Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accuses the United States of stirring up protests against his 12-year rule and says foreign countries are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence Russian elections.
Author: Worldcrunch
Op-ed: America’s two major political parties have become monolithic combat units with no sense of measure and little interest in compromise. One foreign observer says the only way to grease the frozen gears of the U.S. political machine is with a clear th
Tibetan refugees continue to brave harrowing journeys across the Himalayas to Nepal and beyond. Back home Chinese repression has triggered a new wave of self-immolations. But in Nepal too, “pressure from China is visible,” says one Tibetan refugee.
More so than elsewhere in Indonesia, the world’s largest Islamic nation, the province of Aceh adheres to the strict precepts of Sharia law. If caught by the religious police, residents face public flogging and prison. Still, the rich have ways ar
Colombia, already the fourth-largest oil producer in Latin America, is hoping to reach the million-barrel-a-day mark by Christmas. The holiday wish may come true, but there are still major obstacles in Colombia’s path to oil riches.
The first ever Sino-German car is being launched in China by Daimler, but won’t be a Mercedes brand. As a foreign business, Daimler had to pick a Chinese partner to launch the all-electric auto, opting for BYD (Build Your Dreams), the world’s lar
Following his United Russia’s narrow parliamentary victory, Putin responds to allegations of voter fraud, which have led to demonstrations and hundreds of arrests. Amongst party loyalists, the Russian leader stands his ground with a mix of imperi
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie SYRIA: DEFINE DISOBEDIENCEThe Syrian New Media group has posted a primer to explain to Syrians the meaning of the term “civil disobedience.” The first of multiple installments, the two-and-a-half minute clip explains that any country is comprised of a regime, the people and the […]
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Muslim Brotherhood Claims Win in Egypt
The Muslim Brotherhood says it has won 34 seats in Egypt’s most recent elections, out of 56 seats that were up for grabs.
The Australian was convicted of blasphemy while doing the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, and is facing 500 lashes and one year in prison.
President Asif Ali Zardari is undergoing treatment for a minor heart attack in a Dubai hospital, according to a hospital source.
One middle manager takes us inside an all-too-common practice: public offices that must spend their annual funding increasingly turn to travel agencies to set up all-expense-paid vacations for the whole staff. And of course, the big bosses get extra speci
From China’s Weiwei to the Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda al-Mahdi, people are again busy using their naked bodies as a way to challenge authority and demand rights. Even in today’s much more sexualized world, public nudity continues to be a powerful form o
Op-Ed: The military’s recent decision to appoint Kamal al-Ganzouri as prime minister is the latest bad sign from Egypt’s ruling class. Ganzouri, who already served under Mubarak, is the wrong choice at a time when citizens are clamoring
Going vegan may be a healthy choice, but it’s not an easy one, particularly when it comes to squinting at labels to ferret out the animal byproducts hidden within. But in Berlin, at least, vegan shopping just got a lot easier thanks to Veganz, a pioneer s
Essay: The West traces its origins to Greece and its Mediterranean neighbors. The region’s history and traditions continue to inspire, even as developments there warn us against taking capitalism and its social benefits too far.
News that Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won 53% of the seats in parliamentary elections sparked protests in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. Unsure they can sustain a mass movement now, organizers have their sights set on Putin’s upcoming r
European stocks dropped following Standard & Poor ‘s threat to downgrade 15 Euro zone countries.
In another step toward finding Earth-like planets that may hold life, NASA said that the Kepler space telescope has confirmed its first-ever planet in a habitable zone outside our solar system.
At least 58 people are dead after explosions hit the Afghan cities of Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif on the Shiite holy day of Ashura, officials say.
Inheritance can provide a nest egg for children of the deceased. But increasingly in France, deceased parents leave a mountain of debt to children who can’t afford to pay it off. A sign of both economic hard times and shifting demographics.
Op-Ed: Examples abound of Latin American first ladies trying to succeed their husbands as president. That’s not a good thing. “Family presidencies” represent a step backward for a region whose executive branches already have too much power.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia won slightly less than 50% of the vote in the State Duma elections, which coincided with an unprecedented series of threats against media and hacker episodes against websites of many liberal outlets,
Throughout the euro zone, banks are quietly hemorrhaging money as nervous clients seek safer havens for their cash. Some large companies deposit directly with the European Central Bank. Other clients are looking north, to the presumably more secure Scandi
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Syria says ready to sign Arab League deal
Syria has responded “positively” to a proposed Arab League plan aimed at ending eight months of violence, and expects the agreement to be signed soon, says Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdesi.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted permission to apply to England’s Supreme Court in a final attempt to block his extradition to Sweden over rape allegations.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s party saw its majority in Russia’s parliament weaken sharply, according to preliminary election results released Monday, a humiliating setback for the man who has steadily tightened his grip on the nation
In France, a controversial new decree is wreaking havoc among foreign-born francophone students who arrived looking to enter the global elite via the country’s top universities. Now that they have their degrees, they are being told to leave. Is t
Many Kosovar Serbs would rather throw their lot in with Russia than with the European Union, which is currently considering Kosovo’s request for membership. Thousands have requested Russian citizenship, saying it would protect them from ethnic Al
By acting more like its American counterpart, the European Central Bank (ECB) can help calm the continent’s shaky markets. But don’t expect it to “solve” the crisis – at least not without cooperation from Europe’s stingy commercial banks.
Peter Priller was a Catholic town chaplain in Germany until he fell in love with a male parishioner, and was subsequently excommunicated. Though many closeted gay Catholic priests live in “secret societies,” Priller says there are other choices.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says he’s cancer-free and ready to rule another 20 years. But others say there’s reason to question both his health and political future. If cancer doesn’t end his presidency, next year’s October election may.
The Italian Jewish author and scientist lived through the worst that mankind has wrought. Now his name lives on beyond his work, and beyond the earth, in a 17-km-wide celestial body — discovered in 1989 — that has now officially been named planet Primol
Europe is threatening stiffer sanctions on Iran following a recent attack by students on the British Embassy in Tehran. Diplomacy remains the strategy of choice for the Europeans, but at least one German lawmaker isn’t ruling out military intervention.
One of the many unusual chapters of the Republican candidate’s biography was a four-year stint in France as a teenager. But will the brainy but flawed presidential candidate, now surging in the polls, wind up more of a de Gaulle or DSK?
Under cover of darkness, Chaim Lazaros works the streets of New York City disguised as “Life,” a real life superhero with a mission to help the homeless. He’s not alone. The U.S. is now home to some 300 wannabe urban vigilantes determined to help their fe
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U.N. puts death toll at 4,000 in Syria
Syria has entered a state of civil war with more than 4,000 people dead and an increasing number of soldiers defecting from the army to fight President Bashar Assad’s regime, according to the U.N.’s top human rights official.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued her visit in Myanmar with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who intends to run in upcoming parliamentary elections. The secretary was to tour Suu Kyi’s home, where the activist spent
German Chancellor Angela Merkel likened solving Europe’s debt crisis to a marathon, shunning investor calls for quick action while pushing for stricter budget enforcement and overhauling the region’s governance.
Analysis: China’s decidion to donate 23 school buses to Macedonia seemed like a small, generous gesture. But it has sparked a firestorm of criticism from ordinary Chinese, still angry about a badly overcrowded school bus that crashed in rural Chi