Worldcrunch
MEXICO CITY — Should we grieve? How should we react to calamities, death and pain? I mean other people’s pain, because your own pain is your business, and you can handle it as you please. But to others struck by life’s arbitrary monstrousness, it seems we owe what we might call a “decent” amount of […]
In Brussels, the jihadists have again shown they have a plan, which extends from the Middle East to the heart of Europe. The West must urgently get one of its own.
-Editorial- PARIS — This time, it’s Brussels, the heart of Europe, that was hit by Islamist terrorists. They targeted this free city, where humor, impertinence, a Belgian way of not taking yourself too seriously, is the opposite of what these barbarians have in mind: cheap certainties, hatred towards others, the violence of the “pure.” The […]
Using hydraulics to churn energy from its most obvious natural resource, Ushant is on its way toward an environmental overhaul, and other countries are taking note.
Prince Charles believes brutalist buildings are like “monstrous carbuncles,” but there is a frenzied architectural movement afoot to save these concrete blocks.
TOKYO — Cats are all the rage in Japan these days. Bookstores are lined with dozens of photo books featuring cute little felines, and they’re popular online too. They also seem on track to surpass dogs as the pet of choice. So why are they stealing so many hearts? There are about 100 titles on […]
The colorful Maltese fishing boats called luzzus are said to date back to Phoenician times. They’re famous for the small pair of eyes drawn on their hulls — an ancient superstition supposed to ward off evil and bring protection to the fishermen.
PARIS — We’ve hardly made peace with the idea of driverless cars, and now we’re being told that artificial intelligence could also control rifles, missiles and bombs of the future. The warning was issued last summer by leading figures such as Tesla chief Elon Musk, physicist Stephen Hawking and MIT Professor Noam Chomsky. During July’s […]
Voltaire said he never saw female inventors. A study on female entrepreneurs in 19th-century France reveals a very different reality.
PARIS — Our usual spot at Parc Sainte-Périne to plop our blanket and sports equipment for a few hours of recreational escape was already taken when we arrived on Saturday. A group of about 10 young men were sprawled out on the patch, enjoying the sunshine and talking among themselves — in Arabic, I noticed. […]
N. KOREA FIRES MORE MISSILES North Korea fired a pair of ballistic missiles today from its eastern coast, the latest in a series of provocations that included a nuclear detonation in January and the launch, last month, of a long-range rocket. BRAZIL IMBROGLIO Brazil is barreling toward a full-blown constitutional crisis over President Dilma Rousseff’s […]
South African President Jacob Zuma is facing new accusations of influence peddling, in what may be the most perilous scandal of his political career. On its front page Friday, Cape-Town-based Afrikaans-language daily Die Burger asked if this was “The End?” for the South African leader. Senior public figures accused the Gupta family of close ties […]
Air pollution has reached record levels in the Indian capital. In some areas, it’s at least 10 times higher than the World Health Organization acceptable norms. But it appears some action is finally taking place … Read the full article Les Echos/Worldcrunch article: New Delhi Pollution, A Roadmap To Disaster.
On the Indonesian island of Bali, statues of gods near the entrances to buildings and homes often wear checkered sarongs around their waists. Modesty must be respected, I suppose, even for gods.
–Analysis – MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin’s decision to withdraw the lion’s share of Russia“s troops from Syria might have come as a surprise, but insiders in Moscow say the timing makes perfect sense. Many factors can explain why now. “Putin promised this operation would be limited in time and wouldn’t lead to an Afghanistan-like stalemate,” […]
TURKEY REFUGEE DEAL TOPS EU SUMMIT European Union leaders are gathering today to discuss a controversial deal with Turkey aimed at easing the ongoing refugee crisis. Negotiations are likely to be tough in Brussels, with European Council President Donald Tusk acknowledging a “catalogue of issues” still unresolved, the BBC reports. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu […]
“Can Barbarin fall?” asks French-language weekly Tribune de Lyon on its cover this week, in reference to Archbishop of Lyon Philippe Barbarin, who is accused of covering up acts of paedophilia. Cardinal Barbarin, one of France’s top Catholic clerics, is accused of failing to take action against 70-year-old priest Bernard Preynat in 2009, when he […]
-Editorial- SAO PAULO — The appointment of such a major figure as Brazil’s ex-President Lula da Silva as Dilma Rousseff cabinet’s chief of staff could be seen as just an expression of the government’s terminal state of despair, stuck with incredibly low popularity poll numbers — and with little support in Congress to fend off […]
TEHRAN — How much is a life worth in Iran? In what may be a small but significant sign of progress, senior Iranian clerics have ruled that relatives of fatal car crash victims should receive the same amount of insurance compensation regardless of whether the deceased was a man or woman. The same new parity […]
No matter what morro (hill) you’re viewing it from, Rio’s Guanabara Bay is always stunning. I took this shot from the Corcovado, famous for its Christ the Redeemer statue.
NEW YORK — Umberto Eco died last month in his Milan apartment, among his 30,000 books. He wrote many of them himself, and these books were translated into more than 30 different languages. He had them all. Even when translated into foreign languages, Eco owned them, because he worked hard with every single translator. He […]
PARIS — This is a new kind of police investigation. It is a terrorist affair that touches the edges of childhood, psychological manipulation and social discontent. The protagonists of this story are a group of girls torn between their teenage troubles and the traps of a tormented time. Aged between 14 and 19, they come […]
RUSSIAN WITHDRAWAL BEGINS IN SYRIA After yesterday’s unexpected announcement from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian armed forces have begun to withdraw from Syria on the civil war’s fifth anniversary. A first group of warplanes has already left its Syrian base for Russia, the Defense Ministry said. “The main task now is to take every measure […]
It’s normal for children to argue and fight. But those identified as bullies are often suspended or expelled far too quickly. Why don’t schools intervene earlier?
“Russia out of Syria,” the front page of Moscow-based daily Vedomosti reads, just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprise announcement that Russian forces would withdraw from Syria. After yesterday’s unexpected announcement, a first group of warplanes has already left its Syrian base for Russia, the Defense Ministry said. “The main task now is to […]
It’s not just Donald Trump …
SYRIA PEACE TALKS IN GENEVA Syrian opposition negotiator Mohamad Alloush said during the Geneva Syria peace talks Saturday that Syria’s political transition could only start once Bashar al-Assad was no longer president. “We consider that the transitional period starts with the fall of Bashar al-Assad or his death,” The Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. […]
O Globo, March 14, 2016 “Brazil takes to the streets against Dilma and Lula and in favor of Moro,” Rio-based daily O Globo writes on its front page Monday, a day after an estimated 3.6 million Brazilians protested recession and corruption and called for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista (pictured […]
With 11,623 pipes, the organ inside the imposing Salt Lake Tabernacle is one of the biggest in the world. It is used to accompany the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which we got to listen to during our visit, where we also learned about this uniquely American religion.
The Indian city is among the worst in the world for air quality. Automobiles share much of the blame, with some 1,400 cars a day joining the estimated 8.5 million vehicles already circulating there. But there are other factors too.
Rising populism in the West can be traced to continuing fallout from the 2007-08 financial crisis. The responses — from both left and right — share certain fundamental arguments.
MORE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR BOMBAST North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered further nuclear tests to improve attack capabilities, national news agency KCNA reports today. Pyongyang has stepped up its threats and statements boasting about its nuclear capabilities since the U.S. and South Korea initiated joint military exercises on Monday. Today’s statement was made three […]
Though a number of Asian countries have special menstrual leave policies for working women, the West hasn’t embraced the notion, in part because feminists have rejected the idea. But now a UK company has adopted time off for women facing monthly p
Switzerland-born globetrotter Olivier Racine does things because he can. He wanted to give the North Korean dictator two gifts from his country, a giant Toblerone chocolate bar and a piece of the Matterhorn mountain. This excerpt from his recently publish
ISIS DOCUMENTS LEAKED A disillusioned ISIS fighter gave a Sky News reporter a memory stick stolen from the terrorist organization containing tens of thousands of documents, as well as 22,000 names, addresses, telephone numbers and family contacts of jihadist fighters. The disclosure of these documents could prove to be a boon to Western intelligence. The […]
According to legend, the islets off the coast of Perast, in Montenegro“s beautiful Bay of Kotor, were built over the centuries by seamen who swore to leaving a rock at the bottom of the bay every time they returned from a voyage, until two man-made islands eventually emerged. And a church too.