Worldcrunch
As a European court rules that the iconic toy can’t be trademarked, we go back to an earlier interview with Erno Rubik, who explained what inspired him to design that singular brain-and-fingers toy that has sold billions. And why it may be more relevant than ever in our digital world.
To revisit the life and journey of Pope Francis, we are republishing a La Stampa article from shortly after his rise to the papacy.
To mark 10 years since the heinous Jan. 7, 2015 attack on the French satirical magazine that left 12 people dead, Worldcrunch is republishing a collection of 29 front pages of international newspapers from the following day.
La Vanguardia, August 4, 2015 Catalonia is set to go to the polls next month, as regional President Artur Mas called early elections for Sept. 27, intending to use the vote as a fresh bid for independence. He announced the election as “an exceptional measure,” says Tuesday’s front page of La Vanguardia. In a televised […]
This small Eastern European country is the Wild West (good guys and bad guys) of the fight for Internet security.
On this southern European island, some of the hundreds of corpses have arrived from the latest migrant tragedy. They will be processed and buried without knowing their identity. It is not the first time.
-Analysis- TURIN — Thousands of people — calling them people, i.e. men, women and children, is the first step — have died in the Strait of Sicily since 2010. Sunday saw the worst tragedy yet, but it was not the first, and unfortunately it won’t be the last. Many of these people are fleeing the […]
YOTVATA — There are mud huts to block out the heat, solar micro panels for cooking, bio-gas production from waste, and wet mattresses to grow vegetables and flowers in the desert. This is the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Yotvata, the most torrid and depopulated area in Israel’s Negev desert, where a community of […]
It wasn’t the Easter bunny delivering chocolate eggs this past Sunday night. No, that furry creature scaling the walls was a very real cat, in a very serious attempt to smuggle a precious load of cell phones and SIM cards into Brazil’s Romero Nobrega maximum security prison. With adhesive tape and bandages strapping the load […]
Racism in soccer hit a new low over the weekend when black players from AC Milan’s Under-10 team say they were booed and heckled by other parents during a Universal Cup match. The youngsters were playing their Paris Saint-Germain equivalents for a place in the semi-finals of the Tuscany tournament that features 48 international teams, […]
CAIRO — International lingerie store Victoria’s Secret came to Cairo in 2013, but somewhat surprisingly for a country of Muslim modesty, there has been a varied and flourishing lingerie business in Egypt’s capital for years. Most of the lingerie downtown is imported from either Turkey or Syria. The owners of the two lingerie shops who […]
You’ve heard of storm chasers and tornado hunters who travel far and wide to capture extreme weather. Carlo Dellarole will go anywhere anytime that the moon and sun cross paths.
RAS BAALBEK — There’s a 140-kilometer strip of land on top of the mountains just north of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley that marks the border with Syria. It’s here that ISIS has dug in, appropriating a remote corner of Lebanon where the terror group has accumulated militants, resources and hostages to gear up for an impending […]
Details emerge of poisonous links between local politicians and organized crime networks in Sicily working together to siphon public funds and exploit migrants arriving via Lampedusa.
GORNJA MAOCA — In Sarajevo, you come to realize that all the essential things in the world have been affected by war, or rather, by the circumstances of war. You realize the economy’s upheaval, the general misery and, above all, the turmoil in each individual life: embarrassment, uncertainty, anxiety. “It’s like being in a prison […]
Globalization downsized? Taking lessons from Chinese immigrant-owned shops, foreign chains Carrefour and Walmart are opening smaller markets to make shopping faster and cheaper.
Anti-austerity party Podemos is not the only group upsetting politics in Spain and trying to capitalize on popular discontent. Another party gaining favor among voters is the significantly less radical Ciudadanos (“Citizens”). Formed in Catalonia, the party promotes national unity and has been attracting voters from both the left and right who are fed up […]
Dutch soccer fans smashed and urinated their way through Rome last week. Could Italian authorities have done anything to stop them?
Handbags made out of volleyball nets and soda cans, courtesy of one of the sisters of the Fendi family used to face assaults by animal rights activists.
CARACAS — Protests erupted in the Venezuelan capital Thursday night, after the city’s Mayor Antonio Ledezma was hauled away by camouflaged police, who also smashed into opposition leader’s office. A CCTV image of the police entering the office made El Nacional“s front page Friday. Opposition supporters began making as much noise across the city as […]
-OpEd- TURIN — Geography is inexorable: Italy can never be isolated from Libya, which is just 300 miles from the coast of Sicily. Still, the Italian public tends to be isolated from the rest of the world. The government knows both these truths. Unlike any other European or Western country, Italy kept its Libyan embassy […]
COPENHAGEN — Niels Ivar Larson, a Danish journalist and one of the organizers of last Saturday night’s debate on Islam and free speech at the Krudttønden cafe, says he’s in shock that a terrorist attacked the event and subsequently a synagogue, killing two and injuring five police officers. “Despite having received threats, Denmark has never […]
An interview with the 43-year-old Latino singer reveals a more serene relationship with fame, fatherhood and a growing thirst for tango.
Some Nigerians have lost hope that the state military can stem the Islamist insurgency. This group of vigilantes has stepped in, relying on ‘speical powers’ to help see the enemy.
From the capital to the native village of the pilot who was burned alive by ISIS, Jordanians of all tribes and places may mark the first major national Arab movement against the jihadist group.
The Times, Jan. 28, 2015 A photo of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was allegedly used by Russian special forces for target practice, says The Times on Wednesday’s front page. An inquiry into the dissident’s death began in London Tuesday, with claims made by Ben Emmerson QC — the lawyer acting on behalf of Litvinenko’s […]
Greece’s anti-austerity party Syriza won Sunday’s general election with 36.3% of votes, putting the country on a potential collision course with the European Union over its 240 billion euro bailout package. Party leader Alexis Tsipras said that, “The verdict of the Greek people renders the troika the IMF, the EU Commission, and European Central Bank […]
Right-wing politicians think we should abandon the Schengen Area, and return to national borders within Europe. That would make about as much sense as putting a wall around Sicily.
ISIS imposes harsh morality codes on women and girls in Raqqa, Syria. Now females under 45 are not allowed to leave, and one mother of a teenaged daughter says she knows why.
La Nación (Argentina) January 20 2015 Protests denouncing Argentine President Cristina Kirchner erupted all over the country Monday after prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead Sunday morning. Authorities are calling the death an apparent suicide, but protestors believe he may have been murdered for accusing the president of concealing Iranian culpability for the 1994 bombing […]
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — The Turkish authorities all condemned the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing selections from Charlie Hebdo. From the president to the prime minister, from ministers to parliamentary deputies, the government was united in condemning the Turkish newspaper. Insulting the sacred is unacceptable, they said. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda led demonstrations at mosques around the country, […]
As prices on oil and other raw materials drop, the cycle of what some call “macroeconomic populism” is hitting a rather tough patch, especially for Argentina and Venezuela.
While the United States’ political system is gridlocked by ideological poison, the German coalition government limits the benefits of bickering. A search for that perfect dose of acrimony.
Forget Frontex, Mare Nostrum and Schengen. It’s gray squirrels causing major emigration headaches for Italy. Not only has the EU sent the Italian government three official “recommendations” asking it to get rid of its gray squirrels, but France and Switzerland have opened a case file too. They have essentially sent the message, “If we find […]
In the socially and religiously mixed neighborhood in northern Paris, security precautions at Lucien de Hirsch Lycée are high, but they were even before last week’s attacks.
It was a small Italian town, where an affectionate stray dog wandered up, eventually becoming so conspicuous that he attended all town events — weddings, funerals, pizza night at the local pizzeria. Ultimately, he became a guide for visitors and a beloved member of the community. Though it sounds like a fairy tale, it’s actually […]
KUCHING — For eight years now, Irwan and his buffalo have worked through the neat rows of palm trees at the United Plantation in Teluk Intan, a town three hours drive north of Kuala Lumpur that overlooks the Straits of Malacca. For just less than 450 euros a month, he collects large clusters of oil-rich […]
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This thing called freedom lives in its most extreme form in satire, which by definition can never be blasphemy.