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

Twins Marry Twins, Seek Plastic Surgery To Tell Who's Who

The two Zhao brothers and their wives, the Yuan sisters
The two Zhao brothers and their wives, the Yuan sisters

It sounds like the makings of a bad sitcom.

In China's northern Shanxi province, twin sisters married twin brothers, but uncomfortable mix-ups have led them to seek minor surgery to avoid confusing their respective partners, China News reports.

According to the newspaper, a matchmaker fixed up the two Zhao brothers with the Yuan sisters over a year ago. They come from villages just 10 kilometers apart. After a year of dating, the two couples decided on the same day to get married — the elder brother with the elder sister, and the younger brother with the younger sister, naturally.

The two couples even live together in the same house, though on different floors, according to the local Shanxi Evening Post.

But because the brothers and sisters are so alike — even down to their voices and facial expressions — the couples frequently make mistakes in addressing themselves to their spouses.

"It's particularly difficult when it gets dark," one of the Zhao brothers said. "Recently one evening after dinner, we all decided to go for a walk. But when I took the hand of my wife and turned around, I suddenly realized that she was my sister-in-law!"

Tired of the confusion, and keen to avoid even greater embarrassments, the two couples decided during their honeymoons to undergo minor plastic surgery on their face.

They went to a clinic in Shanghai, which gathered together a special team, including a plastic surgery expert, a surgeon and a dermatologist, to help the couples.

The doctors believe minor surgery will successfully mean "they can easily identify each other hereafter."

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.

eyes on the U.S.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

The U.S. legal system cannot simply run its course in a vacuum. Presidential politics, and democracy itself, are at stake in the coming weeks and months.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

File photo of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Clyde, Ohio, in 2020.

Emma Shortis*

-Analysis-

Events often seem inevitable in hindsight. The indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump on criminal charges has been a possibility since the start of his presidency – arguably, since close to the beginning of his career in New York real estate.

But until now, the potential consequences of such a cataclysmic development in American politics have been purely theoretical.

Today, after much build-up in the media, The New York Times reported that a Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Trump and the Manhattan district attorney will now likely attempt to negotiate Trump’s surrender.

The indictment stems from a criminal investigation by the district attorney’s office into “hush money” payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels (through Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen), and whether they contravened electoral laws.

Trump also faces a swathe of other criminal investigations and civil suits, some of which may also result in state or federal charges. As he pursues another run for the presidency, Trump could simultaneously be dealing with multiple criminal cases and all the court appearances and frenzied media attention that will come with that.

These investigations and possible charges won’t prevent Trump from running or even serving as president again (though, as with everything in the U.S. legal system, it’s complicated).

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