Worldcrunch’s editor reflects on how we lived through – and covered – a year that we might have known was coming.
Month: December 2020
The forced abortiona of a Hindu woman married to a Muslim man should be treated like murder by the state. Yet, not much is being said about it, or other ways new laws are used to disenfranchise Muslims.
A doctoral student in Casablanca is using a series of podcasts to help free his countrymen from one-size-fits-all notions about how men can and should behave.
Social media platforms like Facebook have turned new attention to the Italian region’s long tradition of Catholic-themed mysteries and miracles.
From Venezuela to Belarus, there are countries that have elements of democracy but fall well short of acceptable standards of freedom and transparency. Will the U.S. end up there too?
Iranian nurses are overworked and underpaid, and now angered by the government’s seeming reluctance to purchase coronavirus vaccines.
More than half of girls in South Sudan are married before they turn 18, and only 1.3% still attend school at age 16.
COVID Death Toll At 1.5 Million: A World United By Those We Lost WORLDCRUNCH Abidjan Postcard: Black Lives Matter, But They’re Different Here JEUNE AFRIQUE Pandemic Postcard: Nearly Alone As A Paris Museum Reopens RUE AMELOT “Joan Of Arc” In Exile: Can Tikhanovskaya Lead Belarus From Abroad? KOMMERSANT COVID-19, Address To The Nations: Faces Of […]
Consumers are convinced. Wall Street is buoyant. Demand around the world for app-based services is booming, with entire nations stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdowns and the prospect of goods and services at their door with just a click. As the so-called “Gig Economy” spreads alongside the pandemic, society has struggled to keep up. • […]
In addition to coronavirus-related deaths, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) recorded 42 murders of journalists and media workers since the beginning of 2020 in targeted attacks, bombings and shootings.
President-elect Joe Biden’s ample support base is fluid and can melt away, if his administration ignores the social and political grievances that led millions to vote for Donald Trump.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/RljMJ8QE8dQ expand=1] News broke last weekend of a new, extra contagious strain of the coronavirus rapidly spreading in the UK, prompting several countries to suspend travel from the country. After France deciding to shut its UK border for 48 hours, thousands of trucks were unable to pass through from the Port of Dover via […]
Learning can never stop, despite the schools being closed. Teachers around the world were forced to get innovative to overcome the lockdown.
As the sudden arrival of harsh new lockdown restrictions and the closing of borders in European countries coincides with down-to-the-wire Brexit talks, BoJo is facing an all-time low in public confidence.
Soup cans don’t grow on trees. Of course some of the ingredients inside them do, as well as in the ground and on plants and vines. But by the time all those natural products reach your stomach, too often they’ve undergone processing, been transported hundreds (or thousands) of miles and generally bear little resemblance to […]
Seeing Manel de Aguas can prompt a range of reactions. The connected artificial “fins’ implanted in his skull might look silly to some, inspiring to others, or just very disturbing. “I don’t feel 100% human,” the 27-year-old Catalan told the La Razón daily last week. On his Instagram page, de Aguas describes himself as a […]
Play is a fundamental part of childhood development. But when it comes to toys, as one nursery in Bavaria has shown, there’s something to be said for moderation.
Countries like Argentina, Chile and Mexico have begun charging a value added tax (VAT) on digital purchases. But that may just be the tip of iceberg, especially if governments can reach a regional consensus.
With a humanitarian crisis looming along the Sudan border, Ethiopian refugees pine for news of those they were forced to leave behind.
Bill Gates is among those predicting that the shift toward remote work will last beyond the COVID-19 crisis. But what if, to compensate, people start making more of an effort to mix and mingle?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/K44uVqqyfiE expand=1] Poland is a nation divided. On October, its constitutional tribunal ruled that terminating pregnancy due to fetal defects was unconstitutional, making abortion almost completely illegal in a country with strong influence of the Catholic Church and among Europe’s most restrictive laws on this and other social issues. The abortion ruling sparked massive […]
Yemen’s itinerant beekeepers must follow the flowering season. But this nomadism, essential for their bees to produce this liquid gold known around the world, is hampered by the nation’s ongoing civil war.
Hindu nationalist groups want to force the cancellation of Netflix shows that celebrate inter-religious romance with Muslims — it’s both censorship and ethnic prejudice.
When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, it first triggered a wave of revolts, then hopes of a historic liberalization in Arab countries. But the doors of democracy, barely half-opened, have been shut ever since.
In a time of public impatience and online mobilization, the region’s governments are feeding frustrations with an outdated leadership approach.
It’s time for dinner — what will you prepare? The factors in your decision may include any or all of the following: your appetite, your beliefs, budget, schedule, location … or maybe just your mood. What you might not realize is that the very choices you end up making tonight will also influence what will […]
A wave of immigrants arrived in France from Chechnya during the early 2000s after the wars with Russia. A minority of this Muslim community has been radicalized, including an 18-year-old who beheaded a French schoolteacher in October.
Europe is moving forward in a united front to force Big Tech that could lead to a historic showdown on the future of how the digital economy functions.
After a year that’s been as trying as it is troubling, the holidays are finally upon us, and for many there’s a temptation to treat the upcoming festivities as a welcome catharsis. But for governments, this “most wonderful time of the year” represents a real conundrum: How to allow for some much-needed Yuletide joy while […]
After COVID-19, similar crises could arise sooner rather than later. Can we really afford — and not just from an economic standpoint — to keep taking the same approach?
For all his experience in government, Biden is entering unfamiliar territory. Trump, barking at the president-elect’s heels and challenging his legitimacy, will try to make the transition harder still.
In a country famous for its carne culture, a new generation is opting for a far different kind of diet, and food retailers are paying attention.
PARIS — With much of the world trying to minimize the impact of a COVID-19 second wave, governments are again forced to make impossible choices between relaxing restrictions to avoid total economic implosion or staying shut down to limit death tolls. Even countries typically mentioned as pandemic role models, like South Korea, are seeing a […]
A global pandemic and weariness in many places of cheap, mass tourism may hasten a real paradigm shift in the travel sector. Or not.
Essential? That’s what Italy has labeled healthcare workers, but, like many of their peers around the world, they are receiving subordinate treatment, low wages and no protection from state or employers.
Iranian officials have reacted cautiously to a string of strikes, killings and acts of sabotage against the regime in past months. Do they fear retaliating against the West could hasten the Islamic Republic’s demise?
A growing number of women — farmers, students, ASHA workers and others — have joined the demonstrations. Others support the effort by staying home to tend family farms.
It is a speech that stands out from all those we’ve heard from world leaders in the 10 months since the pandemic began — a far cry from the fact-defying rhetoric of Jair Bolsonaro or the cool logic of Emmanuel Macron. As Germany reported a record 590 deaths in one day from Covid-19, Chancellor Angela […]
For a number of weeks now, Beijing has been trying to regain control of its internet heroes, who are considered too dominant. E-commerce giants and their standard-bearer, Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma, are directly in the line of fire.
Even in our sprawling, globalized world, it’s possible to produce nutritious, wholesome food without negatively impacting the planet or undermining its myriad cultures and farming traditions that rely on local resources: land, water, seeds and the many benefits of biodiversity. While this may seem idealistic as we’re told that a handful of multinational companies are […]