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Author: Jeff Israely
Paris Calling, Worldcrunch’s new podcast series, where each episode introduces you to a notable person, from somewhere in the world, in their own voice, in English. Today, we have Francesco Zizola, an Italian photojournalist with an award-winning career spanning more than 40 years, explains what’s behind the lens in the era of algorithm.
The intent and ultimate goal of this virtual gathering is to share photographs of women’s bodies and body parts, and then comment however one pleases.
In the last hours before the Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel, a negotiation between powerful Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Luis Tagle, a favorite of the Church’s progressive wing from the Philippines could unblock the election for the next Pope.
PARIS — Central American migrant parents and children are reuniting in Texas. After being stranded off the coast of Italy, the Aquarius ship has now safely docked in the Spanish port of Valencia and the dozens of migrants have been cared for and asylum requests submitted. But even if the waters have calmed and the […]
The news from Afghanistan this morning is devastating: at least 80 killed and hundreds wounded following a massive explosion in Kabul. The violence, of course, is hardly limited to Afghanistan. Earlier this week, two attacks in the space of 12 hours, one at a well-known ice cream parlor, killed at least 27 people in Baghdad. […]
MUNICH — After tallying the results of Santa’s wish list comes the next step: wishful thinking. With the turning of the calendar comes another New Year full of hopes and expectations as the list of resolutions pile up. It’s like closing-down sales: Everything must go, everything must change. Around the world, the vows look similar: […]
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Welcome To The Trumpocene
A guiding principle of modern democracy holds that a system of checks and balances helps prevent any single person or faction from making radical changes to the existing order. That the wheels of legislation move slowly, and recourse is available through courts or other branches of government, may be a hair-pulling reality for those trying […]
-Essay- BUENOS AIRES — Exploiting architectural masterpieces as props for so-called ephemeral art is starting to become something of a permanent habit. Perhaps the first example that comes to mind is what happened to Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House. Alongside the Farnsworth residence — designed by Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and completed in 1951 […]
The two presidential candidates are at that age when “things start happening …” says President Obama’s former personal physician.
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After A Long And Awful Weekend
SPOTLIGHT: WORLD IN PIECES, A LONG WEEKEND The long and awful weekend began late Thursday night, local time here in France. At the end of the Bastille Day national celebrations, the southern coastal city of Nice turned into yet another scene of unspeakable horror. It is the same sad plot, different script for a country […]
ROME —Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old insurgent newcomer, has scored a resounding victory over the candidate from Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s ruling party to become the first woman mayor of Italian capital Rome. Raggi, a member of the upstart anti-establishment 5-Star Movement founded by Italian comedian Beppe Grillo, defeated Democratic Party candidate Roberto Giachetti in the […]
TEHRAN — Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s diplomatic visit to Tehran this week, the first by a Western leader since the Iranian nuclear deal, is seen back in Italy mostly as a smart business trip. The focus of the two-day trip, which concludes Wednesday, has been in opening up trade between the two countries, after the […]
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February 1
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On This Day – January 31
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On This Day – January 29
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On This Day – January 19
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On This Day – January 16
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On This Day – January 14
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On This Day – January 10
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On This Day – January 6
In Italy and Spain, there’s more time to casually socialize. Americans unapologetically dive into the consumerist crush of gifts. But in Germany, Christmas is a solemn pseudo-Christian ritual with much too much pressure on everyone.
BOGOTÁ — In a kind of eerie, Darwinian evolution, abandoned pets in parts of Colombia have become feral beasts and predators that are proving more fearsome than wild animals. Once again, wildlife is proving defenseless in the face of yet another man-made threat, produced in this case by former owners of an unwanted dog or […]
Au Revoir Dick Costolo, A Twitter World Trip by Worldcrunch
Ireland holds a referendum Friday that could make it the first country to legalize gay marriage by a direct vote of the people. The passage of the referendum would mark a startling turn of events in a historically conservative Catholic country where homosexual acts were against the law up until 1993. Here is an opinion […]
Economist, May 2-8, 2015 One week ahead of Britain’s national elections, polls are too close to call between the two leading candidates, the Tories’ incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband. The Economist divides its cover between the two, casting the election as a choice between risks: for the economy (Miliband) and […]
Why is debt-ridden Greece still spending more, per capita, on its military than any other country in Europe? And why are German companies so eager to sell them arms?
Earning cash and starting a business are no longer frowned upon on the island nation, as the rapprochement with the U.S. sets the stage for a different kind of Cuban economy.
Mexico is struggling to move past almost a century of semi-dictatorship to become a liberal democracy. But it is plagued by a shared and absolute rejection of the ideas of others.
The death toll after Cyclone Pam hit the South Pacific nation was notably low thanks to new warning systems and ancient shelters. But saving the local economy may be harder than saving lives.
That one of their own aircrafts crashed, killing 150 people, is disaster enough. But that a colleague deliberately murdered all those people is inconceivable to pilots and staff of Lufthansa and its low-cost carrier Germanwings.
Leonardo Boff, a Catholic theologian and key figure of Liberation theology, was condemned for decades by the Vatican. Now, he says, the pope himself is going beyond Liberation teachings.
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Extra! Netanyahu On His Way To Fourth Term
Like most Israeli dailies, the Wednesday edition of Haaretz went to print too early to call Tuesday’s election results, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was declaring victory. The 65-year-old is indeed heading to a fourth term as his Likud party defied final polls that had showed him trailing the centrist Zionist Union party led […]
A final survey by Calcalist focused not on the candidates, but on the issues. It doesn’t sound good for incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Extra! Maduro Compares Himself To Stalin
“I am just like Stalin,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said. Today’s Mexican daily La Razon featured the shockingly proud comparison to the Soviet dictator, which the Venezuelan president made during a visit to the Caracas Book Fair on Thursday. “And here they have a copy of Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend,” Maduro […]
CAIRO — Amid shifting copyright and publishing norms, adaptation and translation of existing works is as contentious an issue today as ever in the literary world. The questions are particularly relevant for the Arabic novel, both for its recent and not-so-recent history. Many have accused Ahmad Mourad of reproducing characters from Naguib Mahfouz in his […]
Even as the U.S. and world media mark every step of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s U.S. visit, the Israeli press is keeping even closer eye on his reelection bid later this month. The Israeli leader is set to address the U.S. Congress Tuesday in a speech that has already increased friction with President Barack […]
By a twist of history and weight of geopolitics, Greek law recognizes the authority of Sharia in settling civil matters for the country’s Muslim minority. One widow is fighting to end this European anomaly.
-OpEd- MUNICH — Talk to a Greek person about the difficult situation their country faces and you’re likely to hear some pretty astounding things. Some argue, for example, that the financial collapse came at the right moment, that without it Greece wouldn’t have been pressured into the reforms needed to halt its downward spiral. But […]
The latest deadly anti-Semitic terror attack happened to come in a city that once heroically saved most of its Jewish citizens from the Nazis. What’s the lesson for today?