The digital behemoths Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have long sold dreamy ideals. In reality, their business models are very conventional. Their extraordinary power is founded solely on their digital leverage.
country: France
Stay informed on France with Worldcrunch. In-depth coverage of French politics, economic trends, societal changes, and cultural events with expert translations. Highlights include Paris, Lyon, Marseille, French cinema, gastronomy, modern literature, and cultural events.
-Analysis- PARIS — So what has become of this France, champion of maintaining order, exporter of its savoir-faire and its materials to other democracies — and to totalitarian regimes anxious to quell burgeoning opposition movements? Just a few years ago, a spokesman for French tear gas manufacturer Alsetex, which supplies to the French police, told […]
-OpEd- PARIS — When Amazon realized that its AI recruiting tool favored men, the company quickly shelved it. Back in 2016, a chatbot released by Microsoft turned into a sex-obsessed neo-Nazi machine in only 24 hours. These incidents, along with others, played right into the hands of all those who say there is too much […]
WASHINGTON — If you ever want to fly to America from Charles de Gaulle Airport, be sure that you are not landing in terminal 2F, as you might miss your flight, or even get arrested before reaching your point of departure, Terminal 1. But if you are starting your journey towards the U.S. from Charles […]
-Analysis- PARIS — Did they really have to set France on fire for just a few cents? More than eight weeks after it began, the revolt of the “yellow vests’ still seems hard to grasp. For extremists on all sides who happily fanned the flames, it looked like the much-awaited beginning of the great revolution, […]
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Europe, The Naive Power
Standing alone against the United States and China, Europe must wake up in 2019. And come together.
Published 300 years ago, Daniel Defoe’s classic story of shipwreck and survival still has much to teach us about human nature and the environment.
Even as it contends still with Brexit and the rise of right-wing populists, the European Union did enjoy some ‘almost good news’ this year.
-OpEd- PARIS — In the sometimes cacophonous concert of demands from France’s “yellow vests’ protest movement, one measure keeps coming back: the Référendum d’initiative citoyenne (RIC), or “Citizens’ Initiative Referendum,” which allows individual citizens to submit a legislative text to a popular vote, and to thus express their opinions in the ballot box rather than […]
There is a lot of planning behind the Christmas window decorations you find around the French capital, and keeping it traditional matters.
The EU remains a work in progress, especially with Britain’s messy exit efforts. But if there’s one constant, it’s that Europe still needs France and Germany to be partners.
The fashion industry sees that protection of the environment is a hot selling point, and maybe also a long-term trend.
-Analysis- MUNICH — At first glance, the video footage looks like a harmless Advent promotional clip. It showed cheerful people walking between decorated stalls, tinsels, Christmas trees, Santa hats. But back in 2000, the Strasbourg Christmas Market was already a prime target for terrorists, and this video was the most important piece of evidence against […]
How VR can help patients suffering from eating disorders, phobias and schizophrenia.
The ‘yellow vest’ uprising is about more than Macron’s ill-conceived fuel tax. It’s symptomatic of a system-wide failure that must be fixed before it’s too late.
-Editorial- PARIS — The violence committed in Paris and other French cities on Saturday is, in every meaning of the word, unspeakable. The destruction, pillaging and assault against those charged with maintaining order must be condemned without reserve, because they are without excuse. There are no words to give meaning or direction to the flood […]
PARIS — Suspected of hacking a dissident into pieces in its consulate in Istanbul, the Saudi regime has become the target of public outrage — until the story dies down, at least. Which raises an important question: should French museums, opera houses and festivals accept funding from the kingdom? It’s a sensitive issue, as Saudi […]
After being left behind in the Internet revolution, places like France, Malta and Switzerland are making a concerted effort to stay ahead of the crypto-asset curve.
What if the world’s refugees could be organized into a loosely connected, transnational polity? Critics call it a pipe dream. But migration researcher Nicholas Van Hear says his ‘Refugia’ idea may be the best way out of current crisis.
For the series ‘Cook Me,’ journalist Elvire von Bardeleben shared a table with Marianne Lecerf and Côme de Chérisey from the French restaurant guide Gault & Millau.
A path through Lebanon, Brazil and France, the former top Michelin manager may have met the end of the road in Japan.
PARIS — What if the GAFA quartet (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) also became giants in the healthcare sector? Google first tried to put on the white coat more than a decade ago. After “Google Health,” its online medical record project abandoned in 2012, the company made a strong comeback with its subsidiary DeepMind Health, doing […]
Against the omnipotence of ‘reality-show novels’ and costume fiction, a group of young French authors want to reassert the novel as a contemporary art.
November 11, 2018 marks 100 years since the end of World War I. The signing of the Armistice brought to an end the war that Ernest Hemingway called “the most colossal, murderous, mismanaged butchery that has ever taken place on earth.” A century on, as the world celebrates the anniversary with ceremonies and memorials, this […]
Whether you’re a bento devotee, daily cafeteria goer or three-martini luncher, you are being watched (and judged) by your colleagues.
Will slow growth rates persist in a global dynamic of ‘secular stagnation?’ Or will the IT revolution set off new bursts of productivity?
-Open Letter- PARIS — In the weeks since France’s popular environment minister, Nicolas Hulot resigned, after expressing disappointment with President Emmanuel Macron“s environmental record, newspapers have been filled with articles and opinion pieces sounding the alarm. Those in power are told to take vigorous and urgent ecological action to reduce consumption of polluting energies and […]
The U.S./China trade war is also sparking a currency conflict, one that brings to mind the international climate in the early years of the the Great Depression.
After 17 months in power, Emmanuel Macron is touching the depths of unpopularity. He still has ways to bounce back, but should start by re-reading the author of ‘The Prince.’
Despite billions in fines against the U.S. giant by the European Commission, Google continues to crush Europe’s once-prosperous price comparison services.
Arguably the best-known French singer of his generation and a national icon in Armenia, Charles Aznavour died Monday at age 94 at his home in Mouriès, in southern of France. Born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian in Paris, to Armenian immigrants, his unmistakable tenor range and love songs quickly made him French popular music royalty. A staunch defender of Armenian rights, he was beloved in his parents’ native land. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/FN5TI7kYVmI expand=1] The French Crooner — Photo: © Keystone Press Agency/ZUMA/OneShot Sometimes dubbed “France’s Frank Sinatra,” Aznavour’s career spanned over eight decades, totaled some 1,200 songs (in eight languages), and sold more […]
PARIS — This past summer, Parisians bid adieu to Autolib”, a pioneering electric-car-sharing service that came to a premature demise after operating for fewer than seven years. But that doesn’t mean the French capital is turning its back on the overall concept. There is a plan B in the works, though what exactly it will […]
The author of ‘Infinite Jest’ and ‘The Pale King’, who took his own life 10 years ago, saw a higher meaning in the mundane — even wrestling with the French bureaucracy.
Africa must not be industrialized like the Asian dragons. Instead, the continent must invest in a high-quality educational system to adapt to a new global labor market.
PARIS — The French capital was set to be the world capital of science. On May 17-18, no fewer than 50 conferences in the fields of aerospace, mechanics, energy, the environment, civil engineering, economics, computer science, social sciences and chemistry were to be held under the same Parisian roof. On that day, in a hotel […]
A group of French 20-somethings share their different reasons for choosing chastity, and discuss the difficulties their choice entails.
Désolé, France is not on the trajectory of the partial solar eclipse taking place this Saturday (Aug. 11). About a century ago, Parisians were luckier: The total eclipse of April 17, 1912 brought them out to the streets in droves. The spectacle was front-page news in the country — alongside early reports of a certain maritime disaster, that happened just two days before this picture was taken: the sinking of the HMS Titanic. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/pJuLYqPO7wY expand=1] Pendant l”éclipse — © Eugène Atget / OneShot French flâneur Eugene Atget (1857-1927) was a pioneering documentary photographer. His images of architecture, landscapes and […]
It’s time to overhaul the Old Continent’s roads, bridges, airports and electrical systems. And like it or not, private investment has a role to play.
The gastronomy world mourns the death of French culinary genius Joël Robuchon following a long battle against cancer. This OneShot focuses on one of the early moments of his stellar career. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/r96cZkIEXuw expand=1] The Chef of the Century — © Keystone Press Agency / ZUMA / OneShot Dubbed the “Chef of the Century,” Robuchon went on to earn 31 Michelin stars, an haute cuisine record. He was also a successful businessman, having opened restaurants all around the world, including in Bangkok, New York, Bordeaux, Hong Kong, Macau and London. OneShot is a new digital format to tell the story […]
Rescuing the planet from the ravages of capitalism may be just the thing our dominant economic system needs to save itself, columnist Jean-Marc Vittori argues.