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.
Just like the far-right electoral triumphs in France and Germany earlier this year, Sunday’s electoral victory by the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is likely to create political chaos within the country. Will Austria’s new leadership turn to Viktor Orbán’s Hungary and reignite their old alliance?
While wine consumption is declining and operating costs increasing, winegrowers also face increasingly frequent and extreme climatic hazards. Is this the last straw? As the sector is preparing for a new uprooting plan, some winemakers are looking into ways to adapt to the new market needs and climatic conditions.
The Israeli Prime Minister has scored a major victory with the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. But Netanyahu is showing no signs of relenting, continuing the bombing of Lebanon, and also striking Yemen. All with Iran as the ultimate target. Yet can force alone guarantee Israel’s security?
The first calls for ceasefire made by the United States and France, supported by a broad coalition, was ignored by the belligerents Hezbollah and Israel, for different reasons. The risk of escalation, including an Israeli ground invasion, grows with each passing day.
As the conflict rages on across the Israeli-Lebanese border, Iran, which is Hezbollah’s principal sponsor, appears to be doing all it can to avert a war spreading around the Middle East. It could wind up on Tehran’s doorstep.
While it has long been used to control rain, cloud seeding is now attracting growing interest in some countries, particularly China. But scientists don’t agree on either its effectiveness or its own possible harm to the environmental.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s choice of new prime minister isn’t without irony. Michel Barnier negotiated Brexit’s terms with the British, who were as divided at the time as the French are today.
Students at the Saint-Charles school in Monaco are starting their school year in a classroom created by French designer Stéphanie Marin. Today, rethinking school furniture to reflect current teaching methods and respond to ecological challenges has become necessary — and designers are not short on ideas.
A milk-free vegan version of the famous Nutella spread hits the shelves this week in three European countries. With this move, the Italian company Ferrero that makes it intends to triple sales of its chocolate plant-based category within a year, across all brands.
Cruise lines around the world are heading for a record year in traffic in 2024. While companies continue toward larger liners, luxury hotel groups are making inroads with smaller ships and exclusive experiences.
For the first time with a win in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) state of Thuringia, the far-right AFD party has come out on top in the regional elections. It will have long-lasting, and far-reaching, ramifications: Ukraine, Trump, French election aftermath.
From The Amazon to The Alps, French photographer and street artist Philippe Echaroux has made a name for himself with his extraordinary light projections that aim to raise awareness about social and environmental issues.
By pushing out French troops and welcoming Russians, countries in the west African region of Sahel had hoped for autonomy and stability. They’ve gotten death and chaos instead.
In France, the ratio of around 1.5 contributors to one pensioner is threatening the balance of the pension system. As in Anglo-Saxon countries, the possibility of pension underfunding is looming. But the creation of a National Pensions Fund could change all that.
Since 2021, engineers at the aerospace group Airbus have been working with the French National Sports Agency to build better equipment for disabled athletes. Their high-lying expertise will be in full display at the Paralympics Games Paris 2024.
Imane Khelif not only won a boxing gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she also triumphed over brutal stereotyping and ignorance about women that is part of a broader story of sports and politics that traces back to Hitler and Jesse Owens..
The global fight against climate change is essential, but the solutions are not universal. Measures must account for the local realities of the Global South, where economic development is equally important and where the imposition of strict environmental standards by the North has devastating social and economic consequences.
Over the past decade, the number of American fast-food chains arriving in France has accelerated. After the return of Burger King in 2014, the land of gastronomy has seen Chipotle, Popeyes and Krispy Kreme arrive — now Dunkin’ and Wendy’s are eyeing the market, which has become key, but also risks saturation.
Year after year, the Camino trails leading to Santiago de Compostela have been setting new records for visitor numbers — and are now among France’s most popular walking routes. Behind this craze, a small ecosystem has grown up to serve today’s pilgrims.
While most of its competitors, crushed by competition from Asia, have closed their doors, this family company founded in Limoges in 1863 has never been doing so well thanks to to collaborations with artists and starred chefs, as well as some unexpected uses.
For years, France has been searching for what makes it truly stand out in the modern world, beyond its eternal critical sense and Gallic quarrels. The creativity of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was the beginning of the answer.
Thanks to athletes like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Teddy Riner, who have opened the conversation, psychological counseling is no longer a taboo in the world of high-level sports. The Paris Olympics will be a showcase of champions who are doing the hard work.
The Olympic Games in Paris will be the first in history with a video surveillance system linked to massive databases, algorithms developed by artificial intelligence and facial recognition. With bonafide security fears, as shown by Friday’s attack on rail lines, this new form of individual and collective control also raises real civil liberty concerns.
With wars around the world arousing political strife and affecting the personal lives of many athletes, it seems the Paris 2024 Games could be overrun by geopolitics. Polish journalist Radoslaw Leniarski, an 11-time Olympic Games correspondent, explains what is, and isn’t, different this time.
The current unprecedented political crises in France and the United States — two very different systems and political cultures — have points in common, notably that partisan issues are still taking precedence over the need to rethink the democratic system and its practices.
A gifted accordionist, 25-year-old Théo Ould is pushing the limits of his instrument, playing a repertoire of unprecedented richness, from Bach to contemporary music, with virtuosity and conviction.
Funeral undertakers belong to one of the oldest professions in the world. But now, startups want to disrupt old-fashioned funeral homes. Unafraid to tackle taboos, new services offer ways to live on digitally after death.
In its final communiqué of the Washington summit, NATO severely criticized Chinese support for Russia in Ukraine, drawing a strong reaction from Beijing. China fears that the Transatlantic military alliance is now a tool for the U.S. in its global showdown with China.
France’s presidential regime epitomize a Caesar-like power, endlessly replaying the missed encounter between “a man and a people.” Macron should end those powers to allow the emergence of parliamentary coalitions and to rediscover the democratic virtues of deliberation in France.
As the alliance’s 32 countries celebrate their 75th anniversary at a summit in Washington, uncertainties over the possible reelection of Donald Trump in November, and dark clouds over Europe and France are raising serious questions about NATO’s future.
While the French left managed to unify and win parliamentary elections, Italy’s left appears stuck in a situation of constant conflict and uncertainty. And that leaves right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni firmly in control.
In the second round of elections, France’s far-right National Rally failed to secure a victory. But in a largely unnoticed revelation, the party announced that they are teaming up with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the European level. Thus the French far-right joins a plan to weaken the European Union from within.
China appears well positioned to continue its rise amid the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the rise of the far right, and the emergence of the Global South. The world order of 1945 has run its course, and it is through crises and tensions that the next one — still uncertain — is taking shape.
The same nostalgia and same fear of the future seem to animate the two countries that have made exceptionalism their trademark
If rail is to become the preferred means of transport, it must inspire people to dream again. Designers and interior architects are on a mission to restore the image of rail travel. High-speed rail, night trains, luxury trains — each has its own challenges.
Unless there is a last-minute twist, the only real issue in the second round is whether the far-right party will have an absolute majority or not. The left seems unaware that its ideas are largely in the minority.
France’s European partners fear the outcome of the upcoming snap legislative elections and its consequences for the EU. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for the victory of a party “other than Marine Le Pen’s,” a sign of this growing concern.
The left-leaning Labour party in the UK appears to be headed for a big win next week, while far-right forces may take control of the French Parliament in their coinciding national elections. But it may be that France is just eight years behind Britain, which voted for Brexit in 2015, and now regrets that populist choice.
In matters of foreign policy, whether the war in Ukraine or in Gaza, the rejection of extremes should appear as an obvious fact of reason and ethics. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
As France prepares for snap legislative elections that are expected to see a surge by the far-right Rassemblement National party, the country’s Algerian community is preparing for the worst. Some have even applied for citizenship in the North African nation of their forebears.