Worldcrunch
BAGHDAD — On Fridays, you can get a taste of just how special Mutanabbi Street used to be. For a couple of hours once a week, this neighborhood in the Iraqi capital returns to its former glory when everybody who is anybody in the Baghdad’s art and culture scene is out on the famous “book […]
Recycling is slow going in Poland, and you can see the results all of the streets and sidewalks. What does it all say about the Polish character?
PARIS – Jessica is the pseudonym she used. Her real name is Vasvija Ferhatovic. She was born in Rome on Jan. 24, 1985 and the only “job” this young woman ever had is thief. In May, a Paris criminal court convicted her and 15 other girls to sentences between one and five years in jail. […]
Edged out for a time by greasy, imported food, traditional meals are staging a comeback in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
BEIJING – Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from his wife, Wendi Deng, and the Chinese media is watching with great attentioin whether their ambitious female compatriot is going to get her share of the cake from her fabulously rich ex-husband. It’s likely though that many will be disappointed since it was disclosed long ago […]
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a landmark victory for gay rights, by striking down the California law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. This ruling forces authorities to recognize same-sex weddings in states where it is authorized already, though it stops short of forcing the remaining 30 […]
Both for the consequences they face from Chinese authorities and for their radical forms of protest, these women’s rights activists can make Femen seem tame by comparison.
Around this time of the year, high school students across the world file into stuff classrooms for their final exams. Some are nationwide tests, others are the sadistic work of your local mathematics teacher. Despite all of the pre-test stress, things tend to run smoothly in the end. But not always… Empty class room in […]
WARSAW – There is a smell of perfume in the air and salespeople dash between white leather armchairs and handbags worth thousands of euros. Welcome to the first Polish Louis Vuitton store, which opened in Warsaw earlier this month. I am here to meet Robert Eggs, president of the French luxury brand for Northern Europe. […]
Known as sisa, this Greek methamphetamine-based concoction is spreading across the streets of Athens — the latest sign of the side effects of the economic crisis plaguing Greece.
TAIPEI – It was at 10 p.m., after she had attended yet another social event, that Lu Yuexiang was finally able to meet us at the restaurant. Lu, 48, is the chairperson of the Chinese Production Party, which she founded in 2010 to fight for the rights of mainland-Chinese immigrants in Taiwan. The party, which […]
MILAN – “Prestanome for hire: thirty years old, good credit rating, permanent job…” More and more advertisements like this one are finding their way onto the Internet. Literally a “lend-name,” the prestanome has made the leap from mafia-esque dodgy dealings into the real world. “The only thing I had left was my name: so I […]
BENI – For many years in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the military was the main seller of liquor imported from Uganda. But now soldiers have changed sides, and are now fighting those who try to import liquor into Congo. In order to reduce the trafficking and consumption of banned liquors […]
NANTES – “Do not touch…” When she ran her fingers over this Braille inscription on the wall of the Sainte-Croix church, in the city of Nantes, western France, the young blind woman burst out laughing. After translation, her sighted friends were also won over by the irony of the artist. Working under the pseudonym The […]
-OpEd- BEIJING – Since late last year the way Chinese people cross the road has been receiving particular attention. Dubbed Chinese-style Of Crossing The Road, this phenomenon refers to the behavior of Chinese pedestrians, who cross an intersection not based on red and green lights, but on whether or not there are enough pedestrians to […]
VIENNA – It’s 11:45 a.m. on March 5, 2004 when two men enter the Maki diamond and jewelry store in Tokyo, set to commit the biggest theft in Japanese history. One of the men has brown leather gloves and a bag with the Cartier logo, the other is in all dark clothes. They are shown […]
With 84 players from outside the U.S. competing in the NBA this season, the American league broke its record of foreign players. It’s not a big surprise then to see nine of them on the American Airlines Arena court tonight, as the San Antonio Spurs face the Miami Heat in the decisive Game 7 of […]
Being born in Italy doesn’t guarantee you citizenship. For those who grew up children of immigrants, proving you deserve a passport can be like a bus ride to nowhere.
The procedure is gaining popularity amongst young men who believe, erroneously, that it eliminates any risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
Our intrepid reporter signs up for a new course taught by homeless people in the Polish city of Lodz for those who want to learn how to lives on the streets.
TOKYO – A few months ago, Shin Sugimoto, Human Resources director at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Tokyo, revolutionized the traditional methods of recruitment in Japan. Instead of automatically promoting the most experienced man, as it is traditionally done – who had patiently been waiting for his turn for years – Sugimoto proposed to choose the next […]
PARIS – A cheeky move, one might say. To retrace the history of the undergarment – from the XXL fig leaf on Adam’s attributes taken from a 10th century manuscript to the tighty-whities of the 1980s (called kangaroo briefs in France because of their front pocket) – is a daring, er, undertaking indeed. A challenge […]
ADDIS ABABA – On June 3, Egyptian politicians were caught in a televised diplomatic gaffe, which could have cost them dearly. Invited by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to a debate on the $4.2 billion hydroelectric dam that Ethiopia is about to start building across the Blue Nile, one of the two major tributaries of the […]
GENEVA – Wife: “I’ve done my share. It’s your turn now.” Husband: “If you leave me in the next five years, I’ll really feel like I sacrificed myself for nothing.” What are they talking about? Working part-time to spend more time with the kids? Turning down a promotion? Giving up paragliding and cycling on weekends […]
A new documentary on German television uncovers the notable tax revenue and nationwide implications of being the “biggest whorehouse in Europe.”
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
SALOU – It’s about 4 p.m. in the lobby of a hotel in the Costa Dorada, on the Catalan coast of Spain. A brunette sporting micro-shorts and a boy without a shirt are miming a sexual act amongst a sweaty and inebriated crowd. The deejay shouts into his microphone: “Have you had enough?” Of course […]
Last week, the city government of Wuhan, in central China, published a draft law on population and family planning management that quickly became national news. The bill charges “social maintenance fees” against unmarried woman who have given birth to a child but could not provide valid identification of the child’s father, or those who have […]
VATICAN CITY – The Holy See has opted for silence, following the uproar provoked by the comments attributed to Pope Francis that there is a “gay lobby” inside the Vatican. The leaders of the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Clerics, have condemned the publication of the transcript of their meeting with Pope Francis, which […]
BERLIN – At the end of Oranienstrasse in the Berlin borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Gürkan runs a tailor shop. The 41-year-old conservative Muslim, of Turkish origins, is all for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan“s taking a hard-line stance against demonstrators in Turkey, who began their protests over development plans in central Istanbul’s Gezi park. “He has […]
MOSCOW – June marks the end of Russia’s smoking free-for-all. A new law forbids smoking in offices and hospitals, on beaches, in public transport, on train stations, and on the stairways in apartment buildings. Even advertisements for tobacco products are now illegal, and in one year’s time cigarettes also will be banned in cafes and […]
TEHERAN – In the middle of the election campaign, Washington has found a way to remind Iranians that the next president they will elect will have to pull the country out of an unprecedented economic crisis. The crisis, of course, is largely the result of the tough sanctions imposed by Western countries in response to […]
What the facial evolution of children’s toys tells us about our conflict-driven society.
In modern China, some go to great lengths to look or sound like they hail from the West. One of the quickest, and quirkiest, ways to do this is to give yourself an English name. Scott Kronick, president of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, had some fun with this phenomenon in a piece for the The […]
MOSCOW – There was a goat just outside the Moscow metro station, accompanied by a girl who was selling bottles of milk – the goat was obviously there as a live advertisement. “Look, she has white eyelids,” passersby would say, looking at the alien animal. “Look at the tail!” they said – and these were […]
PARIS – It is past 9 a.m. when Laurence Cote arrives, and throws her things on her desk. The 20 or so students scattered around the room, far from falling silent at once for the arrival of their teacher…getting even louder instead. They run, shout, trample. “Does anyone have a blazer?” asks someone. “I do. […]
Several women inmates from China’s infamous Masanjia reeducation-through-labor camp have decided to come forward to recount the torture they sustained.
A wedding ceremony should make for the happiest of memories. But the now infamous closing scene of the latest Game of Thrones episode (referred as the “red wedding”) reminds us in a whole new way how quickly nuptials can turn gnarly. We have tracked down some of the funniest, quirkiest and just plain disastrous wedding […]
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.