his government are confronted with an extremely unstable geopolitical situation across the Middle East. Tehran had long been seen as the main beneficiary of the 2003 U.S. intervention in Iraq, but it must now face unexpected difficulties in its neighboring country and former sworn […]
European universities are a bastion of original thinking, but as more and more gets taught and learned in the English-language, conformism is bound to spread.
Catching onto “the gentleman’s game” later than its neighbors India and Pakistan, the Afghan team is currently ranked 9th in International Twenty20 cricket.