Worldcrunch
SAUDI ARABIA ORDERS STAMPEDE PROBE Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ordered a swift investigation and safety review after yesterday’s stampede during the annual Hajj Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca left at least 717 people dead and 863 hurt, Al Arabiya reports. VERBATIM Photo: Ron Sachs/CNP/ZUMA “Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict […]
A redeployment of Russian missiles to Kaliningrad and the Western borders could be a response to reports of U.S. nuclear bombs arriving at a German air force base.
BERLIN — German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière has leveled harsh criticisms of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow refugees to enter the country from Hungary earlier this month, describing the migrant situation in the country as chaotic, the weekly Der Spiegel reports. Speaking on the television network ZDF (at 33:30), de Maizière, a member […]
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered a swift investigation, as well as a safety review, after Thursday’s stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage site of Mina which left at least 717 people dead and 863 hurt. On its Friday front page, Saudi daily Al Yaum quotes the king as saying that “the massive development […]
When moving as a group, each bison in a herd can “vote” on which direction to take, and the decision will depend on the majority, just like in elections, according to a report published by scientists in the forthcoming issue of Animal Behaviour. Researchers concluded this while observing the herd movements of about 30 European […]
STOCKHOLM — Ing-Britt Akerberg, 70, receives us in front of paintings of nymphs and a beautiful Persian carpet. A swaggering spaniel licks her toes. “I live in the apartment below,” she explains. “But I’m keeping my friend’s three dogs; she went to town to do a bit of shopping.” The apartment building is squeezed between […]
The European airplane giant has just opened its first U.S. assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama. Airbus is banking on lower labor costs and an aging American aircraft fleet.
There are billion-dollar fines, but the humiliation is what really hurts the bottom line. This is the lesson VW faces amidst the emissions scandal snowballing in the U.S.
With Europe’s lowest fertility rate, and some 20% of its 10.6 million inhabitants over the age of 65, Portugal is aging fast. Bad news for the country, but apparently a boon to criminals, who see the elderly as prime targets. Crime against senior citizens, financial scams in particular, has registered a sharp rise since the […]
This Argentine family decided a 13,000-mile trip in a VW van was the perfect way to see Pope Francis, their former archbishop. There were bumps along the way.
And watch out for Pablo Iglesias, leader of Spain’s leftist Podemos party.
Peyrelevade, a village of 800 people in central France, has welcomed 60 refugees since April. Its former retirement home has been renovated, the primary school has avoided a class closure, and there are new jobs for residents. But the future is no less un
POPE FRANCIS ARRIVES IN U.S. TODAY Photo: Ricky Fitchett/ZUMA After a four-day visit to Cuba, Pope Francis is scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C., this afternoon for his first U.S. visit since becoming pontiff. He will meet with President Barack Obama tomorrow morning and address a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday. He and the […]
The scandal rocking Volkswagen, in which the world’s second largest car manufacturer is accused of fraud in its emissions tests, could ripple through the entire German automobile industry and “plunge it into a crisis of confidence,” the country’s leading business newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, writes on Tuesday. In a scathing column, Holger Appel suggests the […]
Depending on his audience, the pontiff’s messages vary. On a historic visit to the U.S., President Obama and the whole world will be listening carefully.
TEL AVIV — From the beautiful beach of Palmachim, on the Israeli coast, it’s hard to picture what’s happening below your feet, where 624,000 cubic meters of sea water are being sucked up every day by two enormous pipes and transported more than two kilometers inland to be transformed into drinkable water. Welcome to Sorek, […]
Forced to abandon his Ukrainian companies because of corruption under the ousted pro-Russian president, Olexander Martynenko has risked it all on the front line.
The world of rugby is not what it used to be. Artists gave way to men built like tanks, and the 2015 World Cup, kicking off in England, will take the Robocop scrum to a new low.
The staple crop is so strategic that it has been targeted from all sides in the Syrian Civil War.
Egypt and China made billions worth of energy and infrastructure deals during al-Sisi’s recent visit to Beijing, another sign of growing economic and political ties between the two countries.
More EU Borders Close, Obama And Francis, Invisibility Cloak
The situation in Burkina Faso was still tense Friday morning, after the rebel military installed General Gilbert Diendéré as the country’s new president Thursday, just three weeks before national elections were set to take place. “So It’s Him!” reads the front-page headline of the Burkinabe daily L’Observateur. Ousted interim President Michel Kafando, who had been […]
Every French region has its own version of brioche, which has a solid but modest history. But now in some corners, this lightly sweet breakfast bread is taking on a high-end air.
Despite some hopes inside and outside of Greece that a political coalition will emerge in Athens to lift the country out of crisis, the nation’s deeper forces do not bode well.
SIDI ALI BEN AOUN — Ali Chadli opens his eyes wide, incredulous even now. No, he had no idea his sons were planning to leave for Syria, where they eventually died. “They were praying as usual,” he says. “I hadn’t noticed anything particular.” The aging man invites us to take a seat next to the […]
BODRUM — When the photograph of Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body spread around the world, the plight of Syrian refugees suddenly came into focus like never before. Yet Kurdi was just one of many who have died making the perilous journey to Europe, where they hope to attain asylum as the ongoing Syria civil war in their homeland continues to claim countless civilian lives. Turkey, which currently hosts some 1.8 million exiled Syrians, has increasingly become a departure point for a perilous sea journey toward Greece in flimsy rafts and ill-equipped boats to get inside European territory. Sayeed, a construction worker […]
Though the Egyptian military is still mum, new details are emerging in the deadly air strike in the Western Desert that mistook a group of Mexican tourists for Islamist terrorists.
Google is at the Frankfurt auto fair for the first time. What does this mean for German car industry? Will the Silicon Valley giant position itself as a partner or competitor?
A new virtual reality video of a war-ravaged Syrian city offers an unprecedented 360° interactive view of the destruction left by the country’s ongoing civil war. French daily Le Parisien reports that the video was filmed in the northwestern city of Jisr ash-Shughur with a six-camera system that allows the viewer to look in all […]
After spreading in the U.S. in the wake of the financial crisis, food trucks are arriving in Brazilian cities such as Sao Paulo, which are eager for culinary adventure at a low price.
Meet Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s new — and smiley — Prime Minister. A multi-millionaire, former lawyer, investment banker and tech entrepreneur, Turnbull deposed the growingly unpopular Tony Abbott “in a lightning coup after declaring the country needed new leadership and a clear economic vision,” The Courier-Mail wrote on Tuesday’s front page. Turnbull, backed by Australia’s Foreign […]
Christmas decorations? Firelighters? I have no idea why anyone would want to dry that many pine cones …
Japanese women are challenging the three-year-old Shinzo Abe government with “constitution cafes” and street protests.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Sept. 14, 2015 Germany introduced temporary controls at its border with Austria Sunday in an attempt to slow down the influx of refugees into the country, as the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote on its front page Monday. Shortly after Berlin’s unexpected move, border control officers started conducting passport checks near Austria. […]
Arriving in Germany every day, Syrians who have fled civil war are now the targets of the Salafi movement, radical Muslims who include those who espouse Islamis jihad.
When Rio de Janeiro won its Olympic bid back in 2009, Brazil was hailed as a nation on the rise. Now, it is the wrong place at the wrong time to host the 2016 Summer Games.
Fears are rising in Japan that a large-scale gang war could erupt, following a major schism in the yakuza organized crime syndicate. Cyber-crime might be making headlines today, but this is a reminder that “traditional” organized crime is still strong. And scary. Here’s a look at what’s happening in five criminal networks around the world. […]
You can’t blame the Taliban anymore.
A pregnant Chinese woman must abort her baby, or see her husband fired. After first changes to family planning laws, sweeping reform is now urgently needed.
Having built one of the world’s most successful algorithmic trading companies, Israeli entrepreneur Kalkstein now is putting his mathematical wizardry to saving lives.