Worldcrunch
-Commentary- BERLIN — When two soldiers fell in the first hours of the French military operation that began last week in the Central African Republic, President Francois Hollande declared, “Morts pour la France.” Yes, killed for their country. But the young soldiers also lost their lives fighting for Europe, even if Europe has hardly shown […]
A senior judge in Yunnan province writes an open plea for such advances as live-streaming trials and online coverage of courts to help make Chinese justice more open, free and fair.
In a rare sit-down with a reporter, Argentine pontiff responds to a wide range of questions from La Stampa’s Vatican correspondent about Marxism, divorce and the meaning of suffering.
The former boxing champion has been plucked by the Western media as the new face of Ukraine’s opposition. The situation is more complicated than that, even as risks for all rise.
Two farewells for a pair of towering figures in world history: the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II and Tuesday’s mass public ceremony to mark the death of Nelson Mandela. Not since the global public outpouring in Rome more than eight years ago to pay respects to the Polish pontiff has the world come […]
The troubled Colombian city has become a mecca for street art.
-Commentary- In the southern province of Guangxi, a pregnant woman was recently shot dead by a drunken policeman. After the incident, the local government proposed to compensate the victim’s family with 700,000 RMB ($115,000), which included damages for the deceased and child support for the victim’s two children. This was done on the grounds that […]
Words that made news this past week.
If the once popular Socialist become President a second time, as polls predict, Chile may be in for some major changes. What will it mean for the so-called ‘Chilean Model’?
Exclusive: Rebels and drug traffickers teamed up to take out Colombia’s former president. Two undercover agents gained key information, before being discovered and killed by FARC.
The ceremony was a favorite annual inter-faith event of then Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who went on to become Pope Francis.
Chinese business leaders have everything, except for their health.
Syria is an apocalypse: dozens of disparate armed groups clash, alliances change weekly, the death toll has reached 100,000, and some two million Syrians have fled the country. Meanwhile, all sides are trying to gain an edge before the second round of Geneva talks to be held next month. Indeed, a recent increase in the […]
News in images, from New York to China to the Philippines. Look and read on…
-Op-Ed- ISTANBUL — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the following to parliamentary representatives at his party’s gathering last week at Kizilcahamam: “A university student girl is staying at the same house with a male student. There is no supervision for that. This is against our conservative democratic nature. Some kind of supervision must […]
HONG KONG — While migrating to Hong Kong has become trendy for certain Chinese middle-class families, a wavelet of Hong Kong’s own middle class seems to be moving off the wealthy island. According to data from Hong Kong’s Security Bureau, some 3,900 people emigrated in the first half of this year. Though this is still […]
SHANGHAI — Some inhabitants near Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport are reporting something far more odious than the usual noise pollution. According to Zhou, who lives just south of Shanghai in Luchaogang, even on sunny days, he can see “golden raindrops” falling down, accompanied by a bad smell, the Dongfang Daily reported. The droppings, which Dongfang […]
BUENOS AIRES — The daily arrival of droves of people to work in Argentina’s capital has economic benefits, since these commuters are also consumers who spend their money on goods and services inside the city. But that windfall is more than cancelled out by increased spending on education, health, maintenance of public spaces and other […]
See the solar eclipse through shades, the Boston Red Sox win the Series, a “poisoned” USB key and other images that have made news in the past seven days. (cover photo: Imahinasyon)
Over the past week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted to the newest U.S. spy revelations that suggested her personal cell phone was targeted, and Pope Francis struck a strong note after the suspension of a bishop who lived a breathtakingly extravagant lifestyle. Meanwhile, the biological mother of the little Roma girl named Maria was found. […]
-OpEd- At the moment when the Titanic struck the iceberg, the ship’s captain was not on the bridge. Edward Smith had gone below deck to bed. Both before and after the collision, the captain proved himself to be worse than useless, issuing confused orders and failing to take control of the evacuation. He let the […]
Edward Snowden’s father spoke up this week, so did Bashar Al-Assad. Meanwhile in Washington…
Over the past 15 years, global investors have experienced a series of bubbles: the Internet bubble in 2001, the real estate and credit bubbles in 2008, and then gold this year. The expansions and adjustments of these bursting bubbles seem to have already become commonplace. Though many governments with troubled economies have tried to face […]
A week, it turns out, can be a long time in Iranian politics too. Cautious optimism about new reformist President Hassan Rouhani turned to genuine hope for a whole new era in Iran’s global diplomacy after a series of interventions last week in and around the UN General Assembly that culminated with Friday’s historic telephone […]
BERLIN — Angela Merkel’s triumph in the German elections has a paradoxical flipside, as her unprecedented political strength may wind up undermining even her own interests. The Chancellor is reminiscent of an introverted child prodigy who is streets ahead of all her classmates but stands alone in the playground because the others know they can […]
The Somali Islamist outfit al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the bloody attack on the exclusive Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Al Jazeera looks at the origins and objectives of the group that is one of a growing number of local organizations that falls under the global umbrella of al-Qaeda.
Some say that entrepreneurs are born out of necessity. Looking at Hernán Jaramillo and Roberto Cuartas, it becomes clear that only perseverance makes them come to life. The two young men from Colombia are trained industrial engineers and the creators of TareasPlus.com, an online learning portal for young people and adults that is revolutionizing online […]
PARIS — Conflict, scandal, disrepair: the bad news must be reported, wrongdoing exposed. Still, journalism too often is obsessed solely with what is broken — the breaking news, in every sense of the word. Worldcrunch Impact takes a different starting point, with another question that journalists should ask: How might things get better? How can […]
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME — Domenico Quirico, a veteran war correspondent for the Italian daily La Stampa, has been freed after five months as a hostage in Syria. Quirico, 62, who was released Sunday together with a Belgian teacher, Pier Piccinin, was kidnapped by Syrian rebels during his fourth trip to the country to […]
In Poland, Catholics have already seen it all on the religious front at home. To expand their spiritual horizons, many now look for new religiously significant destinations farther afield.
Exactly 40 years after a hostage situation in a Stockholm bank, the now 72-year-old ex-convict recalls the bond formed with his captives. The psychiatrist who coined the term helps explain.
Two weeks ahead of the naming of the 2020 Olympics location, as officials in Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo do last-minute bidding, protests rise in each city against the effects of hosting the Games.
DAMASCUS – A boy, who appears to be sitting in some sort of makeshift hospital, describes how his entire family was killed early Wednesday morning on an attack in their home in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Below the video (courtesy of c.m.o algota) is a transcript of the child’s account: “First thing, my grandfather […]
What the death of an overworked young German financial trainee tells us about the drunken carousel of the 21st century economy.
Don’t call it a *pound* – Berlin’s Hohenschönhausen houses a huge number of formerly stray dogs, cats and other species in luxe-like quarters and remarkably attentive individual care.
Worldcrunch MENLO PARK – Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is spearheading a new initiative to bring Internet access to “the next five billion people,” those too poor or disconnected to be able to get online. The new global partnership, Internet.org, launches Wednesday, and also includes several major mobile phone companies. Here’s an introduction video: “Everything Facebook […]
CAIRO — In the wake of the deadly army crackdown on supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, La Stampa spoke with Egyptians of different backgrounds and viewpoints. Here is what four of them had to say: Alfred fears Islamists want Egypt to be the next Syria “Every time I try to stop my hatred […]
WASHINGTON POST Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – The National Security Agency (NSA) has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents the Washington Post obtained from Edward Snowden. The Post reports that most […]
The liberal arm of the anti-Muslim Brotherhood movement is unlikely to survive the army’s bloody attack on supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi.
THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch Speaking at his sentencing hearing, U.S. soldier Bradley Manning, convicted of leaking a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks, said he now regrets his actions and that he was “sorry that they hurt the United States,” the Guardian reported. “I am sorry for unintended consequence of my actions. When I made […]