Ciudad Juárez, once torn by drug wars, experienced a 34% spike in femicides this year.
Author: Giacomo
London-born Italian journalist and translator. Currently an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley in the Class of 2017, with a double major in Political Science and Political Economy and a contributor at Worldcrunch. I've lived in six different countries on four continents and have a strong interest in current events, geopolitics, and economics. Previously worked for The Jakarta Globe, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and The Daily Californian.
JAKARTA — While Western countries grapple with the question of what to do with militants returning after fighting alongside the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Indonesia has launched a deradicalization program that helps former fighters open their own businesses, according to the Indonesian magazine Tempo. The program aims to help returning militants and their […]
ABIDJAN — Jumping and dancing to the rhythm of the popular urban music zouglou, they snap pictures on their smartphones of their idols performing onstage. Always smiling and never sitting still, Ivory Coast’s millennials have been nicknamed the “génération pressée pressée,” the generation that is always in a rush. Young Ivorians are dynamic and curious, […]
ANDORRA LA VELLA — Perched in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, Andorra — with fewer than 80,000 inhabitants — is as small as it is remote. And yet, the European micro-nation is playing a big part these days in the field of urban studies, the Andorran daily El Periòdic reports. Researchers with the City […]
As September’s duo of deadly earthquakes made so painfully clear, Mexico is a highly seismic country. Sadly, there’s no accounting for the dangers of plate tectonics. But could human activity also be contributing to Mexico’s propensity for earth-shaking events? Quite possibly, according to the Mexico City-based newspaper El Universal, which reports that oil exploration in […]
The government’s placement of migrants could increase the population of Vaccarozzi di Erbezzo, a miniscule mountain village above Verona, more than tenfold.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s national army was abolished 22 years ago after a disastrous period of military rule ended in a U.S.-led intervention that restored democracy in the Caribbean country. Now, recently elected President Jovenel Moïse is launching a new recruitment drive and re-establishing an institution that’s still widely unpopular, as evidenced by protests in the […]
Actually dude, cannabis plants grown in the northern region of Piedmont are quite low in THC content, which gives the high to marijuana consumption. But there are other uses. Dude.
LAGUNA LARGA — Four months ago, hundreds of villagers were expelled from their land in the jungles of northern Guatemala. The government claimed they were encroaching on a protected national park, sending over 700 men, women, and children fleeing to the nearby Mexican border. According to the Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre, the refugees continue to […]
CAGLIARI — Just over 280 kilometers (174 miles) of Mediterranean water separates the Algerian port city of Annaba from the Sulcis on the southwest coast of the Italian island of Sardinia. As Italy continues to crack down on trafficking routes linking Libya to its other major island, Sicily, attention is shifting to new routes. Algiers-based […]
All was calm around the recent inauguration of the northern city of Pavia’s new Islamic Center for Dialogue, bucking a trend of protests around Italy when new mosques are proposed.
As even the Catholic Church sells off its jewels to hungry hotel developers, the few remaining real Venetians wonder if their city is finally slipping away for good.
SFAX — Plastic bags litter the fields that separate the highway from the Mediterranean Sea. Tunisian fishermen sail their boats in the Gulf of Gabes, between the cities of Sfax and Zarzis — and just 120 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa. Indeed, recently the fishermen’s haul has begun to include migrants picked up […]
The Lebanese ‘Party of Hope’ calls for the immediate expulsion of more than one million Syrian refugees.
The northern Italian region of Veneto will hold a referendum on gaining greater autonomy from the central government in Rome — but not all its citizens are aware.
MEXICO CITY — As the Trump administration threatens to expel nearly a million undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children, Mexico is seeing a spike in arrivals of children fleeing violence in Central America. Over the past four years, the number of unaccompanied minors from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador seeking asylum in […]
PALERMO — As the Sicilian capital’s oldest market, La Vucciria has long drawn visitors from around the world for its myriad colors and aromas. While its peculiar traditions live on, with vendors barking out in the local dialect to sell their products to passersby, the market is a shadow of its former self. Once immortalized […]
VISSO — Francesco Sbaffi was recouping after a long day during a busy wine harvest when a powerful earthquake struck this idyllic town in the Apennine Mountains 11 months ago. The grape must was already fermenting in barrels at the Coppacchioli winery, where Sbaffi works as an oenologist, when the earthquake hit. As thousands of […]
We have seen far fewer grim accounts of rescues and drownings of would-be immigrants in the Mediterranean in recent weeks, as the human trafficking route-of-choice between North Africa to Europe shuts down. But another dangerous route appears to be opening up right next door. The recent efforts to crack down on traffickers operating along the […]
JERUSALEM — In front of Zion Gate in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, just a short walk from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, lies a soccer pitch. Standing on the field, nestled beside an Armenian church, you can see the city walls and the rising minarets of mosques. This pitch and […]
An Italian reporter gets a rare glimpse past the North Korean regime’s attempt to portray the country in a positive new light.
COPENHAGEN — In the picturesque Danish capital, it’s easy to overlook the men lying on public benches with a beer in hand, or assume they’re immigrants from Southern Europe. Listen carefully, though, and you’ll notice that they speak fluent Danish, a task almost impossible for foreigners. These men, it turns out, are Danish citizens; indigenous […]
In southern Gaza, A “Hamas Hollywood” is starting taking shape, just in time for Ramadan.
CAGLIARI — Danilo Spiga isn’t your everyday chef. He is a trained engineer and all the dishes he cooks are crafted by 3D printers. None of the diners were sick after Spiga’s meal at a laboratory in the Italian city of Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. No one suffered from allergies or food poisoning […]
Islam making major inroads in the east African nation. China pumping millions into infrastructure and industry. An Italian reporter gauges changes in the former colony.
TUNIS — Six years ago, the Tunisian Revolution sparked the Arab Spring uprisings and overthrew the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his notoriously violent police state. Now a nascent democracy, Tunisia is once again faced with the issue of police brutality. Tunis-based daily Le Temps reports that several local and international NGOs […]
ALMERE — Founded in 1976, this city 30 kilometers from Amsterdam offers a glimpse into the future of the Netherlands. Leaving behind the tourist droves of the capital, a 20-minute ride on an Intercity train — equipped with WiFi — whisks you through windmills and farmland to reach Almere. Lying 3.2 meters below sea level, […]
Romania has Europe’s highest infant mortality rate. The main causes of death are infectious diseases like tuberculosis and rubella, while VIPs make public claims that vaccines are dangerous.
Amazigh is spoken by around 10 million in Algeria. Despite its new official status, it is not mandatory in schools nor used in national government.
While the EU seeks an agreement with Libya to halt the influx of migrants across the Mediterranean, the prospect of a better life elsewhere is what all in rural Ethiopia talk about.
Imagine receiving a check from the government every month. The concept of guaranteed basic income for all citizens has been gaining prominence around the world, leading to referendums and national political debate in several countries. Known by different names, a policy of “universal basic income” (UBI) is a form of government assistance where every citizen […]
TRIPOLI — As the sun sets on the Libyan capital, the sky takes on an ochre shade over the old city walls surrounding Martyr’s Square. Children play on carousels and the muezzin’s call to prayer fills the air, booming from loudspeakers in the streets. It’s an arresting scene that — for a moment — makes […]
NABLUS — The historic West Bank city of Nablus spreads out in front of Mount Gerizim, also known as Jebel et-Tur in Arabic. Through his binoculars, Israeli Army Major Elitsur Trabelsi gazes from the mountain’s peak at the sprawling urban area below — home to almost half a million people. “Do you notice anything? There […]
-OpEd- MILAN — Whether the West likes it or not, an old question has returned on the global stage: whether or not to reconstitute the former G8 by inviting Russia back in. The decision rests with Italy, the current holder of the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven and the host, in May, of […]
SAN JUAN — The Puerto Rican Senate’s approval of a bill last week to hold a referendum to give voters a stark choice between statehood or independence looks like it may settle the island’s status once and for all. Leading Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Día reports that the vote, set for June 11, will […]
ORISTANO — Club scouts and retired players from across Italy have come to this town on the Italian island of Sardinia to find new soccer talent among recently arrived African migrants. They offer their services to the migrants so that one day they might have a shot at Italy’s top professional league, the Serie A. […]
-OpEd- ROME — The ongoing crisis in Libya poses the gravest threat to Italian national security, for multiple reasons. Halting flows of undocumented migrants and maintaining energy security are important, but a far more fundamental interest is at stake: ensuring that Libya recovers from chronic instability and civil war and avoids becoming a safe haven […]
MEXICO CITY — The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, has long controlled the drug trade in nine states in Mexico’s south and west. But in recent months, the cartel has edged out Mexican and Colombian rivals to conquer the narcotics market in the U.S. Writing for Mexico City daily El Universal, investigative journalist Laura […]
CERIGNOLA — Franco Metta is the mayor of the small town of Cerignola, located in the southern Italian region of Apulia. He recently received a box of biscuits as a Christmas gift from a local businessman, but upon opening the box he discovered 20,000 euros ($21,120) expertly rolled into two packs of 10,000 each — […]
MEXICO CITY — Mexico is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, but many of its indigenous tongues are in serious danger of extinction. And unless efforts are undertaken to preserve them, about 50 of those languages could disappear within the next 20 years, the Mexico City-based daily El Universal reports. There are a […]