Worldcrunch
PARIS — On the other end of the line, the voice of the person from the IT maintenance service grows insistent. “Miss, I really need your password to unlock your computer.” You blush by yourself, try to be as inconspicuous as possible in the open office before whispering in the receiver: “lapinou69” (“bunny69”). A chuckle […]
-OpEd- SAO PAULO — The just-concluded Summit of the Americas in Panama was hailed as historic because it was the first time since the gathering began that both Cuba and the United States were present. And yet, there’s plenty of room for disappointment. The gathering of heads of state could have been even more significant […]
BERLIN — When you describe Benedikt Franke’s company as the Uber for housekeeping, the Helpling co-founder doesn’t so much as raise an eyebrow. He’s accustomed to the comparison. Helpling is like an online central booking service for cleaning professionals. In a few clicks, you indicate your area, the type of service you’re looking for (cleaning, […]
Lake Burullus, the country’s second-largest natural lake, which yields a third of all the fish sold in Egypt, is slowly being ruined, as are family businesses.
E-commerce, local partnerships and logistics are among the keys to success for foreign retailers trying to tap into the massive Chinese consumer market.
The wind-swept hair, the over-dramatic singing and facial expressions, the incomprehensible video, the change of key towards the end of the song, the reflective staring into mirrors, lyrics such as “sea of pain”, “ravens calling my name” or “we can rise and fight” … You can’t really get more Eurovision than Marta Jandová and Václav […]
U.S. AND CUBA MAKE HISTORY IN PANAMA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez met last night in Panama City in what represented the highest-level meeting between the two countries in more than 50 years. The meeting preceded the Summit of the Americas, which begins there today. A U.S. State […]
It wasn’t the Easter bunny delivering chocolate eggs this past Sunday night. No, that furry creature scaling the walls was a very real cat, in a very serious attempt to smuggle a precious load of cell phones and SIM cards into Brazil’s Romero Nobrega maximum security prison. With adhesive tape and bandages strapping the load […]
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Courrier International, April 9, 2015 “Should we be afraid of Iran?” asks Courrier International on its cover, featuring a cartoon of an Iranian cleric with an atomic symbol as an eyeball. With or without a nuclear deal, fears of Iran’s expansionism are sending shivers down the Middle East’s spine, according to a series of articles […]
The Tsar Bell on the grounds of Moscow“s Kremlin is the biggest bell in the world, but it has never rung. During a fire in 1737, before the bell’s decoration was completed, guards threw cold water on it, causing a slab to crack off. The bell is so huge — look at the man on […]
The Obama administration says, try talking to truculent states instead of squeezing or bombing them. In its own way, this is an eminently imperial approach.
By the end, Pascal Bourquin will be 75 years old. It will take him 25 years to achieve his goal of walking every Swiss hiking trail, the equivalent of circling the earth twice.
Cyprus is making its return to the Eurovision this year, after being absent last year for financial crisis-related reasons (i.e. the fear of winning the contest and having to organize it the following year). This means Greece will benefit from 12 extra points this year thanks to their Cypriot neighbors. The small island has participated […]
KATARAGAMA — A full moon is shining over the traditional Pooja celebrations here in southwest Sri Lanka. By the light of candles, people offer flowers, fruit and incense. Above waves the Sri Lankan flag, with a leaf in each of its corners to represent the four religions on the island nation: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. But this idyllic setting in Kataragama is deceiving. The peaceful coexistence between religions in the country came crashing down last June 15 when hundreds of anti-Muslim Buddhists, led by a dozen monks from the extremist organization Bodu Bala Sena, stormed into Dharga Town, a […]
Photo: Hani Ali/Xinhua/ZUMA MEDICAL SUPPLIES REACH YEMEN The first medical supplies have arrived in the south Yemen city of Aden, and members of Doctors Without Borders have made their way to some of the city’s hospitals, Al Jazeera reports. Iran dispatched a naval destroyer and another vessel yesterday to waters near Yemen, AP reports. And […]
H Efimerida ton Sintakton, April 9, 2015 Before Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Wednesday, European commentators warned that Greece could become Russia’s “Trojan horse” against Brussels. But Greek newspaper H Efimerida ton Sintakton instead described the “revival of Greek-Russian relations” as a “historic opportunity for the two […]
On our Nile cruise down to Abu Simbel, we passed by these locals harvesting sugarcane. I couldn’t help but think of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile — and particularly about its 1978 movie adaptation with Peter Ustinov, a favorite of mine and of my grandson’s. Thankfully, nothing dramatic happened and no Hercule Poirot had […]
An entire industry has been built to exploit Chinese couples desperate desire for their children to obtain U.S. or Canadian passports. But because the process requires both operators and clients to distort the truth, homeland security has launched a crack
In southern Tel Aviv, some 50,000 refugees amass on the margins of society. Too many in Israel, once the refuge for European Jews, have turned their back on these migrants.
A view from Turkey on the new conflict that is not only shaking the map of the Middle East, but costing the lives of innocent victims.
The White House move to impose sanctions on Venezuela was a badly timed swipe against the authoritarian government that may have imploded on its own. Instead, the U.S. gave it new life.
Belgium’s most notable performances at the Eurovision were 13-year-old Sandra Kim’s victory at the 1986 edition, and Urban Trad’s second place in 2003, when they sang in an invented language with lyrics such as “Kenatu narilé, lakenatu narilé. Pasema niamo ture saro, delamaoré.” Beautiful. This year, 18-year-old Loïc Nottet singer will run for Belgium. He […]
U.S. BOOSTS WEAPON DELIVERY TO SAUDI-LED COALITION The U.S. is speeding up its weapon deliveries and intelligence sharing with the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen, as the toll in the latest Middle East war begins to mount. Al Arabiya reported on U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s press conference in the Saudi […]
The New York Times, April 8, 2015 A white South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder after shooting dead an apparently unarmed black man who was running away from him. The incident happened after a routine traffic stop Saturday in North Charleston and was filmed by a witness. The video, published by The […]
Transhuman technology pioneers and other geeks are embracing chip technology that can allow them to turn on lights, call wives or start motorcycles with a single touch. But is this slippery slope toward a new definition of human?
The Sacré-Coeur church in Audincourt is an unexpected modern jewel in the somewhat inconspicuous industrial town where I’m from: The stain-glass windows were made by French cubist artist Fernand Léger. I snapped this photo on the day the church was inaugurated by the archbishop of Besançon.
Though graft is reduced, there are new negative side-effects to the way public officials approach their work in what is billed as the *new normal*.
Racism in soccer hit a new low over the weekend when black players from AC Milan’s Under-10 team say they were booed and heckled by other parents during a Universal Cup match. The youngsters were playing their Paris Saint-Germain equivalents for a place in the semi-finals of the Tuscany tournament that features 48 international teams, […]
PARIS — First there was the campus. Next up Facebook city. The size of the “Zee town” project Mark Zuckerberg announced in February surprised many: For an estimated $200 billion, the king of social networks plans to build what will essentialy be an entire town — a 200-acre development in California’s Silicon Valley featuring supermarkets, […]
The representatives of Belarus at this year’s Eurovision are Uzari and Maimuna, a duo made up of what seems to be an elf and a violinist trapped inside an hourglass. Uzari already ran for Belarus in 2012 and in 2013, but came respectively in 5th and 8th place. Third time lucky? Maimuna, also known as […]
CAIRO — International lingerie store Victoria’s Secret came to Cairo in 2013, but somewhat surprisingly for a country of Muslim modesty, there has been a varied and flourishing lingerie business in Egypt’s capital for years. Most of the lingerie downtown is imported from either Turkey or Syria. The owners of the two lingerie shops who […]
A HUMANITARIAN DISASTER IN YEMEN The fighting in Yemen is creating a humanitarian disaster, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said yesterday. Hundreds of people have been killed in ongoing clashes between Yemeni militias backed by a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels, Reuters reports. ON THIS DAY An eruption of Mount Vesuvius devastated Naples 109 […]
Cumhuriyet, April 7, 2015 “Half Democracy,” Tuesday’s front page of Turkey’s center-left daily Cumhuriyet reads, after the government imposed a nationwide ban on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook Monday. The accompanying picture depicts a man divided between “CENSORSHIP” and “VIOLENCE.” Turkish authorities have now lifted the ban, which had been implemented in an attempt to prevent […]
Modern life, with its rules and material rewards, has robbed people of the most basic sense of happiness. What do we have to lose by ridding ourselves of so many imposed ideas?
French writer François-René de Chateaubriand“s journey to North America had generations yearning for the romantic scenery he described: “Now and then, in the distance, you could hear the solemn rumble of the Niagara cataract, which, in the quiet of the night, echoed in the desert wilderness and died out through the lonely forests.” Unfortunately, visitors […]
-OpEd- PARIS — Half-animal, half-human? The astounding developments in nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science (NBIC) are posing problems that we thought only existed in science fiction. Recent studies have brought us closer to Planet of the Apes, written by French novelist Pierre Boulle in 1963. In three experiments, the last one of which […]
Gagauzia, a small region in neighboring Moldova, has taken a turn toward economic union with Russia, and away from the EU. Will the whole country follow?
A standout idea, a winning proposal, a surprising decision: These are some of the things that will characterize your magnificent work week. There are no challenges where there is determination and will — of which you now have a lot. Wednesday and Thursday are the most interesting days to create memorable situations. When it comes […]
Germany’s first Sharia-compliant bank wants to revolutionize the finance sector of the European economic juggernaut. Investment in businesses related to alcohol and gambling are prohibited, as is the practice of charging interest, and Muslim and non-