Worldcrunch
With the help of an organization called Dignitas, well-known Israeli television and radio personality Adi Talmor ended his life last week in Switzerland. The euthanasia case came as a huge surprise in Israel, which is now busily examining the issue of ass
In post-Mubarak Egypt, both devout Muslims and ardent secularists are calling for the autonomy of Cairo’s authoritative Islamic institution and center for learning. But they have very different ideas about where it will lead.
The uniquely integrated socio-economic mix within the city’s individual neighborhoods are a benefit for London — when times are good. But once the economy tanks, the differences lived up close can be an explosive source of conflict and resentmen
One of the fruits of the Israeli pioneer spirit is scant attention to politeness and proper manners. A French reporter asks why a nation has so little time for formalities.
A new German law requires therapy for criminals who served their full sentences but are still deemed too dangerous for release. In the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, therapy sessions are set to begin in a refurbished facility that looks a lot like a prison
Children from 5 to 15 years old are increasingly being diagnosed with the eating disorder. It can be difficult to detect by parents who can’t believe their young child could suffer from a disease that is still largely caused by social pressures.
After big plans in Pisa for a new Ikea store were scrapped, the Swedish furniture mega store has run into another local administrative wall outside of Turin. The price of entering the Italian market remains frustratingly high.
The 41-year-old Italian was bidding farewell to his brother, who’d been killed by a truck in Mexico.
Humans often hurl animal-based insults at each other. But in Germany, crass language can be costly, especially if you call someone an “alte sau.” Silly goose, not so much.
Analysis: Beijing’s monstrous traffic jams have eased after the introduction of a new policy to impose a lottery system to limit automobile purchases. But as other Chinese cities follow suit, bigger economic and democratic questions are being rai
A pack of pups is proving to be a big hit in the La Roseliere retirement home in France, where residents just can’t resist the charms of the big silly tail waggers. Other area nursing homes are also starting to experiment with dog therapy.
The Swiss federal government is developing the criteria for certification of practitioners of alternative medicine. To do so, they’ve mandated an association with a board member who is a yogic flyer.
Graffitist “OZ”, who’s been tagging Hamburg buildings for two decades, was sentenced again Friday to 14 months for continuing to deface property. An underground hero to some, criminal vandal to others, the spray painter insists that not even jail
Israelis have traditionally considered Richard Wagner the “composer of the Holocaust soundtrack.” This week, the Jewish state’s top Chamber Orchestra faced the taboo head on, performing a Wagner piece for the first time in his native Ger
A handful of elementary schools in northern Italy have taken to teaching children about bird hunting. Environmentalists are crying foul and asking the national government to ban school courses that promote killing wildlife.
As China’s economy opens up, wealth is accumulating in the hands of a new generation of “very rich.” For the new owner class, money means more power and influence – but it can also breed resentment.
Design is not just furniture and objects of art, but also web pages, infrastructure, our bodies, and, now, even food.
Our correspondent dissects the famous lack of overt politeness in Russian society. But things may be getting a bit more pleasant, thank you very much.
The latest edition of China’s best-known dictionary shows how the country has changed — and not changed. Terms included for the first time include “TV show’’ and “migrant worker.” The word “firewall” is not.
Nine Egyptian artists offer their interpretations and instinctive reactions to the popular upheaval that swept their country. One of those artists paid the ultimate price.
For years, the German government has steadily raised the price of cigarettes. But rather than rake in revenue, the tax policy has sparked a spike in cigarette smuggling. Jin Lings, snuck in from Russia, Moldavia and the Ukraine, are particularly popular.
Perhaps nowhere was the Japanese team’s World Cup victory more deeply appreciated than in Fukushima. Four months ago the Japanese city was hit by a massive earthquake, a subsequent tsunami and an ongoing nuclear radiation crisis.
The squatter movement has long had a foothold in the Netherlands’ canal-carved economic capital. As evidenced by a major early July raid, authorities are now looking to send its squatters packing.
The European Court of Justice has ordered France to take measures to save the endangered species, which has become a symbol for fighting urbanization and single-crop industrial farming.
With its “Euro Crisis Song,” the British newspaper The Guardian is having a bit of a laugh at the Continent and its currency woes. But is this not a case of the pot calling the kettle black?
After India‘s Bollywood, Nigeria produces the most movies on the planet per year. However, producers have big business drama: only one in ten DVDs is sold legally as piracy runs rampant.
Prora, a 4 km-long monster of a building on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen, was originally a Nazi project. Now the bizarre structure – which is arguably more moderne than National Socialist — is part youth hostel, part tourist attraction.
The Chinese mega-city has grown so fast that it has built seven peripheral roads, but has also become surrounded by rings of garbage dumps. A journey to the depths of Beijing’s sprawling, unregulated trash dumps.
Though the market for butlers is centered in the UK and Arab countries, the super-rich everywhere are hiring. It is a job that requires very special training.
Some of contemporary art’s biggest names have lent their talent to what is essentially an advertising object. A new book shows how the result, time and again, has been art of the highest order.
With Elie Saab as their leader, Rabih Kayrouz, Zuhair Murad, Georges Hobeika and Georges Chakra round out the “Fab Five” of Lebanon’s high-end design world.
Zhang Xiaobai learned the hard way just how difficult it can be to live openly as a homosexual in China. Being honest about his sexual orientation allowed Zhang to embrace his true identity, but cost him custody of his son and sparked a cold war with his
The head of Switzerland’s FDP-Frauen party is baring more than her soul in an effort to promote women’s rights. Some of Switzerland’s male politicians have make similarly revealing pitches.
Swiss winemakers Gérald and Patricia Besse have watched their daughter Sarah prepare for the family business since middle school. After a period of doubt, she has now immersed herself in the “art” and hard work required to continue the s
Hailing from Guadeloupe, the 30-year-old Yohann Gène’s presence in the Tour de France is a watershed, challenging a competitive cycling world described as “homogeneous” and even prone to racism.
Original Pablo Picasso ceramics made between 1947 and 1973 – the year the famous Spanish painter died – are sold at quite reasonable prices: between 500 and 8000 euros a piece.
New rules in the Italian city could require all public workers to get docked for every time they step outside the office for a smoke.
Is cycling up and down the Alps, and around every other corner in France, not tiring enough? Now cyclists are expected to tweet in between exhausting stages. And from their bikes?
Long before Fukushima, or even Chernobyl, Austrians pulled the plug on nuclear power with a 1978 referendum. The physical legacy of that narrow vote is a completed – but never used – power plant called Zwentendorf, now open to the public.
Our Milan business and finance correspondent is moving back to Germany. Before leaving, he tried his hand at small-time Italian entrepreneurship: selling the entire contents of his apartment. Not so easy, as it turns out.