Worldcrunch
Right now, with the 70th edition of the annual Film Festival underway, those 24 iconic steps of the Grand Auditorium in Cannes are strictly off-limits to the general public. Just a few days before the 60th edition, the carpet was still blue and anyone could proudly mount those steps in whatever off-the-rack outfit they might […]
Germany was once considered the world’s pharmacy. Venerable companies such as Bayer and Höchst were market leaders. Now, distribution of production is global, and that means the black market puts lives at risk.
BANGKOK — Three years ago, on May 22, 2014, members of parliament gathered to find a solution to Thailand’s political crisis. But the politicians were swiftly captured by the army, and sent to military camps. The country’s democratically elected government was overthrown in a military coup, and the coup’s leader, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, declared that military rule was necessary to put a lid on escalating political turmoil before it boiled over. He said it would be brief, just enough to ensure stability and order. “We will return to you your happiness,” the general said, and citizens would be able to […]
With Brexit woes dominating the UK and the fresh air of Macron’s victory in France, capitalistic economics in Europe may be turned on its head.
Even as Brazil’s current president Michel Temer is facing corruption allegations, his nemesis and former president Lula was in court last week on bribery charges that he aims to use as a weapon in a possible return to power.
SEATTLE — Strolling through the bustling construction zone of Amazon’s urban campus in Seattle, you instantly recognize the charm offensive the company has aimed at its hometown. “Banistas’ at two outdoor stands offer bananas to employees and passers-by — a visual cue to Amazon’s smiley logo. Most American cities would do back flips to have a jobs juggernaut like Amazon.com Inc. in their midst. After all, the company will soon fill more than 10 million square feet of office space in a place where it now employs more than 30,000 people. But Seattle is not like other places. Locals resent […]
BUENOS AIRES — Lucía Cabrera was as frightened as she was annoyed. The 25-year-old physical education student had dealt with catcalling before. But in this case, the taxi driver hollering comments also followed her — for more than a block. Luckily she ran into a police officer and decided, for the first time in her life, to register a complaint. “I just wanted to report the situation,” Cabrera told the Argentine daily Clarín. “At first, I thought it wouldn’t amount to much,” Cabrera said. Mostly she just wanted to send the taxi driver a message; let him know that something […]
JERUSALEM — In front of Zion Gate in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, just a short walk from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, lies a soccer pitch. Standing on the field, nestled beside an Armenian church, you can see the city walls and the rising minarets of mosques. This pitch and […]
PARIS — In the final days of the recent French presidential campaign, one confrontation looked like it might turn the tables in favor of underdog Marine Le Pen. Angry workers facing the closing of a Whirlpool plant in the northern city of Amiens cursed and whistled at visiting frontrunner Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of being […]
The banks of the Neva River in Saint Petersburg were glistening like gold during this beautiful summer sunset. You can see the extra shine in Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, which may be because its dome is plated with pure gold. See more sides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
-Analysis- LA PAZ — As it stands now, half of Latin America’s power is generated by hydroelectricity, an energy source that is also of vital importance worldwide, producing more electricity than all renewables combined. Hydropower is especially beneficial for countries that depend on global commodity prices — particularly with regards to oil, natural gas and […]
VILLA UKIKA — Just outside of Puerto Williams, the world’s southernmost city, lives an extraordinary woman. This far-flung outpost on Chile’s Tierra del Fuego, across the Straight of Magellan, is quiet literally at the end of the earth. And at 89, Cristina Calderón is nearing the end of her life — when she will take […]
-Analysis- For the past 36 hours, Washington has been consumed by a pair of scandals that even eternally moderate commentators now say has spread the whiff of possible doom around the Trump presidency. On Monday it was the Washington Post that revealed that Donald Trump had divulged classified counter-terrorism information last week to Russia, potentially […]
MADRID — As a freelancer without a fixed salary, I’m rather desperate to buy a studio apartment, something to help ground me in these turbulent times and provide at least some measure of financial security. So far my search has focused on two places: Mexico City and Madrid. The former has a well-established reputation for […]
-OpEd- WASHINGTON — Ten days ago, Donald Trump’s rocky presidency was in relatively calm waters. He’d helped push a health-care bill through the House and was spending the weekend at his Trump-brand property in Bedminster, N.J. After that, the deluge: Sally Yates’s testimony on Capitol Hill, the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, the private meeting with Russia’s foreign minister, the revelation that the Comey firing was spurred at least partly by the Russia investigation, the threat to release tapes of his conversation with Comey and, on Monday, The Washington Post”s revelation that Trump had shared classified information with […]
BEIJING — Two events this spring, seemingly unrelated, together offer a snapshot of where China has arrived in finance-related technology, commonly referred to as “fintech.” On April 17, the Bank of Communications, one of the largest Chinese banks, launched a new “mobile credit card” product, making it the first bank to make a credit card’s […]
That’s no gator — this here is Captain Nemo’s mighty Nautilus, born from French 19th-century author Jules Verne“s imagination. About as soon as I learned to read, I’d immerse myself in Captain Nemo’s adventures aboard this futuristic submarine, in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island. Later, when I was in high […]
-Analysis- Last week, just a day after the abrupt dismissal of FBI Director James B. Comey set off the worst round of criticism Donald Trump’s young presidency, the next — and perhaps even more damaging — controversy was being ignited. The Washington Post is reporting that Trump allegedly revealed highly classified information to Russian Foreign […]
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with U.S. President Donald Trump, mutual objectives may be overshadowed by the Kurdish question.
A Syrian family granted asylum in Argentina has opted to go back home in spite of its calamitous state of their hometown of Aleppo. But things seemed even worse in Cordoba.
-Analysis- Some new presidents wait three months until they make their first overseas trip. Not Emmanuel Macron. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, the freshly-elected, 39-year-old French president headed to Berlin today, just 24 hours after his inauguration. A stronger, more united Europe sits at the top of Macron’s […]
CATANIA — On the horizon, the Libyan coast is still visible — perhaps it’s the area around Zuwarah along the border with Tunisia — suggesting that the small wooden boat carrying migrants across the Mediterranean departed in plain daylight. Compared to the decrepit inflatable dinghies that often sink in these waters, this one is barely […]
Orient Research Centre associate Zeina Yagan discusses one of the many dilemmas that has emerged for Syrians during the conflict: How does one bridge the deep, sometimes emotionally charged, divides in the Syrian community?
President Trump’s hard line on immigration is spurring a surge of high-tech investment, as farmers scramble for new ways of coping with labor shortages and slumping profits.
In the second installment of a new series of articles to get to better know journalists and journalism around the world, Worldcrunch spoke to Anna Masera, public editor of top Italian daily La Stampa, about the differences between Donald Trump and Silvio Berlusconi, foreign media’s focus on the pope and engaging with citizens via social […]
The Venezuelan president’s calls for a constitutional overhaul suggest a possible first step toward the ‘corporatist’ policy forged by 20th century rulers like Castro in Cuba, Francisco Franco in Spain and Italy’s Benito Mussolini.
PESHAWAR — Ayesha Rahmat, a 31-year-old mother of five, lives in a small, two-room house with an open kitchen in this northern Pakistani city. The smell of the bathroom cuts through the air. Ayesha has four daughters and a son, but her husband of more than 20 years, Rahmat Khan, is gone — Ayesha says his absence has left her in a desperate situation. “I have stopped taking my medicine as I don’t have money to buy it,” Ayesha said. “My children have only eaten one meal a day for the last month. We have not paid utility bills. The […]
France’s incoming First Lady is 24 years older than Emmanuel Macron, her husband and former drama student. How this unusual presidential couple is rewriting the rules of French politics.
Language, Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “is the blood of the soul.” When there is more than one language on the same land, it can also becomes a prime source of conflict. On Sunday, an Israeli government cabinet committee approved the wording of a nation-state bill that, among other things, would downgrade the status of Arabic, […]
O Globo, May 11, 2017 Brazil is riveted by the highly anticipated appearance of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to defend himself against charges in one of the largest corruption scheme cases in the country. On Thursday’s front page, Rio-based daily O Globo shows the 71-year-old appearing for the first time at the […]
Sadly, the wall-sized master work says as much about the world’s current horrors as it did about the first-ever air raid on civilians 80 years ago.
There are Hindu deities everywhere you look along the streets of the Nepalese capital. Here, wood-carved figures of Shiva and Parvati keep an eye on Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. Notice Shiva’s strategically placed left hand. See mores slides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
Macron seemed to save the EU all on his own with his bold pro-European victory over Le Pen. But he needs Germany to make a stronger Europe a reality. And Angela Merkel has her own elections to worry about now.
A decades-old argument might just have been settled: Modern “mixed martial arts’ fighter vs. Tai Chi master — who wins?” In a recently filmed fight, Xu Xiaodong, a Beijing-based mixed martial arts freestyle coach, duked it out with Wei Lei, a famous Tai Chi master from Sichuan. It took less than 20 seconds for Xu […]
The hijab still makes Western societies squirm. Passing someone wearing the Islamic headscarf is too often seen as proof that Muslim women are “docile, oppressed, silenced,” notes Hend Amry, a practicing Muslim and activist who writes about why she wears a hijab. But, for better or worse, things are changing. Entire new lines of products […]
PARIS — He wanted to be a writer. He’ll be president of the French Republic instead — what a tale to tell! The story of a young advisor to the king who, taken aback by his master’s powerlessness, somehow decides to replace him and try and conquer the Elysée palace, alone against the world, overcoming […]
High crosses like this one were a regular feature along the road whenever we drove through the Celtic areas of Europe — like Brittany, Wales, or here in Cornwall. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World.
A party is united behind an aging New York playboy with no fixed principles but an insatiable urge to be on the front page every single day.
BEIJING — At the just concluded Beijing International Film Festival, the hottest feature on the bill was the business battle between Chinese and American film industries. The Fate of the Furious, a Hollywood blockbuster, has grossed 2.35 billion RMB ($340 million) since its release two weeks ago in China, and it is projected to become […]
Emmanuel Macron’s victory halts the blind assault against globalization, at least in Europe, if not the rest of the world. But the battle is far from over.