After Li & Fung buys Cerruti, deep-pocketed Asian investors eye other European luxury brands China World shopping center, Beijing (Achim Hepp) By Dominique Chapuis The Chinese are hungry for the jewels of the European luxury and fashion industry. Just as China has become the primary growth market for top luxury goods stalwarts like Louis Vuitton, […]
Author: Worldcrunch
A German commentator says the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords is not about politics, but guns — and security measures are about to crank up even higher While Gabrielle Giffords clung to life after her surgery in a Tucson hospital, America’s political leaders took to the cable news channels with the indignant rhetoric that typically follows […]
The Catholic Church is concerned about the growing flock of pilgrims who come to the Pampas to worship the 18th century defender of the poor
Growing ranks of well-educated Chinese youth who can’t find good jobs and gather in city outskirts in what authorities worry could be a social time bomb.
Les Echos editor says China lulls the West into thinking it’s always playing catch-up on technology. Reaction to the recent case of alleged Chinese espionage of Renault’s electric car design is a case in point. 2010 Beijing Auto Show PARIS – It is too early for fear, but not too late to begin to be […]
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Enchanting Eating In Northern Italy
Tucked away in the Po Valley, Da Manuela is a restaurant worth returning to for its ambience and salami for antipasto. And dessert! ravioli is ready We are straddling the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy: with Alessandria on one side, Pavia on the other. Down the middle, acting as the glue and marking the […]
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Italian food
its delicious A couple in Umbria by so and so
In the competition between world’s top economies, Germany continues to carry Europe and the U.S. starts to roar back to life US factory worker Germany’s current economic upswing is lasting longer than expected. Although economists warned last year that German industrial output would drop sharply because of weaker demand from abroad, it hasn’t happened yet. […]
Italians joining modern living trends of LAT love, and DINK couplehood A couple in St. Peter’s Square (Rene Cunningham) Twenty years ago, Woody Allen and Mia Farrow scandalized the world with their decision to live in different apartments, despite being a couple with lots of children. As we all know, that story ended how it […]
After the Tunisian government blocks access to information about mass protests, Anonymous cyber-activists have begun attacking official websites.
Despite recent criticism for its anti-immigration tendencies, France is less restrictive than other European countries Immigrants protest in Paris By itself, the French picture might fool you. But set against the rest of the European family album, it grows much clearer. Last summer’s expulsions of members of the Roma community, the rising popularity of the […]
France looks for new approaches – and a new look — to its antiquated places of saving and loaning PARIS – Credit Agricole, a major French bank, opened the Alpha branch this week in Paris, a place where the bank’s clients get to try out their new services and technological innovations billed as “the agency […]
Scientists aim to create bacteria “mini factories,” using microorganisms to produce new materials for industrial use bacteria When engineers detect new biological design principles, they usually try to translate them into new technologies – and ultimately novel applications. But this unfolding of innovation doesn’t only happen on a large scale: micro and nano-structured biomaterials are […]
After booming 2010 Internet shopping results, the French hypermarché chain tries to reinvent the superstore PARIS – There isn’t always a link between cause and effect, but there sure are signs of it in 2010 shopping sales. On the one hand, the largest superstores, magnets of mass consumerism since the 1970s, have lost ground. By […]
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Middle East Stories To Watch In 2011
As the region’s perennial conflicts burn on, other emerging trends and turns of events will grab our attention this year King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia (Mohammad Bahareth) EYES INSIDE – THE MIDDLE EAST The US-Iran showdown, the terminally unresolved Palestinian question, Egyptian elections and the ongoing fallout from the Wikileaks cables are sure to generate […]
Estranged wife, longtime mistress battle over where to bury former President Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez EYES INSIDE – LATIN AMERICA When Carlos Andrés Pérez was serving his second term as president of Venezuela (1989-93), the press and political insiders knew about Cecilia Matos, although her name never appeared in print. It was an […]
Once the marvel of the global economy, Japan has slipped behind China by resisting change in a way Italians know all too well Tokyo subway (David Dennis) It may not qualify as the freshest news, but it’s worth taking a second look at the formal announcement last summer that China overtook Japan in gross domestic […]
On the hunt for new customers: German hospitals are increasingly turning to Russian, Middle Eastern and other wealthy patients from abroad high-tech heart monitoring equipment By Karen Merkel BERLIN – Inoperable. It’s probably the hardest word for any parents of a sick two-year-old girl to hear. In Russia, the doctors all agree that the young […]
The markets react well to the Fiat CEO’s decision to separate the core auto business from farm and truck sectors, a vote of confidence for Marchionne’s vision that could have reverberations for all of Italian industry Sergio Marchionne (flickr) By Giuseppe Berta IL SOLE 24 ORE/Worldcrunch The split of Fiat’s core auto business from its […]
After threats against churches were posted on the Web, the French police’s anti-terrorism department has launched a probe.
The “balance of imbalances’ between France and Germany is gone, and each must see the new calculus in committing to Europe Berlin Wall PARIS – Until the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany, France saw the building of Europe as a pursuit of its own politics by other means. More Europe […]
After several dogs die at her English estate, Queen Elizabeth orders probe the queen loves her corgis LONDON – Perhaps it’s some sort of poison, or a mystery fungus. Whatever the cause, the canine-loving Queen Elizabeth II must also be fearing for the lives of her own beloved corgis after the unexplained death of several […]
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The ‘Party’ Is Over For Chinese Blogger
Han Han, China’s top blogger and a glamor-boy race car driver, failed to get his culture magazine past all the roadblocks Han Han (Julien Min) EYES INSIDE – CHINA China’s top blogger, Han Han, has pulled the plug on his brand new paper-based literary magazine, making the surprise announcement with his trademark cutting irony that […]
Han Han, China’s top blogger and a glamor-boy race car driver, failed to get his culture magazine past all the roadblocks Han Han (Julien GONG Min) EYES INSIDE – CHINA China’s top blogger, Han Han, has pulled the plug on his brand new paper-based literary magazine, making the surprise announcement with his trademark cutting irony […]
Targeting Christians in Egypt is also a way for Islamists to attack the leaders of the most important Arab country Egpytian soldiers (Jose Antonio Sanchez) After the New Year’s Day church bombing in Alexandria, Egypt, there are at least two ways we can choose to interpret this grave, anti-Christian attack. The first focuses on the […]
The Baltic republic has just become the euro zone’s 17th member state, carrying low public debt and high hopes for its economy Euros take over for Estonian crowns BRUSSELS – On Jan. 1 Estonia officially abandoned its currency, the crown, to become the 17th European state — and the first of the Baltic republics — […]
A new book in Germany recounts life under the Third Reich for those labeled: “personal prisoner of the Fuhrer” Sven Felix Kellerhoff BERLIN – In Puppi’s memory, was a beautiful place where she’d always longed to return. Of course, it wasn’t the actual concentration camp of Sachsenhausen, near Berlin, where she dreamed of going back […]
The “Virtuous Cities’ movement aims to cut costs and waste. And change the world Recycling al’Italiano (Kevin Hutchinson) COLORNO – Spending half-a-day with Marco Boschini is “bello e istruttivo” (beautiful and instructive), to paraphrase Italian writer Giovannino Guareschi. But the beauty and acquired wisdom comes at a cost. Without uttering a word, Boschini will make […]
On monetary, commercial and financial policy, Brussels starts to stand up to Beijing Port of Shanghai It is a rare enough event to merit due attention: Brussels may actually have found consensus on a major issue. It’s not the financial security of European Union states or harmonizing corporate taxes or even the future of European […]
In France, a new study shows that kids with December birthdays fall behind in school, and never catch up – even when it comes time for their paychecks.
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A Boom In Foreign Films Made In France
Passed last year, France’s “international tax credit” has already benefited 29 movies, mostly Hollywood productions. Woody Allen is one of many US directors who filmed in France this year PARIS – In January, Sherlock Holmes 2 will begin filming in Paris and Strasbourg. Directed by Britain’s Guy Ritchie, the film is just the latest to […]
The spectre of strife looms ahead of UN indictments in 2005 Hariri murder Monuments have risen to honor slain leader Rafiq Hariri (Steven Damron) EYES INSIDE – THE MIDDLE EAST Lebanon is an edgy place these days, as a UN-backed special tribunal prepares to charge suspects in the February 2005 bombing assassination of ex-Prime Minister […]
The spectre of strife looms ahead of UN indictments in 2005 Hariri murder Monuments have risen to honor slain leader Rafiq Hariri (Steven Damron) EYES INSIDE – THE MIDDLE EAST Lebanon is an edgy place these days, as a UN-backed special tribunal prepares to charge suspects in the February 2005 bombing assassination of ex-Prime Minister […]
A French analysis of global commodity prices, as 2010 quietly finishes with record highs Corn has reached record highs PARIS – Wheat, corn, coffee, sugar, rubber, cocoa, cotton, soy, rice. Each one of these commodities has seen their prices skyrocket this year, some to all-time record highs. The increase accelerated in December, with investors buying […]
Dictator convicted for 1970s murders, abuses, but not before giving his version of history EYES INSIDE – LATIN AMERICA Argentina’s former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, the architect of the notorious Dirty War of the late 1970s, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murder and human rights abuses, bringing some long-awaited sense of […]
Washington struggles to find a way to deal with Julian Assange’s system. And the world is watching
More politicians and businessmen shed their neckties. And now the backlash David Cameron and Gordon Brown show off the somber look MILAN – So it’s come to this. In these ever fluid times, the necktie has become the sartorial last stand for those who see a society unraveling in the disintegration of dress codes. It […]
Indom, leader of domain names in France, is bought by its British counterpart in the latest ceding of French control online One French web success sold abroad flickr Nicolas Rauline PARIS – The list grows longer. After a Japanese purchase of France’s e-commerce site PriceMinister and Axel Springer’s takeover bid for Paris-based real estate portal […]
The French diplomat-cleric leads Pope Benedict’s efforts to reach out to Muslims, while reaffirming his Catholic identity
Italian train restoration experts bring the legendary luxury railroad back up to standards to feed nostalgic travel buffs Orient Express (D McG) SANTHIÀ – The biting chill of Magliola di Santhià”s open-air workshop masks the warm and romantic interior. Here, encircled by the rice fields in this small northern town near Vercelli, the Orient Express […]