Worldcrunch
Target of vandalism and anti-colonial protests, the Christopher Columbus statue in the emblematic Plaza Colón (Columbus Place) lost its place to an indigenous woman statue. But now officials have voted to put it back up in a quiet and chic district called Polanco.
The French military announces the killing of Adnan Abou Walid al-Sahrawi the head of the jihadist group Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISIS-GS). In its long involvement in the northwest African region of the Sahel, France.
? ¡Buenos días!* Welcome to Thursday, where the U.S., UK and Australia form a new pact to check China, a top ISIS leader in Africa is killed and a heroic Dutch goat doesn’t chicken out. Meanwhile, French business daily Les Echos shows us how the future of NFTs is also in the (trading) cards. [*Spanish] […]
The heroic fantasy universes of the 1990s have become a new focus of investment. One card in the mega-popular Magic series recenty sold for more than $500,000, and with the introduction of blockchain technology, the market looks to expand even more.
The United States has long dictated policy regarding narcotics, and Colombia, in particular, has paid a heavy price. The current presidential race is an opportunity to shift course and prioritize the welfare of everyday people.
Government regulators in Beijing have banned the TV and streaming appearance of what is referred to with the slur “niang pao” – literally, “girlie guns.” It is clearly a homophobic and transphobic measure, but the real aim may be to keep the increasingly powerful tech platforms in line.
Eric Piedoie, a French master forger known as “the art pirate,” has died after being mugged in Cannes over his luxury watch — which (like his own work) was a fake. French daily Le Parisien highlighted the irony, calling his death Sunday from heart failure after the attack “one last snub” from a man who […]
Welcome to Wednesday, where Taliban leaders reportedly brawl inside the presidential palace, North Korea fires more missiles, and we learn that whales used to, er, roam around Egypt. We also explore some of the increasingly hostile, atypical — and sometimes downright weird — anti-vax protests around the world. ✍️ Newsletter by Hannah Steinkopf-Frank, Anne-Sophie Goninet […]
The Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 ignited a bitter rivalry between Germany’s Angela Merkel and Austria’s Sebastian Kurz. Merkel was in favor of a “culture of welcome,” while Kurz argued for border protection. But with the current Afghan refugee crisis, the German leader is shifting course.
? Ia Orana!* Welcome to Tuesday, where Norway veers left, Putin is self-quarantining, and German scientists try to potty-train cows. Meanwhile, Delhi-based news website The Wire applauds India’s recent Olympic gold medals but asks why it can’t win Nobel Prizes? [*Tahitian] 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW • Taliban deny death of top leader: […]
Winning a Nobel Prize can’t be the only criterion by which we measure a nation’s scientific achievement — but it is a matter of pride, like winning a gold at the Olympics. Lower funding on R&D alone doesn’t explain India’s abysmal show at the Nobel Prizes. Some key elements seem to be missing, beyond funding and infrastructure, vis-à-vis our scientists’ ability to produce path-breaking work.
More protests are bound to spread after President Biden announced that vaccinations will become mandatory for millions of U.S. workers in certain categories of employment, including those who work for the federal government and large corporations.
? Dobrý deň!* Welcome to Monday, where North Korea tests a new long-range missile, the Taliban will not ban women from university this time (though under several conditions), and a jar of hair has the auction world all shook up. Meanwhile, French daily Les Echos looks at how cosmetic and apparel companies in China (a […]
Chinese cosmetic and apparel companies that once operated in obscurity are now making a real name for themselves, at least among domestic consumers, who see brands like Li-Ning and Bosideng as providing both quality and style.
Reports of torture, murder and gang rape are emerging from the civil war in northern Ethiopia. The conflict has spread across the country and an imminent collapse seems likely, spreading across the region. Now Turkey is also getting involved.
The September 11 attacks both mobilized America and showed its fragility. Twenty years later, the United States is withdrawing from the Middle East. The greatest beneficiary is not the Muslim world, as Bin Laden dreamed, but two powers reborn in the East.
Vaccination was supposed to free us from the pandemic’s frightening grip. Things would go back to normal, with parties and hugs and everything else. But now with the Delta variant, and the vaccines less than full-proof, COVID is again dominating our collective psyche.
Let’s not underestimate the impact on the planet of industrial, intensive agriculture, focused on exploiting machines, pesticides and fertilizers across wide tracts of land.
Brexit has doubled the cost of studying in the UK for Europeans, which means many more students are heading to Dutch universities, which offer multiple programs in English. That’s caused hundreds to arrive at universities in the Netherlands this month without promised housing.
Taiwan, Mexico, and Costa Rica are the best expat destinations worldwide in 2021 according to the Expat Insider survey.
? Jambo!* Welcome to Friday, where Biden and Xi Jinping hold their first call in seven months, Denmark becomes the first EU country to lift all COVID restrictions and an unexpected romance is making news in Spain. Die Welt reporter Daniel-Dylan Böhmer also meets with key Taliban officials in Kabul to give a glimpse of […]
From Fidel Castro to JFK to Barack Obama, world leaders have long sported expensive watches. Does that create a distance with the people they lead?
? お早うございます* Welcome to Thursday, where the new Taliban government bans women’s sports, a UK-France cross-Channel migrant feud erupts and North Korea celebrates its national holiday with an unusually orange military parade. Indian news website The Wire also reports on the people possibly most at risk with the Taliban back in power. [*Ohayōgozaimasu – Japanese] […]
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Across the region, entrepreneurs have been hailed for taking innovative ideas inspired elsewhere and applying them nationally or regionally. But the business and ethical dynamics involved are not so simple.
While life was not easy under the former Afghan government, members of the LGBTQ+ community had relatively more freedom and formal support groups that helped them. That has changed now, with potentially grave consequences.
The trial opens this week of those accused of masterminding the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks at Parisian cafés and restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall. Le Monde’s front-page editorial puts the court hearings into historical context.
Welcome to Wednesday, where the Taliban unveil their government, crypto is plummeting after El Salvador embraces bitcoin and one lazy Swedish tax advisor gets busted. In Mexico, we meet the nurse who has become the face of pandemic fatigue.
Video captures doseless jab…
Both al-Qaeda and ISIS openly complain about the difficulty in finding new members ready to give everything for the cause.
Welcome to Tuesday, where the Taliban end game is playing out in Panjshir valley, the U.S. Justice Department vows to protect abortion clinics in Texas and El Salvador becomes the world’s first country to authorize the use of bitcoin as legal currency. French daily Le Monde also looks at how artificial intelligence could make the dream of automatic live translation come true.
Important digital innovations have been put into practice in the areas of translation, subtitling and text-to-image.
Welcome to Monday, where the Taliban seize control of the last pocket of resistance in Afghanistan, a coup is underway in Guinea and Napoleon’s hat is up for sale. We also look at the success and failure of New Zealand’s unique COVID-19 strategy, as the country struggles to tame its Delta outbreak.
Becoming a democracy is not something willed upon a nation, especially by another country.
Weaponry belonging to the Afghan army is moving into Iran, though it is not clear if it is smuggled, or moved in a deal between the Taliban and Iran’s regime.
As New Zealand grapples to bring a Delta outbreak under control and to accelerate the vaccination rollout, social cohesion is vital for a successful elimination strategy. Political consensus on elimination has endured so far. Unlike the anti-mask and anti-vaccination movements elsewhere, most New Zealanders continue to back the prime minister’s decision to place the country under the strictest lockdown. But strains on public consensus are beginning to show, with a less-than-ideal parliament, some pushback against lockdowns and agitation to “open up.” These debates will become more pressing as the government moves towards difficult discussions about an exit strategy and targets […]
The Quebecois soft cheese fries drowned in brown sauce, wants to make it as the “next culinary trend” worldwide
Kim Jong-Un, Supreme Leader of North Korea, has been summoned to appear in a Japanese courthouse. Five people who moved to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) between 1959 and 1984 are seeking 500 million yen (3.8 million euros) in damages from the North Korean government for deceiving them with promises of a prosperous […]
Welcome to Friday, where a “terrorist attack” in New Zealand leaves at least six dead, the New York flooding toll multiplies and an iconic Swedish 70s disco band is making a comeback. Italian daily La Stampa also looks at the unlikely rise in China of gray-haired influencers trending on social media.