WorldcrunchBertrand Hauger is a graduate of La Sorbonne Nouvelle school of bilingual journalism, and joined Worldcrunch after working briefly as a reporter in a local newspaper in his native eastern France. He now serves as Worldcrunch’s deputy editor-in-chief and director of content.
ENGLISH SOCCER FAIRYTALE COMES TRUE Photo: Tolga Akmen/London News Pictures/ZUMA They were a 5,000-1 longshot to win England’s Premier League at the start of the season, but the fairytale came true last night as Leicester City FC clinched the title when Chelsea and Tottenham drew, making it impossible for the latter to overtake Leicester, with […]
Leicester Mercury — May 3, 2016 They were a 5,000-1 longshot to win England’s Premier League at the start of the season, but the fairytale came true last night as Leicester City FC clinched the title when Chelsea and Tottenham drew, making it impossible for the latter to overtake Leicester with two games left. The […]
The Scottish island of Staffa, with its other-wordly basalt pillars similar to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, unites two of my interests: German classical music composer Felix Mendelssohn composed an overture, inspired by the cathedral-like echoes of the island’s Fingal’s Cave; and the place is also mentioned in the adventure novels of French writer […]
Democracy flourishing in the tiniest hamlets deep in the Brazilian rainforest, as a city council campaign takes root in the northern state of Pará.
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, winner of the 2014 Pritzker, has used material like paper and cardboard to rebuild homes in disaster zones. The displaced of Ecuador await his singular eye.
People with particularly high IQs are often viewed as difficult and socially awkward, a new survey suggests. But in reality, they’re not so different from the rest of us.
SYRIA SLIDING BACK TO OPEN WAR Few had dared to consider the five-year-long conflict in Syria over. Yet for the past two months a fragile truce among some, though not all, the warring sides had offered a bit of hope that peace might not be too far off. Casualties were down, diplomats were talking, life […]
Kathimerini, April 28, 2016 “Greece hands the Olympic torch to Rio,” writes Athens-based daily Kathimerini on its front page Thursday, featuring a picture of Wednesday’s handover ceremony in Athens. To mark 100 days before the start of the 2016 Olympic Games due to take place in Rio de Janeiro from Aug. 5 to 21, thousands […]
At the markets of Peć, in western Kosovo, there was no real way for me to tell whether I was in the 19th or 20th century.
On our first trip to Norway (driving from France in our Peugeot 203), we stopped for a moment in Oslo before making our way to the country’s inland regions. You can see the capital’s new two-towered City Hall, which had been completed 10 years earlier. Three decades later, in 1990, it would become the site […]
REMEMBERING CHERNOBYL Photo: Celestino Arce/ZUMA Memorial services are scheduled across Ukraine today, as the country commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that killed dozens and shot deadly clouds of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. CANADIAN JOURNALIST BEHEADED IN THE PHILIPPINES Government officials have confirmed the death of kidnapped Canadian journalist John Ridsdel […]
On the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Kiev-based daily Den remembers “the red button that changed the world” on its front page, featuring a picture of Chernobyl’s “trumpeting angel” memorial. The Ukrainian-language newspaper tells the story of the April 26, 1986, nuclear catastrophe, one of the worst in history, and the fateful chain […]
It’s easy to be lulled into a sense of calm by the Canadian Rockies’ peaceful lakes and beautiful landscapes — and to forget that they’re also home to deadly grizzly and black bears. I was kindly reminded of their presence, in both English and French.
Bolivia’s president lost a referendum earlier this year that could have kept him in power beyond 2019. The long-serving leader may try to seek reelection regardless.
CRUZ AND KASICH TEAM UP AGAINST TRUMP U.S. Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich have announced their plan to team up against rival Donald Trump in order to prevent him from gathering the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination outright, The Washington Post reports. Sen. Cruz (Texas) is set to stop […]
Rio“s Sambadrome is not always this quiet: Picture countless samba school dancers parading down the 700-meter stretch of street, with up to tens of thousands of spectators cheering from the concrete bleachers.
Prince, the American music icon and virtuoso instrumentalist behind “Kiss” and “Purple Rain” died Thursday at his home in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen. He was 57. After the immediate outpouring of online tributes from fans and celebrities alike, the world’s newspapers Friday bid farewell to Prince Rogers Nelson — a.k.a. The Kid, The Artist […]
ECUADOR INTRODUCES REBUILDING TAX Photo: Guillermo Granja/Reuters/ZUMA The death toll in Ecuador after Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake continues to rise and now stands at 570, with hundreds more still missing and as many as 4,000 wounded. And with the extensive damage the quake caused, estimated at $3 billion, authorities unveiled yesterday a new series of measures […]
The Yorkshire Post wished Queen Elizabeth II a “happy birthday ma’am” on the front page of its Thursday edition, as the monarch turns 90. The Leeds-based daily chose one of three pictures taken for the occasion by acclaimed American photographer Annie Leibovitz. The queen is standing on the steps of Windsor Castle with four of […]
BEIJING — Chinese academia has a widely acknowledged deficit in ethics and integrity. As part of President Xi Jinping’s broader national battle against corruption, Caixin reports that the Chinese Ministry of Education has published a draft law that identifies seven forms of academic misconduct. Here’s the list in the bill presented last week: plagiarism; tampering […]
DILMA LOSES IMPEACHMENT VOTE More than the necessary two-thirds of the Brazilian lower house of Congress voted in favor of starting impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. O Globo reports on yesterday’s momentous proceedings, as Brazil’s first woman president faces accusations that she manipulated budget figures to secure her reelection in late 2014. A total […]
Folha de S. Paulo, April 18, 2016 “Impeachment!” reads the front page of leading Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo on Monday, a day after Brazil’s lower house of Parliament voted in favor of starting impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. The embattled president faces accusations that she manipulated budget figures to secure her reelection […]
Larissa in eastern Greece is traditionally held to be the birthplace of Achilles. This would-be motorcycle hero was also destined to fall, caught by the heel by a local traffic cop.
I could tell you about the state of traffic in Indonesia, about the refined paintings adorning Bali’s rickshaws, or pretend I took this shot to show the hardships of precarious workers in Southeast Asia. But really, it boils down to the fact that I thought “Muncul” sounds like “my a**” in French.
On Moscow’s Sparrow Hill, tourists can buy nestling dolls or wooden chess boards while enjoying the view over the Russian capital.
Top German security officials say criminals and violent Islamists are using the asylum crisis to recruit refugees. They especially target minors traveling alone.
It sounds like the makings of a bad sitcom. In China’s northern Shanxi province, twin sisters married twin brothers, but uncomfortable mix-ups have led them to seek minor surgery to avoid confusing their respective partners, China News reports. According to the newspaper, a matchmaker fixed up the two Zhao brothers with the Yuan sisters over […]
ARE DILMA’S DAYS NUMBERED? Photo: Agencia Estado/Xinhua/ZUMA Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will face what promises to be a dramatic impeachment after a committee in Brazil’s lower house voted in favor of removing her from office last night. Folha de S.Paulo reports that the committee panel vote came after an investigation into accusations that Rousseff had […]
Skype founder Jaan Tallinn wants to program machines to keep them from becoming a threat to the human race. Yes, he believes, the threat is real.
CAMERON RELEASES TAX INFO British Prime Minister David Cameron released information from his 2009-2015 tax returns yesterday in an attempt to defuse controversy about how he profited from his late father’s offshore fund, The Independent reports. The details about the family’s investment company were leaked last week in the so-called Panama Papers. CIA WILL NOT […]
WORLD LEADERS SWEAT IN PANAMA SPOTLIGHT The global fallout continues, four days after the massive leak of documents linked to a Panama firm specialized in offshore financial operations. So far, there has been just one clear high-profile political casualty: Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who stepped aside on Tuesday — but the heat is […]
Global coverage of the U.S. presidential race has zeroed in recently on the gender issue, from the only woman in the race, Trump’s wife and the influence of female voters.
El Tiempo, April 8, 2016 “Court says “yes’ to gay marriage in historic decision” reads the Friday front page of Bogota-based daily El Tiempo, a day after Colombia’s highest court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage. Members of the Colombian LGBT community, pictured on the daily’s front page, gathered outside the court in Bogota’s historic center […]
PANAMA PAPERS, THE CHINESE CONNECTION The latest revelations to emerge from the Panama Papers focus on the family members of top China Communist Party members, including the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping, Bo Xilai’s wife and a distant relative of Mao Zedong. According to The Guardian, these relatives are part of China’s “red nobility,” “whose […]
Kiev-based weekly news magazine Krayina asks its readers, “Are you ready to live until you’re 120?” In this week’s edition, the Ukrainian-language publication writes that longevity means additional opportunities — but also new problems: What to make of a couple extra decades? How to live in a family where four or five generations coexist? At […]
No matter where we went or how long, my wife and I would always take the time to write a couple of postcards to family and friends. And as far as I can tell, there’s no fixed rule for how many days it’d take for them to arrive.
Barack Obama’s recent trip to Cuba and Argentina are the crowning achievement on his administration’s efforts to consolidate peaceful ties with and among Latin American countries.