News for the international mind.

Month: December 2016

Syrian Brothers Split By War Report From Both Sides Of Border

Post author By lmacret
Post date December 13, 2016

Syrian refugees across the border in Gaziantep, Turkey Uygar Onder Simsek / Moku/DPA via ZUMA

GAZIANTEP — “The nightmares only started when I left Aleppo,” says 30-year-old Mahmoud, a Syrian activist and journalist now living as a refugee in Turkey. “Before — even after my best friend was killed next to me when we were filming a battle against the regime — I felt sad but I never had nightmares,” he said, speaking in late September in a southern Turkish border town. Mahmoud lost a finger that day in 2013, and his friend’s skull was shattered. Over years of reporting in Syria, Mahmoud faced much danger and personal loss. But it wasn’t until six months […]

Tags aleppo, assad, border, isis, refugee, syria, war

Export-Dependent Germany Faces Reckoning As Protectionism Spreads

Post author By
Post date December 12, 2016

Port of Hamburg Gabriele Diwald

The entire German business model, based on exporting its goods and services, may have to change as populists forces surge in its leading trading partners.

Tags germany, trade surplus exports protectionist globalization geert wilders Commerzbank brexit denationalization, trade surplus exports protectionist globalization geert wilders Commerzbank brexit nationalization

Mexico And Its Multitude Of Disappearing Languages

Post author By
Post date December 12, 2016

Day of the dead (languages?) Gabriel Saldana

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, but many of its indigenous tongues are in serious danger of extinction. And unless efforts are undertaken to preserve them, about 50 of those languages could disappear within the next 20 years, the Mexico City-based daily El Universal reports. There are a […]

Tags dialects, languages, linguistics, mexican, mexico, spanish

What Is Left? Anger In Aftermath Of Cairo’s Church Bombing

Post author By
Post date December 12, 2016

Inside Cairo's Coptic Cathedral on Dec. 11 Sima Diab/ZUMA

Worshipers at the Coptic Church pray for the dead and lash out at both perpetrators and Egyptian authorities. ‘They always told us to pray for those who hate and kill us. But I can’t do that anymore,’ says one.

Tags coptic, copts, egypt, egyptian, islamism, religious, war

Spotlight: Trump Wasn’t Kidding On China

Post author By
Post date December 12, 2016

After Donald Trump’s surprise victory last month, the first serious question — both in the U.S. and around the globe — was: Will he actually do all that stuff? The answer appears to be tilting toward a, Well, Hell Yes, that is as surprising to some as the election itself. The most blatant example so […]

Tags art, deal, of, taiwan, The, trump, united states

Bloody Weekend Covers Dutch Front Page

Post author By
Post date December 12, 2016

De Telegraaf, Dec. 12, 2016 Deadly blasts in major cities around the world returned, seemingly in sync the past two days. Dutch daily De Telegraaf“s Monday front page reads: “Weekend of attacks’ above two pictures of crying women, one in Istanbul where 44 people died Saturday, the other in Cairo, where at least 25 were […]

Tags attacks, bombs, front, isis, netherlands, page, terrorism

The End Of Grief, How Modern Life Is Making Death Anonymous

Post author By
Post date December 12, 2016

Prayer beads below a name board on a tree at the Coburger Land Ruheforst forest cemetery in Germany. Martin Schutt/DPA/ZUMA

MUNICH — Grief is demonstrative resistance against loss. Cemeteries and funerals are ways to combat death, preserving the lives of the departed by allowing people to remember them. Death, we are told, is a part of life. But those who went earlier this month to the cemetery on All Hallows, All Souls Day, will have […]

Tags burial, change, death, funeral, germany, life, society

Reverse Migration? Germans Move To Orban’s Hungary To Flee Immigrants

Post author By
Post date December 11, 2016

A quaint (and Christian) setting across the border in Hungary kirandulo

Up close with some of the growing numbers of Germans settling in Hungary, a country that has shut out refugees from the Middle East.

Tags hungary, islam, Lake Balaton, migration, viktor orban

Trump And My Taiwan: A Phone Call Can Change Everything

Post author By
Post date December 10, 2016

A Taiwanese American parade in Honolulu Johnny Silvercloud

PARIS — I first heard the news with a text message from my son late last Friday night: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen had spoken by telephone with Donald Trump. I cannot describe the joy I felt. This was the best piece of news for Taiwan in more than 30 years, even eclipsing for me the […]

Tags diplomacy, Donald, election, essay, relationships, taiwan, trump

Jakarta’s Sick Lack Palliative Care, One NGO Offers Relief

Post author By lmacret
Post date December 9, 2016

At the Rachel House center in Jakarta Facebook page

JAKARTA — Yanti, 93, lives in a tiny room along with three other family members in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. She’s unable to move or get up so she lies on a bed that dominates the cramped space. The air is thick with the stench of stale urine. Yanti tells me she can’t pass a bowel movement. She says she’s constantly urinating. She lies on a layer of opened diapers. She grabs the flesh on my arm, which suddenly feels more chubby and elastic than ever before in her bony hand covered in thin, papery skin. Palliative care is […]

Tags care, house, ill, indonesia, jakarta, management, pain, painkillers, palliative, rachel, sickness, terminal

In Damascus, War And Shame Conquer Love

Post author By lmacret
Post date December 9, 2016

Damascus, before the war arrived ... Qin Haishi/Xinhua/ZUMA

-Essay- DAMASCUS — Last month, I was in a bar with a friend, and I met a nice guy who, a long time ago, I knew only by name. We exchanged numbers, and after a couple of random meetings I could sense his interest in me, and his willingness to take things further. I’d love to have a partner and a happy relationship, regardless of where it might go. He is an educated writer, artist, a feminist – in short, a perfect fit for me! Except for one detail: He used to be strongly loyal to Bashar al-Assad and his […]

Tags syria

Spotlight: India’s Big Bet On New Banknotes

Post author By
Post date December 9, 2016

India’s startling announcement last month to swap out most banknotes in circulation — possibly the biggest currency change in decades anywhere in the world — went largely unnoticed outside the country. It was Nov. 8 and most people were captivated by a little election taking place on the other side of the planet. But the […]

Tags banknotes, Black, currency, demonetisation, demonetization, economy, india, modi, money

With IFTTT, Your Whole Life Can Be Programmed Like A Computer

Post author By
Post date December 8, 2016

Welcome to the Matrix Worldcrunch/Prisma

PARIS — The smartphone of Eudes, a web project manager, switches automatically from 3G to WiFi as soon as he’s near his office. It also downloads relevant newspaper articles just before he steps into the metro. Perhaps most importantly, Eudes is instantly notified when the coffee machine needs water. This automated magic is thanks to […]

Tags automation, code, france, Habitica, IFTTT, lifestyle, pressure, stress, tasks

Colombian FARC Rebels Take Mannequin Challenge

Post author By
Post date December 8, 2016

Screenshot FARC-EP

BOGOTA — Freeze! The Mannequin Challenge, the latest internet craze where groups of people make a video of themselves frozen in time, has an unlikely new participant: the Colombian rebel army FARC. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has spent much of the past half-century waging a bloody insurgency and holding hostages for […]

Tags colombia, farc, fidel castro, mannequin challenge, mannequin challenge farc fidel castro guerrilla

Spotlight: Climate Change Under Donald Trump

Post author By
Post date December 8, 2016

New head of Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt Gage Skidmore

Earlier today, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump picked Scott Pruitt, attorney general of Oklahoma, as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt, a New York Times investigation once revealed, has previously sent letters to government agencies that were actually drafted by energy-industry lobbyists. He has also legally challenged the Obama administration’s regulation of fossil fuels. […]

Tags change, climate, Donald, environment, pruitt, trump, united states

Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Trump And His Generals, Major Military Weight In Next White House

Post author By lmacret
Post date December 8, 2016

Trump and Gen. Mattis in Fayetteville, NC, on Dec. 6 Timothy L. Hale/ZUMA

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has selected retired Marine Gen. John Kelly as secretary of homeland security, officials familiar with the decision said Wednesday, recruiting a third former member of the military’s brass to serve at the highest levels of his administration. Trump’s choice of Kelly — and his continued deliberations about tapping as many as two more military figures for other posts — has intensified worries among some members of Congress and national security experts that the new administration’s policies may be shaped disproportionately by military commanders. “I’m concerned,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Foreign […]

Tags david patraeus, James Mattis, john kelly, united states

Geopolitics Ideas

Cuba Faces A Big Environmental Question After Castro’s Death

Post author By
Post date December 7, 2016

An agricultural project in Cuba Michael Kappeler/DPA/ZUMA

-Analysis- In his half-century as leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro oversaw grand changes on the island. In the wake of his death, new changes may — or may not — be on their way under the helm of the late leader’s brother, President Raul Castro. Nowhere is the future more uncertain on the island nation […]

Tags agriculture, Castro, climate change, colombia, environment, fidel, green, industrial, land

Privacy Violated, When Your Life Is Exposed And You’re The Last To Know

Post author By
Post date December 7, 2016

Locked? Yuri Samoilov

Family pictures, porn, German armed forces’ internal data – openly accessible on the internet. One mistake is enough and your privacy is destroyed.

Tags digital data, germany, internet, privacy, safety, security

Spotlight: 75 Years After Pearl Harbor

Post author By
Post date December 7, 2016

U.S.-Japanese relations over the past 75 years is one of history’s great tales of decimation and reconciliation. Japan’s massive surprise attack on the Hawaiian naval base on Dec. 7, 1941, which led to the American entry in World War II, was at the time unprecedented in the efficiency of its destructive powers. On the “day […]

Tags december 7, japanese-american, pearl harbor, united states

Vladimir Putin: Enough With The West’s Imaginary Threats

Post author By
Post date December 7, 2016

Putin at a Russian military training exercise in the Orenburg region Kremlin

In Italian daily La Stampa, the Russian president writes that it’s time for the U.S. and Europe to trust Moscow as a partner in confronting the world’s problems.

Tags 2016 elections, europe, iraq, libya, nato, russia, vladimir putin

The Sun May Be Setting On Solar Energy Boom

Post author By
Post date December 6, 2016

Workers at a solar power plant in China Jianming Tian/Cpressphoto/ZUMA

PARIS — Solar has become the new energy El Dorado. With the price of solar panels plummeting, solar energy has developed spectacularly in recent years. Less than 10 years ago, there were only a few gigawatts (GW) of new solar panels installed each year. This year, new capacity should represent more than 70 GW, up […]

Tags bubble, edf, energy, france, solar, sunpower, total

Spotlight: The Cult Of Amma

Post author By
Post date December 6, 2016

Tea harvest in the rain in Assam Luit Chaliha/ZUMA Wire/ZUMA

-Farewell- Foreigners who visit Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India that’s home to stunning Hindu temples and a robust economy, would often puzzle over the matronly woman draped in a sari watching over them from posters and billboards seemingly splashed on every street. There’s even a statue of her in blood. She was born […]

Tags actress, amma, chief, death, editorial, india, jayalalithaa, minister, nadu, obit, politician, power, tamil

Iraqi Christians Who Fled ISIS Invasion Return Home

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

Priest of the ruined Immaculate Church in Al Hamdaniyah Berci Feher/ZUMA

After two years of occupation by terror group ISIS, the largest Christian city in Iraq, Qaraqosh, was recently freed by government forces.

Tags christians, iraq, isis, islamic state, middle east, Qaraqosh, syria

Why Egyptian Women Don’t Breastfeed: Bad Maternity Leave, Public Shame

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

Woman near Sharm El Sheik, Egypt Billy Rowlinson

CAIRO — Wessam Said, 28, would have liked to breastfeed her child, but something was holding her back that had nothing to do with health or social norms: as the family’s main breadwinner, she was simply working too much. “What could I do, our conditions are dire,” she said. It’s medically advised around the world […]

Tags baby, breastfeeding, children's health, egypt, infant formula, maternity, newborn, working mothers

Economy Eyes on the U.S.

A Post-NAFTA Plan B For Trump Era? Mexico Must Get Serious

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

President Pena Nieto in Mexico City on Nov. 9 Juan Carlos Reyes/JMA/ZUMA

-OpEd- MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto recently told a gathering of CEOs at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that his country sees no need to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States. Instead, it merely should be “modernized” or updated. That, he stated, would mean adding […]

Tags donald trump, economics, enrique pena nieto, mexico, oped, politics, trade

Liberty v. Nation, Anatomy Of Europe’s Democratic Recession

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

Orban in Budapest Attila Volgyi/Xinhua via ZUMA

-OpEd- PARIS — “The era of multiculturalism is over …” This was the proud declaration of Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, back in the summer of 2015. One year later, Theresa May, the new British prime minister, took it one step further: “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you’re […]

Tags democracy, hungary, identity, kaczynski, marine le pen, migrants, nationalism, orban, putin, trump

European Union, Risks From Every Corner Of The Continent

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

Eye on the Roman Coliseum David Ohmer

-Analysis- BERLIN — Europe’s leaders were jubilant when Alexander Van der Bellen won the Austrian election Sunday. The bitter pill came later with confirmation that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a strong supporter of the European Union, had lost the constitutional referendum he’d staked his reputation on — and would resign. Italy was one of […]

Tags austria, elections, european union, italy, populism

Austria And Italy, Mixed Message

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

Many observers feared that yesterday would be the day that could rock the European Union to its core, six months after the Brexit referendum. Austria looked ready to elect Europe’s first far-right president since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, Italy, a founding member of the EU, was expected to reject a proposed constitutional […]

Tags Alexander, Bellen, der, Hofer, italy, matteo, Norbert, Renzi, van

After Brexit And Trump, Wave Of Rebellion Triumphs In Italy

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

"No" supporters protesting in Rome on Nov. 27 Danilo Balducci/ZUMA

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his constitutional reform referendum are victims of a massive movement of popular discontent, now more global than ever.

Tags italy, matteo renzi, populism, referendum

His Referendum Soundly Defeated, Renzi Resigns

Post author By
Post date December 5, 2016

La Repubblica — December 5, 2016 Italy’s resounding rejection of a nationwide referendum on constitutional reforms Sunday is the latest sign of political discontent, following the Brexit vote and the victory of Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency. In this case, it has cost the job of Matteo Renzi, who three years ago became the […]

Tags italy, prime minister, referendum, resign, vote

Can Martin Schulz Conquer German Politics?

Post author By
Post date December 3, 2016

Shulz has his say Wiktor Dabkowski/DPA via ZUMA

European Parliament head Martin Schulz has been fighting for decades for a more influential Brussels. It will be a tough sell as he returns to the rough world of national politics.

Tags eu, germany, Martin Schulz

Trump, Just The President Assad Has Been Waiting For

Post author By lmacret
Post date December 2, 2016

A pro-Assad protester in Warsaw last month Anna Ferensowicz/Pacific Press via ZUMA

-Analysis- BEIRUT — On the morning of Nov. 9, as the U.S. presidential votes were being counted, residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which has been under total siege since July, were trying to find some consolation in dark humor. “I think Trump will win in the elections because he is the real face of American politics,” Najmaldin Khaled, an English teacher and editor at the Shahba Press Agency, said in a group conversation on WhatsApp, which residents of Eastern Aleppo use to communicate with the outside world. “Trying to look at the bright side of it, no more claims about […]

Tags assad, politics, syria, trump, war

Spotlight: Crises Of Democracy, Pick Your Poison

Post author By
Post date December 2, 2016

We can be judged by our own strength, but also by the relative strength of our adversaries. Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election was also the defeat of Hillary Clinton, and all of what she represented. Last night’s unprecedented announcement that embattled French President Francois Hollande would not seek a second term will no […]

Tags crisis, democracy, election, france, francois, hollande, referendum, Renzi

François Hollande, The President That Never Was

Post author By
Post date December 2, 2016

French President Hollande, who announced he will not seek reelection, led a series of mishaps and failures, down to the indignity of his last public speech.

Tags editorial, france, francois, hollande, left, politics, president, socialism

European Democracies And The Referendum Trap

Post author By
Post date December 2, 2016

Anti-Renzi protest in Rome on Nov. 27 Andrea Ronchini/Pacific Press/ZUMA

-Analysis- PARIS — Long live the people! For a few months now, referendums have been blooming all over Europe. In Britain, to decide whether or not to leave the European Union. In Hungary, to ban European Union refugee-sharing quotas. In the Netherlands, on the EU’s pact with Ukraine. Now in Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi […]

Tags brexit, crisis, distrust, fillon, italy, plebiscite, protest, Renzi

Fidel’s Unfinished Dream — Massive Art School Is Metaphor For Cuba

Post author By
Post date December 1, 2016

Tags art, Castro, cuba, escuelas nacionales de arte, fidel, national art schools, school

Oil Deal Marks New Era For OPEC

Post author By
Post date December 1, 2016

Oil prices surged today to $50 per barrel, after OPEC and Russia reached what the oil producing cartel described as “a historic agreement” in Vienna. Under the deal, their output will be reduced by 1.2 million barrels per day starting in January, the first time since 2008 that OPEC nations have agreed to cut production. […]

Tags austria, barrel, deal, economy, oil, opec, price

Charlie Hebdo Goes To Germany

Post author By
Post date December 1, 2016

Angela Merkel — and well, just about everyone else in Germany — better brace themselves. French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo launched a German version Thursday, the first version of the often cheeky, sometimes offensive weekly, in another language and country. The new version comes nearly two years after a jihadist attack at the Charlie Hebdo […]

Tags charlie hebdo, expansion, germany, journalism, merkel, satire

Exit mobile version