WorldcrunchKremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a wanted man again, with a warrant issued for his arrest two years after being released from jail. The 52-year-old who’d spent more than 10 years in prison on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement — after what he described as a politically-motivated trial as he fell out with Vladimir […]
As ties improve between Cuba and the United States, bilateral trade — perhaps the area of greatest interest to consumers — has yet to emerge from its Cold War torpor.
Though it has long, cold and snowy winters, Finland’s northernmost province of Lapland, famous for being the traditional home of Santa Claus, has warm (enough) summers. Here, my wife Claudine, my daughter Cécile and I are posing for a sunny family portrait along the polar circle.
The nativity scenes, signs of hope and time for contemplation of modern Christmas is so retrograde! Let’s celebrate the secular and modern solstice. But really?
PARIS — No country has yet decided to send anyone to Mars. But private-sector initiatives reported by the media — and the global film industry — suggest that things could change within the next decade. If nothing else, such efforts are proof of our collective impatience to see a new stage of space exploration and […]
TALIBAN SIEGE IN AFGHANISTAN Afghan forces are battling Taliban fighters today in a desperate attempt to protect the police headquarters in the town of Sangin, after a Taliban attack killed six U.S. soldiers yesterday, the BBC reports. The Taliban have laid siege to the southern town and have reportedly cut it off from the rest […]
Folha de S. Paulo, Dec. 22, 2015 “Fire destroys museum in São Paulo,” writes Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo on its front page Tuesday, featuring a photograph of the fire destroying part of São Paulo’s historic “station of Light” on Monday afternoon. The “estação da Luz,” one of the city’s main railway stations, was […]
In southern Indonesia’s Torajan villages, water buffalo horns are displayed on the houses’ facades as a mark of social standing.
Saudi Arabia, long a direct and indirect financier of religious fanatics, has declared war on Islamist extremism! It has 34 countries on board, some of which aren’t even aware that they’ve joined. The punchline? It’s not really abo
Border police and other German law enforcement unions say a black market of passports and insufficent border controls are creating a major security risk amidst the surge of Syrian refugees.
El Mundo, Dec. 21, 2015 “Spain knocks down two-party system and leaves the government high and dry,” reads the front page of conservative newspaper El Mundo, after Sunday’s general election saw the expected rise of newcomers Podemos on the left, and Ciudadanos on the right. It’s a “messy” situation for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, one […]
It causes cancer, harms the planet and is cruel to animals, which is why meat consumption has steadily declined in the West. Some have become vegetarians or even vegans, but there is one much more modest alternative that is spreading.
SPANISH ELECTION ENDS TWO-PARTY SYSTEM Yesterday’s national elections in Spain have left more questions than answers today, as two of the country’s fledgling political movements made huge gains and the conservative Popular Party lost its majority. “Spain knocks down two-party system and leaves the government high and dry,” the front page of conservative newspaper El […]
Islam Khalil was abducted by security forces and tortured for months. More than 200 days later, he is still behind bars pending trial for a crime without a trace. This is his story.
Howard Zerangue served more than 25 years as sheriff of Opelousas, Louisiana. I wonder why that is …
-OpEd- SAO PAULO — Imagine the following situation: You go to the bathroom, but because you’re in a hurry, you head toward the exit without washing your hands. As you try to open the door, you notice that it has locked automatically. An alarm bell sounds. Only then you understand that the door won’t open […]
THIAROYE — Sitting on the corner of his bed, behind the curtains drawn to hide the blazing sun, Saada Ndiaye is waiting for the moment to come. That moment is his would-be departure to Spain, via a clandestine and uncertain path from this small town in Senegal, and onward through Morocco. Ndiaye, who introduces himself […]
The Ottoman Empire’s Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent yearned to conquer Vienna but died in 1566 in Hungary. Archaeologists have discovered the place where his heart and other insides were buried, which is a momentous historical tale of its own.
Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa insists he will retire from politics when his term ends. Yet he has spent the past year lobbying to end presidential term limits, which a loyal parliament has now granted. Does he have a hidden agenda to remain in power?
Orphaned and forced to live on the streets at just 5, Amporn Wathanavong had a miserable childhood, and was lured to fight in the jungles along the Cambodian border. But he ultimately got an education and founded an organization to help poor orphans.
Despite officially resigning in September at the height of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn is still on the company’s payroll and could earn millions until his contract terminates at the end of 2016, an investigation by Germany’s business daily Handelsblatt and TV network ZDF reveals. Winterkorn, 68, who pulls in an annual […]
ISIS STRIKES BACK, BUT FAILS More than 300 ISIS fighters launched a vast attack against Kurdish forces in several locations near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, but their assault was repelled by the Kurdish fighters backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, The Washington Post reports. At least 180 jihadist fighters are reported to have been killed […]
A look inside Huawei’s HQ in Shenzen, the Silicon Valley of China, where plans are being laid to overtake Apple and Samsung.
Corsica has been part of France for nearly two-and-a-half centuries, but relations with Paris have always been complicated: Last week, Corsican nationalist and independence movements scored big during the country’s regional elections. French or otherwise, it was postcard beautiful on my most recent of three visits to the island.
People these days demand trails that are easily mappable online, and don’t want to have to wait for optimal conditions. No time left in modern life for venturing into the unknown?
In anticipation of international sanctions on Iran being lifted at the beginning of 2016, European executives are chomping at the bit to do business there. But how will a market economy play with the Islamic regime?
EU LEADERS TRY TO MOVE ON MIGRANT CRISIS European leaders are gathered in Brussels for a two-day meeting centered on the 28-nation bloc’s ongoing migrant crisis. Politico reports that proposals will be debated to reinforce external borders, including the possible creation of a new EU law enforcement body that could be sent to respond to […]
ABC, Dec.17, 2015 MADRID — “We are moderate people, quiet, formal and serious.” Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s calm words and bruised face were splashed on the front page of Madrid daily ABC on Thursday after the center-right leader was punched in the face by a 17 year-old during a campaign stop. Rajoy, who is […]
Bicycles with electric motors are becoming more popular and controversial at the same time. Environmentalists wonder if cyclists are losing their carbon neutrality in pursuit of an extra boost.
Blue sky, blue car, blue bicycle, and a very blue pub.
The most friendly of pontiffs, Argentine-born Pope Francis has yet to speak to just-elected President Mauricio Macri. Maybe a rude remark by one of Macri’s aides is to blame.
Many now blame the U.S.-led Iraq invasion of 2003 for the spread of terror in the Middle East. But what would the region look like today, if the Iraqi dictator hadn’t been ousted?
TOKYO — Earlier this year, a delegation from the Egyptian government was visiting Nibukata Primary School in Tokyo. “The children are well-disciplined and work in teams,” a member of the delegation noted. But the delegate then went on to express particular surprise that children sweep and mop the classroom floors, for it’s common in Egypt […]