Worldcrunch
Updated March 23, 2024 at 12:40 p.m. On this day in 2021, a large container ship called the Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal, obstructing the waterway and causing a major traffic jam of ships waiting to pass through. The obstruction lasted for six days. What caused the Ever Given to run aground? […]
The country long seen as a beacon for LGBTQ+ rights in South Asia still has no law recognizing same-sex marriage. Here’s how two couples broke through the bureaucracy — and why hundreds of others still wait to say “I do.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic cooperates closely with Russia, including on security and arms issues. Now he is threatening to invade Kosovo, which Serbia does not recognize as an independent country. If Donald Trump were to win, and NATO to weaken, Vucic may be ready to move.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just as Washington has submitted a stunning resolution at the UN pressuring Israel into a ceasefire. But is there a way out?
A debate about the Spanish entry for this year’s Eurovision prompts one woman writer to challenge the benefits of re-appropriating the word “slut.”
Updated March 22, 2024 at 12:25 p.m. The Brussels suicide attacks took place on this day in 2016, at the Zaventem airport and the Maalbeek metro station. A total of 32 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured in the attacks. Who carried out the Brussels attacks? The attacks were carried out […]
March 25 – March 31, 2024
China’s richest man, Zhong Shanshan, has been pursued for weeks by an online nationalist campaign claiming he is not patriotic enough. Official tolerance questions this ideological hardening, at a time of economic slowdown, strong international tensions and built-in contradictions of China’s statists-capitalistic economy.
An endeavor to retrieve samples from the red planet is in the works. Some scientists wonder if it’s a wise investment.
For more than 20 years, the Greek NGO Archipelagos has been monitoring the unique ecosystems and desertified areas of the Aegean Sea, the arm of the Mediterranean between Greece and Turkey. A ride along on the association’s main ship, the Aegean Explorer, reveals the effects of climate change, plastic pollution and industrial fishing.
Pope Francis appears incapable of grasping that for Ukraine to “raise the white flag” would be to concede defeat, and accept the victory of evil over good. Is he a poor theologian or a poor global strategist, or both?
The U.S. pier and sea corridor aims at isolating Gaza from its Arab neighbors, paving the way for the incoming authority, and facilitating attacks on the resistance.
Updated March 21, 2024 at 11:40 a.m. Barack Obama visited Cuba on this day in 2016 as part of his efforts to improve relations between the United States and Cuba. The visit was the first by a U.S. president in nearly 90 years and came after the two countries had re-established diplomatic relations in 2015. […]
The American billionaire and founder of Tesla and SpaceX is increasingly openly supporting the ideas of the radical right and Donald Trump. Long gone are the days when Silicon Valley voted Democrat: Elon Musk is the embodiment of this openly self-assured “tech right”.
Released detainees detail how Israel’s military used them as human shields in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Soldiers would put civilian Palestinians in front of military targets, endangering their lives, according to accounts from recently-released detainees.
The new batch of Michelin-starred restaurants was announced on March 18, with 52 new establishments honored, more than ever before. While the little red guide calls the shots among restaurateurs, it’s also the stuff of dreams for aficionados, for whom the bible of gastronomy has become a true collector’s item.
Long hidden and even seen as shameful, menopause is finally making its way into the public sphere in France, and elsewhere. Celebrities, journalists and sociologists are now talking about it openly, and brands are offering solutions to help reimagine what this physical and psychological change means to some women.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, NATO has drastically upgraded its focus on the Black Sea. A visit to the Romanian air base that NATO uses as a base to monitor its southeastern flank, and the open questions even among allies.
Updated March 20, 2024 at 11:30 a.m The United States invaded Iraq on this day in 2003 under the pretext of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The Bush administration argued that Saddam Hussein’s regime posed a threat to U.S. national security and to the stability of the Middle East. However, no WMDs were […]
A recent spike in gang violence in Rosario in central Argentina is prompting comparisons to the old breeding ground of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. But where would organized crime be, without the quiet connivance of a host of social and political actors?
In Trieste, on Italy’s northeastern border, more than 400 migrants have been living without food, among rats and garbage — and in a political quagmire — as they wait for responses to their asylum applications.
Israel’s war on Gaza could be seen as “a cultural genocide,” which targets Gaza’s history, the Palestinian cause and traces of those who lived in the strip. That will have consequences that would last for centuries.
Celebrating his reelection and the 10th anniversary of the annexation of Crimea on Monday, Vladimir Putin showed that he is not backing down. And he signaled that he will redouble his efforts in the invasion of Ukraine as well as his psychological war with the West.
Recent changes in Syria’s security apparatus are yet another step in President Bashar al-Assad’s years-long effort to escape the shadow of his father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad, more than two decades after his death.
Their creations have been worn by international celebrities, such as Beyoncé and Zendaya. Their techniques have been used by major fashion houses, including Dior, Chanel and Balenciaga. With Indian designers Gaurav Gupta and Rahul Mishra making their mark on red carpets and runways around the world, Les Echos reports on the country’s rising luxury fashion industry.
Updated March 19, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. The meeting between West Germany’s Willy Brandt and East Germany’s Willi Stoph on this day in 1970, was part of Brandt’s “Ostpolitik” (Eastern policy), which aimed to improve relations between West Germany and East Germany. Who were the leaders of East and West Germany in the famous 1970 […]
Following the announcement of Colombia’s first rare earths mining project, Climate Tracker reports on the incomplete licenses, unreal expectations, bad relationships with indigenous populations and suspicion of planted minerals that surround the venture, which seeks to extract minerals critical for the energy transition.
As the United Arab Emirates normalizes relations with Israel, an Emirati organization’s recent revival of a famous pan-Arab song is strangely devoid of all common Arab issues and subjects that would anger Israel, just as Palestinians are being massacred in Gaza.
In a quarter of a century under the regime of the former KGB agent, members of the Russian security forces have imposed their growing stronghold on politics and the economy. But the Russian presidential election is also an admission of their weakness with their president failing to build a state strong enough to carry on without them.
As Western leaders criticize Netanyahu and his war in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister apparently remains fully confident in forging ahead with a hardline that leaves a brutal human toll.
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Sweden recently announced that the country’s schools will remove digital technology from classrooms because of poor student performance. Some ask how useful is digital learning. But it also poses the question: is “digital de-escalation” even possible?
Updated March 18, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. The Kronstadt rebellion was a revolt by sailors and soldiers of the Kronstadt naval fortress in Russia on this day in 1921. They were protesting against the Bolshevik government and demanding greater political freedoms, the release of political prisoners, and an end to the forced requisition of grain […]
In Chilpancingo de los Bravo, 14.5% of the population lags in their education. David Teliz Martínez hops on his motorcycle with a microphone and speaker to lure them back to the classroom.
While three “challengers” are on the ballot in Russia’s presidential election which ends Sunday, none of the bonafide members of the opposition were approved for the vote. The only organized protest movement was launched from prison by Alexei Navalny, several weeks before he died, with crowds of opponents lining up to demonstrate against President Vladimir Putin
President Vladimir Putin is just a vessel for a longstanding Russian psychology that is simultaneously expansionist and worried about external threats on the Motherland.
Updated March 16, 2024 at 11:30 a.m. Crimea voted on this day in 2014 in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia. When was the Crimean referendum held? The referendum was held after the ousting of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the subsequent political crisis in Ukraine. The referendum was controversial as […]
Updated March 17, 2024 at 11:55 a.m. Golda Meir became the Prime Minister of Israel on this day in 1969, following the resignation of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. She was the first woman to hold the position in Israel and one of the few female leaders in the world at the time. Who was Golda […]
The late Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author’s sons have published his draft novel Until August against his will. Yet no work of art is ever really finished. And excerpts and fragments are suited to our anxious times.
The French President has lost all hope in reasoning with Putin, hardening his tone toward Moscow after trying to position himself at the outset as a mediating force.