When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
blog

Cameron Tax Info, CIA On Waterboarding, Calling Shotgun

Cameron Tax Info, CIA On Waterboarding, Calling Shotgun

CAMERON RELEASES TAX INFO

British Prime Minister David Cameron released information from his 2009-2015 tax returns yesterday in an attempt to defuse controversy about how he profited from his late father's offshore fund, The Independent reports. The details about the family's investment company were leaked last week in the so-called Panama Papers.


CIA WILL NOT ENGAGE IN WATERBOARDING

CIA Director John Brennan said in an interview with NBC yesterday that the intelligence agency would not engage in waterboarding under any circumstances, even on the orders of a future president. Brennan's comments came after GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and other Republican candidates said they would revive the practice if elected. Read a soldier's reflections on torture from Worldcrunch's essay section.


UKRAINIAN PM ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION

Photo: Sergii Kharchenko/Pacific Press/ZUMA

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation yesterday following months of political crisis, Kyiv Post reports. His cabinet narrowly survived a no-confidence vote two months ago, but approval ratings for his party stand at just 2% with allegations of inaction and corruption against them. His formal resignation is expected tomorrow.


BRUSSELS TERRORISTS PLANNED PARIS ATTACK

Belgian prosecutors announced yesterday that the terrorists who attacked Brussels last month had initially planned to strike in France but changed their minds as investigators closed in, Le Monde reports. They did not provide any details about the initial French plot or its targets.


WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO

Those people in your life who are always late have a predisposition that puts off decision-making. Swiss newspaper Le Temps asks whether it's a question of freedom or lack of respect. "Psychologists say that some obsessive disorders are characterized by this unfortunate tendency to be late. These people want everything to be perfect and linger over small details. But because it's impossible to control everything, it causes anguish."

Read the full article, Punctuality Problems — What Drives The Chronically Late.


FIVE DETAINED AFTER DEADLY HINDU FESTIVAL FIRE

Indian police have detained five people after a fireworks show at a Hindu temple set off a blaze killing 108 people and wounding 383, The Hindu reports this morning. Thousands of people gathered in the southern state of Kollam yesterday to celebrate the start of the Hindu year when sparks ignited a cache of fireworks stored inside the temple grounds.


ON THIS DAY


Ugandan President Idi Amin, whose rule was marked by human rights abuses and killings, was deposed 37 years ago today. That and more in today's shot of history.


ISIS RETAKES SYRIA STRONGHOLD

ISIS took claim of a Syrian stronghold near the border with Turkey this morning, four days after losing it to a rebel group, The New York Times reports. The strategically positioned city, al-Rai, was recaptured by the extremist group after intense fighting against factions joining under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.


MY GRAND-PERE'S WORLD



JOHN KERRY VISITS HIROSHIMA

This morning U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry became the most senior American official ever to visit the revered memorial to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, seven decades after the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb, killing 140,000 Japanese, CNN reports. Kerry toured the Peace Memorial Park and Museum with other foreign ministers of the G7 nations. He wrote in the museum's guestbook that "War must be the last resort — never the first choice."


U.S. NAVY OFFICER FACES ESPIONAGE CHARGES

A U.S. Navy officer with access to sensitive U.S. intelligence information faces espionage charges over accusations he passed state secrets to China, Reuters reports. An official identified the suspect yesterday as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan. Lin has also been accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery, and has been held in pretrial confinement for the past eight months, the official added.


CALLING SHOTGUN

TheDaily Mailhas the video of the, quote-unquote, "hilarious moment one Southern mother decides to punish her ‘disobedient' children not by taking away their electronics — but by shooting them to bits."

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

Italy's Right-Wing Government Turns Up The Heat On 'Gastronationalism'

Rome has been strongly opposed to synthetic foods, insect-based flours and health warnings on alcohol, and aggressive lobbying by Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government against nutritional labeling has prompted accusations in Brussels of "gastronationalism."

Dough is run through a press to make pasta

Creation of home made pasta

Karl De Meyer et Olivier Tosseri

ROME — On March 23, the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, announced that Rome would ask UNESCO to recognize Italian cuisine as a piece of intangible cultural heritage.

On March 28, Lollobrigida, who is also Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's brother-in-law, promised that Italy would ban the production, import and marketing of food made in labs, especially artificial meat — despite the fact that there is still no official request to market it in Europe.

Days later, Italian Eurodeputy Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of fascist leader Benito Mussolini and member of the Forza Italia party, which is part of the governing coalition in Rome, caused a sensation in the European Parliament. On the sidelines of the plenary session, Sophia Loren's niece organized a wine tasting, under the slogan "In Vino Veritas," to show her strong opposition (and that of her government) to an Irish proposal to put health warnings on alcohol bottles. At the end of the press conference, around 11am, she showed her determination by drinking from the neck of a bottle of wine, to great applause.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest