The continent’s leaders managed to save both the monetary and political union. For now. But the lack of a long-range vision for the future leaves the European Union vulnerable to slow erosion.
Author: Worldcrunch
This coming winter may become a test for Europe’s energy supply. For European countries that have counted on importing energy from German nuclear reactors, which are now slated for closure following the Fukushima disaster, Russian gas imports gro
Analysis: A year ago President Piñera enjoyed international ‘hero’ status thanks to Chile’s widely-covered mine rescue. Major student protests now have him on the rocks. By continuing to ignore their demands, Piñera may be digging himself a deeper hole st
German automakers already use trains to roll their products to market thousands of miles away in China. Europe’s economic storm clouds are compelling other German producers to follow suit. The German National Railways is making plans for a surge in train
Munich police have raided several “studios” where prostitutes are believed to have administered powerful painkillers before performing intense sadomasochistic services. The studio cost one client 70,000 euros a year, after he became more hooked on the dru
A leading Republican presidential candidate, Perry boasts about a “Texas miracle” with the economy. A trip to the state finds some strident Democratic critics of his education policy, which they say is victim of his presidential campaign’s boasts
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Welcome To Anthropocene, Earth’s New Era
Goodbye Holocene, hello Anthropocene! The new word, used to reflect the modern age, is becoming more and more popular among the scientific community and may eventually become part of official nomenclature.
Exclusive: Pharmaceutical firm Roche offers hospitals a contract for Avastin cancer treatment where the hospital makes money whenever patients get worse. Critics warn that business models based on a medicine’s effectiveness create perilous confli
As industrial development booms along the northeast coast, stretches of waterways are being destroyed by massive pollution. Attempts to cover up the damage in Bohai Gulf failed, and both local fishermen and environmental activists are demanding better pro
So far, people in debt-laden Portugal seem to grudgingly accept austerity measures imposed by the government. That could change. Two of the country’s leading labor groups have joined forces and called for a Nov. 24 general strike. Is Portugal ready to go
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Europe Has One Last Chance
Analysis: The whole world is watching. As European leaders gather to search for a way out of the single currency zone’s debt crisis, the Old Continent risks pulling the world into recession, as a relatively strong Germany must find common ground
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SCHOOL PRAYERSFive million Saudi schoolchildren gathered to pray for the soul of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, who died over the weekend at a New York hospital. Saudi media praised the crown prince, who was also the country’s defense minister. Sultan was believed to be […]
On the scene after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Eastern Turkey on Sunday left more than 300 dead. But some are already wondering why newer, multi-story buildings collapsed, while one-and-two-story adobe structures showed no signs of damage at all.
So far this year, some 550 cars have been torched in Berlin. Police suspect left-wing political extremists for some of the attacks. But about 100 of the damaged cars may have been set off by a single down-and-out (and envious) man, who authorities call An
Russian intelligence is again being accused of using outdated Cold War-era tactics. First it was Anna Chapman, the red-headed Russian arrested last year in the United States. This time the alleged spies are a middle-aged couple operating for the past 20 y
In early 2006, Israel’s then-prime minister, Ariel Sharon, suffered a devastating stroke that ended his political career but not, as it turns out, his life. All but forgotten, Sharon is nevertheless alive, thanks to a life support system that costs the fa
Over the past few weeks, the Occupy Wall Street movement has moved to center stage in the United States, where media outlets are now swarming to the story and dissecting its every detail. But France’s Le Monde wonders whether it’s all an
In its thirst for foreign markets, Japanese brewer Kirin recently purchased a controlling share in Brazil’s second-largest beer producer. But not only did Kirin “overpay,” it also stepped unwittingly into the middle of a long-simmering family feud.
Shi Yuzhu is Chairman of Giant Interactive, one of China’s most successful online game companies. One of China’s richest men, he knows tech, understands customers, and is a genius at applying powerful marketing tactics. Still, he is no Steve Jobs
Op-Ed: Literally laughed (or at least chuckled) at by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, Italy is at a new low point. Embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may have to choose between saving his political future, or risking the economic collapse not o
Authorities find a motherlode of coins and bills at the home of a Catholic priest who worried for decades about going broke in his old age. But his own private savings meant that he never had to touch the pilfered donations.
Analysis: Bad news is that the euro zone’s crisis and Greek (and other) debts are even deeper than previously estimated. Good news is that France’s Sarkozy and Germany’s Merkel have begun to face the crisis with the honesty and
David Lynch has seared his vision across both popular and avant-garde culture. While many of his fans continue to wait for something new on big or small screen, the director stays busy in other media, including a “Works on Paper” book an
Latin America fared surprisingly well during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, thanks in part to continued demand from China for the region’s commodities. But as Europe teeters on the edge of collapse, top South American economies are much more exposed now.
As Tunisians head to the polls for the first free vote after the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ and fall of the Ben Ali regime, tribal infighting, strikes and protests are multiplying. The region of Gafsa, the hotbed of a 2008 uprising, is on the verge of chaos.
Months of protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh have sparked a heated information war in Yemen. State media blames terrorist forces for driving the country toward chaos. But the opposition has a voice too: a television station called Suhail that&am
Once bustling with tourists, the port city of Veracruz has become a new battleground for drug cartels. The arrival of the mysterious Mata-Zetas (Zeta Killers) has left hundreds dead, scared off visitors and raised questions about just how much the local g
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Suburban Sprawl Creeps Across France
France still has its attractive city centers and enchanting small towns. But popping up in between are sprawling suburbs that in some cases are even spawning ‘exurbs.’ Will the French countryside eventually be swallowed up by subdivisions?
Analysis: A violent military demise was fitting for Gaddafi who ruled that way for four decades. But the war to oust him has decimated the nation, and divisions among Gaddafi opponents create uncertainty both for Libya’s new leaders and Western p
The European Commission has drafted a major new bill to ban bankers from accepting fees and commissions on financial products they offer to customers. Investors suffered major losses in the financial crisis from risky investments that quietly earned banks
Like its competitors, the French brand must contend in China with widespread counterfeiting, which can undermine the luxury label’s good standing. Finding the niche customers who spend everything on quality remains Hermès’ long-term strategy.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie A DEATH IN LIBYA Al Jazeera broadcast footage of what appears to be a deceased Muammar Gaddafi, naked to the waist and lying in his own blood in the middle of a street in Sirte as the mosques issued the call to prayer in […]
Over the past two weeks, the Internet and mainstream media combined to make a mess of the truth on the news France was waiting for: the arrival of the baby of Carla Bruni and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. On Twitter, the ex-supermodel gave birth over
Op-Ed: A series of attacks by banned Kurdish separatist outfit PKK has left 29 Turkish security personnel dead, opening grave questions for Turkey’s future.
Since its independence nearly 50 years ago, Kenya has steered clear of war. That long peace came to an end this past weekend, when Kenyan soldiers crossed into Somalia in pursuit of al-Shabab militia. Somalia’s transitional government has apparently endor
Concerned that skilled tradespeople don’t get the respect they deserve, some in Germany are promoting the idea of a “Professional Bachelor’s” degree. For now, universities and their government allies dismiss the idea as “confusing.”
Analysis: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is heavily favored to win a second term in this Sunday’s presidential election in Argentina. But even though she’ll have a mandate to govern from the left, the recently-widowed president could end up shifting to th
Essay: Last week, in Guangdong Province, a two-year-old girl was hit by a van and a truck. As many as 18 passers-by walked or cycled away from the scene. China asks itself if the “national character” has been sapped of any sense of indiv
“I’ve never worked in my life, I won’t start now,” says Patrizia Reggiani, who has served half of a 26-year sentence for commissioning the murder of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci. She is now eligible for parole, but would rather stay in jail than join a w
Though the global momentum of the “Occupy” and “Indignados” movement has not hit Russia, a group of self-styled anarchists in St. Petersburg are trying to undermine the establishment in other ways.