Worldcrunch
NORILSK — The belly of Mother Russia is most fertile 1,000 meters underground and 300 kilometers north of the polar circle. Outside, the temperature can drop as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit. But down below, it’s warm and moist. And the walls shine. The blocks that detach themselves as bulldozers strike the stone are loaded […]
-Analysis- PARIS — Last year was full of surprises across the world: a spike of protectionist fever in the United States at the instigation of Donald Trump, an anti-globalization wave of populism in developed countries bogged down by mass unemployment, Britain’s planned exit for from the European Union, worries about a widening inequality gap, migration […]
Kim Jong-un will be celebrating his 33rd birthday this Sunday. Wishes and presents are usually in order on this type of occasion, but it’s difficult to see any desire the North Korean dictator hasn’t already seen fulfilled in his five years in power. For starters, the cult of personality has never been bigger in North […]
Hong Kongers really like soup. Is that the secret to their long leases on life?
This is the face of civil disobedience, circa 2017. Cédric Herrou, a 37-year-old farmer from southeastern France, appeared in court yesterday in Nice for having illegally helped undocumented African migrants cross the Italian-French border. “I do it because it has to be done,” Le Monde quotes him as saying. An olive and egg farmer and […]
-Essay- PARIS — Changes, disruptions, earthquakes … We no longer know what word best describes the political events unfolding before our eyes. After former French president Nicolas Sarkozy lost in the conservative primaries, and current Socialist president François Hollande chose not to run, Matteo Renzi resigned as Italian prime minister, becoming the latest European leader […]
PARIS — The victory of the Russians, Iranians and of the Syrian regime in Aleppo is a strategic turning point in the organization of international relations. It marks the West’s fading out and the return of power politics in the Middle East. But it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the war. Here are four […]
All signs say the 56 prisoners killed inside the Anisio Jobim Prison Complex are part of an ongoing drug gang feud on the outside.
1. My Yacht, My Shell Company: Cheating, Divorce And Panama Papers GERMANY — Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 8 2. Living In Space, Russia Probes 55 Years After Yuri Gagarin RUSSIA — Kommersant, Aug. 12 3. A Yogurt Story, When Immigrant Dreams Feed American Capitalism UNITED STATES — La Stampa, May 3 4. Sexism In Chivalry? A […]
FUKUSHIMA — In 1970, electronics company Panasonic inaugurated a factory in the Japanese city of Fukushima to assemble radio sets. In the 1980s, when Japanese electronics were at their peak, the site expanded to produce video material and CD players. In 2011, the earthquake that destroyed the Daiichi nuclear power plant left the Panasonic factory […]
In Iraq, near Mosul, ISIS was running a sophisticated operation to make guns and explosives. A new report has found much of the material used came from facilities in Turkey.
PARIS — Our crack staff of serious but seriously subjective journalists, translators and editors have chosen what we believe to be the year’s most engaging and provocative Worldcrunch stories. America And Us, Trump’s Victory Is Very Bad News For The World FRANCE — Les Echos, Nov. 21 Panama Papers: Link Between Magnitsky Probe And Putin’s […]
If Nordic people are the happiest people in the world, it is thanks to the state of welfare and cuddling with friends in the candlelight. Today the word for this ritual invades the life of Francophones.
PARIS — There was enough news (real and fake) to keep our heads spinning for all of 2016. Yet one project we are particularly proud about this past year is our new Rue Amelot ongoing series of essays. These pieces may or may not take news as a leaping-off point, but ultimately wind up somewhere […]
The architectural icon begun by Antoni Gaudi in the late 19th century is still incomplete. Now city hall wants to end a century-old legal exception, as debate continues about protecting the original architectural vision.
After the Christmas market attack in Berlin, the Western world would be wrong to assume it can prevent its cultural or political dissolution by merely repeating its prayers to the glory of diversity.
[dailymotion //www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x55f778 expand=1] Goodbye 2016: A Zapping Video Year In Review by Worldcrunch
For some, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become both the economic and moral leader of Europe. From tackling the eurozone’s debt crisis to countering Russian ambitions to bucking the tide of populism to welcome a million refugees into her country last year, Merkel has been lauded for her quiet but principled pragmatism in the face […]
CAIRO — There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet. There are four possible written forms for each letter, depending on whether it stands alone, or comes at the beginning, middle or end of a word. Then there are diacritic symbols, indicating the script’s correct pronunciation, which hover gently above or below each letter’s lines […]
Make it stop! That’s the message delivered this week by an organization of Protestant churches in El Salvador, Central America’s smallest but deadliest country. The group, known as the Pastoral Initiative for Life and Peace, or IPAZ, is hoping that for the week between Christmas and New Year, gang members, security forces, operatives of so-called […]
-Analysis- BOGOTÁ — A majority of gay and lesbian students in Colombia feel unsafe in school and almost a quarter of them miss classes because they fear getting bullied, a survey by two non-profits found. Sixty-seven percent of LGBT secondary schoolchildren feel unsafe at school, according to the poll by advocacy groups Colombia Diversa and […]
Another week that will be stained in blood. For people in the West and throughout the (non-Orthodox) Christian world, this happens to be the week before the Christmas holiday, which leads us toward a new year. Few, at this point, have any illusions that 2017 can really be any less dreadful than 2016. Monday’s attacks […]
“Fear of terrorism in Berlin,” read the front page of Berlin-based daily Der Tagesspiegel on Tuesday, a day after a seven-ton truck plowed into a Christmas market in the heart of the German capital, killing 12 and wounding dozens. German police are investigating the event as a terrorist attack. Early this morning, police raided a […]
Before it became the Syrian rebellion stronghold, Aleppo was the heart of ancient civilizations.
The “looking back” on the past 12 months has begun. In Brazil’s case, 2016 may be the worst year in recent memory — and perhaps wins last place for good news of all countries at peace. Sadly, it’s hard to imagine how 2017 could be much better. In southeastern Brazil, 2016 started in toxic mud, […]
After the fall of Aleppo, various alliances of convenience will be put to the test, as the scenario suddenly gets more complicated for both Damascus and Moscow.
After Donald Trump’s surprise victory last month, the first serious question — both in the U.S. and around the globe — was: Will he actually do all that stuff? The answer appears to be tilting toward a, Well, Hell Yes, that is as surprising to some as the election itself. The most blatant example so […]
De Telegraaf, Dec. 12, 2016 Deadly blasts in major cities around the world returned, seemingly in sync the past two days. Dutch daily De Telegraaf“s Monday front page reads: “Weekend of attacks’ above two pictures of crying women, one in Istanbul where 44 people died Saturday, the other in Cairo, where at least 25 were […]
Up close with some of the growing numbers of Germans settling in Hungary, a country that has shut out refugees from the Middle East.
PARIS — The smartphone of Eudes, a web project manager, switches automatically from 3G to WiFi as soon as he’s near his office. It also downloads relevant newspaper articles just before he steps into the metro. Perhaps most importantly, Eudes is instantly notified when the coffee machine needs water. This automated magic is thanks to […]
PARIS — Solar has become the new energy El Dorado. With the price of solar panels plummeting, solar energy has developed spectacularly in recent years. Less than 10 years ago, there were only a few gigawatts (GW) of new solar panels installed each year. This year, new capacity should represent more than 70 GW, up […]
CAIRO — Wessam Said, 28, would have liked to breastfeed her child, but something was holding her back that had nothing to do with health or social norms: as the family’s main breadwinner, she was simply working too much. “What could I do, our conditions are dire,” she said. It’s medically advised around the world […]
-OpEd- PARIS — “The era of multiculturalism is over …” This was the proud declaration of Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, back in the summer of 2015. One year later, Theresa May, the new British prime minister, took it one step further: “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you’re […]
Many observers feared that yesterday would be the day that could rock the European Union to its core, six months after the Brexit referendum. Austria looked ready to elect Europe’s first far-right president since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, Italy, a founding member of the EU, was expected to reject a proposed constitutional […]
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his constitutional reform referendum are victims of a massive movement of popular discontent, now more global than ever.
-Analysis- PARIS — Long live the people! For a few months now, referendums have been blooming all over Europe. In Britain, to decide whether or not to leave the European Union. In Hungary, to ban European Union refugee-sharing quotas. In the Netherlands, on the EU’s pact with Ukraine. Now in Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi […]
The numbers are impressive, terrifying, bone-chilling. At least 20,000 people have fled their homes in Aleppo this week alone, according to the International Red Cross, as the Syrian army and its allies make significant, and perhaps crucial, gains in the eastern part of the city, controlled mostly by jihadist fighters. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for […]
ALEPPO — In his smoke-filled office in western Aleppo, Tarif Attoura holds a copy of the draft agreement to let the rebels leave the eastern part of the city, under siege for three months. “It was the Russians who drew up the document in their Center for Reconciliation at the Khmeimim air base, near Latakia,” […]
-Analysis- Populists sometimes have good ideas. Taking advantage of historically low interest rates to launch a stimulus plan, for example, is a good idea. Standing up to China, which is massively subsidizing its steel exports and restricting freedom to invest in the country through law and might, is another good idea. So too is rethinking […]
He was the candidate she feared the most. Not only could he unify his own party, but he could siphon crucial votes from her conservative Catholic base. And now that François Fillon won yesterday’s “right and center” primary ahead of next year’s presidential election, the far-right French leader Marine Le Pen must shift her strategy. […]