Worldcrunch
BAGHDAD — Her hands, covered in magnesium carbonate for a better grip, are white. Her face is flush. Her gaze fixed. Huda Salem, 20, exhales loudly — twice — into the already sweat-saturated air. Her face contorts. Then, a shout as she lifts 70 kilos of cast iron. Behind the young woman’s massive, muscular figure, […]
The Church and the Army are classic settings where hierarchies help commanders accumulate power. And then, what do they do with it?
Like so many people from gang-plagued Central America, Brayan sought safety by leaving home, even if it mean leaving his beloved mother behind.
ROCKVILLE — Her mom always smiled — except when the family made its annual summer drive to visit the grandparents in Magnolia, Arkansas. “The smiles were gone while we were traveling,” said Gloria Gardner, 77. It was the 1940s, and traveling to her parents’ hometown was not approached lightly after the family moved to Muskegon, Michigan, during the Great Migration. Stopping for food or bathroom breaks was mostly out of the question. For black families, preparing for a road trip required a well-tested battle plan in which nothing could be left to chance. There were meals to cook and pack […]
RIO DE JANEIRO — Every night at around 9 o’clock, Fabiana Escobar sits down in front of the TV and watches her life play out on the small screen: whether the police haul her away or her husband cheats on her again; how she beats up his lover; how the cocaine goes out and the […]
Mauritius has developed a certain fascination for the craft of ship modeling. In the island’s massive-miniature workshop, some 3,000 people make sure that every tiny detail, from mast to hull, is faithful to the original vessel of the past.
There are still plenty in the European Union taking a hardline against the Kremlin. But a counter bloc is emerging from the corridors of the European Parliament.
A court has upheld corruption charges against the former Brazilian president. Will it stop him from seeking to return to the presidency? He may get support from some surprising places.
Already a victim of organized crime and drug trafficking, Naples is now also facing wanton violence from disillusioned youth.
LAUSANNE — A few decades from now, that steaming cup of coffee you enjoy (and rely on) every morning won’t taste the same. Climate change, a multitude of alarming forecasts tell us, is threatening the precious bean, prompting researchers and industrialists alike to work on ways to make the plant more adaptable. The trick is […]
Like it or not, some people are smarter than others. And pretty soon, robots will be smarter than all of us. We can ignore all of that, or start using brain sciences to level the playing field.
Neither Mormon, nor Amish — just some actors bringing 19th Acadia back to life in the open-air museum of Village Historique Acadien in Canada’s New Brunswick.
The war in Syria has transformed the place women hold in the workforce, providing opportunities previously reserved for men.
A pig farm outside Buenos Aires is a carefully planned, self-sustaining and multidimensional business that shows how Argentina stays ahead in the competitive world of food production.
When the masses descend upon snow-covered Davos for the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering, Esther Heldstab is determined to swim against the tide. The purveyor of tourist mementos on the town’s main street is one of the few shopkeepers who won’t hand over their keys to multinational conglomerates who transform shoe stores and bakeries into lounges and cocktail party space for the week. While the likes of Zurich Insurance, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank take over prime space on Promenade, Heldstab and her sister who run Swissalp Fantasy at no. 79 — where the window display features a stuffed Bernese […]
PARIS — Ever heard of the Fermi paradox? In 1950, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Enrico Fermi, the famed Italian physicist and father of the first nuclear reactor, estimated the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way, based on the number of stars in our galaxy with a planetary system gravitating […]
GENEVA — His video, “I’m testing a blackhead vacuum,” has more than 200,000 views. The one entitled, “Baldness: my hair transplant” has been seen at least 440,000 times. But his bestseller remains “How to have a beautiful, well-trimmed beard,” with more than 800,000 views. Since he created his YouTube channel, The Winslegue Tutorials, two and […]
The authoritarian and religious men leading Saudi Arabia, Iran and India are using women’s rights progress for purposes other than helping women.
-OpEd- PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced his determination to take on so-called fake news, false pieces of information that are published in the media to reinforce a political agenda or a school of thought, can mislead public opinion, and can even change the way people vote. Macron has talked of controlling the […]
Countries like France and Spain, already known for their inhabitants’ longevity, needed three times as long as Brazil to double their percentage of older population.
TURIN — From vacuum-cleaner robots that clean your house all by themselves to virtual assistants that can keep track of every appointment in your work agenda to self-driving cars that will soon be circulating on the streets of our cities: One of the most important applications of Artificial Intelligence is the ability to make our […]
Colombian cultural officials have been busy trying to recover an ancient burial treasure displayed in a Madrid museum.
At first glance, it looks as though leaders of the world’s most powerful countries learned the lesson from the 1930s: Closing the borders is harmful. But in reality, protectionism has taken on new forms.
-Analysis- The unlikely rapprochement between the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia, orchestrated by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, seems to be a response to the rise of the Iran-Russia coalition. In this game of chess, the American decision to choose Jerusalem as the Israeli capital offers an interesting opening. This face-off between the four oil-giants […]
POZNAN — We’re in an old bar mleczny, a so-called “milk bar,” a gastronomic remnant from Soviet times where workers could get fed for very little. The lunch at this dining spot, situated in the central city of Poznan, will capture the essence of what would be a two-week trip around Poland. Mind you, this […]
As the world moves to reduce the role of hydrocarbons, Argentina must exploit the biofuels potential of its vast farming sector, not entertain dreams of becoming a regional oil power like Venezuela.
Egypt’s St. Catherine’s Monastery holds a treasure trove of ancient texts. But spectral imaging technology shows there’s even more there than meets the eye.
Our first and only visit to South Africa was three years after the end of Apartheid. In Durban, we stayed in five-star style at The Royal, the city’s oldest hotel, which first opened in 1845.
PUERTO CHIAPAS — In the small Mexican fishing harbor of Puerto Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, drug trafficking boats aren’t that uncommon a sight. At first glance, they look like like regular fishing boats. What sets them apart are the state-of-the-art motors. Chiapas state is one of the most peaceful in Mexico, and Puerto […]
The historian and sociologist Georges Vigarello recounts the evolution of the dress, which tells the story of female representation and liberation in society.
The attachment to autocracy prevails over the current appreciation of the state of democracy. Still tottering, to be sure.
WAGAH — Here at the India-Pakistan border, thousands of men, women and children have gathered to watch a stunning ritual: On either side of the border, military march back and forth, as music roars and crowds cheer. Known either as the Wagah border ceremony, the lowering of the flags, or “Beating Retreat” ceremony, the ritual has been performed every day since 1959, as flags are lowered around sunset. “Summer, winter or in any kind of storm, whatever the weather or political conditions, the parade doesn’t stop,” said Sumer Singh, former Deputy Inspector General of India’s Border Security Force (BSF). The […]
The Afro-Caribbean village of El Paraíso is seeking reparations as it tries to put itself back together after decades of being caught in crossfire of Colombia’s civil war.
Recently opened to visitors, the ‘816 Nuclear Military Plant’ in Fuling takes visitors back in time, to the height of the Cold War. It also brings to mind the current nuclear ambitions of China’s provocative neighbor, North Korea.
The many ways your iPhone or Android, and their apps, are built to hook you like a drug user. The UX (user experience) designers are confessing to their sins.
Safe from the disapproving eyes of their families, women writers gather secretly in Jalalabad to immerse themselves in poetry.
My daughter Cécile has a troubling history of playing with archeological treasures. Though in her defense, at the time tourists were allowed to roam freely among the ruins of Ostia, the harbor city of ancient Rome.
Lai Wei’e wants to stay by the side her Chinese human rights advocate husband, Liu Yao, who was recently condemned to a 20-year prison sentence.
Some 100 prominent French women artists and intellectuals have issued an open letter in Le Monde condemning the movement to call out inappropriate male behavior that erupted in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
-Analysis- PARIS — Remember conspiracy theories? There was a time, not so long ago, when we used to worry about how the internet encourages the proliferation of crackpot versions of what “really happened” on 9/11 or circulated “the ultimate proof” that Moon landings were actually staged in a television studio. Nowadays, a website hocking a […]