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.
RUSSIA’S SYRIA AIRSTRIKES TO LAST 3-4 MONTHS The Russian airstrike campaign in Syria could last three to four months, Alexey Pushkov, the head of the lower house of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, was quoted as saying Friday by the French radio station Europe 1. Pushkov, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, also said […]
Salvador is nicknamed “Brazil’s capital of happiness.” I wonder why …
In 1995, Chairman Mao was no longer such a hot commodity: If you bought one bust of the communist leader at this Beijing market, you got one free.
U.S. SAYS RUSSIA TARGETING REBELS, NOT ISIS Russia’s intervention in Syria has elicited anger from U.S. officials who are accusing Moscow of aiming at the region’s Western-backed rebels — not ISIS fighters, as the country claims. The New York Times reports that Russia’s participation in the civil war is an effort to help Syrian President […]
Al-Akhbar, Oct. 1, 2015 “Toward a new Middle East,” reads the front page of the Thursday edition of Lebanon’s Arabic-language daily Al-Akhbar, together with a picture of a Russian aircraft ready for take-off, as Moscow hits targets in Syria for a second day. On Wednesday, Moscow launched a series of airstrikes against what it said […]
Russia’s decision to send troops into Syria in defense of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, is now at the center of a major diplomatic standoff between Moscow and the West. But the move by Russian President Vladimir Putin to send military support to combat ISIS insurgents is also a sign of concerns at the military […]
The pharmaceutical industry looks to identify new diseases so it can push new drugs on the market, and patients play along. The approval of reduced female libido as a pathology is a case in point.
NEW MOVES ON SYRIAN WAR CHESSBOARD The diplomatic deadlock over how to end the bloody civil war in Syria is growing deeper by the hour. The upper house of the Russian Parliament has voted unanimously in favor of allowing the use of Russian troops in Syria, paving the way for the Russian air force to […]
The nine gilded onion domes of the Annunciation Cathedral are one of the inimitable features of Moscow“s Cathedral Square, the central square of the Kremlin.
Plus, bonus coverage from the *celestial* hometown rag …
I’ve never gone to a country to lie on the beach, but I am happy to bring my camera along to capture a seascape or two.
SEPARATIST PARTIES WIN CATALONIA VOTE Pro-independence parties in the Spanish region of Catalonia won an absolute majority of legislative seats in regional elections yesterday that were seen as a de facto referendum on independence. Separatists see the landmark victory in the rich region as a clear mandate to break away from Spain, though they received […]
Going to Lourdes as a tourist, not as a devotee, you come across a diverse bunch: the ailing believers looking for a cure, the admirable volunteers taking care of them, the peddlers cashing in on people’s faith. When I went there 45 years ago, I took this shot of pilgrims waiting for a group photograph […]
MORE THAN 300 DEAD IN MECCA STAMPEDE Photo: Omar Chatriwala At least 310 people taking part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage were killed in a stampede Thursday morning in Mina, near the Islamic holy city of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera quotes Saudi officials as saying. Thursday is the first day of the Muslim […]
El Tiempo, Sept. 24, 2015 Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and rebel leader Timoleón Jiménez of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) agreed Wednesday on a “deadline for peace,” promising to end the country’s half-century-long civil war within six months, Colombia’s daily El Tiempo reports. The two men sealed the deal with a historic […]
I’ve always thought that the best aspect of religion was art — be it music, architecture or painting. Enough to inspire stubborn unbelievers like me.
EU PUSHES THROUGH REFUGEE QUOTA DEAL The European Union has approved a controversial plan to relocate 120,000 migrants from Italy and Greece over two years. EU governments forced the deal through despite the opposition of four Eastern European states, using a rule that bypasses the usually required unanimity. Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia all […]
People’s Daily, Sept. 23, 2015 “Xi Jinping begins U.S. visit” reads the front page of Chinese state-run People’s Daily Wednesday, together with a picture Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan waving upon their arrival in Seattle on Tuesday. The Chinese president’s seven-day visit, aimed at strengthening diplomatic and commercial ties with the […]
See those red garlands adorning this house on the shore of Lake Balaton? They’re chili peppers, from which Hungarians extract paprika they use to season stews and soups, like the famous goulash.
Photo: Biblioteca Congreso Nacional de Chile SANTIAGO — If it’s a scrum Chilean Sen. Jorge Pizarro wanted, he certainly got one. Though he didn’t expect to be at the bottom of the heap. Constituents complained to La Tercera newspaper that Pizarro, leader of Chile’s Christian Democratic Party, traveled to the United Kingdom to watch rugby […]
To reach the small old town of Olten: turn left after the train station, walk alongside the Aare river until you get to a 19th-century wooden bridge, take a picture.
More than 3 million people die prematurely each year from dirty air. But researchers can now trace what exactly causes the bad air in different locations. A way to begin to fix it.
“Second Chance for Syriza,” reads the front page of Greek financial daily Naftermporiki on Monday, following the election that returns the leftist party’s leader Alexis Tsipras as prime minister. With just over 35% of the vote, Syriza came out on top, leaving center-right New Democracy behind at 28%. But Tsipras’ victory is less resounding than […]
TSIPRAS BACK AT THE HELM A “vindicated” Alexis Tsipras will return as prime minister of Greece after his Syriza party’s victory in yesterday’s election, Kathimerini reports. The liberal party won just over 35% of the vote, leaving the center-right New Democracy party behind with 28%. But Tsipras’ victory is less resounding than it was in […]
When it’s a celebration day on the Indonesian island of Bali, you come across a different procession every five minutes or so — each more colorful than the last.
The Mexican government’s recent actions suggest the ruling party yearns for the days when it governed unchallenged through cronyism. But order comes at a price.
Back when the Jordanian city of Jerash was known to the Romans as Gerasa, the large South Theater was sometimes used for naumachia. Naumachia is similar to gladiator combat, just that you need to fill the theater with water and add life-size reproductions of warships. The stage was dry by the time we got there, […]
TEHRAN — Iran is increasingly “becoming a desert” thanks to decades of wasted water supplies and a dry climate exacerbated by climate change, Tehran daily Arman-e Emruz reported Thursday. Water resource specialist Mohammadreza Fatemi told the newspaper that the state environmental agency has mismanged water resources for at least 20 years, destroying the environment in […]
There’s a waterfall on the French island of Réunion that flows directly from the mountainside onto the road. Hence its, well, original name. And it looks like this tourist took it quite literally.
5 DIE, MILLIONS EVACUATED IN CHILE QUAKE Chile has been walloped yet again, this time by an “8.4-magnitude earthquake in the central-north zone” of the country, Santiago daily La Tercera reported this morning. It happened last night near the city of Illapel. The government’s National Emergency Office (ONEMI) has so far confirmed five deaths, three […]
Until the Berlin Wall was built, just six years before I took this picture, people could walk freely under the Brandenburg Gate. It would be 22 years before Berliners and tourists were able to get closer to the triumphal arch again.
U.S. WORRIED OVER RUSSIAN BUILD-UP IN SYRIA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that Moscow’s continued support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “risks exacerbating and extending the conflict” amid growing concerns over reports of Moscow’s military build-up in Syria. Reuters reports that the Tuesday phone call between Kerry and […]
BOGOTA — The World Wildlife Fund has sounded the alarm across the planet’s sea and oceans. “In just one generation, human activity has seriously harmed the ocean by catching fish faster than they can reproduce, while destroying their feeding zones,” the director general of World Wildlife Fund International Marco Lambertini declared, as the WWF publishes […]
HUNGARY CLOSES BORDER TO REFUGEES Photo: Geovien So/ZUMA Things are only becoming more difficult for refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. After Germany closed its border Sunday, Austria dispatched its military to control the influx of refugees and several other countries imposed stricter security checks at their borders. And starting today, tough limits on […]
GERMANY REINSTATES BORDER CONTROLS In an unexpected reversal of Germany refugee policy, the country has introduced temporary controls on its border with Austria and halted all cross-border train traffic with its neighbor. The decision to temporarily exit the Schengen open-border system comes after German regions said they could no longer cope with a record influx […]
I took this photo of the Vienna State Opera only seven years after it was reopened, having been badly damaged by a U.S. bombing raid toward the end of World War II. Still, Austria’s singular standing in the world of classical music was as strong as ever back then, with genius conductor Herbert von Karajan […]
ISIS MAKING CHEMICAL WEAPONS U.S. officials believe that ISIS has a specific cell dedicated to making chemical weapons, and they’ve identified at least four occasions when the terrorist group used them, the BBC reports. “They’re using mustard. We know they are,” an unnamed official said. Yesterday, the BBC reported about new evidence showing that all […]
The Star, Sept. 11, 2015 “One Giant Step,” Friday’s Johannesburg-based The Star reads, celebrating the discovery of Homo naledi, a new human-like species, in a South African cave. A team led by Kansas-born paleontologist Lee Rogers Berger (pictured here kissing a skull replica of a skull of the Homo naledi) dug up more than 1,500 […]
SAN SALVADOR — Crime-ridden El Salvador is having a particularly bloody year. Facing the power of the “Mara” street gangs, the Central American country has already counted a “record” 4,427 homicides from January to Sept. 8, the country’s Institute of Legal Medicine, or state coroners, has reported. The figure was expected to top 5,000 by […]
Weddings in Canada’s New Brunswick province get really colorful when the groom is a “mountie,” a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.