Worldcrunch
With a final decision looming, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has reversed his longstanding opposition to using instant replay to help referees. But other soccer officials oppose the idea, like UEFA President Michel Platini and German legend Franz Beckenbaur
UK unemployment rose by 128,000 in the three months to October to 2.64 million, the highest level since 1994, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Prospects for a year-end congressional compromise on key tax and spending legislation grew more complicated, as the Republican House passed a controversial version of a payroll tax cut extension despite a veto threat from the White House.
Police in Belgium have found a woman’s body in a shed belonging to the gunman who went on a rampage in the center of Liege on Tuesday.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie TUNISIA TURNS PAGENewly sworn-in Tunisian President Monsef al-Marzouki said his primary task is “building the republic into a pluralistic democracy and tolerant society.” The challenges ahead are due largely to the “enormous devastation left by dictatorship,” with Marzouki pledging to strive for the “development […]
Before Afghanistan descended into civil war, a French geologist collected massive data on the country’s mining resources. His findings, recently rediscovered, could unlock huge wealth in the troubled nation. But look who’s already busy exploiting it…
From the Philippines to Mexico, things like extreme poverty, topography and security problems often make traditional banking a serious challenge. Global cell phone penetration, however, has opened up a new option: mobile banking.
A group of German sales reps have been caught with their pants down – so to speak – following revelations that they “had contact” with prostitutes during an incentive trip to Brazil. The scandal follows a similar story involving sales reps who behaved bad
Russian billionaire and New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has thrown his hat in the ring for next spring’s presidential election. Is it the most serious challenge to Vladimir Putin’s cake walk back to the Kremlin or a bit of Russia
A permanent alcohol ban went into effect Sunday for the S-Bahn, Munich’s subway system. The night before, thousands turned up for one last binge. Reporter Marco Marco Völklein shares his notes on this most unusual of underground parties.
Op-Ed: Britain’s Tories are elated over David Cameron’s recent E.U. Summit veto. On closer examination, however, the prime minister’s move may not be as “heroic” as they and the country’s conservative newspapers insist – especially if it causes a rupture
Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations rejected the world body’s estimate that 5,000 people have died in an uprising against the government, calling the allegation “incredible.”
Two U.S. Army helicopters crashed during training exercises at a Washington state military base, killing four aviators on board, the base said in a statement.
Iran’s defense minister, Ahmad Vahidi, shrugged off a U.S. request for the return of an American spy drone captured by Iranian armed forces and instead demands an apology from Washington.
Michele Zagaria’s arrest was hailed by Italian law enforcement as a key victory in the war against the Camorra crime syndicate in and around the southern city of Naples. But in the small town where Zagaria had been sheltered, his arrest means les
Analysis: As Japan tries to regain its late 20th century prowess in cultural exports, it should look next door to the steamrolling Chinese economy: both as a market and an industrial resource. A soft-power plan to conquer the world.
An Italian religious studies teacher has been suspended for depicting the Apocalypse so vividly that it shocked an elementary school girl to tears. The teacher wrote to the Pope, who has sent her an encouraging response.
The fight against addiction may have a powerful new weapon. Rehab will rid your body of addictive substances and teach you how to live without drugs, but temptation remains. What if you could forget ever having taken cocaine?
Fifteen al-Qaeda militants have broken out of a prison in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, officials have said. The militants escaped through a six metre tunnel dug from the yard at the city’s central prison.
Panama’s ex-leader Manuel Noriega has been extradited back to his home country from France and taken straight to prison.
A shaky Monday opening in Asia and Europe as skeptical investors assessed a new European fiscal pact aimed at fixing the continent’s debt crisis and preventing a breakup of the euro currency bloc.
Indian real estate mogul D.S. Kulkarni has built a state-of-the-art digital graphics campus from scratch in Pune, India. The educational impetus is provided by a French computer graphics university – a relationship light years indeed from old English colo
Essay: He Jianchao, director of the Daming Palace Bureau, is leading efforts to restore the remains of the imperial city of the Tang Dynasty. His response to criticism about the quality of the restoration might be funny — if it weren’t for the h
Op-Ed: To save the euro, the struggling southern countries must tighten their belts and modernize their economies. But the northern euro zone must change too. If Germany jacked up salaries rather than sitting on its export success, it might just set off a
Analysis: Long shut out from ruling, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood achieved success in parliamentary elections that exceeded even their own expectations. But they must now navigate between potential extremism of Salafists and liberal forces’
Police in France are tracking a rash of rhinoceros horn robberies. The latest Hollywood-like heist took place earlier this week in Paris. Why rhino horns? Among other values, they are prized in Asia for their supposed medicinal properties.
Elio Di Rupo’s arrival as Prime Minister ends more than 500 days of political gridlock in Belgium, which saw threats of the country splitting in two. But Di Rupo, the last of seven children of poor Italian immigrants, has his own dramatic story to tell.
Italy is in hot water with EU authorities over its insistence that chocolate be classified as “pure” or “less pure” depending on its vegetable fat content. According to the European Commission, chocolate is chocolate – and should be labeled as such.
SchülerVZ, a youth portal, has introduced a new app for young school children to rate their peers. While the company says it’s safe and fun, some experts and parents say it encourages the worst kind of child social pressures that can have lasting conseque
Filmmaker Stanislav Govorukhin, who has also served for six years in Parliament, has been plucked to lead Putin’s campaign to return to the Russian presidency. It may be an attempt by Putin to shine a tarnished image. But who will really be pulli
We already knew that stress, alcohol, coffee and mental disorders could affect the quality and duration of our sleep. Research now suggests that genes play a role as well. European scientists recently isolated a gene that may affect a person’s ni
Republicans and Democrats determined to look tough on Iran and avoid any election-year challenges to their pro-Israel bona fides are rebuffing Obama administration pleas to ease proposed penalties on Iran’s central bank.
Most EU members have agreed to a tax and budget pact to tackle the eurozone debt crisis, but a German and French attempt to get all 27 EU states to back changes to the union’s treaties was dropped after objections from the UK.
The death toll at the Amri Hospital has risen to 73. 70 patients and three hospital staffers were among those killed at the multistoreyed private hospital which turned into a towering inferno in the early hours of the morning.
A Spanish university and Catholic clergy in Cuba have joined forces to help train Cuba’s business leaders of the future — even if ‘What Future?’ remains a looming question as regulations still restrict free enterprise from bloo
For years, Tzaphira Stern Assala kept the curtains of her Jerusalem dance studio closed to avoid offending the neighborhood’s Ultra-Orthodox Jews. Not anymore. Fed up with Ultra-Orthodox efforts to keep women out of public life, the studio is suddenly giv
Analysis: A very public U.S. air pollution monitor has become central in the debate over Beijing’s air quality. But China is so far from facing its environmental crisis that it doesn’t even use the latest standard means for measuring smo
Banana Republic is sparing no expense for Thursday’s grand opening along the Champs-Élysées, where big-name apparel companies now occupy close to 50% of the highly coveted real estate. That’s in part because few others can afford the chic avenue’s sky hig
Chinese police have busted two child-trafficking rings after a six-month nationwide investigation, rescuing 178 children and arresting 608 suspects, the country’s Ministry of Public Security announced.
The Somali capital, Mogadishu, has been hit by some of the fiercest fighting in the city in months, in what is seen as a major setback for the government.