Worldcrunch
FUEL SHORTAGES HIT AID AGENCIES IN YEMEN Aid agencies working amid airstrikes in Yemen have warned that they might have to halt their efforts due to fuel shortages, thus preventing them from helping hospitals and carrying humanitarian aid to millions of people, Reuters reports. Airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition meanwhile continue to hit Houthi rebels’ […]
In 60 years of travels, I have very few mishaps to report. But this slide comes with a story. My wife and I were traveling through central Morocco with four other people in a Volkswagen van. On the road to Midelt, we were surprised by heavy rain, which caused rocks to fall and block our […]
Photo: Eurovision Song Contest We’ve got so much to say about Moldova’s entry for Eurovision 2015. Not about the song per say, which is just kind of blergh, but about the music video — a cops-and-robbers-BOOM-BANG-BANG car chase directed by a second-hand Moldovan version of Michael Bay. In this masterpiece, which is a bit NSFW […]
Religious offerings are important on the Indonesian island of Bali. Long processions of women can be seen threading their way to the Hindu temples, carrying towers of flowers, fruit, cakes, meats and eggs on their heads, often for long distances.
ISIS CLAIMS ITS FIRST U.S. ATTACK ISIS claimed responsibility today for the weekend attack on a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest at a conference center near Dallas, Texas. Gunmen Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi were killed by a police officer after they opened fire and injured a security guard there, The Washington Post reports. This is […]
The Daily Mail, May 5, 2015 Two days after finding out that “It’s a girl,” the world now knows what to call the second child of Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge: the baby Princess of Cambridge is named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. The British tabloids had plenty of fodder interpreting the choice, with […]
Malta is one of the few Eurovision participants that have not missed a single contest since 1991. But despite such dedication, the country has always preferred finishing in the top 10 without winning — probably a way to make the most of the glory without the burden of organizing the party the following year. Classic. […]
GUNMEN WHO ATTACK ANTI-MUSLIM EVENT KILLED Police shot and killed two gunmen after they opened fire outside a building in Garland, Texas, where a contest for cartoons depicting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad was being held, The Dallas Morning News reports. The attackers’ identities haven’t been released. 101 Funchu Tamang, a 101-year-old man, was pulled from the […]
Dubbed the “Fight of the Century,” Saturday’s welterweight title boxing match between American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Filipino Manny Pacquiao failed to live up to the hype. In what some instead consider the most boring fight of the century, Mayweather won by unanimous decision after an uneventful 12 rounds lasting 40 minutes. Pacquiao is […]
There are several ways to look at the statue of Pan and a Nymph, near Dubrovnik’s Gate of Pile.
Lithuania’s history in the Eurovision Song Contest is unfortunately pretty bad. Since its first run in 1994, the country has made 15 appearances, more or less interspersed by failed attempts to qualify, lack of funds and threats to boycott the show if Russia didn’t stop invading countries. This year, it will be represented by the […]
NEPAL DEATHS EXCEED 6,000 The death toll in and around Nepal, where a devastating earthquake struck Saturday, now exceeds 6,200 people, Reuters reports. More than 14,000 people were also injured, and at least 600,000 homes were destroyed in the disaster. SNAPSHOT Photo: Sajjad/Xinhua/ZUMA A laborer works at an iron factory on International Workers’ Day in […]
Economist, May 2-8, 2015 One week ahead of Britain’s national elections, polls are too close to call between the two leading candidates, the Tories’ incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband. The Economist divides its cover between the two, casting the election as a choice between risks: for the economy (Miliband) and […]
The Mediterranean island of Malta has a past marked by Frenchmen. The capital of Valletta was named after Knight Hospitaller Jean Parisot de Valette, whose order then surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte. But my visit there didn’t make it into history books.
Latvia ran in 15 editions of the Eurovision Song Contest since its first participation at the turn of the millennium. The former Soviet satellite failed only to qualify in 2004 with this song — we have no idea why it didn’t work, people probably forgot what real rock’n’roll was at the time. But Latvia also […]
TWO NEPAL CHILDREN RESCUED Photo: Qin Qing/Xinhua/ZUMA A 15-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl were rescued alive from the rubble in Nepal earlier today after being trapped for five days following Saturday’s devastating earthquake, Reuters reports. FRENCH SOLDIERS ACCUSED OF CHILD RAPE French daily Le Parisien reacts to the revelation of accusations that 16 French […]
Le Parisien, April 30, 2015 “The French military at the heart of a scandal” reads the front page of French daily Le Parisien, following the revelation of accusations that 16 French soldiers sexually abused children in the Central African Republic between December 2013 and June 2014. The allegations were kept secret until The Guardian published […]
Melrose Abbey, in southeastern Scotland, has a troubled history, having been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times since its founding in 1136. It seems to be holding up better since authorities understood that the lavish ruins of the Cistercian abbey were best used for tourism rather than religion.
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 40 times since making its debut at the first edition in 1956 — it was actually one of only seven countries that competed the very first year. It has won the contest on two occasions, with Gigliola Cinquetti in 1964 and Toto Cutugno in 1990. This year’s […]
NEPAL ADMITS POST-QUAKE MISTAKES Nepal officials are acknowledging that the response to Saturday’s devastating earthquake that took at least 5,000 lives has been too slow for survivors in remote villages, who are still waiting for aid to reach them, Sky News reports. INDONESIA EXECUTIONS SPARK ANGER Photo: Sijori Images/ZUMA Australia has recalled its ambassador to […]
Vanguard, April 29, 2015 Nigerian troops fighting against Islamist group Boko Haram announced the rescue of 293 girls and women held hostage by the jihadists, newspaper Vanguard reports on Wednesday. It’s unclear how many, if any, of those rescued were among the 200 girls abducted in a school in Chibok in April 2014 that captured […]
The number of ceramic figures decorating the roofs of Beijing’s Forbidden City is proportionate to the status of the building: Only the Hall of Supreme Harmony at the Imperial Palace Museum boasts 10 such mystical beasts. The person who lived in this building must still have been pretty important, as 8 is also a lucky […]
Nadav Guedj, Israel’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, is only 16 years old. Although he looks like a 28-year-old financial strategy advisor, his age makes him one of the youngest contestants this year. And, as heard in our office, he might well get some older ladies in trouble. Especially when the “Middle Eastern […]
NEPAL DEATH TOLL COULD REACH 10,000 As the Nepalese continue digging through rubble in search for survivors four days after its deadliest earthquake in decades, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said today that the death toll could reach 10,000, Reuters reports. Confirmed figures this morning put the number at 4,349 people killed and more than 7,000 […]
“RIOTS ERUPT” Tuesday’s front page of The Baltimore Sun reads, above images of clashes and burning cars as the city descended into chaos Monday after two weeks of tensions over the alleged police killing of Freddie Gray. Violence started erupting just hours after the funeral for Gray, the 25-year-old Baltimore man who died April 19 […]
Living a stone’s throw from Switzerland has its perks. People can go for a swim in the beautiful lakes — such as Lake Brienz here — but I’m more interested in Fendant, a dry and fruity white wine that’s particularly refreshing on a hot July day.
Ireland rocks at Eurovision. With seven wins since the birth of the most over-the-top singing contest, the country is actually the most successful at it. So, congrats…? But Ireland has lost its Euro-mojo, as it’s failed to reach the top five since 1997. Will this year’s contestant Molly Sterling — at 16 years old, the […]
NEPAL CONTINUES TO DIG OUT Photo: Pratap Thapa/Xinhua/ZUMA Rescue operations continue to find survivors in Nepal after Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake. The latest official figures number the dead at 3,726 with more than 6,000 injured. Dozens are also believed to have died in neighboring China and India. The death toll is likely to rise as rescue […]
Your little black book is busy, and someone has recently managed to close a deal. On Monday, a moment of strength will present itself; the downside is that you may feel constrained by other people’s choices — and for a sign like yours, this is particularly frustrating. Look ahead to the weekend: You will be […]
Monday’s front page of Nepalese newspaper The Himalayan Times shows the picture of a house that collapsed in the outskirts of Kathmandu, following Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake. The official death toll climbed overnight, as rescuers are struggling to reach remote villages. There are also scores trapped, and many feared dead, from an avalanche on Mt. Everest […]
The month of March in Thailand is usually rather hot and dry. Still, you can sometimes run into monsoon-like weather, and be as powerless as these monks trying to cross a flooded street in the center of the country.
CHUBUT — Through cunning techniques used in hunting seals and smaller whales, killer whales reveal they are one of the most intelligent of sea mammals, explains Argentine daily Clarin. Every season killer whales return to the Valdés peninsula in Chubut, southern Argentina, for their seal hunting ritual. Here they display their ingenuity using the particular […]
In this year’s edition of the Eurovison Song Contest, Iceland will be represented by the 22-year-old singer and actress María Ólafsdóttir. In 2009, María played the role of Louisa von Trapp in an adaptation of “The Sound of Music”, one of her favorite plays. She will perform “Unbroken”, a song about — we think so […]
ARMENIA REMEMBERS Ceremonies are being held in the Armenian capital of Yerevan in remembrance of the Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turks, which began 100 years ago today. “I am grateful to all those who are here to once again confirm your commitment to human values, to say that nothing is forgotten, that after 100 years […]
The monumental Karl-Marx Allee avenue in East Berlin, was a flagship project of the reconstruction program in East Germany after World War II.
The Armenian-Canadian newspaper Horizon Weekly featured a man kneeling before the eternal flame of Yerevan’s Armenian Genocide memorial complex, as ceremonies are being held in the Armenian capital in remembrance of the Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turks, which began 100 years ago today. ABOUT THE SOURCE: Horizon Weekly is an Armenian-Canadian publication and is the […]
Prior to this year, Hungary had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twelve times since their first entry in 1994 — which was coincidentally the year they achieved their best result, placing fourth. This year’s contestant, Boglárka Csemer, who goes by the name Boggie, had already gained worldwide recognition in January 2014 with the music […]
EU EMERGENCY MIGRANT SUMMIT European Union leaders arrived in Brussels for an emergency summit Thursday on the migration crisis, following Europe’s worst maritime disaster since World War II last weekend that killed hundreds of would-be immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea. There is a working list of 10 objectives that was put together earlier this week […]
There are some lesser known places that give you some serious “travel credibility,” like Belize, Swaziland — or Kaliningrad. Being home to a very large number of storks during the warmer months, the Russian enclave reminded me of Alsace, a stone’s throw away from where I live in eastern France.
La Sicilia, April 23 2015 EU leaders are due to hold an emergency summit Thursday to look for ways to quell the number of migrants risking their lives on journeys across the Mediterranean. Sicilian-based daily La Sicilia writes that ships, planes and surveillance programs will be used to combat the traffickers. Italian Prime Minister Matteo […]