Worldcrunch
PARIS – The wine cellar of the French Presidential Palace – the Elysée – where President François Hollande now resides, is not that far from the command center of France’s nuclear arsenal. Its location remains just as much a mystery. Except for authorized personnel, it is impossible to visit the wine cellar, with the entrance […]
AGEO – Shigeo Iizuka still has the black-and-white photo of his little sister, Yaeko, stuck on the inside cover of his pocket diary. It was June 1978, when the 22-year-old suddently disappeared, taken from the bustling heart of Tokyo and transferred to North Korea to be used as a teacher of Japanese language and customs […]
PARIS – For Christmas this year, eight-year-old Thomas has asked for… a laptop computer, just so he doesn’t have to use his mother’s. Last year, when he was seven, he got an iPod. This Christmas will be characterized by society’s evolution toward high-tech gadgets; an evolution that has not bypassed children. For dozens of years, […]
CAIRO – On December 5, violent clashes raged for hours between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi, after the latter attacked a sit-in outside the presidential palace by protesters rejecting the constitutional declaration and a snap referendum. A total of 49 people were captured, beaten and kept overnight in makeshift holding cells as their […]
NHK, ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan), XINHUA (China) Worldcrunch The Japanese government accused China of violating its airspace Thursday morning, after Chinese maritime surveillance planes flew near the islands disputed by the two powers. China’s Xinhua news agency confirms that Chinese planes were sent to patrol the territorial waters surrounding the disputed Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku in Japanese) […]
Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – It’s been a long time coming, but Pope Benedict XVI has finally graced the world with his first few tweets. Two weeks after establishing his Twitter handle, @Pontifex (Latin for “Pope”) in eight different languages, he finally sent out some 140-character blessings Wednesday morning : Dear friends, I am pleased to […]
KCNA (North Korea), THE KOREA HERALD (South Korea), NHK (Japan) Worldcrunch North Korea’s state-run news agency has announced the country has successfully put a satellite into orbit Wednesday. Pyongyang says the three-stage, long-range rocket was successfully launched off the west coast of North Korea Wednesday morning, after its previous attempts failed earlier this year. “The […]
LONDON – Londoners were left slightly bemused on Tuesday when they stumbled across a giant rubber duck floating down the River Thames. First a monkey wearing a coat roaming around IKEA in Toronto? Now a rubber duck swimming up the Thames? Has everyone gone quackers? Is it already the end of the world? No, it […]
SOWETAN, THE MAIL & GUARDIAN (South Africa) Worldcrunch South Africa’s former president and national hero Nelson Mandela is being treated for a lung infection. After much speculation, South African officials finally revealed Tuesday why Nelson Mandela, aged 94, was initially admitted to hospital in the nation’s capital Pretoria on Saturday. President Jacob Zuma’s office released […]
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, NINE NETWORK (Australia) Worldcrunch SYDNEY – The two Australian radio DJs who conducted the controversial prank call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was staying, have broken their silence for the first time since the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha on Friday. Radio DJs Mel Greig and […]
Let’s be real, says this commentator, Israeli settlers on the West Bank aren’t going away, UN statehood for Palestine notwithstanding. Here’s another way to imagine a two-state solution.
Seniors Demographic Reaches Social Media Tipping Point.
CAIRO – After clashes one night this week near the presidential palace, I went to a mosque near the palace. I knew it would be open, as it was time for the dawn prayer. I immediately recognized people from the Muslim Brotherhood, especially when I saw my neighbor from our town on the outskirts of […]
HAARETZ (Israel), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch Syria’s ambassador to Venezuela has denied allegations Wednesday that President Bashar al-Assad is considering seeking political asylum in Latin America. On Tuesday, Israeli newspaper Haaretz suggested President Assad’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad had previously held meetings in Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador in order to ensure the President’s safe […]
The Pompidou Center’s current Dalí retrospective sheds light on one of the greatest painters of the 20th century, whose eccentric escapades have long obscured his talent. PARIS – It’s with time that legends are usually made, either forging their destiny as heroes or demonizing their very existence. Salvador Dalí didn’t have the patience to wait. […]
Worldcrunch LONDON – It’s time to get the bunting out again. After months and months of speculation and glossy magazines waiting with bated breath so they can roll out the pregnancy tips and photos of Pippa Middleton’s gloomy, baby-envious face, we can all rest assured: Kate is preggers! With the London Olympics over and the […]
LA PROVENCE, LE PARISIEN (France) Worldcrunch AVIGNON – A French mother is to appear in court after dressing her three-year-old son, whom she named Jihad, in a t-shirt with the words “I am a bomb” written across his chest. A nursery-school teacher alerted the police when her pupil came into school wearing the t-shirt, with […]
MENAKA – In a land far from Mali’s capital of Bamako, the houses are covered in rough cement, the streets in a reddish earth; the town is scattered with crumbling mosques and the dust sweeps through the sweltering heat. Opposite an enormous bazaar, there is another mosque, but this time, the men standing outside are […]
PARIS – One recent Sunday afternoon, a father sits on a park bench reading his magazine; all the while watching his six-year-old son Sébastien out of the corner of his eye, as he plays on the seesaw with the other children of his Parisian neighborhood. One of the children runs back to his mother, followed […]
EUROPE 1, LE FIGARO (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – Unemployment has reached a new record high in the eurozone, with European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi saying Friday that the single currency would not recover until the second half of 2013. “We have not yet emerged from the crisis,” Draghi told France’s Europe 1 radio […]
AL-AHRAM, EGYPT INDEPENDENT (Egypt), TIME Worldcrunch CAIRO – As opposition protests across Egypt gather momentum, the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly is rushing to finalize a draft of a new constitution that will be voted on Thursday. Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reports that the government body worked into the early hours of Thursday in an attempt to finish […]
Worldcrunch PARIS – Get it!? Ok, we know our pronunciation of both French and Mandarin is less than perfect…But this is the sort of stuff that gets mashed together at Worldcrunch HQ, where the continents converge, cultures cross and alcohol is not forbidden. So we hope you like our super-fresh bottle of Bo Xilai Nouveau […]
PARIS – To look at them, you would never know the agony these young men, relaxed and self-assured, have endured. Drinking wine and eating blinis in their comfortable Parisian apartment, Nicolas (not his real name), Bertrand, Fabrice and Damien all tell a similar story. Raised in practicing Catholic families, and believers themselves, they have taken […]
MOGALE CITY – Patience Pumlangadu’s black skin is now a yellowish color. “I put this powder on my face to protect it from the sun,” explains the South African mother of three. Pumlangadu makes this sun protection herself by mixing water with bits of crushed rock she says are “good for your health.” But in […]
Worldcrunch Tens of thousands of Australians turned out to watch a rare total solar eclipse Wednesday morning, with the spectacle plunging the northeastern state of Queensland into darkness for two minutes. Residents of New Zealand and eastern Indonesia were also able to see a partial eclipse. Take a looks at these photos as the next […]
MADANG – Armed with thousands of test tubes, flasks, microscopes, mouth aspirators, gillnets and compressors, Olivier Pascal and Philippe Bouchet have arrived in Madang, their departure point for their new expedition in Papua New Guinea, which started last month. The botanist for an NGO, Pro-Natura International, and the zoologist specializing in mollusks at the National […]
THE WASHINGTON POST, LOS ANGELES TIMES (U.S.) Worldcrunch The Pentagon announced early Tuesday that the scandal surrounding departed CIA chief David Petraeus has apparently ensnared General John R. Allen, Petraeus’s successor as commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, an anonymous senior defense official announced Tuesday that the FBI […]
Worldcrunch Almost three quarters of central Venice was underwater Monday as severe weather and strong tides submerged the Floating City. However, nothing could put a damper on tourists’ spirits, choosing to snub the gondolas for a dip in St. Mark’s Square. Take a look at these 15 photos that show Venice as one of the […]
MASISI – Every day at 6 a.m., a parking lot near a roundabout in this northeastern Congo city fills with minibuses, motorbikes and heavy cargo trucks. The atalakus (ticket sellers) shout out names of destinations: “Masisi! Nyabiondo!” Passengers board with their packages: manufactured goods, drinks, salted fish…Everyone is pushing each another, trying to get the […]
THE MIAMI HERALD, WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS (U.S.) Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – Fresh from his election victory and emotional Thank You’s (see below), Barack Obama will turn back to the gritty business of trying to turn the U.S. economy around. The first order of business will be a Friday appearance to address the so-called “fiscal cliff,” a […]
TEL AVIV – Following the example of President Shimon Peres, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak did not bide their time in congratulating Barack Obama on his electoral victory November 6. They declared that the two countries “will continue to work together” and that their strategic alliance is “stronger than […]
VIENTIANE – The feeling of lethargy still lingers in the streets of old Vientiane. Things, however, are beginning to change: the time for indolence is over. The capital of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River, is brushing off its image as a sleepy, colonial market town by hosting the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) this […]
-Essay- As someone who writes and lectures about women and gender in Islam, I am often asked if women had any role in the making of the Islamic tradition. Happily, the answer is always yes. There were in fact many prominent women in the early history of Islam. At the top of the list would […]
CITI FM (Ghana), AFP (France) Worldcrunch A multi-story shopping complex has collapsed in the Ghanaian capital Accra Wednesday morning. Ghanaian public radio Citi FM reports that at least six people have been rescued. Reports suggest there could be as many as 200 people trapped inside, with many feared dead. There have been three reported deaths […]
Worldcrunch Four more years. Barack Obama has been re-elected President of the United States, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and defying odds for an incumbent candidate running in the face of persistent economic problems. Winning at least 303 electoral votes, he swept the battleground states of Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia Tuesday […]
WASHINGTON D.C. – As the campaign draws to a close, the American people have been hit by a barrage of promises of a better, more civil future. The two candidates have vowed, even sworn, that they will work harder with the opposition. Mitt Romney mentioned it first in one of his advertisements and confirmed it […]
PARIS – In the United States, “China bashing” is in full swing. Denigrating China has been a mainstay of the American presidential campaign, in a time of economic one-upmanship between Washington and Beijing. During the final televised debate, devoted to foreign policy, Republican candidate Mitt Romney once again accused Beijing of manipulating its currency and […]
THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, CNN (U.S.) Worldcrunch With less than a week until election day, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney remain in a virtual dead heat, according to latest poll figures. The latest Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll tips Romney with 49% and Obama at 48%. There has not been one […]
Worldcrunch As Sandy pummels the United States, the Pacific typhoon season has been well underway on the other side of the world, resulting in some 500 deaths and $3.36 billion in total damages in Asia. Take a look at the five storms that you may have missed: 1. Typhoon KhanunIn mid-July, Typhoon Khanun swept over […]
The future of Bhutan“s agriculture industry will be organic. The country, which mainly grows oranges, apples, rice and potatoes, had decided to become 100% organic in the next 10 years. Situated in the craggy foothills of the Himalayas, only 3% of the kingdom’s territory is actually farmland. However, 80% of the population of Bhutan, a […]