WorldcrunchThe weekend is almost upon us, which means it’s time for our weekend staff playlist. And if this week’s edition seems farewell-themed, it’s because our business developer Garrett is setting off to conquer new horizons — so we’re all feeling a bit nostalgic. So long, Mister G!
A group of young people of all religious backgrounds are living proof of religious tolerance, as they volunteer to clean Jakarta houses of worship, whether they be Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist or Christian.
MEXICO CITY — Legislators in Mexico have voted to forbid the use of jungle animals such as elephants, big cats or monkeys in circuses across the country, threatening fines equivalent to over $220,000 for offenders, Spain’s EFE agency and Latin American newspapers report. The ban, applicable nationwide, is already in force in Mexico City and […]
Hong Kong’s umbrella protesters have all but conceded defeat, and China is taking a victory lap. The showdown offers a glimpse of Beijing’s new use of smart power, and its deeper weaknesses.
Thailand takes national pride very seriously. Every morning in schools throughout the country, students gather to salute the flag, stand at attention — hands out of pockets — and sing patriotic songs.
Damascus regime’s counter-insurrection chief has become a cult hero for his battlefield prowess. But Bashar al-Assad is unlikely to stand for long for worship of anyone else but himself.
Where have you gone, Casanova? A new book surveys the dark side to the myth of the Italian male’s seductive gifts, from ribald ancient Rome to Berlusconi’s bunga bunga. But don’t give up on him yet.
GOMA — Teachers raping their students is tragically all too common in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But in the eastern region of South Kivu, it is a reality that is now finally being confronted, with the establishment of local committees in which parents, education officials and students report and track sexual assaults in […]
The dominant economic idea used to be to cut all barriers to capital flows, the so-called Washington Consensus. But since the 2008 financial collapse, the tech industry’s hold on global consumption rules the day, and anything impeding it is considere
Sometimes it’s best to just let the slide do the talking.
One in three people around the world is overweight, and the ratio is growing. “Globesity” investors see that airlines, hospitals, car companies and others must adapt to meet the expanding needs.
The U.S. currency is stronger on world markets than it’s been in years, which could fundamentally undermine emerging economies that have borrowed trillions in dollars.
In the mountains of central Sardinia, the Giara horses are at risk again. The total population is estimated at around just 700 horses, and the breed has been considered at risk of extinction since 1971. Named for the Giara plateau on which they roam, the steep cliffs, difficulty of access and the isolated location have […]
The news quantified…
-OpEd- BUENOS AIRES — We live in a society in which our pursuit of exponential economic growth is doing systematic and irreversible harm to the environment, challenging territories and threatening the very cycle of life. Increasing social awareness of such risks explains why debates and decisions today that used to be limited to the technical, […]
SEOUL — For a long time, China was the only ally of real consequence of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This is no longer the case, as Moscow and Pyongyang have been edging closer together over the past year. Russia’s multiplying contacts on the North Korean spectrum, where it has played a very discrete […]
Al Karak, with its famous Crusader castle, used to be an important place of power because of its control over the caravan route between Damascus and Egypt, and the pilgrimage route from Damascus to Mecca. But that was a long, long time ago. Just three months before we went there in 1996, there were food […]
BEIJING — This year’s China Hi-Tech Fair, held last month in the southern city of Shenzhen, included for the first time a pavilion dedicated to smart cities. During the event, participants also unveiled China’s first “standard for smart cities,” which will be tested starting in January in eight chosen pilot cities and industrial parks. A […]
Martial law has brought calm but not peace to Thailand. A report released this week by the International Crisis Group warns that the military regime’s stifling of dissent could ultimately lead to greater turmoil. The military claims that the coup d’etat last May was staged to maintain order after six months of street unrest by anti-government protests. They took TV channels and radio stations off the air, and only heavily censored versions have been allowed to return. Several hundred academics and activists have been detained. Many others have fled to the west where they are applying for asylum. From his […]
The Mexican capital is revamping its international airport, with a new terminal designed by star architect Norman Foster that will double capacity, save energy and dazzle the eyes.
In a country estimated to spend billions on faith healers and fortune tellers, many Russians opt for alternative medicine over certified doctors.
A farmer from northwest China makes a living scouring the Yellow River to recover dead bodies, most of whom were poor migrants, often women and children. A modern Chinese tragedy.
Gabi Orrù, a fifth-grade teacher at the Heinrich Andresen School in the northern German town of Sterup, has a staff of two, but they aren’t paid a dime and sometimes they scratch their ears during class. Her assistants, Stableford and Dimple, are Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, who have been coming to morning classes since […]
More than once have I experienced the power and joy of a 70-300mm telephoto lens. Looking from afar, in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, I couldn’t even make out what these little creatures were — they even looked like they could have been penguins! But once I zoomed in, I could enjoy watching these locals […]
Colombians seem to worship all things Anglo-American, “Miami-style” most of all. It’s a sign of our own socio-cultural shame and some appalling choices made by past governments.
China has proposed making revisions to the country’s policy of punishing couples who have more than one child. But instead, such population controls should be abolished entirely.
(March 21 to April 19) This is truly a splendid Full Moon that will reveal that the time has come to move forward. Strike out boldly towards the new, leaving old fears and traps behind. It is time to tear off the mask of that Wizard of Oz to find that he is just a […]
PARIS — The stage is set in the middle of the vast, empty and decidedly cold shed of the Halle Freyssinet, a building formerly used as a shipment hub for trains and trucks near the Austerlitz railway station in Paris. After the presidential lectern is installed, with French and European flags in the background, in […]
When I dug up this shot of the statues of Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza next to the monument to their author Miguel de Cervantes, in Madrid’s Plaza de España, it got me hunting for other literary characters who had come to statufied life: I’ve got one photo of the Little Mermaid in […]
As Syria’s civil war rages on, soldiers and supporters manage to finding coves of intimacy amidst the violence around them.
Use of this incredibly addictive drug is growing in Germany, especially among Millennials who say it makes them feel invincible.
There’s always a clever argument – security, stability, secularism – to put rule of law and democracy on hold. But denying human rights is a certain recipe for destruction.
MUNICH — Peter Laubach used a tattoo needle for the first time when he was 11 years old. A friend asked him for a sailboat tattoo, offering him four Bavarian meat loaf sandwiches as payment. He earned his friend’s appreciation and a sharp paternal slap for his efforts. Now 60 years old, Laubach is a […]
What is it like to be the parent of a “monster?” After their teenaged son confessed to rape and murder in southern France, the parents of Matthieu Moulinas decide to tell their story.
Second only to India in terms of scale, the Philippines’ customer service outsourcing industry in is growing, offering well-educated English speakers willing to work the night shift.
News in images
LONDON — In London’s posh Mayfair district on Grafton Street, just around the corner from where international art dealers and high-end jewelry brands are clustered, the adage about not being fooled by appearances rings truer than ever. Here there is a branch store of the contemporary jewelry brand launched by the mining consortium Gemfields. The […]
In the 1970s some elderly women in Volendam in northern Netherlands were still wearing traditional dresses and bonnets as part of their daily lives. Back in my native Franche-Comté, I was the conductor of a traditional folk choir in which the singers — including me — wore 19th century costumes.
A new Swiss study suggests that playing video games, especially first-person shooter games like GTA and Call of Duty, facilitates the kind of learning that could be useful for other tasks.
In recent days, China’s foreign retailers have one after another made headlines. While Tesco is withdrawing its brand from China, Walmart announced a layoff of more than 100 staff, including dozens of senior managers. Meanwhile, Carrefour is transforming itself into a convenience store to survive. BEIJING — After 10 years in China, Tesco, the world’s […]