Syria’s tangled web grows even more intricate. Hezbollah is key to Assad’s strategy, moderate rebels avoid ISIS and al-Nusra at all cost, and Israel helps the Free Syrian Army.
Month: February 2015
Handbags made out of volleyball nets and soda cans, courtesy of one of the sisters of the Fendi family used to face assaults by animal rights activists.
CAIRO — Much has been made about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Cairo. There has been speculation since the 2013 coup that Egypt’s ruler Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been contemplating a shift in alliances toward Russia. This has been in response to the popular belief in Egypt, propagated by the regime and its media […]
For years Beijing has said it’s working to provide safe drinking water to people in the countryside, but experts say the goal is far from being realized.
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Worldcrunch’s Weekend Staff Playlist #8
French yé-yé, American jazz, Scottish punk, Irish accoustic, Portuguese metal and Brit pop… It’s this weekend’s Worldcrunch staff playlist.
U.S., UK HACKED SIM CARD PROVIDERThe NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ illegally hacked into the internal computer network of Gemalto, the world’s largest SIM card manufacturer, and stole encryption keys to facilitate eavesdropping on global cellular communications, The Intercept reports. The documents, leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, show that intelligence agencies have therefore been […]
SALAWAG — In the multi-player online battle video game Defense of the Ancients, or DotA, the aim is to conquer the opposing team on the other side of the map. The graphics are impressive, and the play is challenging. But for some, the game is not just about friendly competition, after it’s been blamed as a contributing factor in the Dec. 15 murder of a 19-year-old, who was allegedly stabbed by his friend outside a computer gaming shop after the two were playing the game. The boy responsible is now in government custody, and the incident pushed local officials to […]
CARACAS — Protests erupted in the Venezuelan capital Thursday night, after the city’s Mayor Antonio Ledezma was hauled away by camouflaged police, who also smashed into opposition leader’s office. A CCTV image of the police entering the office made El Nacional“s front page Friday. Opposition supporters began making as much noise across the city as […]
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Capitoline Shade
My wife Claudine was taking a break from the vigorous April sun, resting under the lush azaleas bording the steps that lead to the top of Rome“s Capitoline Hill.
While Ukraine combat continues despite peace efforts, the Donbass region’s famously rugged coal miners have divided their loyalties: some keep working on Kiev’s behalf, others fleeing to the pro-Russian rebels.
If urban traffic jams and bustling restaurants are symptom of prosperity, long lines outside shops indicate a distorted, depressed economy. This is the current face of Venezuela’s capital.
Happy Chinese New Year! 2015 is the Year of Goat, or Sheep, since in Chinese people use the same character for both. Check out our quick tour of how people are celebrating Chinese New Year around the world. It’s part of our new video series The Babel…
-OpEd- TURIN — Geography is inexorable: Italy can never be isolated from Libya, which is just 300 miles from the coast of Sicily. Still, the Italian public tends to be isolated from the rest of the world. The government knows both these truths. Unlike any other European or Western country, Italy kept its Libyan embassy […]
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Song Du Jour #12, Blur
In a livestreamed press conference on their Facebook page Thursday, Blur announced the release of a surprise new album on April 27, their first since Think Tank in 2003. Their eighth studio album will be called The Magic Whip and is set to include the following tracklist: The Magic Whip was partly recorded in Hong […]
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The (Market) Place To Be
On Saturdays, the whole town of Otavalo becomes a gigantic market famous for its textiles, handicrafts, leather goods and spices. It draws people — and pigs — from the whole country and, together with the capital Quito and the Galapagos Islands, is one of Ecuador’s most popular tourist destinations.
CALL FOR PEACEKEEPERS RANKLES RUSSIARussia reacted strongly to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s call yesterday for UN peacekeepers to be deployed in eastern Ukraine. Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said it “raises suspicions that he wants to destroy the Minsk accords,” the BBC reports. Pro-Russian rebels encircling the town of Debaltseve had refused to lay down […]
Nigeria’s rescheduled March 28 presidential elections should be able to take place despite disruption threats made Tuesday by Boko Haram. But the country’s security services, such as the military, the Service Chiefs and the National Security Adviser, will have to “guarantee the sanctity of the rescheduled polls in view of the security challenges facing the […]
MARSEILLE — Have you met Pepper? This four-feet-tall emotion-reading robot is expected to hit stores soon in Tokyo, where technology lovers will be able to acquire one for the equivalent of $1,650. The child-faced robot, the latest invention of French start-up Aldebaran, was created to “live alongside humans.” But household chores such as vacuuming or […]
HO CHI MINH CITY — The night begins with a concerto of motor bike horns as the heat lies like a damp rag over everything. All the mopeds take off at the light, tooting their horns at once, and in the twilight we leave behind Ho Chi Minh City’s tourist district, with its French-colonial buildings, […]
BOSSEY — Her elegance dazzled the world’s most powerful men. When she stood next to her late husband Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivory Coast’s first president who served from 1960 to 1993, it was impossible not to notice the graceful Marie-Thérèse. “Everywhere I went, I would transcend,” says the former first lady, now 84. “Besides, he did […]
The latest deadly anti-Semitic terror attack happened to come in a city that once heroically saved most of its Jewish citizens from the Nazis. What’s the lesson for today?
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Song Du Jour #11, Beck West
Are you team Beck or team Kanye? If it ever really mattered at all, it doesn’t now: Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, a.k.a. Dj Windows 98 on Soundcloud, uploaded a mashup of the former’s “Loser” and the latter’s “Jesus Walks”. The result is rather interesting, even though he was far from being the first to come […]
UKRAINIAN FORCES PULL BACKUkraine’s government forces began withdrawing today from the eastern and key strategic city of Debaltseve, which has been under siege from pro-Russian separatists, Reuters reports. Semen Semenchenko, who heads the Ukrainian paramilitary battalion, wrote on Facebook that “the withdrawal of forces from Debaltseve is taking place in a planned and organized way.” […]
Architectural and planning innovations have given new life to Bilbao, Spain, transforming it from a grey post-industrial city into a trendy tourist destination.
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Spanish Carnival
I like Don Quixote enough to dress as him for Carnival. But unlike Miguel de Cervantes’ character, I don’t go about attacking windmills, which is lucky, considering we’ve encountered quite a few during our travels.
The Cairo regime is facing criticism after the ISIS beheading in Libya of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt. Too many poor Egyptians risk it all in search of work across the border.
In 2010, French police seized a huge stash of previously unseen Picasso drawings at the home of the late artist’s electrician. Were they gifts or stolen goods? An ongoing trial will decide.
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Song Du Jour #10, Pancake Rap
It’s Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, so our song of the day is this impressive “Pancake Rap” by Mac Lethal.
A hard European retort to an attitude that extends from Silicon Valley to the White House, which says that the United States’ dominance in new technology should give it free license abroad.
COPENHAGEN — Niels Ivar Larson, a Danish journalist and one of the organizers of last Saturday night’s debate on Islam and free speech at the Krudttønden cafe, says he’s in shock that a terrorist attacked the event and subsequently a synagogue, killing two and injuring five police officers. “Despite having received threats, Denmark has never […]
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Balinese Michelangelo
Balinese woodcarvings are exquisitely refined. I brought one back from the village of Mas, in southern Indonesia, and hung it in my study.
UKRAINE PARTIES REFUSE PULLBACKPhoto: Donetsk airport — Source: Sokolov Mikhail/TASS/ZUMAGovernment forces and pro-Russian rebels have failed to withdraw heavy weapons from the front line despite today’s agreed deadline, The Guardian reports. Fighting has stopped in most areas since a ceasefire began three days ago, but not in the city of Debaltseve where a Ukrainian military […]
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Extra! Carnaval Do Brasil
The surreal flight of the Portela, O Globo, Feb. 17, 2015 Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro are famous for being spectacular, but this year’s parades are special because they coincide with the city’s 450th anniversary. In yesterday’s parades, one of Rio’s most famous samba schools, GRES Portela, stunned the public with its traditional eagle, […]
BEIJING — Over the past two months, China has green-lighted the importation of three varieties of genetically modified corn and soybean from the United States. Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Agriculture has also renewed the expired safety certificates of the country’s own genetically modified crops. While that’s good news for the industry, it may be premature […]
New restrictions and the plunging ruble change the calculus for visiting migrant workers, who have helped fuel Russia’s past growth. Yet another sign of a fragile national economy.
The targets of the attack in the two capitals were the same, free speech and Jews. Now Europe has an obligation to both its future and past to stand up to this evil with not a single alibi.
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Song Du Jour #9, Siska
The French trip hop singer Siska has released “Unconditional Rebel”, the first single from her upcoming EP, set to be released on March 2. For the clip, the French director Guillaume Panariello performed quite the technical prowess: in a car driving in a straight line at 50 km/h (31 mph), he shot a five-second scene […]
SOME AREAS IGNORE UKRAINE CEASEFIREThe ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was still broadly observed this morning, but sporadic fighting persisted in some areas, especially in the city of Debaltseve, which is encircled by pro-Russian rebels, the BBC reports. A Ukraine army official said five troops had been killed and 22 wounded since the ceasefire went into […]
MEDELLIN — Crimes being committed by some of Colombia’s 38,000 convicts on prison leave have become an almost “daily headache,” with some returning to a life of lawlessness despite wearing electronic tags or bracelets. The need to keep closer tabs on prisoners who have been granted leave has led two prison authority (INPEC) employees and […]