This is Lenin’s Mausoleum in Moscow“s Red Square, where the communist leader’s embalmed body is on public display. I preferred taking pictures of the marble and granite tomb from the outside.
Categories
Letting Lenin Be
Author: Bertrand Hauger
Bertrand 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.
Categories
After Charles
In 1969, nine years before I went there, Caernafon Castle in northwestern Wales was used for the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales. It raised the profile of the medieval fortress, but its beauty was well worth visiting in its own right.
PARIS — Our fair-minded but ever subjective staff of journalists, translators and editors have chosen what we believe to be the year’s most engaging and provocative stories. Why The Chinese Are So Good, But Rarely Great CHINA / Caixin, Jan .5 That Slippery Euphemism We Call “Cultural Differences” FRANCE / Worldcrunch, Jan. 15 Artificial Intelligence […]
Categories
Carrying The Water
In the cradle of the Himalayas, these Nepalese kids were using all kinds of weirdly shaped pots, vases and buckets to bring water back to the village, from the only source available to the community.
[dailymotion //www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x3j5fyg expand=1]
RUSSIA ACCUSED OF KILLING 200 SYRIAN CIVILIANS The human rights organization Amnesty International released a 28-page report Wednesday accusing the Russian military of launching air attacks with munitions and unguided bombs on civilian areas in Syria in the past three months, killing at least 200 people in what could constitute war crimes. The report, quoting […]
Categories
Khodorkovsky Back In Kremlin Crosshairs
Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a wanted man again, with a warrant issued for his arrest two years after being released from jail. The 52-year-old who’d spent more than 10 years in prison on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement — after what he described as a politically-motivated trial as he fell out with Vladimir […]
Categories
Polar Family Circle
Though it has long, cold and snowy winters, Finland’s northernmost province of Lapland, famous for being the traditional home of Santa Claus, has warm (enough) summers. Here, my wife Claudine, my daughter Cécile and I are posing for a sunny family portrait along the polar circle.
TALIBAN SIEGE IN AFGHANISTAN Afghan forces are battling Taliban fighters today in a desperate attempt to protect the police headquarters in the town of Sangin, after a Taliban attack killed six U.S. soldiers yesterday, the BBC reports. The Taliban have laid siege to the southern town and have reportedly cut it off from the rest […]
Categories
Fire Destroys Sao Paulo Historic Museum
Folha de S. Paulo, Dec. 22, 2015 “Fire destroys museum in São Paulo,” writes Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo on its front page Tuesday, featuring a photograph of the fire destroying part of São Paulo’s historic “station of Light” on Monday afternoon. The “estação da Luz,” one of the city’s main railway stations, was […]
Categories
Buffalo Status
In southern Indonesia’s Torajan villages, water buffalo horns are displayed on the houses’ facades as a mark of social standing.
Categories
You Have My Vote
Howard Zerangue served more than 25 years as sheriff of Opelousas, Louisiana. I wonder why that is …
Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa insists he will retire from politics when his term ends. Yet he has spent the past year lobbying to end presidential term limits, which a loyal parliament has now granted. Does he have a hidden agenda to remain in power?
Despite officially resigning in September at the height of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn is still on the company’s payroll and could earn millions until his contract terminates at the end of 2016, an investigation by Germany’s business daily Handelsblatt and TV network ZDF reveals. Winterkorn, 68, who pulls in an annual […]
ISIS STRIKES BACK, BUT FAILS More than 300 ISIS fighters launched a vast attack against Kurdish forces in several locations near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, but their assault was repelled by the Kurdish fighters backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, The Washington Post reports. At least 180 jihadist fighters are reported to have been killed […]
Categories
Still French
Corsica has been part of France for nearly two-and-a-half centuries, but relations with Paris have always been complicated: Last week, Corsican nationalist and independence movements scored big during the country’s regional elections. French or otherwise, it was postcard beautiful on my most recent of three visits to the island.
EU LEADERS TRY TO MOVE ON MIGRANT CRISIS European leaders are gathered in Brussels for a two-day meeting centered on the 28-nation bloc’s ongoing migrant crisis. Politico reports that proposals will be debated to reinforce external borders, including the possible creation of a new EU law enforcement body that could be sent to respond to […]
ABC, Dec.17, 2015 MADRID — “We are moderate people, quiet, formal and serious.” Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s calm words and bruised face were splashed on the front page of Madrid daily ABC on Thursday after the center-right leader was punched in the face by a 17 year-old during a campaign stop. Rajoy, who is […]
The most friendly of pontiffs, Argentine-born Pope Francis has yet to speak to just-elected President Mauricio Macri. Maybe a rude remark by one of Macri’s aides is to blame.
Categories
Iran Violation, Chaos Candidate, Fed Watch
IRAN VIOLATED MISSILE BAN, UN SAYS A United Nations Security Council’s Panel of Experts has accused Iran of violating a UN resolution by test-firing a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead on Oct. 10, Al Jazeera reports. “On the basis of its analysis and findings, the Panel concludes that Emad launch is a violation […]
Chile used to pride itself as a South American answer to Germany, known for business and public integrity. Now a string of scandals have broken the public trust.
SAUDI ANNOUNCES ANTI-TERROR COALITION Saudi Arabia announced today that it is leading a military coalition of Arab countries against Islamic terrorism, the Saudi Press Agency reports. Other alliance countries include Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and Gulf Arab and African states. A joint statement said that a joint operations center would […]
Categories
Class Of ’72
How impeccably dressed and well-behaved these students appeared when we visited the University of Coimbra in central Portugal. The university, the country’s oldest, is also well known for its annual Queima das Fitas, a massive and sometimes rowdy “burning of the ribbons” student festival that lasts for eight days each spring.
FRENCH FAR RIGHT FALLS SHORT Marine Le Pen and her far-right National Front party failed to win even one of France’s 13 regions in yesterday’s second round of elections, despite finishing first in almost half of them a week ago. It was ultimately the victim of alliances formed by other parties and of higher voter […]
Categories
Latest Cruise
Many such “blue caves” hide under the chalky cliffs of Paxi, the small group of islands near Corfu in western Greece, where I was two months ago — marking my 12th visit to Greece in the past 53 years.
TIANJIN — In the frenzy of China’s real estate speculation, what goes up must sometimes come down — right away. Two brand new 31-story buildings and another 65-story skyscraper are set to be demolished in China’s northeast port city of Tianjin after undergoing unauthorized design changes during construction. According to the China Times, the three […]
COP21 WRAPS UP, TALKS CONTINUE The COP21 climate change conference in Paris will close later today without a deal, though French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said negotiations would continue into the weekend and that a final agreement would probably be adopted tomorrow, Le Monde reports. After almost two weeks of intense talks, a few roadblocks […]
Categories
New Argentine President Sworn In
La Capital, Dec. 11, 2015 “I want to be the president of a united Argentina,” Argentina’s oldest daily La Capital quotes the country’s new leader Mauricio Macri as saying on its front page Friday, a day after he was sworn in as president. Predecessor Cristina Fernández de Kirchner boycotted Macri’s inauguration after a bitter dispute […]
Categories
Arch Nemesis
The elk-antler sculpture that arches across Highway 89 in Afton, Wyoming is the largest in the world. Are there others? An impressive 15-ton agglomeration of more than 3,000 antlers, it looked quite solid to me. My wife, however, decided it was safer to stand under the little arch next to it.
PARIS — With 20 to 25 burials a day on average, the iconic Père Lachaise Cemetery is used to a steady pace of funerals — but these ceremonies are different. On Monday, the largest cemetery in Paris was partially closed for two hours to allow 19 employees to meet with a psychologist about the trauma […]
Categories
Mythical Mexican Mural
The mural on the northern wall of Mexico City’s Central Library, on the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico — the largest university in Latin America — is a sight to behold. The central section depicts the mythical founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the former capital of the Mexican Empire, with an eagle eating a […]
Iranian foreign policy is still a major question mark, even as Western delegations stream through Tehran in the wake of a nuclear deal that promises an end to sanctions and international isolation. But there is no denying that Iran is a major regional power, which holds the real potential of becoming a working partner with […]
A study recently released in Germany demonstrates that right-wing parties win on average 30% more votes after a financial crisis. The success of France’s Marine Le Pen is just the latest example.
SYRIA’S OPPOSITION GROUPS MEET IN RIYADH Syrian armed and political opposition groups are set to meet in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh today as part of a three-day conference aimed at finding a common position ahead of potential peace talks with President Bashar al-Assad’s government, Al Jazeera reports. VERBATIM “I am hereby barring Donald Trump […]
Tuesday’s cover of U.S. daily the Philadelphia Daily News shows a file photograph of Republican front-runner Donald Trump gesticulating with his hand in what happens to look that moment like a Nazi-like salute, together with the headline “The New Furor” — a pun with Führer, the German word for “leader” and Adolf Hitler’s infamous title. […]
Categories
Snow White Revisited
In the fairy tale, the evil queen disguises herself as an old woman and tries to kill Snow White with a poisoned apple. What the story left out is that she then moved to Cyprus to sell jars of marmalade.
BANGALORE — Here in the Indian capital of global call centers, the Dalai Lama was the feature guest at the Arab-Asian Chamber of Commerce” Peace for Economy conference. In an interview with La Stampa on the sidelines of the conference, the highest authority of Tibetan Buddhism extended an olive branch to the West’s current Enemy […]
Libération, Dec. 7, 2015 “It’s getting closer,” warns French leftist daily Libération on its front page Monday, alongside a blurry picture of France’s National Front leader Marine Le Pen, one day after her far-right party topped the vote in the first round of the country’s regional elections. France’s National Front became the country’s “first party,” […]
FRENCH FAR RIGHT SWEEP REGIONAL VOTE France’s National Front became the country’s “first party” Sunday, winning nearly 30% of the vote in the first round of regional elections held just three weeks after the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks. The nationalist party finished first in six of France’s 13 regions, with party leader Marine Le Pen […]
Categories
Now You See Me
We all know that the black-and-white coats of zebras act as camouflage. But it’s only after you’ve spent time on safari squinting to try and spot them that you really understand it.