Worldcrunch
The 2024 U.S. presidential election is set to have far-reaching implications for the world. But the Republican and Democrat frontrunners, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, both have their own sets of hurdles to jump before then if they hope to secure voters’ support.
Each year, millions of trees are sacrificed for the sake of Christmas — an ecological disaster and a denial of what trees represent for humanity. There are, however, some green alternatives to buying (and killing) your own private tree each year.
Updated Dec. 21, 2023 at 12:15 p.m. It was 35 years ago that Pan Am Flight 103 was heading from London to New York City. Shortly after takeoff, a bomb that had been planted onboard detonated, causing an explosion while the plane was in flight over Scotland. How many people were killed in Lockerbie? All […]
The practice of gift giving exists in every culture in the world, and has for as long as recorded history. What does it tell us about the nature of human society?
The feuding Ukrainian and Russian leaders both share the French emperor’s sense of mission and intransigence. The way these modern-day Bonapartes’ messianic ambitions translate into reality, however, differ greatly.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 44 million voters will be choosing between 19 candidates to elect the new president. It’s a massive electoral task in a state that is largely dysfunctional. Where is the world to lend a hand?
As Christmas revelers around the world are busy buying the ingredients necessary to cook up a feast for their loved ones, we take you on a global tour of the yummiest and yuckiest this time of the year brings to the table.
Egypt’s presidential vote ended with a certain outcome. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi secured another term that will keep him in power until 2030. It was a landslide victory for el-Sisi who has been in power since 2014. He received 89.6% of what officials said was the highest turnout in Egypt’s election history amid a state-sponsored campaign of mobilization for voters.
China’s exam-oriented culture fails to foster imagination, which is necessary to create better employees and better people.
Mao Zedong once cited the “philosophy” in the Chinese parlor game of mahjong. It remains a mass pastime for millions of folk, both in China and among the diaspora.
Updated Dec. 20, 2023 at 12:00 pm On this day in 1973, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, the prime minister of Spain was killed in Madrid after a massive bomb exploded under his car. Why was Carrero Blanco killed? Carrero Blanco was killed in Madrid by the Basque separatist group ETA, targeted due to his support […]
The recent repression of an old man dancing at a fish market shows how on edge Iran’s regime is domestically, writes Pierre Haski. While Iran may be stepping up its game regionally, its fragile attitude domestically can be a sign of what an irrational actor the mullah regime can be.
Fedaa Zeyad is tired of seeing all the attempts to portray the people of Gaza as superheroes, somehow undeterred in the face of death. She prefers to present them simply as human beings: fearful, tired, desperate, objecting to the terms and conditions of this war.
Originally from Tuscany, Sara Barsotti has spent the past decade leading the task force monitoring Iceland’s major volcanic eruption threat. Evacuations may have saved lives after a major eruption Monday night.
Israel has launched a massive campaign of retaliatory detentions in the occupied West Bank. The campaign aims not only to humiliate the detainees, but it has also targeted those who have been released and it has revealed widespread violations and Israel’s determination to punish “all” Palestinians.
From South African lunch culture to the Mexican instant noodle market, a look into how people from around the globe are adapting to rising food prices and the cultural shifts occurring throughout the culinary world.
Updated Dec. 19, 2023 at 12:30 p.m. The Russian diplomat Andrei Karlov served as an ambassador to North Korea, and then Turkey. On this day in 2016, he was assassinated while giving a speech in Turkey — the moment captured by an Associated Press photographer who’d been assigned to cover the speech. How was Andrei […]
Shyamanand Singh crafts sculptures from discarded paper, bottle caps and other materials. He’s opened a free museum in his house to inspire others.
Postmodernism’s eagerness to relativize what is commonly considered factual, objective or real is attractive to recent, jaded, generations, but can barely help a contemporary world lurching between chaos and calamity.
For some with communication skills and charisma, likes on social media can turn into lavish earnings. But influencers face a crisis of trust, as well as algorithms that often discriminate — particularly against women.
Now that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has ground to a halt, pressure is growing for Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow. But increasingly, despite his claims to the contrary, it looks like Putin is simply not interested in negotiating, whatever he may claim. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case: he’s betting his future on a long war.
Pressure is rising from allies for Israel to change its tactics, which may only harden the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — which may only raise the stakes with regional adversary Iran. Here are three questions that are both crucial and connected.
Updated Dec. 18, 2023 at 12:25 p.m. The United Arab Emirates is a monarchy, and had never allowed elections in its political system. That would change on this day in 2006. Why did the Arab Emirates decide to hold elections? The aim was to increase political participation among Emiratis through a “political empowerment program”, which […]
Thanatology or the study of death has entered Italian academia, led by the University of Padua, which is taking an interdisciplinary approach to our fascination with mortality.
Nuclear weapons are a constant fear simmering in the background of modern-day conflicts. With the potential for Iran to join the Israel-Hamas war, and a threatening Russia at war with Ukraine, there is a more urgent necessity of reestablishing communication channels and confidence-building measures among nuclear powers.
Updated Dec. 17, 2023 at 11:35 a.m. On December 17th, 1976, Australian prime minister Harold Holt disappeared after going for a swim. He was never heard from again. How did Harold Holt go missing? The Prime Minister of Australia from 1966-1967, Holt was an avid outdoorsman and loved to swim in the ocean near to […]
New research reveals the emergence of “grassroots capitalism” in North Korea, disproportionately through women. It provides a cautionary tale in the most unlikely of countries for patriarchal societies everywhere: underestimate women at your peril.
Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are only the most recent and glaring conflicts that are driven, at least in part, by extreme animosity fueled by ethnic and national identity. For independent Russian website Important Stories, Vsevolod Bederson looks at what we can learn from other ethnic conflicts, what has worked, and what has not, when it comes to extinguishing animosity and violence.
If Chinese food is a link to the homeland, then so is Chinese literature. Two Chinese immigrants in Europe have found a way to connect themselves and others to their culture by setting up spaces where people can buy or borrow Chinese paperbacks.
Poland remains one of the last strongholds of Catholicism in Europe, and one of the few countries to have a concordat with the Holy See in its constitution. Until now, the conservative Law and Justice Government has maintained close ties to the religion. With a new opposition government, and religious practice trending towards decline, many wonder if Poland will become a secular state for the first time since the fall of Communism.
A poll shows increased Palestinian support for Hamas since the October 7 attacks, making the Israeli government’s objective of taking military action alone unrealistic. Continuing to bombard Gaza with no end in sight is not only cruel, but counterproductive.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community escape discrimination, heal emotional wounds, and find family under the neon lights of the region’s voguing scene.
December 18 – December 24, 2023
PARIS – As WORLDCRUNCH continues to innovate and strive to make its exclusive content as widely available as possible, it has recently partnered with French tech company ODIA to integrate cutting-edge, AI-powered audio versions of its articles. The collaboration between Worldcrunch and Odia harnesses the power of cutting-edge neural speech synthesis and generative AI tech […]
Faced with rising violence and climatic catastrophes, stoicism teaches us how to cultivate our inner selves, and how to continue living without giving in to fear.
Updated Dec. 15, 2023 at 12:40 p.m. Based on the novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936, the epic film “Gone With The Wind” hit the screens on this day 84 years ago today. Set in the Confederate South, it would go on to win multiple Academy Awards and command a 30-year […]
Do wild varieties of overlooked grains, fruits, and vegetables hold the key to withstanding the uptick in extreme weather?
The Jenin refugee camp is rapidly spinning out of control, as the West Bank security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority dissolves. The Israeli military wants to make an example of this symbol of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank.
As Israel ramps up its attacks on Gaza, and support from the West continues, ordinary people in Turkey are falling into the trap of seeing the world as an inevitable showdown between East and West.
The future of Ukraine may be at stake as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban plays hardball with his European counterparts. But the stakes go beyond aid to the war effort, it’s the very status of Europe that is on the line.