Worldcrunch
PARIS – He first visited libraries as a researcher, before crossing on to “the other side of the mirror.” That’s how Philippe Galanopolous describes his life as a curator for the Inter-University Science Library of Paris (BIUS), one of the world’s best collection of science texts and documents. BIUS was created after the merger between […]
-Editorial- SANTIAGO – If we based our knowledge of Latin America on Amnesty International’s latest global human rights report, we would believe that there is no real justice in the region, violence is on the rise, police regular torture citizens, that there are multiple attempts to exterminate indigenous groups, and organized crime is gaining ground. […]
BUENOS AIRES – When she was young, Rita would browse through books in her house and not understand a thing. Why did Sleeping Beauty wake up? Why did Little Red Riding Hood open the door for the wolf? Rita would stare at the illustrations but her mother and father didn’t know how to tell the […]
CAVIAHUE – In this ghost town, the houses are empty and windows are boarded shut. The red foxes and cauquenes geese are in hiding and no condors circle the sky above. Since last week, there has been no movement in Caviahue, southwestern Argentina, aside from the tremors of the nearby Copahue volcano, spewing gas. Even […]
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has it in for top Buenos Aires daily Clarin. But it’s part of much grander plans to extend her power well past the line of legitimate democracy.
BUENOS AIRES – Emotional education is a teaching concept that helps students learn self-awareness (recognizing their emotions) and self-regulation (managing their emotions). While employed by some teachers to help children to gain more confidence and learn more efficiently, “educación emocional” has recently become so popular among educators in Argentina that a debate has been opened […]
The sweet (and unhealthy) underbelly of the region’s economic growth.
HAVANA – Black-and-white images of Che Guevara and a clumsy Fidel Castro, dressed in military attire, leaning on his golf club a few feet away from the hole, gave way to many years of ostracism towards golf in Cuba. Cubans still don’t know why golf courses were suddenly converted into public institutions. Was it because […]
And why I won’t be coming back…
BUENOS AIRES – Eating is no longer just the primitive act of satiating hunger. It is a process that includes production, consumption, and evaluation for preparation of the next gastronomical experience. It’s a hedonistic experience with a concern for nutritional value, especially as the ”o” word – obesity – keeps cropping up. For most people, […]
Worldcrunch LUMBINI – Happy belated birthday, Buddha! The birthday of Prince Siddhartha Gautama is a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mahayana Buddhism on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month. This year it fell on May 17, and that got the peace and party started from Sioux City to Sri Lanka. The occasion allows us […]
From Fiji to the Marshall Islands, it’s time to react to the effects left by emissions from large industrialized nations.
Roberto Azevedo comes from an emerging BRICS economy, where there has been more focus on bilateral commerce deals than wider trade agreements favored by the US and Europe.
Younger men are leading the way for cosmetic interventions.
Cost-conscious chefs in Buenos Aires veer away from top sirloin to lesser cuts — and pork and poultry too.
LIMA – Nadine Heredia Alarcón, wife of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, has never expressed a desire to run as a candidate in the presidential election, but if she did, she could win and become the first female Peruvian president. Because of this possibility, leaders of the country’s political parties are pressuring Humala to confirm whether […]
TUNCELI – The recent death of two Turkish soldiers by a mine blast has brought the land mine issue to the country’s agenda once more – and at a moment ripe with hope for lasting peace with Kurdish minority. Turkey, a signatory of the Ottawa Treaty in 2003 was supposed to clear its territory of […]
Reinheitsgebot is the name of the German Beer Purity Law, which states that only barley, water and hops may go into beer. Reinheitsgebot is also the best-known German word in Namibia. April 23, marked the 497th anniversary of the proclamation of that law in Bavaria, and in Namibia the anniversary is always cause for celebration. […]
BURZACO – Carolina Ortega is 37 years old, a trained journalist, and she works as an advisor for Argentine Congressman Felipe Solá. She grew up in the city of Burzaco, just outside of Buenos Aires. When she was just 7, following her parents’ acrimonious separation, her father left home, and the family never saw him […]
BUENOS AIRES – Sixty-one years after the death of the legendary Argentine First Lady Eva Perón, she “speaks” again in Marco Aguinis’ new novel La Furia de Evita (Evita’s Fury). Aguinis, a former Argentine Minister of Culture, who has written more than 40 books, has devoted his 11th novel to the life and death of […]
VENEZUELA AL DÍA, EL TIEMPO (Venezuela), CNN MEXICO (Mexico). Worldcrunch CARACAS – As the country remains tense following the election of Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor, Venezuela’s National Assembly erupted in violence, as a brawl broke out between members of the ruling party (United Socialist Party) and representatives from the opposition (Democratic Unity Roundtable, which unites […]
Worldcrunch El Financiero reported this week that child labor abuses affect at least three million kids in Mexico: long workdays, minimal or no payment, informal jobs, and more blatent abuse are constant factors in their daily lives. The last official numbers on underage workers were released in 2011 and indicated that about 870,000 boys and […]
ASUNCIÓN – Latin Americans are not the type to pass on a bargain, especially if it’s being offered by a neighbor. This is why Paraguay has been mercilessly milking all it can from the depreciation of the Argentine peso. This can be seen in the exchange rate between the two currencies – but also in […]
PARIS – Will the young women of 2033 laugh when they learn that their mothers chose their foundation and makeup by themselves? Without a microscope or a telephone? This is what Givenchy is betting on. The French luxury cosmetics company just launched its first Spectrocolorimeter in three of its Paris stores. Developed by X-Rite, the […]
Even if outwardly the UK and Germany may appear on opposite sides of the debate over Brussels’ power, the European economic heavyweights share common interests.
ABC, TELECINCO (Spain) QUITO – It’s the latest sign of a global economy turned on its head. Ecuador, in search of qualified workers to fuel the economy, is actively trying to lure its nationals back home from Spain, which is mired in Europe’s ongoing debt crisis, reports Madrid-based daily ABC. The Ecuadorian government has announced […]
Horacio Cartes won a comfortable victory in last weekend’s election, putting the long-ruling Colorado Party back in power. But this time it may be a new brand of personality politics.
CLARÍN (Argentina) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Venezuelan politics continues to attract the world’s attention. After the death of Hugo Chavez and the recent election of his no-less outspoken successor, Nicolas Maduro, eyes have now turned to the newly anointed Sports Minister: Alejandra Benítez, the Olympic fencer best known for posing nude just before last year’s London […]
CAIRO – Rafah and other cities on the Sinai peninsula’s north coast have been suffering from pollution of the Mediterranean Sea and its underground water reservoir, which has caused serious environmental and health issues for the local population, experts argue. Some blame Israel for the pollution, while others attribute it to domestic sources. The National […]
As France becomes the 14th country to allow same-sex marriage, Le Monde looks at one of the bleaker corners for gay rights in 2013.
TOULOUSE – In France alone, there are 500,000 deaf people, and that doesn’t even include those who are partially deaf or have hearing problems. About half of deaf people in France are unemployed. Launched in 2001, French start-up Websourd is a cooperative that publishes videos in sign language on the Internet, which can also help […]
Even as it continues to report record earnings, certain trends remind us that even the smartest, most dominant tech companies eventually are brought down to size.
LA NACION, ULTIMA HORA, MERCOPRESS (Paraguay) Worldcrunch ASUNCION – Self-made millionaire Horacio Cartes won Paraguay’s election on Sunday with 46% of the vote, returning the conservative Colorado Party to power. Cartes, 58, is a political novice, who had never voted before joining the Colorado Party (ANR) four years ago, reports MercoPress. He owns dozens of […]
CIUDAD JUAREZ – A maquiladora, or maquila, is an offshoring factory or manufacturing plant operated under U.S.-Mexico free trade agreements to encourage the development of industry in Mexico. Mexico allows materials used in maquilas to enter duty-free, provided the finished product is then immediately exported out of Mexico. The U.S. in turn charges these products […]
SHANGHAI – Times are tough for billionaires. In Italy, their tax returns are being tracked down. In France, their overseas accounts are being scrutinized. Brussels wants to ban bankers’ bonuses. Switzerland voted to outlaw golden handshakes. Even in the United States, billionaires – unless they are also philanthropists – have become suspicious characters. Fortunately, there […]
In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez’s handpicked heir will find securing his narrow victory was nothing compared to actually serving as president of a country with deep structural ills.
COLMAR – The world’s love affair with French macarons is here to stay. In order to meet global demands, the pastry chef who made macarons famous, Pierre Hermé, is about to step up production in the factory where most of his macarons are created – always by hand. “The goal is to triple production from […]
STANLEY, FALKLAND ISLANDS – In nearby Argentina, President Cristina Kirchner and her ministers offered not a single word after the death this week of Margaret Thatcher. Absolute silence was the strictest order of the day in the halls of government in Buenos Aires. Still, some veterans from the 1982 war did react, including the head […]
Even Ivy League graduates have to settle for serial internships.
Worldcrunch MEXICO CITY – We’re not sure if this is fodder for a Disney cartoon feature, or a Stephen King horror movie: a woman in her car was caught on video by a fellow motorist trying to abandon her dog on the streets of the Xochimilco district of Mexico City. The faithful pooch, who appears […]