Worldcrunch
PARIS — For each passing day, as a perfect storm where both demand and supply plummet together across the world, the 2008 crisis starts to pale in comparison. Economists are thinking hard behind the scenes, with some pondering post-War recovery plans and others looking to earlier pandemics, like the 1918 Spanish flu, for guidance. But […]
Not surprisingly, early indicators point to a less bleak future for Sweden’s still-open economy than for that of its European counterparts. A recent study by Swedbank shows that private consumption in Sweden shrank 17% between April 6 to April 19 compared to the same period last year, while revenue from hotel and restaurants was down […]
We talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic is upending so many aspects of our lives, yet it is foremost a story about death. Every day in this strange new normal, death counts close to home and around the world are updated, displayed, analyzed; figures are given, curves are drawn, graphs are made, allowing all of […]
Airline operators and manufacturers are taking one on the nose and scrambling to contain the fallout from a crisis that appeared out of the blue.
Welcome to Wednesday, where India’s COVID surge interrupts the G7 summit, George Floyd’s killer asks for a new trial and a woman in Mali gives birth to five girls … and four boys. Argentine daily Clarín also has a look at what Joe Biden’s arrival means for Cuba and Venezuela. • Derek Chauvin asks for […]
Not since George Clooney was walking the halls of E.R. have doctors gotten so much air time. More particularly, virologists and epidemiologists are taking the lead in guiding us through the coronavirus crisis, both those offering explanations on news outlets and those holding increasingly vital positions of authority who help set national policies in response […]
From the downfall of the European Union to the end of capitalism, grand political theories of a post-pandemic world loom large. These are times where talk of watersheds and historic shifts suddenly can’t be brushed away as mere sensationalism. Yet rather than trying to identify what will change, it may be more useful to gauge […]
Welcome to Tuesday, where at least 23 die in a Mexico city metro accident, Bill & Melinda are splitting up and Japan spends COVID relief money on a giant squid statue. Les Echos also tells us about the pandemic-linked spike in anosmia cases, a.k.a. “smell blindness’ and the impact on France’s renowned wine tasters. • […]
Forced confinement may be necessary to combat COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean people should blindly accept every order and decree.
Welcome to Monday, where Modi loses a key state after COVID backlash, a different cryptocurrency record is broken and the ancient Colosseum gets a high-tech remodeling. Warsaw-based daily Gazeta Wyborcza also looks at how Poland’s long-time right-wing leader Jarosław Kaczyńsk may be losing his grip on power. • Modi’s ruling party loses key state amid […]
Vietnam and Slovakia are among those that have stood out in the response, though the apparent reasons vary.
Japan’s notorious yakuza — “gangsters’ — have displayed (in addition to their trademark tattoos) a peculiar sense of civic duty in the face of past natural disasters, having donated money to victims of the Kobe earthquake in 1995 and the 2011 Fukushima tsunami. Now, Japanese news site News Postseven reports that yakuza bosses are publicly […]
CAIRO — Like many other laborers, delivery workers are not able to practice social distancing during the novel coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the service they provide helps protect customers — largely middle and upper-class citizens — by keeping those people out of busy shops where they might come in contact wth the illness. […]
Welcome to Friday, where dozens die in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel, Brazil’s COVID death toll surpasses 400,000 and an owl-like bird is crowned Instagram influencer. We also look at how a Taiwanese oenologist is working to turn his country into a tropical wine terroir. • Dozens killed at Israeli religious festival […]
The novel coronavirus has raced around the world, shutting down entire societies and ravaging national economies along the way. Now, as national and regional governments apply stimulus plans and offer emergency aid, some everyday people and quickly assembled groups are doing what they can to save local businesses and try to jumpstart the economy on […]
Welcome to Thursday, where Biden lays out his vision for America, Northern Ireland leader quits over Brexit and a Navalny mural appears in Saint Petersburg (as he appears gaunt in a remote court hearing). We also turn to Germany, where Die Welt sounds the alarm about the male infertility crisis afflicting the Western world. • […]
The imposition of quarantine and self-isolation has hit migrant workers hardest of all. They have nothing to live on in Russia but have no way of returning home.
The Japanese archipelago Okinawa is both a popular travel destination and home to the highest ratio of very old people. That makes it particularly vulnerable to coronavirus.
The ongoing lockdown in Italy has put Marco Rovello face-to-face with the balancing act that his wife pulls off every day between working a job and running a household. Yes, COVID-19 has forced teleworking couples into suddenly sharing the same “home-office,” daily rhythms and — ideally — a fair share of family chores and parenting […]
Welcome to Wednesday, where India’s COVID death toll surpasses 200,000, two Spanish journalists are killed and Citizen Kane loses to a marmalade-loving bear in a hat. From the West Indies, Le Monde“s Jean-Michel Hauteville also looks at the controversial legacy of French national hero Napoleon Bonaparte. • India’s death toll tops 200,000. U.S. eases mask […]
As the coronavirus has spread across the world, so too have an array of fake remedies and cures that promise to protect people. Social media have been flooded with claims about foods, products and other assorted concoctions that can allegedly cure or prevent the virus. Up to the point that the World Health Organization had […]
As governments now brace themselves to begin a tightrope walk between saving lives and saving their hemorrhaging economies, one thing is certain: No decision will lead to a perfect outcome. National leaders must quickly pivot from a posture of disaster relief to satisfying often contradictory demands from their populations as the pandemic’s rally-around-the-flag effect starts […]
Cuba could repay part of its $2 billion of debts to Argentina by sending some of its renowned medics to treat coronavirus patients in the Buenos Aires province.
In a number of countries around the world, the pandemic pulled the plug on street protests. But demonstrators have been quick to find digital alternatives.
Welcome to Monday, where India reels from COVID surge, at least 82 die in Iraq hospital fire, and the Academy Awards go to … We also have Le Monde reporting from Azerbaijan about allegations that the government is using a new, more intrusive form of scare tactics. [rebelmouse-image 27046599 original_size=”600×200″ expand=1] [rebelmouse-image 27046614 original_size=”394×47″ expand=1] • India’s coronavirus situation worsens: Several nations have pledged to send urgent medical aid to India, where COVID-19 appears to be spiraling out of control. The country hit another record for the fifth day in a row, rising to 352,991. Political tensions are also growing […]
Our Slovenian writer’s bygone trip through a China still not plugged into the global economy reveals some clues for how the pandemic has brought us to this point.
With a large chunk of the world’s population forced still to stay at home, local communities and entire nations are recording steep drops in overall crime rates. Burglars are generally less likely to prey on a home that’s occupied, and most theft and assault hotspots such as sporting venues and pubs are shuttered. Still, it’s […]
Are we “at war” with COVID-19? That’s what we might believe from a quick tour of the planet’s most powerful leaders, from the presidents of the United States and France to the director general of the World Health Organization to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who declared that we are in the middle of “a […]
Taiwan has once again upgraded its so-called Name-Based Mask Distribution System.
French super chef Philippe Etchebest was simply describing reality when he called coronavirus a “national nightmare” in a recent article published by La Croix. He was referring specifically to France’s shutdown restaurant owners and workers, but the metaphor can also describe the collective, surreal sense of uncertainty and fear currently permeating the world’s subconscious like […]
People around the world have been rushing out to buy ‘essential’ products, a concept that varies from culture to culture.
It’s tempting to imagine the pandemic as a turning point. The thing that undoes the EU, perhaps, or challenges the capitalist hegemony. But that may just be wishful thinking.
We’ve heard repeatedly the past two months that the coming economic crisis only compares to the rubble after World War II. It would then follow that leaders would look to the Marshall Plan as a model for economic revitalization. That is indeed the reference for European Commission chief Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, who added […]
Are some countries better at following rules than others? The U.S. is making global headlines as gun-wielding citizens from Michigan to D.C. take to the streets to show their disdain for mandatory confinement. Those Americans abiding by the lockdown rules will quickly tell you that this defiance is flamed by Donald Trump’s leadership-by-chaos presidency, as […]
The pandemic has been an eye-opener for the world’s urban centers, and could be an opportunity to make lasting changes.
Shortage of masks and respirators, lack of hospital space, muddled government action: inadequate responses to the COVID-19 outbreak are evident even in the world’s most stable countries. So what happens when the virus arrives in places already under the weight of war? Yemen: Given the ongoing stalemate, many had hoped Saudi Arabia would take the […]
The COVID-19 outbreak is a scourge like no other, but not because of the dangers that this particular pathogen presents.
The insidious path of COVID-19 across the planet reminds us how small the world has become. Worldcrunch is delivering a daily update on this crisis from the best, most trusted international news sources — regardless of language or geography. To receive the daily Coronavirus global brief in your inbox, sign up here. SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S BOGUS […]
Sweden’s lax regulation during the coronavirus crisis continues to perplex the outside world. From Italy, one of the hardest hit countries and the first in Europe to impose strick lockdown measures, this is how the contrast with Sweden looks: “We’re inside our homes and they’re not. Our schools are closed and theirs stayed open. We […]
The coronavirus plague has blatantly conveyed the reality, for better or worse, of a single, globalized space. When the pandemic dies down, expect new socio-cultural dynamics, and a redefinition of the state’s role.