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 — France, the sick man of Europe… Until now, we have been using this old phrase as a provocative way to characterize this country’s current economic situation. But after the results of Sunday’s European elections, this phrase now can be used to refer to something broken in French politics. With the victory of the […]
Information technology was supposed to usher in a new borderless utopia, but instead new walls are reappearing.
In the often tough multi-ethnic neighborhoods on the periphery of French cities, the Catholic youth organizations offer a way out.
PARIS — The 3D printing revolution promises to change the very way products are manufactured and sold, across a vast array of sectors. Inevitably this has sparked a race to directly print living cells of human beings. This technology is now available in the US and Japan, dubbed 3D bioprinting, with wide-eyed investors flocking to […]
How does it twirl? Why does it loop? An American cowboy might take it all for granted. But a French team has explored how the laws of physics can explain this common thread.
The French navy has announced it will allow women to work in submarines starting in 2017. A Le Temps columnist contemplates whether that takes gender equality too far.
The best weapon against insects is often other insects.
Behavior psychology, first introduced in the U.S. during the 1960s, is now a widely accepted part of criminal investigation tactics. A French special unit handles some 40 extreme cases a year.
Tough on crime and blatently ambitious, Valls was plucked by President Hollande to lead a new government after Sunday’s disaster in local elections. It’s a risky choice, for many reasons.
BORDEAUX — Jeanne Lacombe, who runs four vineyards owned by wine magnate Bernard Magrez in France’s Médoc region, is used to waiting: for the grapes to ripen, for wines to age — and now, for her drone. It is due this month, and will come equipped with three carbon fiber feet, six propellers and a […]
Amid an ongoing public debate in France on end-of-life palliative care, doctors tell Le Monde how they secretly help their patients die.
The singular tale of a young French-Malian who spent three years in the world’s jihad hot spots in an attempt to join al-Qaeda fighters. No one would take him.
The financial crisis has seen middle-aged French increasingly returning to their family nests. For many, it can be a special kind of shame to move back in with elderly parents.
Two French teenagers, aged 15 and 16, organized their journey in just a few days, via the Internet, to set off on Jihad in Syria. Once there, they were soon disillusioned.
The English chose to build their towns next to rivers. The French instead built on the ruins of Roman cities. A look at how these centuries-old decisions have impacted today’s economy.
Skiing isn’t the only winter sporting activity that can give you snow, speed and the beauty of nature. Follow an amateur in France as he tries to harness the wild icy power of dog sledding.
Quality matters even if you want to eat-on-the-go, and pay less. Paris is putting its touch on fast food by improving offerings like kebabs, as well as handing out haute cuisine for the masses.
French President Francois Hollande is as popular in official circles in Washington as he is unpopular with the citizens of the country that elected him. Story of a unique alliance.
PARIS — Elegance is the watch word here, as a young model walks down the aisle, wearing a pair of astonishingly shaped stilettos, its complex patterns reminiscent of certain architectural constructions. The graceful shoes, created by French designer Pierre Renaux, were made entirely with a machine that is on the verge of changing the world, […]
With French unemployment at record levels, times are tough for clients and workers of an unemployment agency in one of Marseille’s poorest, most crime-ridden areas.
A new French law targeting clients of prostitutes has focused attention on the changing call-girl business. Here’s another world, of ‘escort boys,’ with both male and female customers.
Since the end of the Cold War, from the Middle East to Africa, almost every military intervention carried out by the world’s top powers leads to regime change. But rarely to stability.
Barack Obama made American inequality the central challenge of his State of the Union address. Europe and the rest of the West should be listening too.
A website created by and for women to arrange discrete extra-marital escapades has attracted 800,000 users in France. Another tale of French sexual morals, now with a digital twist.
Philosophers debate the meaning and sincerity of social network friendships, finding affirmation or disagreement from the words of long-dead forebears. Because there’s no app for that.
Longer life expectancy is changing the demographics of our politicians. Wiser and less worried about reelection, the elderly are bound to make better leaders in our fast-moving society.
PARIS — After he was in a car accident, Serge Fortuna was left with an infected wound that wouldn’t heal. When his doctors started talking about amputation, he refused and decided to try something else: a trip to the Republic of Georgia for phagotherapy, a treatment that uses specific bacteria-fighting viruses to heal antibiotic-resistant infections. […]
Sebastien Valiela, who caught the French leader sneaking to see his mistress, is among the world’s best paparazzi. He’d already exposed the deepest secret of another French President.
Wednesday, January 14, 2014 NEW CHARLIE HEBDO ISSUE SOLD OUTOne week after the terrorist attack on the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, thousands of people lined up at newsstands to get a copy of the much-awaited “survivors’ issue” of the satirical magazine. As many as one million copies were distributed today and every single one […]
How could he think he’d be able to hide a love affair behind a scooter helmet? The French President has lost control amidst the celebrity-charged politics that he helped create.
Monday, January 12, 2015 RECORD PARIS RALLY FOR TERROR VICTIMSNewspapers around the world are hailing France’s show of unity in the face of terrorism after yesterday’s marches across the country gathered a record 4 million people, including at least 1.5 million in Paris alone. See our selection of today’s best front pages here. Here are […]
Friday, January 9, 2015 PARIS TERROR SUSPECTS TAKE HOSTAGESPolice have located Said and Chérif Kouachi, the two French brothers suspected of killing 12 people at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo Wednesday. A major police operation is underway after the pair took at least one hostage at a printing company in Dammartin-en Goële, a […]
Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, a taboo-busting humorist for some, a shocking anti-Semite for others, is currently at the center of a spiraling controversy in France over the acceptable limits of free speech. After inventing and encouraging the questionable gesture known as the “quenelle,” which some say is an allusion to the Nazi salute, the French comic […]
Thursday, January 8, 2014 FRENCH MANHUNT CONTINUES AMID MORE VIOLENCEThe search continues in France for the two gunmen who killed 12 people in the course of attacking the offices of satirical paper Charlie Hebdo with Kalashnikovs yesterday, a terrorist attack that Le Monde describes on today’s front page as “France’s 9/11.” Here are 31 front […]
PARIS — A 4G offer? Danger! Bitcoin? Warning! The World Cup draw? It’s a trap! This is the story of a strange country blessed by the gods, with beautiful scenery and heir to a long and rich history. Though full of talented people and worldwide economic powerhouses, everything now seems to be full of peril […]
Jeanne was looking for work when she came across a telemarketer offer for an Apple contractor in Barcelona. She took the job without hesitating. A few months later, she is a broken woman: constant surveillance, timed breaks, aggressive customers … The pressure is constant. BARCELONA — My story begins several months ago. I wanted a […]
Social pressure is on to create genuine heroine characters not animated models with impossible body images. But Disney continues its pursuit of pure fantasy.
The recent dual suicide of Bernard and Georgette Cazes at Paris’ landmark Lutetia Hotel is a symbolic nod to the right-to-die movement, but also a melancholic reminder of eternal love.
Thanks to crunching masses of employee data, the field of HR and corporate personnel management will never be the same.
Friday, November 28, 2014 OIL PRICES CONTINUE TO FALL Oil prices continued their slide today after OPEC member states refused yesterday to cut their output to force higher prices, Reuters reports. “It was a great decision,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said after yesterday’s talks. Iran and Venezuela, whose economies are badly hurt by the […]