WorldcrunchStay updated with comprehensive news on the United Kingdom from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on British politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include London, Manchester, and cultural events.
It would not be surprising if a mural on government surveillance that went missing last month turned up for sale on the art market. The Spy Booth artwork in the town of Cheltenham in England, created by British artist Banksy, was removed from the wall it had lived on for two years. The mural, which […]
PARIS — So far, so good. The collapse of the British economy predicted by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, in a case of a Brexit victory, has not materialized. The services sector, which represents 80% of the UK’s GDP even rebounded unexpectedly in August, and business activity recovered its level of March, […]
-OpEd- As I walk through central London, I see many women wearing burqas passing me by. And as I’ve always felt in that sort of situation, I was uncomfortable. Physically and morally uncomfortable. They say you’re not supposed to feel such things. Nor to write about them. What right, indeed, do I have to impose […]
LONDON — Britain’s departure from the European Union would have immediate far-reaching consequences for the British job market as hundreds of thousands of British and European Union citizens want to leave the UK to work on the continent instead, according to a recent survey by the StepStone global private markets specialist found. Some 600,000 British-based […]
Now that two of the world’s five biggest economies – Germany and Britain – are headed by women, and the biggest one of all, the U.S., has a woman front-runner in its presidential election, the glass ceiling in politics can probably be declared broken, and it’s time to consider what kind of change this brings to the world. The overall statistics of female leadership do not look particularly encouraging. There are fewer women heads of government today than there were last year. Not even 5% of government leaders are women. Yet they are winning where it matters: If there were […]
PARIS — The two French visitors just couldn’t get over it. “Why were you wrong again?” the elderly English lady asked them with a severe, inquisitive tone. The woman, Queen Elizabeth II, should have had other things on her mind. It was April 21, 2026, after all, her 100th birthday, and the whole planet seemed […]
A decade ago, the “Polish plumber” became the symbol of British fears of immigrants coming in poorer Europe Union countries. After the UK’s referendum to pull out of the EU, uncertainty reigns for all.
The once Great Britain has just gotten smaller. But Brexit has also rendered the meekness of the European project evident to all. And the big players like the U.S. and China will eat them for lunch if something doesn’t change quickly.
“This has implications for absolutely everything,” political editor for BBC News Laura Kuenssberg declared of the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union. And now that Brexit camp has won, and the UK prepares to bid farewell to the EU, the parties and the gawkers have begun to gauge the fallout of ending the 43-year-long […]
The editor-in-chief of top French daily Le Monde says the UK’s departure from the EU must be a wake-up call for the remaining 27 countries. But the answer may be more Europe, not less.
Chased from their homes and communities, many transgender women in Colombia seek refuge in a four-block area in Santa Fe, in downtown Bogotá.
Changing your diet is not easy, but the power of messaging service WhatsApp keeps you connected to help keep you on track.
You won’t find it on any map of the world nor see it mentioned in any geography book. And yet it certainly exists. In the middle of the North Sea, surrounded by nothing but waves and wind, is the smallest self-proclaimed state in the world. The Principality of Sealand, as its inhabitants call it, is […]
At the futuristic Enosis wine lab, the Genesis robot brings wine into the 21st century.
LONDON — What’s a politician most afraid of? British Premier Harold Macmillan’s famous answer to the journalist’s question is more relevant than ever: “Events, dear boy, events.” If you add the Paris death toll to the number of victims who died after ISIS bombed a Russian plane over the Sinai, that’s 353. And the previous […]
By announcing the end of its exploration campaign in the north of Alaska, Shell delighted environmental NGOs. But the self-imposed moratorium, to the degree it even exists, will not last.
And watch out for Pablo Iglesias, leader of Spain’s leftist Podemos party.
The world of rugby is not what it used to be. Artists gave way to men built like tanks, and the 2015 World Cup, kicking off in England, will take the Robocop scrum to a new low.
PARIS — If you believe mankind has grown decadent and that we should look to nature for an example of modesty and self-control, you would be in for a surprise. Because when it comes to bad behavior — be it thievery, infidelity or even drug abuse — the animal kingdom knows few bounds. Take sex, […]
BEIJING — For Yair Sarussi, chairman of Israel’s Bank Hapoalim, China is getting closer by the day. “You can feel the Chinese everywhere,” he told Calcalist. “Almost every week I meet three or four Chinese companies interested to come to Israel.” The Chinese presence is felt mainly in Israel’s high-tech sector — with investment in […]
Unlike most leaders of finance and commerce in The City, leaving the EU is not a frightening thought for the Business for Britain movement.Â
PARIS — “It’s the economy, stupid!” Just like the famous slogan in Bill Clinton’s 1992 challenge, the economy may have been decisive for David Cameron — but in a positive way this time for the incumbent. The economic crisis 22 years ago was George H. W. Bush’s downfall, despite his laudable record in foreign policy. […]
A view from France of Thursday’s high-stakes election across the Channel.
LONDON — At London’s Ladbroke Grove Tube station, a very steep set of stairs leads down to street level. If you turn right at the foot of the stairs it is only a short stroll to the famous Portobello Market and the even more famous Nottinghill, with its pubs and clubs, designer shops and cream […]
SEALAND — The marine wind gusts slide against Michael Bates’ slightly balding hair. His calloused hands buried in a fleece jacket, the fisherman crosses the 500 square meters of his kingdom. At 62 years old, Bates looks like the typical fishing captain from Leigh-on-Sea — a small English town from Essex where the River Thames […]
The UK’s second-largest city has struggled to reinvent itself for the post-Industrial age, but it’s now looking to thrive as a startup hub known as the “Silicon Canal.”
LONDON — In London’s posh Mayfair district on Grafton Street, just around the corner from where international art dealers and high-end jewelry brands are clustered, the adage about not being fooled by appearances rings truer than ever. Here there is a branch store of the contemporary jewelry brand launched by the mining consortium Gemfields. The […]
Coined a half-century ago by Marshall McLuhan, the ‘global village’ had come to express hope in a connected world. Now, such plagues as ISIS and Ebola, show how that can turn against us.
Scottish voters have handily rejected the independence referendum. Still, Scotland is destined to gain more autonomy and drift ever farther away from London, with consequences across the UK.
As Europe continues to be divvied up into smaller, ethnically homogenous nations, the burdern falls on larger countries, compromising the leverage and a united West.
LONDON — A conservative British politician? Stereotypes would call for him to be educated in an expensive private school, to wear tailor-made suits from Savile Row and to be able to recite Shakespeare sonnets without an accent. We would expect him to have been a lawyer, a banker or a chartered accountant — and to […]
A Polish reporter checks out sentiment in the heart of UKIP country after the anti-immigration party’s success in recent European elections.
The online world’s big data and nanosecond velocity means we are losing control of the machines we’ve built ourselves. How can we avoid becoming victims of our own intelligence?
A London School of Economics professor has developed complex mathematical formulas that he says can predict what can happen on the pitch. Why is Spain so good? What’s your bet?
Just over a year ago, when Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands handed her eldest son Willem Alexander the reins of the country, everybody in Britain wondered whether Queen Elizabeth II would be next. Now, as Spain’s Juan Carlos, 76, steps down to “renew” the monarchy, questions are rising again about the British queen’s succession. But […]
BERLIN — As the expression goes, “It ain’t over “til the fat lady sings.” But a recent slew of insults from British opera critics hurled at one full-figured young singer has added a new twist to the expression. Internationally known mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught was keen to sing at the Glyndebourne Festival, the UK’s most important […]
A professor at the London School of Economics argues that the free market and everything we thought we knew about economics are now irrelevant.
Extraordinary Russian wealth has accumulated in London, much of it of questionable origins. Inevitably, it will be factored into British decisions in the showdown with Vladimir Putin.
The American-invented dream of averting the finality of death by freezing one’s body is a world unto its own. Now it’s spreading to the UK, France and beyond.
Do Sao Paulo’s public transport woes bode badly for this year’s World Cup?