Worldcrunch
-Analysis- BUENOS AIRES — We seem to have forgotten how architecture can affect us and for that, perhaps, we can blame some of the excessive statements made about it. Consider Leon Battista Alberti, an early theorist of Renaissance architecture, who declared in 1400 that the balance of classical forms could turn barbarian invaders into civilized […]
Publico, Aug. 10 Forest fires burned into Wednesday on Portugal’s Madeira Islands, killing at least three people, injuring 174 and forcing the evacuation of more than 1000 from homes and hotels. Several buildings were destroyed on the resort island, including reports of damage to a five-star hotel, as fires have now burned for two days. […]
There’s a lot happening in this shot of an open-air market at Lafayette’s big jazz, arts and crafts festival, in Louisiana. The dolls in the foreground, the little girl sewing, the guy in the crutches — you can even spot a red box of Danish cookies!
The recent visit by Pope Francis highlighted how little Polish leaders care about the emergency of Europe’s refugee crisis.
From China to Colombia, the use of sexual favors and vulnerability to blackmail is key to widespread corruption of public officials.
SPOTLIGHT: TURKEY AND RUSSIA, REUNITED AGAINST THE WEST Russia and Turkey have historically straddled East And West, often in different ways and with different degrees of influence over the centuries. Right now, both countries appear crucial — and unpredictable as ever, each in the hands of imperious rulers. Thus all eyes today are on a […]
Rio de Janeiro may have pulled off its Olympic feat, but Brazil’s everyday problems remain unaddressed.
This man was giving his boat a fresh coat of paint on a hilly street in Valletta. Less than a year before, a U.S.-USSR summit in Malta is credited by some as having closed the Cold War. That meeting was aboard a much bigger Soviet boat anchored in the nearby harbor of Marsaxlokk.
The German state of Bavaria now has to face the question of where and how to bury slain terrorists. Clues could come from post-coup Turkey, or from the Boston Marathon.
-OpEd- So let’s stipulate: Donald Trump is not Vladimir Putin’s willing agent, and it’s not certain if or to what extent Putin is trying to elect Trump president. The real issue is that Trump and Putin share the same nihilistic approach to international relations. Together, they could transform our world. Putin already has fostered a current of ruthless, cynical and utterly unprincipled opportunism in what, before his arrival, was thought of as an increasingly cooperative and rational international community. The Russian president has embraced and perfected the use of lies for geopolitical advantage, pursued and murdered his opponents in foreign […]
After Friday’s smoothly executed opening ceremony and the first batch of inspiring gold medals, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are once again mired in controversy. But rather than Brazil’s own local battles with corruption and Zika, it’s the athletes themselves undermining the Games. Sparks flew poolside as Rio’s Olympic swimmers traded insults and […]
Milliyet, Aug. 8 “A New Turkey Is Born” reads Monday’s front page of Turkey daily Milliyet, which joined virtually every other national paper in its wall-to-wall coverage of the massive rally in Istanbul to demonstrate national unity against the recent failed coup attempt. Perhaps more than one million people thronged to the Yenikapi district of […]
Robots have always fascinated us. In fiction or in real life, they crossed our path, for better or for worse. But where do they really come from?
While other tourists were busy buying “traditional” crafts, I took many pictures of members, young and old, of the Hmong people of Chiang Rai, in northern Thailand.
Is the Islamization of Europe underway? In his dark novel “2084: The End of the World,” Algerian writer Boualem Sansal explores an Islamist world dictatorship. In this extract from an interview with Die Welt
Not many people in the southeast African nation smoke tobacco. They can’t afford it. But the country is hooked on growing it and turns a blind eye to the associated risks, especially for child laborers.
With the Olympic Games finally upon us, many spectators are focused on living legends like Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar, Jamaica’s record-holding sprinter Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps, the American swimmer who’s won more Olympic hardware than any athlete in history. And that’s just to name a few. The mega-event certainly doesn’t lack star power. But […]
Moviegoers are turning out in droves to see Kabali, a new Indian film featuring superstar Rajinikanth. What’s all the excitement about? KBR journalist Jasvinder Sehgal attends a pre-dawn premiere to find out.
Politicians are hiding behind complacent language instead of facing the challenges that their constituents are fired up about.
Just as Airbnb allows people to share their homes, a pair of new “table d’hôte” sites are giving amateur cooks a chance to share their tables.
Organizers of the Olympic Games in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro are taking a novel, fight-fire-with-fire approach to tackle counterfeit merchandise, a local newspaper reports. As is often the case at international sporting events, prices of souvenirs at official stores in Rio are high — a pocket replica of the Olympic torch costs […]
Among all the big numbers we’ll hear broadcast at the lavish ceremony for the opening of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, whether it’s the 5,000 people volunteering at the event or the 10,500 athletes competing in it, the number 10 will perhaps resonate most deeply with the world. That’s the number of members who comprise […]
In northern Norway, this Sámi family was wearing colored gákti costumes. And I don’t think it was merely for tourists — in the 1960s, some northern families were still in the habit of wearing traditional clothing when selling hides at the local market, or herding reindeer.
BEIJING — “Our little monkey has decided to join the fun,” said Lucy, a 33-year-old woman expecting her first child this October. She’s one of many happy Chinese women due to give birth in the year of the monkey, an animal that is associated with cleverness in the Chinese zodiac calendar. A Founder Securities report […]
Benjamin Franklin
For years, Muslims helped police identify radicals in Italy. But this assistance isn’t enough. Italy needs to address legislative gaps and promote cultural integration.
SPOTLIGHT: VENEZUELAN POLITICAL CRISIS INTENSIFIES Stories about Venezuela’s toilet paper shortage are no laughing matter, especially when people are also struggling to access basic food supplies and medicine, and face soaring crime rates and rolling blackouts. But rather than work together to help alleviate the crisis, President Nicolas Maduro and the political opposition, which controls […]
Employees face higher levels of stress, especially the “generation sandwich” trapped between children and career. But a new German study shows those with children wind up healthier.
This is a reproduction of an Aztec calendar near Huelva in southern Spain. The original lies in a museum in Mexico City. Based on meticulous astronomical observations, the Aztecs used this sunstone to determine whether the end of the world was near. They found out it would happen on Dec. 21, 2012 — and weren’t […]
DOUMANGA — In this western village in the Republic of Congo, the local health center lacks both material and human resources. As a result, the only male nurse in Doumanga is the one assigned to help women of the village give birth. For Max Banzoulo, it has become a noble mission that he carries out […]
MOSCOW — Russia is increasingly deporting U.S. citizens on its soil in recent years. Americans living in Russia have also seen a sharp spike in the number of residence permits that have been revoked since the start of this year, signaling a deterioration in relations between the two former Cold War foes. Russian authorities say […]
SPOTLIGHT: AUSTRALIA’S REFUGEE PROBLEM While Europe’s migrant crisis has made headlines over the past year, another continent’s treatment of refugees has received far less scrutiny — until now. In a joint report published yesterday, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch took the Australian government to task over what they describe as the “appalling abuse” and […]