Worldcrunch
BOGOTÁ — A new in-depth study of the well-being of Colombian coffee farmers could help provide the prescription for good health for us all. Understanding the fundamental elements of healthy living could lead to something of a “positive pandemic,” according to researchers of a project that began in 2012 after medical experts gathered in Toronto […]
The male god of tennis cried (profusely) after his Australian Open win. Not just his tears, but the place he gives his family, show a different way to be a sports hero.
When a freshly inaugurated Donald Trump issued his infamous travel ban exactly one year ago, the message was clear, not only to Muslims but to the entire world, that the United States was suddenly a very different place. But in some way, the policy can be viewed as just an official confirmation of a disturbing […]
BEIJING — Over the past decade or so, “The Low-Fertility Trap,” a hypothesis put forth by Wolfgang Lutz, Vegard Skirbekk and Maria Rita Testa, respectively Austrian, Norwegian and Italian scholars, has worried many countries facing the risks of an aging population. This includes China. The theory suggests that when a country’s birth rate is lower […]
Some see the invention of bogus-sounding professions as a sign that work has become less and less necessary. It may also just mean that capitalism is being transformed.
-OpEd- Over the past week or so, it’s been hard not to feel disoriented by what is constantly being thrown at us, in this hyperconnected planet of ours, and not to get the feeling from our social media feeds that the world might just be going mad. Let’s begin with the open letter signed by […]
-Analysis- PARIS — Compete, don’t kill. The idea that peace might be achieved through sporting is an old paradox. Pitting athletes and countries against each other in a non-lethal — and cathartic — demonstration of skills, is at the very core of the Olympic ideal, going all the way back to ancient Greece. The timing […]
NEW DELHI — Farooque was a Kashmiri. He hated India. His cousin was killed by security forces at a demonstration in Srinagar. This was 1990. We were classmates, and I always took him head on for his anti-India rhetoric. Back then, no one minded his bombast, nor our arguments — and life went on. Then came March 1992 and the cricket World Cup. The determined Imran Khan and Pakistan came from behind and won the title. I skipped college the day Pakistan won because I did not have the courage to face Farooque, who was of course ecstatic beyond words […]
Venice For Sale? Historic Buildings Flipped Into Airbnbs LA STAMPA A Woman’s Perspective On Divorce In The Arab World More and more people in Muslim-majority countries are opting out of their marriages. And often it’s the woman who decides to end things. SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG Obama’s Shadow, White House photographer Pete Souza Looks Back LE TEMPS […]
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A Call To Philosophers: Join The Fray, Help Fix Our World Our era of authoritarian rulers and “alternative facts’ makes the guiding light of philosophy more vital than ever. SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG Xi Jinping’s Dream Megacity To Burnish His Legacy Ground has been broken on the signature domestic project of the Chinese leader’s next term. It […]
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ANDORRA LA VELLA — Perched in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, Andorra — with fewer than 80,000 inhabitants — is as small as it is remote. And yet, the European micro-nation is playing a big part these days in the field of urban studies, the Andorran daily El Periòdic reports. Researchers with the City […]
In Stockholm and around the country cash has disappeared from businesses and banks. Everyone, except the elderly or those without digital access, pays with credit cards or mobile apps.
Businesses in Colombia have been invited to display gay-friendly signs as a traditionalist society, slowly, grows more tolerant.
Chinese tourist agencies will be severely punished for organizing tour groups to St. Peter’s Square and the Sistine Chapel (as well as the tiny Pacific island of Palau). The reason? Taiwan
Taking care of a stranger’s children in exchange for food and housing is a popular way to see the world, but many young women find themselves in tough situations.
Recent UN sanctions are trying to limit the flow of money North Korea generates by sending workers abroad, especially to China.
GAZA CITY — Their world doesn’t extend much beyond this piece of sidewalk that never seems to change. Glued to their white plastic chairs, Khaled, Mohammed and Abdel Rahman spend their time talking about everything and nothing while fiddling with their smartphones. There’s no 3G coverage, so their only connection to the rest of the […]
PARIS — According to an ever expanding list of accusers, Harvey Weinstein has been sexually harassing and assaulting women for decades. As of Friday, 28 women have come forward to denounce the mogul, including some of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, who fended off his advances early in their careers. […]
The sex robot market is expanding, but women must play a core role in the development of all artificial intelligence to avoid a future designed with a male bias.
-Analysis- The fraught drama of politics landing in the arena of sports has popped up recently in several different places around the world. It also happens to date back (at least) as far as Ancient Rome, as historian Sarah Bond recently explained in Forbes. In the U.S., the NFL is currently roiling in controversy over […]
NICE — You can spot an IKEA store from a mile away: The classic blue-and-yellow box design of every outlet of the Swedish home goods giant is as much a part of its identity as the quirky names of its chairs and the meatballs at the snack bar. Get ready, though, because IKEA’s look is […]
Marketing firms are embracing a strategy called ‘femvertising’ to challenge the sexist gender molds of the past. Are they pushing equality for equality’s sake, or just trying to woo consumers?
The boom from Gulf countries is the direct result of a promotional campaign that features halal menus, Arabic speakers and prayer mat in front of hotels.
The record-breaking transfer of the Brazilian superstar to French club PSG is part of much bigger plans by Qatar, which owns the Parisian club.
-Analysis- There is style, and there is taste. There is also politics. The “style” in question here is the sort that is so often the source of bloody combat in the publishing world: whether to capitalize the Pope (pope), how to spell “okay” (OK?) and any number of sordid battles over the English language and […]
Perception (and treatment) of gays and lesbians may be different from transgender people — but in different ways, depending where in the world you are.
As Germany legalizes gay marriage and Ana Brnabic becomes Serbia’s prime minister, Worldcrunch celebrates openly gay heads of government around the world.
PARIS — Every day, tourists in the Louvre crowd around the Venus de Milo. The two-meter high armless marble lady is one of the museum’s most renowned pieces of art. But the statue, recovered by a farmer on the Greek island of Milos in 1820, might have to go home soon. The statue of Venus, […]
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ — Feminism is an acidic drink, strong, seething and so concentrated that it should be sipped at a pace suitable for each person’s palate. There is no key or magic recipe that makes you a feminist and nobody has the absolute truth on how to most effectively pursue the cause. What is certain, […]
It’s a match made in hummus!
Just as terrorism in the name of other religions has existed throughout history. We must call evil things by their name if we want to overcome them.
In Switzerland, some local governments are turning to sound specialists to make cityscapes easier on the ears.
From shock therapy treatment to nausea pills to fake marriages, Chinese gays, lesbian and transgender are targeted by clinics and family trying to turn them straight.
Nationalism was defeated in Emmanuel Macron’s victory. But the debate of the individual vs. collective has just gotten underway in France, and beyond.
When El Espectador’s Aldo Civico spots a former henchman of the Medellin drug cartel in a restaurant, enjoying a meal and the well wishes of patrons, he wonders if something has gone terrible wrong with society at large.
DELHI — A disturbing video has gone viral in India. It shows a mob viciously attacking a Nigerian man at a suburban Delhi mall. The attackers kick, punch and hit him with steel trash cans, chairs, bricks — pretty much anything they can lay their hands on. The victim is 21-year old Nigerian student Endurance Amalawa — who is now lying on a hospital bed with bandages covering his head, arms and back. In the adjacent bed is his older brother Precious Amalawa. He has fewer injuries and is able to recount the ordeal. He remembers entering the mall, buying […]