Paris has considered Chad’s army to be the most solid, experienced and tenacious in the region. But the death of Idriss Déby could change the dynamics in the French-backed fight against jihadists in the Sahel region of Africa.
Author: Hannah Steinkopf-Frank
I am a summer 2020 intern with Worldcrunch and a graduate student in journalism and international affairs at Sciences Po. I’m passionate about writing and photograph, particularly topics including art, politics and social movements.
With water rationing, soaring food prices and an economic crisis brought on by COVID-19, Algerians begin the month of fasting in difficult conditions.
For the first time in 20 years, Myanmar regime fighter jets dropped bombs on territory partly controlled by the KNU, an armed group that has been fighting the central government for seven decades and bears the name of a large ethnic minority, the Karen.
The usually hushed words of international diplomats is a reflection of our real-time communication age, but also of rising tensions on an unsettled geopolitical chessboard.
Alexander Lukashenko’s regime is sending more and more protesters to prison to try to prevent a new mass mobilization.
In one of the world’s poorest countries, cheese is still a niche market. And yet, little by little, even the working class are starting to getting a taste.
Glittering virtual lounges are popping up, inviting people to participate, solely by audio, in debates on all subjects. And, in the Middle East, the powers that be disapprove of the elites’ infatuation with a trendy new app.
The pandemic and subsequent closing of the border with Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, put an end to the ‘atypical trade’ that sustained the Fnideq region.
In the kingdom, a ‘revenge porn’ case revived the debate on article 490, which criminalizes sexual relations outside marriage. Activists say it’s time to modernize the country on the issue of sexual freedom
For decades, France did well in accommodating the religious needs of Muslims — on the condition they went back to their country of origin. Now, demands to express one’s faith are often labeled: separatism.
Drugs, weapons and… spring rolls? Add the Asian fried staple to the list of contraband items that have been seized in the illegal international smuggling market. Police discovered 61.5 kilograms (136 lbs) of chicken spring rolls stashed in a car trunk during a control at a France-Switzerland border crossing on Feb. 16. The driver, a […]
A good workout leaves you feeling the burn, but a parkour-style stunt in China could have wound up sparking disaster — and ultimately part of a mega-city blacked out. It began Sunday night in Chengdu, the central Chinese capital of Sichuan Province, when a 22-year-old man climbed an electric pole to do sit-ups. His gym […]
Funds sent back by emigrants to Africa are helping residents in Zrariyeh, about 75 kilometers south of Beirut, survive Lebanon’s full-blown economic crisis.
The new documentary “Framing Britney Spears’ explores how both tabloid and mainstream media outlets first framed the American megastar as a hypersexualized Lolita, then a bad role model and finally an unstable mother. The film, produced by The New York Times, explores how the news coverage may have led to Spears being placed under a […]
Talk about the use of documents proving immunity evokes a measure invented more than a century ago by French authorities.
Are the lives of the youth impacted by coronavirus restrictions worth less than the extended lives of the elderly? This is the debate we must have when faced with the prospect of another lockdown.
With Joe Biden, Cairo’s relations with Washington are undergoing an uncomfortable reboot.
The coup? What coup? China remains extremely cautious about upsetting its delicate relationship with Myanmar, given the important economic and strategic elements at stake.
The pandemic is too big a crisis and too unpredictable to respect the normal trade rules governing pharmaceutical developments.
Why did the bear cross the road?
Long considered the ‘capital of Canadian humor,’ the Quebec city is currently facing simultaeous storms: the pandemic, #MeToo accusations and a deeper debate on the limits of comedy.
Russia may not be heading toward a full-blown revolution, at least not yet. But the current wave of protests shouldn’t be dismissed either.
The head of state, a political outsider who had promised to fight corruption, must contend with the powerful oligarchs in his own entourage at the risk of disappointing his voters.
Since 1979, Iran’s presence on the African continent has been part of a push for ideological expansion and anti-Americanism, to the detriment of economic and political relations.
Founded a century (or centuries) ago, these businesses survived world wars and economic depressions. Now the pandemic could close them forever.
There’s a reason many Africans are wary of the identification technology: It doesn’t work as well for people with dark skin. That’s where Charlette N’Guessan, a young Ivorian researcher, comes in.
Delays, reluctance, shortages… the rollout of the coronavirus vaccines across the world has been beset by some recurring obstacles.
A doctoral student in Casablanca is using a series of podcasts to help free his countrymen from one-size-fits-all notions about how men can and should behave.
More than half of girls in South Sudan are married before they turn 18, and only 1.3% still attend school at age 16.
Learning can never stop, despite the schools being closed. Teachers around the world were forced to get innovative to overcome the lockdown.
A wave of immigrants arrived in France from Chechnya during the early 2000s after the wars with Russia. A minority of this Muslim community has been radicalized, including an 18-year-old who beheaded a French schoolteacher in October.
For a number of weeks now, Beijing has been trying to regain control of its internet heroes, who are considered too dominant. E-commerce giants and their standard-bearer, Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma, are directly in the line of fire.
From France to China, these female worship leaders not only provide spiritual guidance but also encourage diversity and dispel stereotypes, from both within and outside of their community.
In a kingdom torn between the rise of Islamism and always-connected digital world, more and more women are undergoing invasive operations, sometimes risking their lives.
PORTLAND — I’m far from the first American living in Europe to extol the virtues of universal health care. It’s almost a cliche at this point, but may have renewed relevance as the pandemic has laid bare the failures in medical systems around the world. After living through COVID-19 in France, a trip home would […]
The COVID-19 crisis has upended normal routines and led some young Haredims to drop out of school, experiment with drugs and distance themselves from family.
A crushing military defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh, in neighboring Azerbaijan, has cost Armenia at least 2,300 lives and sapped support for the reformist government of Nikol Pachinian.
The lockdowns have arrived as technology accentuates the passage from ritually organized time to time without clear limits.
The West African country is training and arming everyday citizens to protect remote communities from terrorist groups. But some fear the strategy will lead to even more violence.
Will Biden guarantee warmer relations with historic allies and tougher stances on human rights? A region-by-region wrap up by Le Monde.