As Germany legalizes gay marriage and Ana Brnabic becomes Serbia’s prime minister, Worldcrunch celebrates openly gay heads of government around the world.
Month: June 2017
PARIS — I’m on the bus when “Proud to Be An American” pops into my head. Once it was Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved.” Another time, the Frosted Flakes cereal theme song. Nearly a year after moving to France, my brain keeps regurgitating America. I moved to the suburbs of Paris in September to […]
-Analysis- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is still in charge — that much we know. What is less clear is whether he has a stronger or weaker grasp on power after the murky late-night helicopter shooting at the Supreme Court building, and a mob attack on parliament this past week. The brazen assaults on power may […]
Though brother fights brother on opposite sides of the war in eastern Ukraine, some people manage to bridge the gap that divides them.
-Analysis- PARIS — Will the digital revolution get the better of physical currencies, a cornerstone of trade since 700 B.C. and a key fixture of modern society and government? Whether using cards, transfers, or cellphones, paying for things is increasingly done without coins or bills. This evolution raises the prospect of a cashless society. But […]
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Legendary Cathedral
Don’t be fooled by the exuberant Moorish style of the Curtea de Argeș cathedral. The various legends associated with this Romanian Orthodox church tend to be, well, grim. In one tale, the architect — to be able to finish the building — is forced to sacrifice his wife by walling her alive in the cathedral. […]
-OpEd- Can you be a Christian and a politician? I’m not talking about a fundamentalist who would seek to apply Biblical precepts across all of society. I’m talking about a “moderate” Christian, one who knows how to distinguish between the moral principles that rule his life and the secular values that rule the life of […]
Analyzing letters and testimony of ISIS terrorists shows how eye-for-an-eye arguments in defense of Muslim victims meld with monotheistic guilt and a mystic sense of destiny to become offensive weapons in the jihadist strategy.
-Analysis- PARIS — There are always worse things in life than money troubles. The record $2.7-billion fine that the European Commission slapped on Google for breaching competition rules is a major financial blow for the company. But for a firm making billions of dollars like Google, the mega-penalty isn’t the main problem. It’s never enjoyable […]
SPONSORED CONTENT In this technology driven world, Africa is still recording low iGDP compared to its neighbouring continents. Funding, infrastructure, electricity and IT literacy are among the key challenges hampering ICT development in Africa. Currently, only one percent of African children leave schools with basic coding skills yet Africa’s population has been increasing at an […]
Iran’s Islamic regime may have harsh penalties for drug trafficking, but officials are now estimating that the number of “regular drug users’ has doubled in the past six years, from 1.3 million to about 2.8 million. The head of the country’s drug control organization, Parviz Afshar, told Iran’s ISNA news agency that currently “about 2.8 […]
In Finland and Norway, right-wing, anti-elite and anti-immigration parties have had to adapt to the problems of power, but they still can fire up the base by playing to their gut.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees want to reach Europe via Libya, constituting a billion dollar trade option for smugglers. But a local warlord, armed with only one boat and plenty of opaque motives, has declared war on the trafficking gangs.
Ever wondered what’s the French for “Slytherin”? Or how Harry Potter”s voice sound in Hindi, or Hebrew? To celebrate 20 years since the J.K. Rowling’s first installment of the series hit our bookshelves, Worldcrunch has conjured up a video that speaks to Potterheads all around the world! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/EsTAF0QcFHw expand=1]
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Burning Faith
The villages and landscapes, the colors and fauna, old people and young — in my experience, few countries can rival Nepal as a photographic subject. Here is one flickering moment of prayer passing at a Buddhist temple in Kathmandu. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
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The Swamp Of Brazilian Politics
Watching from abroad as Brazil’s anti-corruption probe rumbles into its fourth year, you can’t help but think: “Well, I guess they’re all corrupt…” “How could it get any worse?” No doubt, many Brazilians are thinking the same. The latest episode in this seemingly unending series of accusations and counter-accusations, rising and falling political fortunes, is […]
Francis has traveled the world and proven himself to be an able messenger of peace. But so far, he’s avoided his home country, where his unifying spirit is sorely needed.
The minority Yazidi people were killed and taken captive by the Islamic State. Once held as sex slaves and child soldiers, several survivors tell of the psychopathic madness of the jihadists.
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Harry Potter V. The Internet
“The boy who lived” turns 20 years old today. Harry Potter, the turn-of-the-century literary sensation, topped bestseller lists and broke box office records across the globe, featuring seven book installments and their eight celluloid versions, and redefining the fantasy genre for a generation. Readers in some 68 languages — including Ancient Greek, Latin, and Urdu […]
A project that encourages villagers to protect local river sources is helping revive community life and traditional culture.
Coal miners have lived off the industry for generations. Though China is still the world’s top coal producer, plans for clean energy spell the end of the mining life for many.
Imagine what Donald Trump would do within a French-like government structure …
The western state of Maharashtra, home of Mumbai and the biggest regional economy of India, announced this month that it will waive farmer loans worth 1,140 billion rupees, or nearly $18 billion. The June 12 measure will leave only 800 billion rupees, or about $12 billion, in the state’s coffers until the end of the […]
A current exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires isn’t just about remembering a great 20th-century artist. It’s about reclaiming him as a national treasure.
PARIS — Donald Tusk had a dream: The United Kingdom was staying in the European Union — For him, this vision isn’t just a pure imaginary digression. The European Council president even appealed to the words of one of Britain’s most famous voices, quoting John Lennon’s “Imagine“: “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m […]
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Lucky Chaplin
There is a well-known statue of Charlie Chaplin in Vevey, Switzerland, not far from my hometown, where the great American actor lived for 25 years. But what was he doing in Ireland? The quiet village of Waterville, County Kerry, happened to be a favorite vacation spot for the Chaplin family. See more slides from My […]
Seyran Ates, a German-Turkish lawyer, has opened the first “liberal” mosque in Berlin, where she herself is the imam. The goal is nothing less that the worldwide reformation of Islam.
The latest big news out of the Middle East is that Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has ousted the crown prince and installed his 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman, in that position. While the world waits to see more of the reaction from Saudis and others in the region, a few quick thoughts come to my mind. First, the news feels stunning because of its significance; if MbS (as the new crown prince is known) becomes king, he will be the first monarch who is not a son of King Abdulaziz al Saud, the founder of Saudi […]
TOKYO — The popular Chinese imagination of Japan has followed along with Japan’s evolution over the past four decades. In the late 1970s, when China started to reform and to open up to the rest of the world, Japan was Asia’s economic power. Then, following the arrival of Japanese animé to China, Japan was the […]
Dictators, gangsters and gun-toting guerillas all seem to have a fondness for facial hair — specifically above their upper lips. But why?
PARIS – Notre-Dame Cathedral continues to draw millions in the center of Paris. But how long before it starts to collapse? For now, at least, France’s most famous cathedral still stands tall and proud. But it’s not in great shape. Far from it. Pollution is eating away its stones. Detail work on the outside is […]
Abu al Fadl devoted the final months of his life to clearing al-Bab of improvised explosives left behind by ISIS in everything from washing machines to cooking pots. The 60-year-old disabled several thousand mines before one took his life.
Image is valuable currency in our modern world. It can make or break a brand, or a career. Entire nations, meanwhile, also have to consider how they are seen — at home and abroad. We also know that for both companies and countries, image so often starts at the top. Take the now former Uber […]
Unlike the ‘Righteous Among The Nations’ of the Nazi Holocaust, individual Turks who opposed the Armenian genocide are lost to history. Again, Turkey’s government is largely to blame.
KABUL — When a series of terrorist attacks rocked the Afghan capital late last month, killing more than 150, less than a kilometer away from worst blast, a group of women were busy preparing a morning show for the country’s only TV station run by women. Zan TV, or Women’s TV, was launched this month, dedicated to women’s voices and women’s issues. Since the end of Taliban rule in 2001, Afghanistan has gone from having just one state-owned TV station to 76 stations broadcasting across the country. But despite the proliferation of channels, women are often neglected by the Afghan […]
Russia, Iran and U.S. are all looking beyond the defeat of ISIS in Syria. But the little game the great powers are playing is becoming increasingly risky.
Despacito, by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, is 2017’s runaway worldwide hit. Muy bien! It follows a long, though not-so-frequent history of non-English songs breaking down language barriers to elbow aside the Beatles or Michael Jackson. From Volare, which was Italy’s entry for the 1958 Eurovision contest to Gangnam Style, from South Korean YouTube sensation […]
The Antarctic, one of the last, unspoiled parts of the natural world, will, like the Amazon, face man’s destructive onslaught unless states take action quickly.
Paul is 14 years old. For months, he was assaulted and bullied by his classmates, and finally had to leave the school. Anti-Semitism lives on in Germany — but it’s changing.
A tiny revolution can be heard rumbling through Spain: starting June 30, parents will have the ability to chose the order of their child’s last names.