Worldcrunch
BOGOTA — Spanglish: Is it a dialect? Ghetto talk? Whatever else it may be, Spanglish is now the brazen, no-nonsense fruit of two languages and cultures coexisting in the United States. It may sound a little crazy at times. For example, walking in a Latino area of New York one day, I saw a notice […]
MINGORA — At 13, Hadiqa Bashir is herself just a child, but she’s already working to save girls from child marriage in rural Pakistan. Though it’s illegal in Pakistan, marrying young children to much older men is still widely practiced in the Swat Valley. Visiting Hadiqa Bashir today is a young girl, Shabana, who is with her mother. A white gauze covers her nose, and she explains the horrific reason why. “My mother-in-law asked my husband to complete his job today and she left the house,” Shabana says. “I had my young son with me, and my husband asked his […]
With the recent Iran and Greece agreements, diplomacy has regained its prior glory. Three former diplomats say negotiation is all about balancing tenacity and flexibility.
GOOGLE ANNOUNCES MAJOR SHAKEUP Google, arguably the most recognizable company in the world, has announced a surprising rebranding in which all of its business entities will exist under a new parent company called Alphabet. As part of the restructuring, Google senior vice president Sundar Pichai will become CEO of Google, and company founder Larry Page […]
Forest fires have been raging in Portugal for several days now. Tuesday’s headline in the newspaper Público reports that they have “destroyed nine thousand hectares in the last 10 days.” On Saturday the biggest fire of the year so far scorched Villa Nova de Cerveira and Monca in the northern district of Viana do Castelo. […]
The six Nigerian women had each risked their lives like so many crossing the Mediterranean. When they found each other in church in northern Italy, they discovered they had something else in common.
On our way from Lima to the world’s highest navigable body of water, Lake Titicaca in the Andes, we stopped in Arequipa and enjoyed walking in the arcade beneath the Municipalidad, near the Plaza de Armas. We were advised to spend a day or two in the city before heading higher into the mountains so […]
One of the poorest countries in the world is nevertheless setting big goals for itself and looking to richer countries for help. A 10-year, $70 billion plan aims to produce clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
We can now have sexual relations without making contact with other humans. But do the 3D helmets, connected devices and animated dolls represent a real sexual revolution, or are they just sophisticated toys?
KATHMANDU — It’s not yet 7 a.m., but already there are tens of thousands of people gathered along the banks of the Bagmati river that runs through Kathmandu. This is the 100th week of an informal campaign to clean up the vital waterway. “In the world, we are proud of Mount Everest, and we are just as ashamed of our Bagmati River,” Bhanu Sharma, one of the leaders of campaign, says over a loud speaker. “It’s our responsibility to save Bagmati and help rid the country of the shame of this polluted river.” 

The crowd joins hands. Participants include senior […]
MALAGA — There’s a classic children’s song in France that says a lot about how the world sees Spain. “Dans mon pays d’Espagne, olé! Y” a un soleil comme ça!” (In Spain, my country, olé! There’s a sun like this). The song also touches on things like bullfighting, the sea, flamenco dancing — all the […]
Syria Deeply had a rare opportunity to hear from Palestinians facing violence and starvation in the Yarmouk refugee camp in southwestern Syria.
Throughout France — not just Provence — wine producers want consumers to know that rosé can be just as sophisticated as better respected reds and whites.
I could never have been a Greek Orthodox bishop: True, the black cassock and the “chimney-pot” style hat look good — but I like to keeep my beard trimmed.
The ordeal of the Yazidis ethnic minority began one year ago, escaping an impending ISIS massacre in northern Iraq. Tens of thousands fled to Turkey. But what happened next?
HIROSHIMA ANNIVERSARY As the world marks today the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan’s Prime Minister called for the abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide, during a ceremony in the city where more than 140,000 were killed in the last moments of World War II. Asked about the significance of the anniversary before […]
The Republican party’s top White House hopefuls gather tonight in Cleveland, Ohio for the first debate ahead of this year’s primaries. Real estate tycoon Donald Trump, who has made racist remarks about Mexicans and insulted former Republican nominee John McCain, is dominating the media circus — and leading in the polls, ahead of former Florida […]
CAIRO — Egypt has been bombarded with a constant stream of messages this week about the miracles the New Suez Canal will bring. Not all of the claims hold up to scrutiny. Claim: The new extension will allow two-way traffic along the canal. Reality: This is sort of true — 60% true, to be more […]
Stories for humans, like water for fish…
Ghardaïa is “only” 1,700 kilometers (1050 miles) away from my house, as the crow flies. But 45 years ago, to get to the “the pearl of the oasis” in northern Sahara’s M’zab region, my wife and I first drove down to the port of Marseille in our Peugeot 404, took a ferry to Annaba, visited […]
JOHN KERRY CONCERNED BY CHINA LAND CLAIMS Photo: Then Chih Wey/Xinhua/ZUMA China should end provocative land reclamation projects in the South China Sea and work with its neighbors to resolve the region’s territorial disputes, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Wednesday’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. China has repeatedly rejected U.S. […]
Vanguard, August 5, 2015 After years of violence and terrorism, some members of Boko Haram are eager to negotiate a way out of the conflict with the Nigerian government,Vanguard reports. The Nigerian daily says the group’s apparent eagerness to talk comes in response to calls for dialogue from recently elected President Muhammadu Buhari. Vanguard also […]
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games start next Aug. 5 in Rio de Janeiro with too many projects behind schedule. One particular environmental hurdle looks insurmountable.
GREEK STOCKS KEEP SINKING Greek stocks have continued their descent on Tuesday, on the second day of heavy losses after a five-week shutdown of Greece’s stock exchange amidst the debt crisis. All four major Greek banking stocks were down around 30% in early trading. KOSOVO WAR CRIMES COURT Kosovo’s parliament voted late Monday night to […]
PARIS — If you believe mankind has grown decadent and that we should look to nature for an example of modesty and self-control, you would be in for a surprise. Because when it comes to bad behavior — be it thievery, infidelity or even drug abuse — the animal kingdom knows few bounds. Take sex, […]
Seven pairs of polished shoes, four cravats and two plus-fours trousers … In the 68 years since, the dress code for French 16-year-olds has changed just a bit. Here I was, right in the middle of this shot, with six friends from my Greek-Latin Première class.
For China’s State-Owned Enterprises, new reforms are aimed at linking senior management pay to the company’s performance.
Locals in the Syrian city of Idlib were happy when rebel forces overturned regime forces. But now the rebels are enforcing their own version of military rule.
-OpEd- PARIS — As Europe barely recovers from an unprecedented crisis, the African continent is experiencing a vigorous period of growth. This long-awaited shift is slowly but steadily making investors more confident, even if they remain aware of the risks. According to a recent study conducted by Havas Horizon, investors are showing broad optimism concerning […]
Perhaps the final sign that gay rights are here to stay, at least in the West, is the growing number of children’s books with gay protagonists.
AIX-EN-PROVENCE — For a moment, Alain Orsoni was his old legendary self, the charismatic nationalist and dashing adventurer who struggled for independence at home, roamed for years through South America, and is still muscular enough to fill out his plain white t-shirt. He was talking about himself because he was asked to, but also because […]
BOGOR — The oldest Buddhist temple in Bogor, West Java, is a silent witness to religious tolerance in the area. Five men gather inside the temple, whose doors are always open for people from different religions to come inside and pray. Sitting behind statues of a Buddhist goddess, the men engage in their weekly communal Koran study group. After the evening prayer, they move to the temple’s kitchen to enjoy tonight’s dinner. “We’ve been doing this for three years now, every Thursday night. It’s a routine,” says Epul Saefullah, who leads this evening’s Koran reading. “At first people asked, “But […]
-OpEd- PARIS — The late 1990s anti-globalization movement that protested against summits like the World Trade Organization in Seattle and G8 in Genoa used the slogan: “Another world is possible.” Is this “other world” now being constructed before our eyes by the BRICS, as the emerging countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa […]
Le Quotidien de la Réunion, July 31, 2015 “The probe zeroes in,” reads Friday’s front-page of the French newspaper Le Quotidien de la Réunion after a piece of plane debris was found on the French island in the Indian Ocean that may be from the missing MH370 flight that disappeared 16 months ago. France’s air […]
This week we shine the spotlight on Chile: PACT OF SILENCE Testimony provided by a former army conscript has turned national attention to a nearly three-decade-old human rights case and prompted Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to demand an end to the shroud of secrecy that has covered this and other crimes committed during the 17-year […]
Severe heat doesn’t just threaten the physically vulnerable such as babies and the elderly. It also poses a serious risk to those suffering from anxiety.
The treaty signed with Iran won’t eliminate the risk of global proliferation. Russia, China and North Korea in particular are building arsenals and see destabilization as strategy.
Photo: Velar Grant/Zuma POSSIBLE MH370 DEBRIS FOUND A two-meter wing section of an aircraft has washed up on the French Island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, local authorities announced today. Malaysia’s Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the debris is “almost certainly” from a Boeing 777, meaning it could be a piece of the […]
-Analysis- BEIJING — Included among Fortune“s recently-published Global 500 rankings of the top corporations worldwide are 106 companies from China, a new record for the country, and now second only to the United States in terms of representation on the prestigious list. But it’s imporant to note that the Global 500 rankings only reflect revenues […]
GOMA — “They realized he wasn’t one of them because he didn’t speak Swahili. Then they pulled him off the bus he was traveling on, stoned him to death, opened his chest and ate his heart.” Hearing this story from a high-ranking United Nations official, one immediately asks if this is just a legend of […]