In Italian daily La Stampa, the Russian president writes that it’s time for the U.S. and Europe to trust Moscow as a partner in confronting the world’s problems.
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.
In the wake of the U.S. election, central bankers unite to stabilize the world economy in the face of populist calls to scrap regulations.
KISH — The island of Kish is a far cry from the rest of Iran. Although it’s just 19 kilometers from the mainland, this Persian Gulf outpost features the kind of open hedonism that would be shocking in other parts of the country. As hard-line politicians and religious figures target so-called Western imports such as […]
TURIN — The destiny of soon-to-be former President Barack Obama reminds me of history’s great love stories. Desire then regret, always longing for something that is never quite fulfilled. When the 44th President of the United States appeared on the scene he was charismatic, athletic and affable, making history as the first African-American nominee from […]
PARIS — How much is the life of a victim of terrorism worth? How do you quantify the loss of children taken from their parents? Of husbands or wives torn from their spouse by the bullets of a madman? These are harrowing questions that require reflection but also a dose of cold economic reasoning. The […]
-Essay- NORCIA — Every tragedy has its symbol, a photograph, often, that sticks in people’s minds and encapsulates with profound immediacy the raw experience at hand. Sunday’s earthquake in Central Italy is no exception. In the image, a few rays of sunlight illuminate a group of nuns and displaced elderly residents praying in the devastated […]
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has been waging a war on illegal fishing since the election two years ago of President Joko Widodo, who’d vowed to curtail poaching when he was running for office. But the crackdown on poachers has damaged legal fishermen as well, leading to a fall in fish exports, fewer jobs, and […]
Despite two peace agreements signed by Kiev and Moscow, fighting rages on along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia.
In southern Italy, mob clans have entered into an unlikely alliance with the Islamic terror group, exchanging Kalashnikovs for ancient artifacts pillaged in war. One reporter went undercover looking to make a deal.
TRUJILLO — The mayor of the northwestern Peruvian city of Piura was shot dead last week by a masked hitman as he left a restaurant, making him the latest victim in a wave of violence directed at Peru’s embattled local officials. Lima-based daily El Comercio reports that the death of Piura Mayor Ronald Javier Navarro […]
The well-publicized death of the popular Vatican exorcist, Gabriele Amorth, and an award-winning documentary have stirred new interest in ridding the devil from within.
The worst fear in the capital is a lasting truce between Russia and the United States, which they believe would halt the Assad regime’s offensive and delay the total victory.
LA CRUZ — Yet another migrant crisis for the world: the tiny Central American nation of Costa Rica is now faced with the arrival of thousands of Haitians, many by way of crisis-hit Brazil. Over the past four months, some 8,500 Haitians have entered the tiny Central American nation, reports La Nación, based in the […]
LIMA — Sometimes it seems the popular smartphone gaming app Pokémon Go knows no bounds. But Lima-based daily El Comercio reports that the capital’s seafront district of La Punta recently banned the game in most areas, restricting players to a limited zone. The district council moved ahead with the ban this week after receiving numerous […]
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Signs Of A Serious Startup Boom In Indonesia
JAKARTA — A deal between Indonesia’s leading lender and an Uber-like moto-taxi application is the latest in a string of partnerhips that are making Indonesia a veritable hotspot for startup ventures in Asia. The initiative, between Bank Mandiri and the Jakarta-based company Go-Jek, will allow customers to store credit on the app by handling payments […]
Making the sweet wine Passito is backbreaking work but has given Pantelleria, an island off the Tunisian coast, a new lease on life.
Foreign journalists have flocked to Amatrice after the Aug. 24 earthquake, focusing on the spaghetti all’amatriciana dish that the town was famous for. But this is no time for folklore.
Climate change is drying up the Earth and making Bolivians search for new livelihoods in Latin America’s poorest country.
ACCRA — It’s a hot and humid night in this capital city and a long line waits at the entrance of Papaye, Ghana’s top fast-food chain and a symbol of the country’s burgeoning middle class. But the restaurant seems closed, its neon lights turned off. The restaurant’s staff struggle to turn on the generator. A […]
CASABLANCA — Morocco is no stranger to the jihadist violence afflicting other Muslim countries: In 2003, a suicide bombing killed 33 people in the country’s largest city, Casablanca, while a 2011 attack killed 17 in Marrakesh. But unlike most of its neighbors, Morocco has a detailed policy to reform rather than destroy followers of Salafism, […]
Spread between Syria and Iraq, the Saudi-financed tribal army engages the Islamic State head-on.
As births by Israeli settlers tops Palestinians in the West Bank, the “demographic advantage” could vanish, and undermine hopes for a peace settlement.
Tourists can take a trip through time—and across the French-Italian border—in the 75-meter Monte Viso Tunnel, a footpath originally built during the Renaissance.
PARIS — Arnaud Danjean, member of the European Parliament for the French opposition party Les Républicains, spoke to Les Échos about the aftermath of the Nice attack and France’s ongoing fight against terrorism. Les Échos: Every attack evokes a feeling of powerlessness, especially in the wake of one as “low-cost” as the one in Nice, […]
Following attacks in Paris, Brussels, Istanbul, and now Nice, Europe must unite to combat the Islamist terror campaign.
L’Unità, July 13 “Hell amid the olive trees,” reads Wednesday’s front page of Italian daily L’Unità, describing the head-on train crash near the southern city of Bari that killed at least 27 people and injured 50. Two local passenger trains traveling in opposite directions on a single-track railway collided at around 11:30 am Tuesday near […]
ALESSANDRIA — A small portable tool developed in Italy now allows doctors to treat patients with heart conditions in remote areas that don’t have access to medical facilities. A 27-year-old doctor, Alessandro Faragli, and his colleague, Edoardo La Porta, a nephrologist, created the imaging device known as Impedance App. The device measures bio-impedance or how […]
Power & Revolution, a simulator that mirrors real world events, is used by some countries to select potential diplomats and train them.
SAN JOSÉ — A troubling new sea-bound migration route has opened up, as some 20,000 migrants from African countries are believed to have flocked to Costa Rica, according to a recently released International Organization for Migration (IOM) report. La Nación, a daily in the Costa Rican capital of San José, reports that the figure of […]
KIEV — In real life, Nadiya Savchenko’s eyes are neither large nor blue. But on welcome posters splashed across Kiev Airport recently with the slogan #freesavchenko, the doctored photos of the just released air force pilot — who was captured by Russia and elevated to heroine status back home during her long imprisonment — played […]
Among the Berber slaves of Mauritania, property of Arab masters despite their shared Muslim faith.
TALISH — For some, this is a forgotten war. For others, it’s a frozen conflict. There are also those who consider it a proxy war between Turkey and Russia, with Moscow on the side of the Armenians, and Ankara supporting the Aliyev family, which has ruled Azerbaijan for the past half-century. But before all else, […]
In the small Sicilian town Of Mineo is a sprawling facility where asylum seekers, many of whom have survived perilous journeys, live in limbo and face exploitation.
As battlefield losses pile up for the Islamic State terror group, al-Qaeda eyes both the Sinai and Cairo for new attacks — and new recruits.
Since the conflict in Ukraine, Western military leaders are operating under the assumption that an armed conflict with Vladimir Putin’s Russia will eventually happen. Signs of tension are everywhere.
TURIN — Refugees have come to Italy from all across war-torn Iraq and Syria, from the monasteries of Mosul to the Assyrian villages of the Khabur valley and the Christian churches of the Nineveh plains. Among the millions now languishing in refugee camps are people from all walks of life, including government bureaucrats, university professors, […]
A female Islamist member of Parliament and an alternative-minded blogger have very different ideas about the role of religion in post-Revolution Tunisia.
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Luxembourg, From Tax Shelter to Animal Haven
LUXEMBOURG — This tiny country has long been known for its unsavory status as a tax haven. But now Luxembourg may be on its way to forging a new title: as animal rights capital of the world. A new government bill aims to protect the “security and dignity” of animals, and recognizes that they possess […]
CONSTANTINE — Algeria’s third-largest city has been shaken after May 1 worker demonstrations, included one man setting himself on fire in front of the Constantine governor’s office to protest rampant unemployment. The Algiers-based daily El Watan reports that the man, indentified as Hamza, was participating in a demonstration organized by the National Committee for the […]
SABRATHA — It’s just past 10 p.m., and Omar, Mohammed and Isa are driving on the Mediterranean coast highway that links the Libyan capital of Tripoli with the Tunisian border. In the distance, flares of burning natural gas emanating from the Mellitah oil terminal light up the pitch black night. The three men, all in […]