Worldcrunch
The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States has prompted several reactions, with those who see his political ascension as the beginning of a new phase of political unrest — of which the Arab world is feared to carry the lion’s share — being gripped by panic. Immediately following the […]
“My period started last night, so I’m feeling pretty weak and really tired.” When she justified her below-average performance in the women’s 4×100 meter medley relay at the Rio Olympics with these words, Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui sparked a wave of comments online. Here was a woman talking publicly — and point blank — about […]
Chinese business leaders should learn lessons from Japanese firms’ spending sprees of the 1980s and 1990s.
People should not dismiss the meaning of a spate of shocking electoral results, for the world may be entering a period of democratic decline.
HONG KONG — Just when China’s economy seemed to be stabilizing, Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president poses significant new risks. Not just for Chinese growth, but the entire Asia region. That’s because the president-elect campaigned on a policy platform with protectionism at its center. Trump wants to slap punitive tariffs on Chinese goods and label the world’s No. 2 economy a currency manipulator. Such a move would hurt Chinese exports. But it could also trigger a trade war if Beijing retaliates, catching other Asian economies in the crossfire. Other worries: A planned major regional trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, […]
-Essay- I recently turned 30, so the math tells me I’ve already lived through one third of my life. That also means I still have at least 20,000 days to make all of my dreams come true. Speaking of dreams, it’s strange how they change as we grow older. When I was 25, I had […]
The heir to the Hiltl dynasty of vegetarian restaurateurs decided veggie eateries need not be sober, puritanical settings, like the one his great-grandfather founded in 1898. Vodka, for example, is vegan.
TIJUANA — Martin Pina stands in the courtyard of the “Casa del Migrante,” which was founded 29 years ago by Catholic Scalabrinian missionaries to help migrants in this teeming Mexican border city. Sporting a tattoo of his mother Belinda on his left arm and Mexican singer Selena on his right, Pina says that he had […]
With the choice of controversial retired Gen. Michael Flynn to be White House National Security Advisor comes a new flurry of anticipation (and worry) that American foreign policy will be turned on its head with the election of Donald Trump. Take the Iranian nuclear accord negotiated by the Obama Administration, which Trump has called “the […]
PARIS — Find the distribution of random paths on a directed graph. Of course, when you say it like that, such a problem will hardly excite the masses. But if you had managed to find this mysterious distribution, you would have obtained the PageRank algorithm. And if you have PageRank, you have Google, now the […]
Your daily update of the latest news from around the world, brought to you by Worldcrunch. To get it in your inbox each morning, sign up here. Is this the end of the road for the International Criminal Court? Yesterday’s announcement by Russia that it was formally withdrawing its signature from the ICC’s founding Rome […]
O Globo, Nov. 17, 2016 “Attacks on the Legislature” was the headline Thursday morning on Brazilian newspaper O Globo after protesters calling for a military coup forced their way into Brazil’s lower chamber of Congress. The protestors in Brasilia, the country’s capital, pushed passed security guards and smashed a glass door before entering into the […]
A guiding principle of modern democracy holds that a system of checks and balances helps prevent any single person or faction from making radical changes to the existing order. That the wheels of legislation move slowly, and recourse is available through courts or other branches of government, may be a hair-pulling reality for those trying […]
BANDA ACEH — The cafe is packed with men sitting in front of their third cup of coffee. They chat and smoke kreteks — a type of local clove cigarettes. The lighthearted mood is suddenly interrupted by the sound of the café’s metal shutters being slid downward. The conversation dies, the expressions grow frightened. The […]
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump (or Melania Knavs, as she was called before she married and moved into Trump Tower) will be the only first lady since 1829 to have been born outside the United States. John Quincy Adams’ wife, Louisa Adams, was the last, having been born in England when the U.S. was still a […]
Timgad, in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria, is sometimes nicknamed “the Pompeii of Africa.” The Roman grid plan of this city, where my wife and daughter were walking, is remarkably well preserved.
The United States intervened militarily in Syria under the premise of the ‘war on terror’ and the fight against ISIS, but their presence is actually helping the Syrian government.
Carlos Fuentes, the Mexican novelist who died in 2012, wrote more than a decade ago of a U.S. president who, through punitive measures, would almost shut Mexico down and accidentally revive the art of letter-writing.
As he embarks today on what is expected be his last major trip abroad as president — with stops in Greece, Germany and Peru — Barack Obama might find himself thinking back to that remarkable visit he made to Germany in August 2008 as Democratic nominee. It was an unprecedented event that included a jam-packed […]
La Jornada, Nov. 14, 2016 As U.S. president-elect Donald Trump begins to reveal if and how he will follow through on his campaign promises, Mexico is keeping a close eye on his immigration plans. In an interview with CBS “60 Minutes” program on Sunday night, Trump indicated that his pledge to build a wall between […]
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump will face wide-ranging questions about his ethics and integrity from the moment he enters the White House in January. The president-elect says he’ll turn over his vast financial holdings to his kids. But many doubt a blind trust will insulate him completely, potentially exposing him to conflicts of interest or the appearance of such conflicts on a range of domestic and foreign issues as no president before. During the campaign, Trump branded his opponents with nicknames such as “Lyin Ted” and “Crooked Hillary.” Yet more than Ted Cruz or Hillary Clinton, he lied and shrewdly assumed […]
I’ve had my fair share of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but watching the Grand Canyon get more and more red, in the serenity of the rising sun, stands out in my memory.
-OpEd- They said he could never win. At best, Donald Trump was seen as a voice for a growing number of desperate Americans. Trump was a symptom of the political and cultural misery of the working classes in the United States — the empire of our time. His strongest critics portrayed him as a monstrous, […]
Nicaragua’s once revolutionary president Daniel Ortega has won reelection, this time with his wife Rosario Murillo as VP. It’s an accumulation of power and money that makies their own supporters squirm.
Not much is known for sure of Trump’s foreign policy agenda, which is why Angela Merkel does not stop at the perfunctory congratulations to Donald Trump.
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WASHINGTON — To put it bluntly, the media missed the story. In the end, a huge number of American voters wanted something different. And although these voters shouted and screamed it, most journalists just weren’t listening. They didn’t get it. They didn’t get that the huge, enthusiastic crowds at Donald Trump’s rallies would really translate into that many votes. They couldn’t believe that the America they knew could embrace someone who mocked a disabled man, bragged about sexually assaulting women, and spouted misogyny, racism and anti-Semitism. It would be too horrible. So, therefore, according to some kind of magical thinking, […]
Trump’s victory reminds this Chilean writer of some of the worst moments of the past half-century, including 1973 army coup in Chile and the 9/11 terror attacks.
The city of Rust, in eastern Austria, stands near the border with Hungary. This geographical and cultural proximity was particularly visible in the way the women dressed, on their way to the market.
German magazine Zeit Magazin has made this week’s cover an image of at ticket to the fateful concert of the rock band Eagles of Death Metal at Le Bataclan in Paris on November 13, 2015. The cover marks one year after the attacks in Paris, which killed 130 including 89 at the concert. The venue […]
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TURIN — The destiny of soon-to-be former President Barack Obama reminds me of history’s great love stories. Desire then regret, always longing for something that is never quite fulfilled. When the 44th President of the United States appeared on the scene he was charismatic, athletic and affable, making history as the first African-American nominee from […]
The election of Donald Trump is a shocking event for millions of Americans. And not only Americans. The man set to move into the White House has spent the past 18 months crossing lines of both basic decency and what we still like to call modern democracy. Beyond any fair debate on points of policy, […]
PARIS — How much is the life of a victim of terrorism worth? How do you quantify the loss of children taken from their parents? Of husbands or wives torn from their spouse by the bullets of a madman? These are harrowing questions that require reflection but also a dose of cold economic reasoning. The […]
With the American billionaire heading to the White House, the European establishment is quaking in its boots.
A German daily goes upside-down, the French see “Psycho,” Australians drop a WTF, and more …
The Mediterranean island of Malta has kept many traces of its British past: Bedford buses (driving on the left side of the road), pubs, and these beautiful bow windows overlooking the beautiful port of Valletta.