Worldcrunch
From abortion to euthanasia, chimps’ rights to legal marijuana, here are some bioethical controversies currently making headlines around the world: FRANCE: THE RIGHT TO DIE A video uploaded on the Internet this month has sparked a new controversy in the case of Vincent Lambert, a 38-year-old French man in a neuro-vegetative state since a 2008 […]
My partner in crime, le petit-fils (grandson) Bertrand, is following in my footsteps and touring the Southeastern United States. During this hiatus, take a look back at all the places we’ve already been in My Grand-Père’s World …
-OpEd- BOGOTA — The government of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa released a somewhat Orwellian video last month that tries to turn the concept of dictatorship on its head. The soundtrack of the video, which touts the administration’s various achievements, is a schmaltzy pop song that goes: “If this is a dictatorship, then we’ve been had. […]
FAMILIES MOURN AFTER CHURCH SHOOTING Photo: Curtis Compton/ZUMA Mourners in Charleston, S.C., flooded the town’s churches yesterday while prayers were held across the country in memory of the nine people killed at the Emanuel AME Church Wednesday night. Photos onThe Post And Courier‘s website show tearful people praying in front of the church, as mourners […]
From the top of the cathedral’s towers, the Notre-Dame gargoyles — designed by genius Gothic Revival architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc — have been watching over the roofs of Paris, the Tour Saint-Jacques and the Sacré-Coeur since the 1840s.
BT, June 19, 2015 “The Losers’ Triumph,” Friday’s headline in the Danish tabloid BT reads. Yesterday’s elections demonstrate a shift to the right in the Scandinavian country. While the Social Democratic Party of current Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt won the most seats, her center-left coalition lost to the right-wing opposition. She conceded defeat, as the […]
BEIJING — In Bijie, an impoverished rural area of Guizhou Province, children are dying, some in ghastly accidents, some by their own hand. It’s as if the place is cursed. Earlier this month, four “left-behind” siblings, aged five to 13, committed suicide by ingesting pesticide. Their father works in the city all year, and their […]
BUENOS AIRES — José Ignacio Bergoglio, the nephew of Pope Francis, was attacked Wednesday night by a band of armed thieves as he and his girlfriend were about to enter their home in the Argentine capital, Clarín reports. The thieves forced the couple inside at gunpoint at around 10 p.m. local time in the apartment […]
Our Peugeot 404 broke down in El Djem — one of the only times anything ever happened to our car, over the thousands and thousands of miles we drove. The local mechanic repaired it … by pouring water onto the hood! Luckily, there are worst places to be stranded in than in front of the […]
GUNMAN KILLS 9 AT SOUTH CAROLINA CHURCH A man opened fire in a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, last night, killing nine people, according to local authorities. 60 MILLION The number of people displaced by war, conflict and persecution around the world reached a record high of almost 60 million in 2014, a […]
El Tiempo, June 18, 2015 “Victory and revenge,” reads the front page of today’s El Tiempo, after Colombia enjoyed a dramatic victory over Brazil at the Copa America Wednesday night. It was Brazil’s first loss to Colombia since 1991, leaving the two teams tied at the top of Group C with three points, along with […]
KERRY: QUASI COLD WAR U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was “concerned” and warned of a return “to a kind of Cold War status” after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the addition of more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to Russia’s nuclear arsenal. These new missiles will be “capable of overcoming any, […]
Libération, June 17, 2015 “Thou Shall Not Pollute” is written in stone on the front page of Libération, as the world awaits tomorrow’s release of the final version of Pope Francis’ much-anticipated environmental encyclical. The Pope will call for changes in energy consumption, according to a draft version of the encyclical which leaked four days […]
Enjoy the view.
KURDS RETAKE KEY SYRIAN TOWN A Turkish soldier holds a child as Syrian refugees flee Tal Abyad — Photo: Ibrahim Khader/Pacific Press/ZUMA Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria have seized the town of Tal Abyad, formerly held by ISIS, cutting off a major supply route for the terrorist organization. Huseyin Kocher, a Kurdish commander […]
La Estrella de Panamá, June 16, 2015 A corruption scandal involving high-level politicians in Panama is spreading, now implicating members of the administration of current President Juan Carlos Varela. Luis Cucalón, former finance minister under previous President Ricardo Martinelli, had already been charged with misusing state funds intended for a private tax collection agency. But […]
On a hot April day on the Plaza Mayor (Main Square) of Cuenca in central Spain, generations intermingle as activity resumes — after the compulsory afternoon siesta.
GREXIT BECOMES MORE LIKELY Greece is edging closer to default and a potential Eurozone exit after talks with international creditors broke down once again late yesterday, The Guardian reports. Tensions with Berlin appear to be ratcheting up after the parliamentary leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party said, “Greece needs to get back to reality.” […]
At least 24 people are still missing after severe flooding in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi that left at least 12 people dead. Potentially dangerous animals — including hungry tigers, lions and wolves — are on the loose too, as heavy rainfall damaged their zoo enclosures, allowing them to escape. Images of chaos and destruction in Tbilisi […]
This is how they used to farm oysters on the Île d’Oléron in western France: using tiles as cultch for the mollusks to attach to. This kind of traditional method has since largely disappeared.
Let’s start with some good news! Mercury’s retrograde has stopped, and ideas are becoming more clear, strategies more defined, with communication no longer disturbed by interference. Saturn, however, is back to where it started and returns to Scorpio. Those who have many projects on their hands must use this time to figure out where to […]
Medievalist, novelist, and renown public intellectual, Umberto Eco’s most recent novel Numero Zero will be published in English this November. A regular contributor to Italy’s L’Espresso magazine and La Repubblica newspaper, his new work of fiction delves into the truth and lies of the mass media. He spoke with Le Monde. LE MONDE: Do you […]
In his first year as president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has shown surprising rhetorical flair, even as he consistently sends contrasting messages.
After centuries of disagreements over the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad, the split between Islam’s two main schools of thought is more apparent than ever, as the two theocratic regimes of the Middle East are increasingly hostile towards each other. “Shias, Sunnis: Why is Islam torn apart?” the French newsweekly L’Obs writes on Friday’s cover. […]
GAZA CHILD KILLINGS “TRAGIC ACCIDENT” Israel Defense Forces have closed an internal investigation into its controversial bombing in last year’s Gaza war, in which an Israeli missile killed four children aged 9 to 11 on a Gaza beach, clearing itself of any culpability, Haaretz reports. The Israeli advocate general’s office described the attack as a […]
Driving from what was then a peaceful Syria, we stopped in Jerash, in northern Jordan, to enjoy the view of the well-preserved ruins of the Greco-Roman city Gerasa.
BRAUBACH — Pets bring happiness to the lives of their owners. Now, a German Cemetery Association (Deutsche Friedhofsgesellschaft) allows the bond to continue for eternity, offering clients the opportunity to be buried alongside their dogs and cats. Two German cemeteries, in the towns of Braubach and Essen, inaugurated the policy this week that allows humans […]
AL-QAEDA HAS “COLLAPSED” The al-Qaeda terror group has been “cut off and ripped apart by ISIS,” two of its most important spiritual leaders told The Guardian. Abu Qatada and Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi said that al-Qaeda has been drained of recruits and money because of territorial and influential losses to rival ISIS. Al-Maqdisi said its organizational […]
Dong-A Ilbo, June 11, 2015 The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) entered its third week in South Korea, with nine people dead, 122 declared cases of infection and growing concerns about the consequences of the virus on the economy. South Korean President Park Geun-hye canceled her planned Sunday trip to Washington to oversee […]
Some landmarks are baffling. Why has the statue of a naked little boy urinating into a fountain’s basin become so popular? More than the Manneken Pis, I remember Brussels for the only sauerkraut with champagne I’ve eaten in my life. Now that is a landmark.
U.S. STEPS UP ISIS FIGHT WITH MORE TROOPS TO IRAQ The White House is readying to send 500 more troops to Iraq to train and support the Iraqi army in the counteroffensive against ISIS, The Wall Street Journal reports. The additional troops will be sent to a new military base in the Anbar province. This […]
Corriere della Sera, June 10, 2015 Hot on the heels of the recent — and Russia-less — G7 meeting in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Italy on Wednesday, highlighting the way that business ties could be a way out of Moscow’s standoff with the West. In an interview published Wednesday in Corriere della […]
O “COMPLETE STRATEGY” YET FOR ISIS “We don’t yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis as well, about how recruitment takes place, how training takes place,” President Barack Obama told the G7 summit yesterday, speaking of U.S. efforts to combat the ISIS terror organization. His comments come […]
 Die Welt, June 9, 2015 “G7 agrees to ambitious climate goals,” reads the front page of German daily Die Welt“s Tuesday edition. The Group of Seven talks have ended in the German mountain resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a photo op worthy of the Sound of Music (which was filmed in the nearby Austrian Alps). […]
In Northern China“s Shanxi Province, the Xuankong Temple, also known as Hanging Temple, clings precariously to a sheer precipice, some 75 meters above the ground. It’s not as dangerous as it looks, though: The temple hangs thanks to oak crossbeams fitted into the cliff — the supporting beams below were put there merely for dramatic […]
ERDOGAN’S PARTY LOSES MAJORITY Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered a major setback in yesterday’s general election, losing their parliamentary majority, Hürriyet reports. While it still received more votes than any other party, losing the single-party majority bodes poorly for Erdogan’s wish to introduce a strong presidential system. […]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered a major setback in yesterday’s general election, losing their parliamentary majority. While it still received more votes than any other party, losing the single-party majority bodes poorly for Erdogan’s plans to change the constitution to give the president more powers in Turkish […]
The vast majority of the inhabitants of Pec are Kosovo Albanians — and in the 1960s, the highlanders still wore the traditional qeleshe, a white brimless felt cap. I brought one back, obviously.
This Last Quarter Moon does not facilitate communication or dialogue. With Mars and Mercury (still in retrograde until the 12th) in Gemini there is a risk that the words come out badly, peppered with grit that could be mistaken for resentment. One word too many could blow up a deal. It’s the same when it […]
It’s 1:05 p.m. and lessons are starting slightly late today at the dog-sitter course. But this is not your usual dog sitting class: It’s taking place at Bollate prison, just north of Milan. Every Thursday until November, 18 inmates will spend four hours (two hours of practical lessons and two hours of theory) learning until […]