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.
-Analysis- BEIJING — A recent United Nations report predicted that the year 2017 will be the turning point for China’s demography. After reaching its peak that year, the population will start to drop. And yet at the same time, as a recent survey of China’s State Council showed, each major Chinese city has plans to […]
Molested, harassed, abused: Women in refugee camps are increasingly victims of sexual violence. Authorities in Hamburg try to react.
EU-TURKEY TENUOUS DEAL ON MIGRANTS Photo: Antonio Masiello/NurPhoto/ZUMA European Union states are considering an aid package worth 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) to Turkey as well as quicker visas for Turkish citizens in exchange for Turkey’s help in curbing the flow of migrants into Europe. The BBC reports that European leaders also agreed to “re-energize” […]
The Economist, Oct. 16, 2015 London-based weekly The Economist warns against the growing risk of “the reluctant European” as it calls the UK facing the spectre of a so-called Brexit from the EU. As part of a special report for the weekly, writer John Peet argues that it would be a mistake for the UK […]
Estaing in southern France is one of the most picturesque villages in the country. Typiquement français. It’s a favorite stop among Christian pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela — still some 700 miles away in northern Spain.
EU LEADERS TO DISCUSS REFUGEE SOLUTIONS EU leaders are set to meet in Brussels today to discuss measures that could help stem the flow of refugees, with a focus on countries outside of Europe such as Turkey, Euronews reports. In a speech to German parliament this morning, Chancellor Angela Merkel said providing more support to […]
MOSCOW — Russian intelligence services are pursuing a network of Islamic State (ISIS) militants operating in Russia as the country faces an increase in terrorist activity, in response to Moscow’s recent air campaign in Syria. Kommersant has learned that a group of terror suspects, said to be trained in Syria, were detained after a raid […]
Paris Match, Oct. 15, 2015 In an exclusive interview with glossy French magazine Paris Match conducted at his modest apartment in the Vatican, Pope Francis bemoaned greed and the “idolatry of money” that’s driving the world to ruin. The magazine, whose covers more commonly feature celebrities and royals, was invited to the Casa Santa Marta, […]
Four shoeshiners for one foot. That’s how fierce competition was in Turkey, at a time when tourist feet were not as plentiful as today.
Pursuit of free trade may be at an all-time high as Washington seals the TPP deal and Beijing pursues its New Silk Road. Here’s how it all looks from Bogota.
U.S.-RUSSIA TALKS OVER SYRIA CAMPAIGNS U.S. and Russian officials are expected to meet today for a third round of talks to discuss safety procedures in their respective Syrian campaigns after what the BBC describes as a “near-miss” on Saturday. American and Russian warplanes were reportedly in visual contact and within miles of each other. According […]
De Tijd, Oct. 14, 2015 “Belgians remain in control of big beer,” and “The biggest pint in the world is Belgian,” Flemish-language business daily De Tijd proudly writes on the front page of its Wednesday edition, a day after the world’s second-largest brewer SABMiller accepted a takeover proposal from Belgium-based No.1 beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev. […]
There are several statues, monuments and informal crosses thoughout Prague that commemorate the death of 21-year-old Jan Palach and 19-year-old Jan Zajíc. The two students set themselves on fire in 1969 to protest the end of the Prague Spring, brought on by the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led armies.
IRAN LAWMAKERS APPROVE NUCLEAR DEAL Iran’s parliament today approved the nuclear agreement reached in July with six world powers, clearing the way for its implementation, state news agency IRNA reports. The deal was passed with 161 votes for, 59 against and 13 abstentions. It authorizes lifting sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran limiting its […]
At equinoxes, the sun shines on the Pre-Columbian Ponce monolith through the Kalasasaya main door. In what is today western Bolivia, the effect no doubt left quite an impression on inhabitants of the Tiwanaku settlement near Lake Titicaca, then on Spanish conquistadors — then on French tourists.
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TURKEY BLAMES ISIS FOR DEADLIEST TERROR ATTACK No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s bombings in the Turkish capital of Ankara, the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says the prime suspect is ISIS, Hürriyet reports. The attack is believed to have been executed by two suicide bombers outside […]
Milliyet, Oct. 12, 2015 “The cost shouldn’t be so high,” Turkish daily Milliyet writes on Monday’s front page, quoting and featuring a picture of Ä°zzettin Çevik, the blood-covered school teacher who became one of the symbols of the toll of Saturday’s deadly bombings in Ankara. Çevik, who was photographed by Reuters amid the carnage, lost […]
Slowly, the sands of time eat away at the concrete bunkers on Utah and Omaha beaches. The half-buried structures still bear witness to the German efforts to repel the Normandy landings.
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ — The Colombian Health Ministry wants to tax sugary drinks. The Supreme Court is ordering parliament to regulate labeling on food products so consumers know which ones contain genetically modified ingredients. A nationwide debate has begun on the poor quality of school meals, as the regional head of the World Food Programme tells […]
Tehran’s Milad Tower — Photo: Hamed Saber Tehran’s northern suburbs, in the foothills of the Alborz mountains, used to be a summer refuge from the heat of downtown Tehran, mainly for their numerous gardens and abundant trees. The rich used to live there before 1979, and some still do. But over the past 20 years […]
ISIS KILLS TOP IRANIAN COMMANDER ISIS killed Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani outside Aleppo overnight, Iranian military news agency Sepah News reports. Hamedani was providing military advice to Syrian government forces as part of support sent by Tehran. He was reportedly in charge of the Quds Force, a special unit fighting rebels in the war-torn […]
While Japan’s overall alcohol consumption is in decline due to an aging population and low birthrate, Sake is showing a revival at home and abroad. There’s even a new variety with Champagne-like bubbles.
Either this is a very original place to store a lifebuoy, or sculptors on the shores of Hungary’s Lake Balaton — the largest lake in central Europe — have a peculiar sense of humor.
TEL AVIV — Israeli Defense Forces are turning their attention to a new front: the war raging in cyberspace. And in an attempt to coordinate what up to now have been disjointed, sometimes overlapping operations, the Israeli military’s chief of staff recently announced the creation of a special cyber unit. The unit will be similar […]
NATO READY TO TO “DEFEND” TURKEY NATO is prepared to send troops to Turkey to defend its ally against any threats along its southern border, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference before a meeting with defense ministers in Brussels today, Reuters reports. His comments come after Russian jets operating in Syria violated […]
Libération, Oct. 8, 2015 “How Brussels screwed up European sperm.” Libération dedicated its front page Thursday to an in-depth story about how the European Union has failed to restrict the use in every day products of endocrine disruptors, which researchers say are responsible for cancers, diabetes and poor sperm quality. Manufacturers use parabens, phtalates, bisphenol […]
The Commando Memorial in the Highlands of Scotland is dedicated to the memory of the British Commandos who died in World War II. Through the fog — one of our rare tastes of the trademark Scottish weather — the three iconic soldiers are looking south towards Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the United Kingdom.
ISTANBUL — The program to train and equip the “moderate opposition” in Syria, as long planned by the United States alongside Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, ended in utter failure. What led to this global diplomatic fiasco that has left the future of Syria looking so grim? The chain of problems began with the most […]
Photo: jenny downing Despite the begging and pleading, some parents manage to put off the day when their children get their swiping little fingers on their first smartphone. Those parents are right to resist, according to a a new German study on the effects of all those iPhones and Samsungs on the brains and behaviors […]
MSF DEMANDS KUNDUZ WAR CRIME PROBE Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it will take the unprecedented step of calling on the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC) to investigate Saturday’s bombing by U.S. forces of its hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz that killed 22 people, swissinfo reports. FIRST SYRIAN AND RUSSIAN JOINT ATTACK Russian […]
Die Tageszeitung, Oct. 7, 2015 “In your face,” writes (in English) Berlin-based Die Tageszeitung on its Wednesday front page, one day after a landmark ruling by Europe’s highest court made it more dificult for Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook and thousands of other companies to transfer users’ data from Europe to the United States. The famously tongue-in-cheek […]
Admiring the New Orleans skyline from a distance while listening to a jazz band … Both myself and my grandson were lucky enough to enjoy a cruise down the Mississippi on the steamboat Natchez — although 23 years apart.
NATO WARNS RUSSIA ON INCURSIONS IN TURKISH AIRSPACE Nato has strongly condemned Russian violations of Turkey’s airspace, after Ankara reported two incursions in two days. The rising tensions between Moscow and the West come as Russia has launched air raids in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ISRAEL RAZES HOMES OF PALESTINIAN MILITANTS Israel’s government […]
French daily Le Parisien called yesterday’s violence against two Air France executives “unjustifiable” on its Tuesday front page. On Monday, angry workers and union members stormed Air France’s headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, to protest some 2,900 proposed layoffs. Pierre Plissonnier, the director of the Air France hub, and the company’s […]
Millions of years of erosion shaped the fairy chimneys — also called tent rocks, hoodoos, earth pyramids — of Cappadocia. All that man needed was a bit of carving and digging to make himself at home in these troglodyte dwellings.
TURKEY AIRSPACE VIOLATION AN “ERROR,” RUSSIA CLAIMS The violation of the Turkish airspace by a Russian warplane over the weekend was a “navigation error,” Moscow has told Ankara, according to Turkish military sources quoted by Hürriyet. Two Turkish F-16 jets intercepted a Russian SU-30 hundreds of meters into Turkey’s airspace, near the Syrian border, for […]
“Confidence in the coalition,” reads Monday’s front page of Portuguese daily Jornal de Noticias, following the governing center-right coalition’s victory in the country’s general election. This was the first nationwide parliamentary election since 2011, when the government followed Greece and Ireland in requesting an international bailout to avoid default. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho insisted […]
Driving through Algeria and Tunisia 45 years ago wasn’t actually so rough: For our European postérieurs, the seats of our 404 Peugeot were undeniably more comfortable than the saddle of this camel.
-Analysis- BUENOS AIRES — We’re now very much in the “hangover” stage, the proverbial “morning after,” as countries all over the world face painful adjustments now that the party years — when China’s booming economy fed a seemingly insatiable appetite for outside products — are finally over. While the pain may not be as intense […]