WorldcrunchStay 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.
PARIS — Some figures will make your head spin. Since the end of World War II, the number of inhabitants on the planet has increased nearly three-fold. And in that time, people used more resources than were consumed during the entire history of mankind prior to 1945. Even more alarming is how quickly consumption continues […]
PARIS — It has been 50 years since the death of Le Corbusier, the Swiss-born architect, artist and writer considered by some to be the most influential force in the way modern cities are designed and built. To mark his life and work, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris has dedicated an entire exhibition to […]
MARSEILLE — Saïd* carries the dishes to the living room table as guests arrive in dribs and drabs with more food in their arms. The atmosphere is cheerful as greetings, kisses and the latest family news are shared with smiles. Earlier in this just-concluded holy month of Ramadan, the members of the Homosexual Muslims of […]
Can bug by-products help satisfy the world’s growing appetite for animal proteins? The French founders of Ynsect think so.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had held one of the toughest lines against Tehran. He describes the quest for “efficient compromises for complex issues.”
A timeline of a standoff that long seemed destined to continue, or worse.
A school founded in 2008 offers classes in literature, cuisine and the finer points of French culture and language to a new class of refugees from around the world every year to help them integrate to their new home.
PARIS — France rolled out the proverbial red carpet this past week for Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, offering what one diplomatic source described as “presidential treatment.” The welcome contrasts with the second-fiddle status Li is used to back in China, where he is more often than not overshadowed by President Xi Jinping, with whom […]
The meditation-driven movement focusing on the present is spreading around the world. In France, mindfulness must battle national tendencies toward cynicism and overthinking everything.
French scientists have discovered how flags, made of the right material, can be an alternative to wind turbines.
Few are shocked by revelations that U.S. intelligence spied on French presidents. But if Washington wants to be a good ally, it should start with a loud and clear apology to all its snooped-on friends.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has a plan that sets a strict 18-month deadline for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to find a lasting accord. If not, he says France will recognize Palestine nationhood anyway.
Some film distributors are choosing to release movies directly online without theater screenings. Because of cinema regulations, this new model is forbidden in France — for French movies — but foreign films are another matter.
PARIS — Are you bored at work? Do you stare blankly at your screen wondering what to do with the rest of your day? No doubt, you are a victim of “boreout,” which describes persistent boredom and disengagement in your work. What causes this listlessness and how can you solve it? Frédéric Méduin, a physician […]
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.
Fashion tides are always changing, and as the weather warms, comfort is in for both ladies and gentlemen.
PARIS — Eternally nostalgic of its past grandeur, France is already dreaming about the prospect out loud: Platini! As an attacking midfielder, he led France to the 1984 European Championship and Italian squad Juventus to club dominance, before turning manager and overseeing the 1998 World Cup organization in France and eventually taking over as head […]
Filmmaker Diasteme’s new movie suggests links between neo-Nazis and France’s third largest party the National Front. He says cinemas are now dropping the film.
Europe’s immigration crisis has also been gathering under a Metro overpass in the French capital. Officials have now acted, but that hardly means there is a solution.
Though their conclusions have been criticized as racist and fatalistic, a group of researchers argues that civil wars are more likely in countries where there are vast genetic, and therefore aesthetic, differences among populations.
Many international cities have adopted broad, bicycle-sharing systems that have become hugely popular. Early adopting French cities are now studying the bill.
For maladies from stress to unexplained itching and bulimia, hypnosis is increasingly establishing itself as a therapeutic tool among bona fide medical professionals.
VILLENEUVE D’ASCQ — Envelopes and calendars, decorative stickers, headscarves, prayer rugs and small copies of the Koran: Samia el-Alaoui Talibi, 54, has her car’s trunk packed full of gifts. A trained mathematician, she’s one of the only Muslim women in France to work as a prison chaplain. The presents she brings are for the convicts […]
Every year, he watches 1,800 films and rejects 1,750. Inside the life of the Cannes Film Festival’s almighty power broker.
Sentenced to 18 years in prison, Franck fought to undergo a sex change operation with hunger strikes and endless mutilations. Chloe is now a free woman, and married to her former cellmate.
A filming accident left French equestrian stuntman Bernard Sachse paralyzed below his tenth vertebra. But his career is busier than ever.
The French son of an Auschwitz victim and German daughter of a Hitler supporter spent their lives confronting Nazi crimes, from capturing Klaus Barbie to a symbolic slap of a German Chancellor.
-Analysis- PARIS — As pharmacists look to the future, the first thing they should bear in mind is that the health market is growing as it never has before. But it’s also just as true that consumer habits are changing. People are better informed, more demanding and more prone to self-medication. All of those are […]
Bags, pouches and purses are among the world’s oldest fashion items, used through the ages for carrying seeds, weapons and eyeliner. A history of this most indispensable adornment.
In our always plugged-in era of uber immediacy, some of us are willing and eager to wait ages to buy the latest smartphone or eat a certain hamburger from a truck.
PARIS — Opendesk.cc is an original website in more ways than one. First of all, its domain name in .cc is that of the Coco Islands, but also means Creative Commons, a license system used by those who believe in sharing “open source” material. Indeed, this concept of “free material” is also part of what […]
They call themselves the “Barbarians,” ready to challenge both the status quo in France and the prevailing ethos of U.S. startups obsessed with power and money.
France lags behind the rest of the industrialized world in facing fundamental changes to the nature of work. The old model dominated by wage labor just can’t compete.
PARIS — On the other end of the line, the voice of the person from the IT maintenance service grows insistent. “Miss, I really need your password to unlock your computer.” You blush by yourself, try to be as inconspicuous as possible in the open office before whispering in the receiver: “lapinou69” (“bunny69”). A chuckle […]
-OpEd- PARIS — Half-animal, half-human? The astounding developments in nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science (NBIC) are posing problems that we thought only existed in science fiction. Recent studies have brought us closer to Planet of the Apes, written by French novelist Pierre Boulle in 1963. In three experiments, the last one of which […]
ROUEN — Coming out of the train station, the rue Jeanne d’Arc, a wide street along the river Seine in this northern French city, leads us straight to the Jeanne d’Arc bridge. And between the two, we pass many signs evoking the young warrior’s name: a cafe named “Jeanne d’Arc,” a church, of course, even […]
With scant help common from Frankfurt, a group of French intellectuals is calling for online donations to help the Greek people. Desperate times indeed.
Young adults between 18 and 25 are an increasingly vulnerable population in France. Jobless and rejected by their families, they are finding themselves on the streets in disturbing numbers.
-OpEd- PARIS — Some say that television shows are to our time what serials were to 19th century literature, an inexhaustible source of entertainment and conversations. During “urbane dinners,” it has become obligatory to demonstrate knowledge of this new cultural front. “Tell me which shows you watch and I’ll tell you who you are.” Besides […]