Worldcrunch
-Editorial- SANTIAGO – The month of April brought some very good news for supporters of gay marriage, and one piece of bad news. The best news in Latin America came from Uruguay, where the Chamber of Deputies gave same-sex couples the right to marry by the overwhelming majority of 71 to 21, topped off by […]
The first question in European capitals remains: freedom for Yulia Tymoshenko
MOSCOW – In December, the Kazakh space agency announced that it was going to be reevaluating the terms under which Russia leases the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the world’s largest facility for space launches — and the only cosmodrome that Russia uses to launch manned space flights. The announcement sent a wave of panic through the Russian […]
SANTIAGO – Last year in London, engineers from Airbus presented their vision for the future: An airplane featuring a transparent roof that allows passengers to see the stars, with an air system that pumps antioxidants into the cabin air. If this audacious concept becomes reality in 2050 and the airline market remains more or less […]
MOSCOW – There’s a novelty for the spring in two of the capital’s parks that has the air of democracy: Muscovites can now submit applications to hold public events on the official websites of Gorky Park and Sokolniki Park without having to get authorization from the authorities. This is part of a new program instituted […]
MOSCOW – On Friday, the United States made public its list of Russian officials who are barred to enter the U.S. under the Magnitsky Act. The law imposes visa and banking sanctions on Russians officials accused of human rights violations. It is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a corruption lawyer and whistleblower who was accused of […]
MIAMI – Throughout the history of the United States, the main divisions have traditionally been between the North and the South, an economic and political rivalry that we know also produced a civil war. But there is also an important rivalry between the West Coast and the East Coast, a battle for cultural, academic and […]
AMERICA ECONOMIA (Chile) 

 Worldcrunch SANTIAGO – The rapid expansion of large Latin American companies is pushing up demand for private airplanes and helicopters like never before. The reasons are simple – these companies want the speed, flexibility and autonomy that private air transport provides. The only problem: There are not enough pilots, America Economia […]
MOSCOW – Last week President Vladimir Putin put into place the mechanisms to audit all of Russia’s government employees, who have until July 1 to rid themselves of any overseas property, stocks or bank accounts. Based on an Executive Order he signed last week, Putin’s administration – not an independent auditor or other part of […]
-Editorial- SANTIAGO – The soldiers killed and beheaded an old woman, recounted one of the witnesses in the trial of Efrain Rios Montt, retired army general and ex-President of Guatemala. Then the soldiers used her had as a soccer ball in an impromptu game. That might have been the most shocking testimony in the genocide […]
MOSCOW – The past month has brought record-breaking snowfall and cold snaps throughout central Russia. But the bad weather has done much more than spoil people’s moods and clog roads — it has raised new alarms about global climate change. First the data: March was one of the coldest in the past 50 years in […]
SANTIAGO – Venezuelan television network Globovision has announced it had accepted a purchase offer, and its sale would be finalized shortly after the presidential election on April 14. Globovision’s board of directors explained that they were selling the station because its operation had become both legally and financially impossible due to harassment from the government […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – It’s a thorny question that has plagued governments for years: What exactly constitutes a bribe? It is particularly relevant in Russia, where corruption is so rampant that even well-meaning business people must grease the wheels in such a way that their counterparts in the West would scoff at. Russia’s Supreme […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia)

 Worldcrunch MOSCOW – It was a very particular family enterprise. Twin brothers, both professional artists, painted more than 800 paintings and then sold them, with the help of one of the brother’s daughter, claiming that they were the work of well-known 20th century Russian artists such as Kazimir Malevich. Painting by Kazimir Malevich. […]
MOSCOW – Since February, Russian authorities have been investigating all of the NGOs operating in the country in an attempt to root out any organizations with foreign ties or foreign funding sources. The entire operation risks further alienating Moscow from Europe – particularly from Germany, after Russian authorities cracked down on two German NGOs operating […]
Vladimir Putin is genuinely convinced that protests against his rule are fomented abroad
NICOSIA – The Cyprus Parliament’s initial rejection of the terms of the European Union bailout plan is bad news for Russia. The opposition to the required taxes on bank deposits means the risk is rising of a long-term freezing of corporate assets in Cyprus. Meanwhile new proposals for taxes on depositors in the island could […]
MOSCOW – Catholics aren’t the only ones who have noted the significance of Pope Francis’ name choice. Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and head of the Russian Orthodox Church“s Department of External Relations, says the Argentine pontiff’s decision to honor Saint Francis of Assisi puts “service to the poor” at the top of the […]
Officially incoronated Tuesday as the 266th Roman pontiff with a mass in St. Peter’s Square, the path for Jorge Mario Bergoglio began one September day nearly six decades ago.
MOSCOW – Berel Lazar, the Chief Rabbi of Russia, was born in Milan and went to college in the United States. A U.S. citizen, Lazar is a controversial figure, but not because of his unusual pedigree. He arrived in Russia in 1990, and quickly attracted several Jewish oligarchs to his congregation. Their money lent his […]
The new Pope and Argentine President Cristina Kirchner have faced off over gay marriage. But tensions date back to the presidency of her deceased husband President Nestor Kirchner.
STANLEY – In the first message from the British government of the Falkland Islands after the referendum on the archipelago’s future, Gavin Short, chairman of the Falklands eight-member legislative assembly, did not mince his words. “President Fernandez de Kirchner – we have sent you a message: we have absolutely no desire to be ruled by […]
MOSCOW – When word first came out in 2011 that Hugo Chavez was suffering from a serious illness, a Russian military source predicted the consequences of the end of the Chavez era: not only could Moscow lose contracts already signed, but it might also never get paid for weapons it has already delivered to Caracas. […]
-Editorial- MEXICO CITY – There are many possible interpretations of the sudden and public imprisonment of the extravagant Elba Esther Gordillo, who until a couple of days ago was the president of the Mexican teachers’ union, and who is accused of having embezzled $160 million from the union. Gordillo is known throughout Mexico as “The […]
The death of Hugo Chavez, who propped up Venezuela with oil profits, is another reminder that Latin America needs to look for economic development beyond natural resources.
KOMMERSANT (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – There are fresh grumblings in the Russian government suggesting that Vladimir Lenin has finally overstayed his welcome in Red Square. Lenin’s body has been displayed in a specially-designed mausoleum in the central Moscow square since his death in 1924 — the kind of treatment that apparently is destined for Venezuelan’s […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) Worldcrunch IRKUTSK – The Russian government has unexpectedly decided to close down the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, which had been the center of one of the biggest environmental battles in recent Russian history, Kommersant reports. The paper mill, which is located on the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia, had been struggling […]
SANTIAGO – José came to Santiago, from Cali, Colombia five months ago. Some acquaintances in his hometown had put him in contact with Carlos, another Colombian who has been working in a cell phone store in the Chilean capital for the past year. Now José has joined Carlos as a salesperson in the store, where […]
Would-be parents in the US are more likely than any other nationality to adopt children with disabilities. The issue is heating up again after the death of a Russian boy in Texas.
It’s more about secret oil reserves than Cold War nostalgia.
Most foreigners in Finland hail from the former Soviet Union, many hoping to find more greater (and cleaner) economic opportunities than back home.
Delayed by the popular uprisings in the Arab world, the first-ever summit between Russia and the Arab League is on this week in Moscow. Though Syria is on the agenda, many the questions linger.
MOSCOW – After the meteorite shower and the damage it caused last Friday, Russian scientists say the threat from the sky is serious — and something must be done. Scientists recommended that the threat could be minimized by creating a network of modern telescopes, at a cost of around two billion dollars. These experts suggested […]
SANTIAGO – The recent decision of the U.S. Justice department to block the acquisition of Mexican beer giant Grupo Modelo by the Belgian Anheuser-Busch InBev came as a surprise. The $20 billion acquisition was announced last June, and what’s surprising is that neither company involved is technically an American company. Belgium-based multinational AB InBev is […]
KOMMSERSANT (Russia)

 Worldcrunch MOSCOW – The doctor is in the house! At least, that is what Moscow’s city government is hoping. Under a new program called “The doctor is next door,” the city will be renting space to private medical practices on the first floor of residential buildings for 1 ruble ($0.03) per square meter […]
MOSCOW – Russia’s Surgeon General, Gennadi Onishenko, is a well-known teetotaler who recommends not drinking for everyone, even on New Year’s Eve. So it came as a surprise last week when he spoke out enthusiastically about wines from neighboring Georgia. “How long has it been since Georgian wine has been sold here?” Onishenko complained to […]
As the Catholic Church reels from the surprise announcement Monday that Pope Benedict XVI will step down at the end of the month — the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years — the world will again watch from afar as the Cardinals prepare for the secret Conclave to pick his successor. Meanwhile, the Russian […]