Worldcrunch
-OpEd- KALAMAZOO — People from China who travel abroad are struck by the stark differences between their countries. In the U.S. and Europe, they probably envy how people live in comfort and are rich enough to engage in arts and public service. These countries in general have more honest and transparent governments, as well as […]
-OpEd- When President Yahya Jammeh accepted electoral defeat in the tiny west African nation of Gambia two weeks ago, voters and democracy advocates alike cheered. Jammeh, who once claimed a “billion-year” mandate and has been in power for 22 years, was finally vacating his throne. But the celebrations were premature. A week later, Jammeh decided […]
For moderate, unarmed rebels, as well as anyone wanted by the government, the rapid and brutal offensive to retake east Aleppo is a sign of what’s to come elsewhere in Syria.
WORLDCRUNCH NOTE TO READERS: This article was originally published in Kommersant on Nov. 10, two days after Donald Trump’s election win. Since then, there have been reports that Russian computer hackers may have interfered in the U.S. election in Trump’s favor. Also Trump had since called Taiwan’s president, sparking a diplomatic row with China. Nevertheless, […]
After bashing the investment bank during the campaign, why Donald Trump could not resist picking three top executives to run his economic policy.
The “looking back” on the past 12 months has begun. In Brazil’s case, 2016 may be the worst year in recent memory — and perhaps wins last place for good news of all countries at peace. Sadly, it’s hard to imagine how 2017 could be much better. In southeastern Brazil, 2016 started in toxic mud, […]
‘Flexicurity,’ the Danish labor approach, where it’s easy to be fired but also rehired, has helped unemployment remain among the lowest in the world. But the lack of skilled labor creates new demands.
The Lausanne-based start-up Skioo is organizing trips from Swiss cities to Alpine resorts thanks to an alliance with the U.S.-based car-hire app.
PARIS — Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer with black belts in multiple martial arts, has the skill and know-how to kill a man with his bare hands. He also has a big scary dog, as a pair of Japanese journalists were reminded before interviewing Putin on Wednesday. The journalists “grimaced” and “stood there frozen” […]
Enough with the praise the Left has shamelessly heaped on Fidel Castro. He was simply a dictator who deprived Cubans of their basic human rights. Looks the same from the right.
TEHRAN — Since Boeing’s announcement Sunday that Iran Air would buy 80 new planes, the deal has been dissected for both its economic and geopolitical significance. The $16.6 billion purchase comes in the wake of the 2015 Iran nuclear accord and marks the U.S. aircraft company’s first deal with the country since the 1970s. Boeing […]
GAZIANTEP — “The nightmares only started when I left Aleppo,” says 30-year-old Mahmoud, a Syrian activist and journalist now living as a refugee in Turkey. “Before — even after my best friend was killed next to me when we were filming a battle against the regime — I felt sad but I never had nightmares,” he said, speaking in late September in a southern Turkish border town. Mahmoud lost a finger that day in 2013, and his friend’s skull was shattered. Over years of reporting in Syria, Mahmoud faced much danger and personal loss. But it wasn’t until six months […]
MEXICO CITY — Mexico is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, but many of its indigenous tongues are in serious danger of extinction. And unless efforts are undertaken to preserve them, about 50 of those languages could disappear within the next 20 years, the Mexico City-based daily El Universal reports. There are a […]
Worshipers at the Coptic Church pray for the dead and lash out at both perpetrators and Egyptian authorities. ‘They always told us to pray for those who hate and kill us. But I can’t do that anymore,’ says one.
After Donald Trump’s surprise victory last month, the first serious question — both in the U.S. and around the globe — was: Will he actually do all that stuff? The answer appears to be tilting toward a, Well, Hell Yes, that is as surprising to some as the election itself. The most blatant example so […]
De Telegraaf, Dec. 12, 2016 Deadly blasts in major cities around the world returned, seemingly in sync the past two days. Dutch daily De Telegraaf“s Monday front page reads: “Weekend of attacks’ above two pictures of crying women, one in Istanbul where 44 people died Saturday, the other in Cairo, where at least 25 were […]
MUNICH — Grief is demonstrative resistance against loss. Cemeteries and funerals are ways to combat death, preserving the lives of the departed by allowing people to remember them. Death, we are told, is a part of life. But those who went earlier this month to the cemetery on All Hallows, All Souls Day, will have […]
Up close with some of the growing numbers of Germans settling in Hungary, a country that has shut out refugees from the Middle East.
PARIS — I first heard the news with a text message from my son late last Friday night: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen had spoken by telephone with Donald Trump. I cannot describe the joy I felt. This was the best piece of news for Taiwan in more than 30 years, even eclipsing for me the […]
JAKARTA — Yanti, 93, lives in a tiny room along with three other family members in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. She’s unable to move or get up so she lies on a bed that dominates the cramped space. The air is thick with the stench of stale urine. Yanti tells me she can’t pass a bowel movement. She says she’s constantly urinating. She lies on a layer of opened diapers. She grabs the flesh on my arm, which suddenly feels more chubby and elastic than ever before in her bony hand covered in thin, papery skin. Palliative care is […]
-Essay- DAMASCUS — Last month, I was in a bar with a friend, and I met a nice guy who, a long time ago, I knew only by name. We exchanged numbers, and after a couple of random meetings I could sense his interest in me, and his willingness to take things further. I’d love to have a partner and a happy relationship, regardless of where it might go. He is an educated writer, artist, a feminist – in short, a perfect fit for me! Except for one detail: He used to be strongly loyal to Bashar al-Assad and his […]
India’s startling announcement last month to swap out most banknotes in circulation — possibly the biggest currency change in decades anywhere in the world — went largely unnoticed outside the country. It was Nov. 8 and most people were captivated by a little election taking place on the other side of the planet. But the […]
BOGOTA — Freeze! The Mannequin Challenge, the latest internet craze where groups of people make a video of themselves frozen in time, has an unlikely new participant: the Colombian rebel army FARC. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has spent much of the past half-century waging a bloody insurgency and holding hostages for […]
Earlier today, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump picked Scott Pruitt, attorney general of Oklahoma, as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt, a New York Times investigation once revealed, has previously sent letters to government agencies that were actually drafted by energy-industry lobbyists. He has also legally challenged the Obama administration’s regulation of fossil fuels. […]
Family pictures, porn, German armed forces’ internal data – openly accessible on the internet. One mistake is enough and your privacy is destroyed.
U.S.-Japanese relations over the past 75 years is one of history’s great tales of decimation and reconciliation. Japan’s massive surprise attack on the Hawaiian naval base on Dec. 7, 1941, which led to the American entry in World War II, was at the time unprecedented in the efficiency of its destructive powers. On the “day […]
In Italian daily La Stampa, the Russian president writes that it’s time for the U.S. and Europe to trust Moscow as a partner in confronting the world’s problems.
PARIS — Solar has become the new energy El Dorado. With the price of solar panels plummeting, solar energy has developed spectacularly in recent years. Less than 10 years ago, there were only a few gigawatts (GW) of new solar panels installed each year. This year, new capacity should represent more than 70 GW, up […]
-Farewell- Foreigners who visit Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India that’s home to stunning Hindu temples and a robust economy, would often puzzle over the matronly woman draped in a sari watching over them from posters and billboards seemingly splashed on every street. There’s even a statue of her in blood. She was born […]
After two years of occupation by terror group ISIS, the largest Christian city in Iraq, Qaraqosh, was recently freed by government forces.
CAIRO — Wessam Said, 28, would have liked to breastfeed her child, but something was holding her back that had nothing to do with health or social norms: as the family’s main breadwinner, she was simply working too much. “What could I do, our conditions are dire,” she said. It’s medically advised around the world […]
-OpEd- PARIS — “The era of multiculturalism is over …” This was the proud declaration of Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, back in the summer of 2015. One year later, Theresa May, the new British prime minister, took it one step further: “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you’re […]
-Analysis- BERLIN — Europe’s leaders were jubilant when Alexander Van der Bellen won the Austrian election Sunday. The bitter pill came later with confirmation that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a strong supporter of the European Union, had lost the constitutional referendum he’d staked his reputation on — and would resign. Italy was one of […]
Many observers feared that yesterday would be the day that could rock the European Union to its core, six months after the Brexit referendum. Austria looked ready to elect Europe’s first far-right president since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, Italy, a founding member of the EU, was expected to reject a proposed constitutional […]
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his constitutional reform referendum are victims of a massive movement of popular discontent, now more global than ever.
La Repubblica — December 5, 2016 Italy’s resounding rejection of a nationwide referendum on constitutional reforms Sunday is the latest sign of political discontent, following the Brexit vote and the victory of Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency. In this case, it has cost the job of Matteo Renzi, who three years ago became the […]
European Parliament head Martin Schulz has been fighting for decades for a more influential Brussels. It will be a tough sell as he returns to the rough world of national politics.
-Analysis- BEIRUT — On the morning of Nov. 9, as the U.S. presidential votes were being counted, residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which has been under total siege since July, were trying to find some consolation in dark humor. “I think Trump will win in the elections because he is the real face of American politics,” Najmaldin Khaled, an English teacher and editor at the Shahba Press Agency, said in a group conversation on WhatsApp, which residents of Eastern Aleppo use to communicate with the outside world. “Trying to look at the bright side of it, no more claims about […]
We can be judged by our own strength, but also by the relative strength of our adversaries. Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election was also the defeat of Hillary Clinton, and all of what she represented. Last night’s unprecedented announcement that embattled French President Francois Hollande would not seek a second term will no […]
French President Hollande, who announced he will not seek reelection, led a series of mishaps and failures, down to the indignity of his last public speech.