Worldcrunch
GAHUNGA – Not long ago, the communities bordering Rwanda’s three national parks were the biggest threat to their survival. The villagers poached animals and illegally exploited the forest. But today, locals collaborate with the tourism industry and take part in the protection of biodiversity while improving their living standards. Much of the credit goes to […]
FRANCE INFO, LE FIGARO (France) Worldcrunch MARSEILLE – On the small island of Porquerolles on the French Riviera, the police have turned a blind eye to helmetless motorcyclists, reports Le Figaro. The person to blame is … the local prefect. Paul Mourier, the State’s representative in the Var department in Southern France, was repeatedly spotted […]
The news out of Afghanistan is that the Taliban beheaded 17 men and women who had gathered for a mixed-gender social event with music and dancing. This, of course, is not the first time the excesses of Muslim jihadists have included beheadings. Dozens of headless bodies were found in the Tigris River years ago in […]
THE TELEGRAPH, THE GUARDIAN (UK), LA TIMES (US) Worldcrunch An 11-year-old Brazilian boy born without feet has been invited to train at FC Barcelona’s youth academy. After impressing the Spanish football club during a TV appearance on Brazil’s TV Globo, the young whiz kid will travel to the Catalonian capital in September. The Telegraph reports […]
VENICE – Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously said of academic writers that “they muddy the water, to make it seem deep.” Architects, we can say, have been known to do the same. Let’s think for a moment about what we have been forced to endure over the past decades thanks to an alleged building language that […]
FUERA DE SERIE (Spain), LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch Spanish magazine Fuera de Serie has sparked controversy by depicting the U.S. first lady as a topless slave on its new cover. The cover features Michelle Obama’s face pasted over a famous 19th century French painting showing a slave with one breast exposed. The image was designed […]
JERUSALEM – It is almost prayer time in Ramot, the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in north Jerusalem, and men in black suits, white ties and black hats with wide brims are hurrying to the synagogue. On July 31, the 10-year-old “Tal Law” exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military duty expired, sparking a nationwide debate in Israel over the […]
BUENOS AIRES – The July winter vacation was coming to a close and José’s decision was maturing: he would simply tear down what remained of the “closet” he’d slowly been coming out of. So on July 30, José arrived at the elementary school that he works at in Buenos Aires as “Melisa,” and became the […]
BWERA – It’s market day in Bwera, a Ugandan city on the banks of the Rubirihiya river that separates the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, east of the Beni region. Ugandans and Congolese sell from the same stalls. It is hard to distinguish them because they all discuss products and prices in “Kinande,” […]
-Essay- BERLIN – Some people live with the past. Others prefer to throw the past away like it’s smelly trash. In present-day Germany, where the goody-two-shoes live, the second has been the preferred option for a long time now. Take for instance street names: Germany’s streets and squares are routinely re-baptized. When the Nazis came […]
JAKARTA – The color of the brackish water running down the drain across Pak Udis’ paddy field changes everyday: it goes from blue to green or red. One only needs to take a look around to understand why. A textile factory was built a few meters away from this Indonesian peasant’s parcel. Over the last […]
DAILY MAIL, BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (U.K.) Worldcrunch British Police are investigating reports on Monday of a lion on the loose in the southeastern county of Essex, near the village of St. Osyth. Residents of #stosyth are advised to enjoy the bank holiday Monday but to be cautious. Officers still in the area conducting searches […]
Until now, showing off was more of a male thing: for many representatives of the so-called stronger sex, flashing status symbols like fast cars and conspicuously expensive watches is, it seems, important. But women are catching up. “As a result of their increasing economic independence, more and more women are encroaching on what has traditionally […]
LE MONDE (France), TUNISIA IT (Tunisia) Worldcrunch A Tunisian television station stopped running a satirical puppet show that regularly mocked politicians and members of the ruling Ennahda party because of pressure from authorities, according to Mongi Khadraoui, secretary general of the National Tunisian Journalist Union (SNJT). The authorities appreciated neither the form nor content of […]
LA PAZ – Indigenous people armed with slings and wearing traditional ch’ullu headgear surround President Evo Morales. Soldiers pivot a cannon. A sergeant comes to present arms… If the scene wasn’t taking place on a red carpet in front of La Paz“s biggest mall, it would have been easy to mistake Bolivia for a country […]
-Essay- BERLIN – On Wednesday morning, at Berlin Zoo, Bao Bao the giant panda died in his sleep at the age of 34 — which for a panda is a ripe old age. Berlin mourns him, the zoo mourns him … but all the attention will quickly fade away. The truth is that Bao Bao’s […]
These days for Chinese officials the question of age is an even more sensitive issue than it is for a lady. Recently, Zhou Lian, professor at Peking University, likened Chinese officials’ climbing up their career ladders to “participating in a championship,” as everyone vies with everyone else as they try to advance. Within this context, […]
BERLIN – In the debate in Germany over circumcision, you often hear people say jokingly that if cutting the foreskin off a baby boy’s penis for religious reasons is outlawed then piercing little girls’ earlobes shouldn’t be allowed either. But that’s just the scenario that may be shaping up. After a Cologne court ruled in […]
SLATE.FR, LE FIGARO (France), ASSOCIATED PRESS (U.S.) Worldcrunch The cycling world was awash with speculation on Friday that American cyclist Lance Armstrong could be stripped of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles, after announcing he was giving up the fight against doping charges from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Le Figaro reports that only […]
LE MONDE, FRANCE TV INFO (France), EL PAIS (Spain) Worldcrunch The 80-year-old Spanish woman responsible for what some are calling history’s worst restoration of a work of art spoke out in the media on Wednesday to defend her actions. “We’ve always fixed everything ourselves in this church. The priest asked me to do it, he […]
SUD-OUEST (France) Worldcrunch LA ROCHELLE – About 15 30-inch-tall (80 cm) cannabis plants have been discovered in the courtyard of a prison in Saint-Martin-de-Ré, one of the 10 communes located on the Île de Ré island off La Rochelle in western France. The district attorney of La Rochelle has confirmed that an investigation was underway […]
LA REPUBBLICA, AGI (Italy), BBC SPORT, REUTERS (UK), EUROSPORT (France) Worldcrunch ROME – An Italian tribunal has confirmed today a 10-month ban for Juventus FC coach Antonio Conte, reports La Reppublica. Football Federation judges rejected his appeal against a verdict handed down earlier this month, adds Reuters. Antonio Conte, who played for Juventus from 1992 […]
For a long time, the only people interested in Yemen were Joseph Kessel and Al-Qaida. After the revolution that brought down 32 years of dictatorship, the interest of the West quickly waned, abandoning the country to its difficult political transition. It is an exhausted country, without a vision nor a hope of something better and […]
CNN, WASHINGTON POST, USA TODAY (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch Photo: Diana Nyad MIAMI – US Swimmer Diana Nyad ended her bid to cross from Cuba to Florida after suffering severe jellyfish stings, reports CNN. The endurance swimmer, who will turn 63 on Wednesday, was pulled from the water early Tuesday morning, reports CNN. A […]
RIO DE JANEIRO – She carries the weight of her people on her shoulders and that makes her beautiful. With her seashell and pearl necklace around the neck, her tanned tattooed skin, her feathers of different sizes and her bright and vividly colored skeins, Vangri Kaingang is a proud native and she’s not afraid to […]
KIGALI – Every year, about 500 to 750 graduates from universities and higher education institutes are dumped onto Rwanda’s saturated job market. Without a position to match their qualifications, many settle for low-paid jobs while others resort to scams or even prostitution to survive. Twenty-five year old Yvonne has a bachelor’s degree in sociology but […]
SAINT PETERSBURG – A well-known art collector buys a painting from a long-time acquaintance, who is also a publisher of books about Russian art. He displays it in an art exhibition, and an art expert happens to see it and recognize it as a fake that she had see before and identified as a forgery […]
NEW YORK TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES, VARIETY, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (USA) Worldcrunch LOS ANGELES – Tony Scott, the British-born director of high-octane blockbusters like Top Gun and Days of Thunder, jumped to his death from a Los Angeles bridge on Sunday. He was 68, reports the New York Times. NOOOOOOO!!! #TonyScott Why??? Thanks for doing a […]
Two months ago, Uli Sigg, the Swiss art collector and Switzerland’s former Ambassador to China, donated 1463 pieces of his Chinese contemporary art collection to Hong Kong’s M+ museum. The bequest, which included works by 350 artists such as Ai Weiwei and Zhang Xiaogan, initially received widespread praise. Then on June 25,the Art Critic column […]
TUNIS – Dorra Bouzid is elated as she faces the slogan-chanting crowd. “It’s the first time I’ve seen an audience at such a fever pitch,” says this emblematic journalist, who wrote the first feminist column in 1955. She feels validated in her opinion: “I’m from the generation that built independence, I’ve always believed in my […]
AMÉRICA ECONOMÌA, THE SANTIAGO TIMES (Chile) Worldcrunch SANTIAGO – A total of 139 people, most of whom were students, were arrested during the eviction of three schools in the center of Santiago, the local Chief of Police Victor Tapia told América Economìa. The three schools (Darío Salas School, Miguel de Cervantes and Confederación Suiza School) […]
RIO DE JANERO – The saleswoman smiles ironically while pointing out the best-selling product in Zecabiju, one of the dozen accessory shops in Saara, the most crowded open-air market in Rio. “Suelen’s earring, of course. I didn’t even need to tell you, right?” she says. A long golden earring on the right ear — this […]
BERLIN – In the posh, lush Pankow neighborhood of East Berlin, nothing indicates that people are squatting the Kunterbunt house. Everything is orderly in the small brownish building, a legacy of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). There are flower bouquets on the tables and water paintings of landscapes hanging on the walls. Yet Doris, […]
TOKYO – Toru Hashimoto, the young and often controversial mayor of Osaka who shot to fame for his attacks on Japan’s central government and bureaucrats, has chosen a new target — but this time, attracting little sympathy from the Japanese youth. Last March, Hashimoto decided to take disciplinary action against government employees who did not […]
LE MONDE, LE PARISIEN (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – On August 15, a controversial “Prayer for France” will be read out at French Catholic churches, reviving a centuries old tradition as the country celebrates the Feast of the Assumption — the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. The wording of the prayer, which […]
ULAN BATOR – Over the last decade, Mongols have rapidly begun to concentrate here in its capital, as well as other cities. This trend is accelerating and making Ulan Bator an unbearably crowded place, though still relatively small in comparison with most of China’s major cities. Nevertheless, the impact may be more drastic on a […]
SANTO DOMINGO – In a soft voice, Elena Lorac tells her Kafkaesque story. Born 23 years ago in the midst of the Sabana Grande de Boya sugar cane plantations, 90 kilometers north of Santo Domingo, the young woman is stateless. Dominican authorities won’t give her a cedula (an ID card), using the excuse that her […]
HONG KONG STANDARD (Hong Kong), BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), ASSOCIATED PRESS (U.S.) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the eviction of the protesters camped around the HSCB headquarters in the center of the city, reports the Hong Kong Standard. Protesters have until August 27 to leave the area […]
Recently several authors of a BL fiction website were arrested. The injustice is so glaringly obvious that I can’t stop myself from saying something about this. The so-called BL (Boy’s Love) fiction is a particular interest of a minority of people. The concept comes from Japan: it refers to female-oriented fiction featuring idealized romantic relationships […]
GOMA – After trying their luck in Europe, a growing number of Congolese immigrants are returning home to Goma in the North Kivu province to start their own businesses. Their accounts of hardships – which offer an alternative view of Europe – discourage those who are thinking of following in their paths. “Life in Europe […]