Worldcrunch
As Turkey fears the EU closing ranks over defense, Turkish President Erdogan is looking to Boris Johnson as a post-Brexit ally, especially as Angela Merkel steps aside. This could undermine the deal where Ankara limits refugee entry into Europe, and other dossiers too.
With loans and solar panels from China, the massive solar park has been opened a year and is already powering the surrounding areas. Now the Chinese supplier is pushing for an expansion.
? Salam!* Welcome to Monday, where the UK pays homage to slain MP David Amess, Myanmar frees thousands of prisoners, and Facebook gets ready to build its “metaverse.” Please fasten your seatbelts: Worldcrunch also takes stock of the long-lasting effects — good and bad — the pandemic has had on the air travel industry. [*Azeri […]
The deadly stabbing of UK MP David Amess confirms this researcher’s ongoing study on trust and governance in democracies around the world: It’s bad.
Long perceived as a country chasing Western tech, China’s business and technological innovations are now influencing the rest of the world. Still lagging on some fronts, the future is now up for grabs.
Will flying be greener? More comfortable? Less frequent? As the world eyes a post-COVID reality, we look at ways the airline industry has been changing through a pandemic that has devastated air travel.
Local villagers in western India have been forced to live with a mining waste site on the edge of town. What happens when you wake up one day and the giant mound of industrial waste has imploded?
Crunching the numbers of South Korea’s personal and household debt offers a glimpse into what drives the win-or-die plot of the Netflix hit produced in the Asian country.
The bow-and-arrow murder of five people in the small Norwegian city of Kongsberg this week was particularly chilling for the primitive choice of weapon. And police are now saying the attack Wednesday night is likely to be labeled an act of terrorism. Still, even though the suspect is a Danish-born convert to Islam, police are […]
? Bonjou!* Welcome to Friday, where a deadly blast strikes a mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan during Friday prayers, Lebanon death toll rises, and Banksy sells 15 times better when shredded. Meanwhile, German daily Die Welt reporters take us on an eerie tour of the deserted Camp Marmal, the German army’s former headquarters in Afghanistan. [*Haitian […]
In October 1943, nearly the entire Jewish population of Denmark made a perilous crossing from their Nazi-occupied country to neighboring Sweden. Setting out from ports and beaches along the coast, some 7,000 people arrived in rowboats and canoes to the safe shores of the port city of Malmö. Now, 78 years later, in the same […]
The new Taliban commander shows reporters from Die Welt around the deserted Camp Marmal, the German army’s former headquarters in Afghanistan.
Reams have been written about the shift to remote working. And yet, for many people, the more pressing issue right now isn’t where, but how much they work. After the economic slowdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, companies all over the world are taking advantage of loosened lockdowns and progress on the vaccine front […]
Close your eyes. You’ve arrived in the lush and peaceful microstate of Andorra, known around the world for its natural spas. Flanked by majestic mountains, you take in the deep valleys and glistening lakes of this landlocked nation nestled between Spain and France as you settle in at one of the largest spas in Europe. […]
In a country where homosexuality is still penalized, the feminist LGBT+ group Nassawiyat launches a poetic and political video series to try to change conservative mindsets.
? Bună ziua!* Welcome to Thursday, where a blaze at a Taiwan tower kills at least 46, a suspect is in custody in the deadly Norway bow-and-arrow attack and scientists try to count walruses from space. We also take a look at what unites and opposes Russia’s Vladimir and Ukraine’s Volodymir. [*Romanian] 7 THINGS […]
Despite being parties of one conflict and neighbors and comrades of the same historical events, it is now obvious that Russia and Ukraine — or at least their very different leaders, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky — are living in opposing realities.
People like Aunt Eva, in the outskirts of Mendoza, Argentina dedicate countless hours to preparing food for the needy. They make use of whatever is at hand, and invent some remarkable dishes in the process.
? Kamusta!* Welcome to Wednesday, where G20 leaders agree to involve Taliban in distributing help to Afghanistan, the U.S. announces it will reopen borders with Mexico and Canada, and Dutch royals can marry as they please. Thanks to Chilean daily El Mercurio, we also follow the tumultuous journey of a Haitian migrant in her efforts […]
The rise and fall of 35-year-old Sebastian Kurz was breathtaking in any context. Yet the resignation of the Austrian chancellor offers unique insights into a political scenario that was very much of our COVID times.
In Colombia, killings happen more often on Sundays. Most big city crimes in the U.S. happen during the day, though violence is a night-time thing. Weekends account for more than half of illegal acts in Cape Town, South Africa. A global glimpse at the “when” of crime.
A virtual unknown to most of the world a few days ago, Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya is now at the center of an Olympic drama that has spilled over into the realm of geopolitics.
Shella Jean was part of a new migration path from Haiti to the relatively prosperous nation of Chile. But she has since left behind her “Chilean Dream” on a perilous journey northward toward the U.S.-Mexico Border. This is her story.
? Halu!* Welcome to Tuesday, where Iraq’s hardline Shia cleric claims election victory, the UK confronts its historic COVID failure and Superman comes out as bisexual. We also look at “silent” Chinese investment in Latin America’s railway sector. [shortcode-LGBTQ–Sign-up-box] [*Inuktitut – Inuit] 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW • COVID update: Thailand will reopen […]
EU membership is not in line with Poland’s values, say the current ruling party. Will that mean Poland’s Exit (Polexit) from the European Union? Everything is riding on where the long-serving conservative government of PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński will do as they run counter to popular opinion on the EU question.
The private school outside Buenos Aires must pay the family of a student who was tormented for six years. Officials of the Catholic primary school had invited the main bully “to pray,” rather than taking necessary steps to keep the victim safe.
Why must I feel like a washed-up nobody just because I have no need for a new “data plan”? All I want to do is make (and pay for) a simple phone call.
“Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of existence.”–Babasaheb Ambedkar. -Essay- NEW DELHI — The latest entrant in the world of social media has been Clubhouse. While the audio-based platform boasts of providing a ‘room’ for free-wheeling discussions on anything and everything, it is imperative that it take note and address the casteism being […]
? Hallo!* Welcome to Monday, where American and Taliban negotiators sat down for the first time since the U.S. withdrawal, Taiwan’s president pushes back on China threats and a couple is accused of selling nuclear submarine secrets. We also look at the migratory path of the international bubble tea craze. [*Norwegian] 7 THINGS TO […]
China’s global investment tentacles have reached South American railways, where Chinese firms are “silent” partners in expanding rail networks, through financing or sale of rolling stock.
The current economic recovery is unlike any other in the labor market. For companies in the United States and Europe, recruitment is particularly tough. Resignations are exploding on both sides of the Atlantic and productivity is declining in places like France. These are all paradoxes confounding economists.
Originating in Taiwan, bubble tea was one of many products hard hit by the pandemic. But the internationally-beloved, tapioca-based drink isn’t just any import any longer — it’s an entire culture.
Austria’s conservative-green coalition, though currently facing a crisis linked to corruption allegations, has been cited as a possible model for Germany’s current post-election talks to form a new government. Could there be a logic to pairing the center-right CDU and the Greens in Berlin?
Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their fight to defend freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. Ressa, who co-founded the news site Rappler, was commended by the Nobel committee for using freedom of expression to “expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in […]
In recent months, governments and companies around the world have used a variety of incentives to boost vaccination rates — from cash to free beer to a live cow. But in Switzerland, a startup CEO chose to do the exact opposite, encouraging his staff not to get vaccinated — and rewarding them with a big […]
? Bonġu!* Welcome to Friday, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to two journalists risking their lives in Russia and the Philippines, the U.S. pushes the Iran nuclear deal back on the table, and a Swiss CEO is ousted after offering a different kind of COVID incentive to employees. From rural Sweden, we also […]
Despite a recent record number of Chinese military jets approaching Taiwanese air space, both citizens and leaders in the island nation have developed a method for living with the threat of an invasion from China.
The U.S. is calling for “imminent” return to talks. But Tehran has made advances on its nuclear program that could force the West to accept, in a new pact, its bomb-making capacity, which Iran will “freeze” if Western powers lift sanctions.
“We all have the same story here. After my family abandoned me, it was these people who adopted me and looked after me for all these years.”
“Conspirituality” is what some are calling the movement of those spirituality seekers and organic food devotees who don’t trust the vaccine. It’s highlighted in the fallout from a summer peace-and-love festival of Tantra followers that became a COVID cluster.