Worldcrunch
Argentina’s former Minister of Education Susana Decibe asks if “Peronism” — that brand of Latin American politics named after the 20th century Argentine President Perón, and popularly associated with a unique mix of social justice and state paternalism — is to blame for the country’s current dysfunctional democracy. BUENOS AIRES — Argentina emerged from a […]
“Wolves are not killed because they are grey, but because they eat sheep.” (Russian proverb) Who’s afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf? Well, as it turns out, more than just the shepherds whose flocks get devoured. In European culture, there is a deep-rooted negative image of the wolf, based on fear of attacks on humans […]
Among those saying noteworthy and/or newsworthy things of late are Iran’s Supreme leader, EU Commission’s No. 2, and India’s lameduck leader…
BEIJING — It’s not something most of us have to worry about these days, but for some, having too much money can pose serious problems. Take, for example, your average corrupt Chinese official. Former deputy director of Hohhot Railway Bureau in Inner Mongolia, Ma Junfei, was arrested, tried, sentenced to death and then reprieved for […]
Russia’s own Academy of Sciences has declared the country the European leader in aggressive and loathsome behavior. And if you doubt it, just consider the grim statistics.
-Commentary- For years, major sporting events have been hosted in the superbly wealthy Gulf States. Now, renowned Western cultural institutions are following suit. But these high-minded museums and cultural organizations are encountering a familiar problem. In Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the French Louvre, the American Guggenheim and other branches of […]
When the Syrian regime drops bombs on the country’s largest city the other target is the negotiating table in Geneva.
GÄVLE — Under the dark of a freezing arctic night, Jimi arrived at his destination. They welcomed him with a plate of Swedish meatballs, before showing him to a soft, white bed in a room that sleeps eight. “Welcome to Sweden,” says a man of African origins, shaking his hand. Jimi, 25, who is from […]
PARIS — A 4G offer? Danger! Bitcoin? Warning! The World Cup draw? It’s a trap! This is the story of a strange country blessed by the gods, with beautiful scenery and heir to a long and rich history. Though full of talented people and worldwide economic powerhouses, everything now seems to be full of peril […]
Yogi Bear on the cutting edge of obesity research? Dr. Kevin Corbit, a scientist for the pharmaceutical giant Amgen, is convinced that by studying the behavior of the brown bear — an animal that can weigh up to 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) and consume up to 58,000 calories daily — we can understand a lot […]
A wide and swift look around the world at the events that are likely to shape 2014.
ROME — Lo Chiameranno Andrea (“We’ll Call Him Andrea“) is the name of a famous film by Vittorio De Sica, where two elementary school teachers who yearn for but are unable to have a child, compensate by giving him this hypothetical name. It was 1972 and the male name Andrea represented the essence of Italy, […]
Odd and cruel episodes from police blotters around the world…
From Melbourne to Moscow to Machu Picchu, we are all counting down the hours on an eventful 2013. News was made across the globe: deadly attacks at the Boston marathon and a Nairobi mall, national farewells in Venezuela and South Africa, revelations from Edward Snowden and Pope Francis, natural disasters, gay marriage debates and horsemeat […]
What would Niccolo Machiavelli, the author of “The Prince” (published exactly 500 years ago), have thought about modern China? What would he have done with the Internet?
The ‘Big Smoke’ was about as fogged in this morning as it ever gets. Here are some breathtaking views of ‘ol London town in an ominous light.
A visit to the tiny village in the Dolomite Mountains where the notorious U.S. politician and former Ku Klux Klan grandmaster was residing under a false name. He was deported last week.
Organic fever has been taking over the world over the past few years, appealing to some but shunned by others. Sustainability is a word often linked with organic, as well as all things environmentally-friendly, that surely must benefit all of us. Here’s a short profile of five places embracing both concepts with the aim of […]
Odd and cruel episodes from police blotters around the world…
SOUTH AFRICA NIGERIA EGYPT KENYA FRANCE GERMANY BELGIUM SWEDEN SPAIN IRELAND ITALY
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governed Mexico, at times with an iron fist, for 70 years until it lost the presidency in 2000. It returned with Enrique Peña Nieto’s victory in this year’s presidential elections. But have politics changed in Mexico? Will the PRI resort to its old ways, asks Luis Rubio,* or will it […]
When Nelson Mandela’s death was announced Thursday night, in the rush to publish something about him several Italian newspapers made the unfortunate mistake of describing him as “the father of apartheid,” reports Il Post. Il Giornale, owned by the Berlusconi family, Il Messaggero and Il Mattino all featured stories with similar headlines. “South Africa, the […]
It’s been on the way out in certain sartorially laid-back countries. Now the eternally elegant Italians may be ready to kill the *cravatta* too.
On Sunday night a fire broke out in a garment factory in the Tuscan city of Prato, killing seven workers and injuring three in their makeshift on-site dormitories. The tragedy has prompted questions about the factory’s conditions and legality — as well as in other workshops operating in this manufacturing city north of Florence that […]
PARIS – The results are in, and half a million 15-year-olds from 65 countries have spoken. This collective voice is the results of high-school students from around the world who were measured in a series of math, science and reading tests for the much-anticipated PISA rankings that were announced Tuesday. PISA, which stands for Program […]
The legendary founder of the Slow Food movement lays out his vision for preserving the world’s biodiversity by returning to ancient forms of agriculture. The future of the planet is at stake.
From Twitter to Dropbox to Airbnb, where office life is the good life.
-OpEd- ROME — We must remember that Wednesday’s vote to oust Silvio Berlusconi from the Senate does not mean his political demise. Still, his exclusion from Parliament, the sentence for tax fraud and the other alleged cases — involving underaged prostitution, extortion, the bribing of parliamentarians, and corruption of witnesses — put the former prime […]
OLBIA — Twelve hours notice. Forty-four centimeters of rain in 90 minutes. Sixteen dead, including four children. And, now, a fax alert. The blame game has begun in Sardinia after the tragic Cyclone Cleopatra hit the island earlier this week. Antonio Sanò, head of the weather website ilmeteo.it, said that Monday’s storm had been forecast […]
The disaffected youth and religious radicals in the Muslim world are obsessed with Europe’s top football leagues. Testimony of an Italian reporter, who was held hostage earlier this year in Syria.
Look up in the sky. No wait, don’t!
A Spanish pianist faces seven years of prison…for practicing; Italian thieves clean up; An Argentine doctor’s zealous anti-abortion move; and more from the week in global crime.
TACLOBAN — The pictures emerging from the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan last weekend show utter devastation. Experts will say that no two natural disasters are ever the same, yet it can often be useful to learn from reactions to past calamities. United Nations agencies were quick to announce the call for funds to support the […]
SASSARI — The raw material costs absolutely nothing, and to fill up your tank there’s no need to look for a gas station. All you need to do is drink some water to stimulate your diuretic system and take a break at a rest stop. Yes, the solution to expensive petrol may be a car […]
SANA’A — Antar Al-Aldharij pins his opponent down on the mat without using a dagger or a rifle. Yemen“s national judo champion, who trains every afternoon in a gym just outside of the capital, Sana’a, just needs the strength of his arms and bare hands. Al-Aldharij and his teamates share the small room of just […]
As India launched its first spacecraft today in a bid to become the fourth national space agency to reach Mars, we went exploring other space programs around the world. Obviously, there’s the big kahunas — NASA and Roscosmos and the European Space Agency — and some surprisingly smaller national programs. There are also others we […]
We all want to get places faster, cheaper…and cleaner. Travel and commuting are parts of busy lifestyles and some cities have taken measures to make it much easier, and the journey more enjoyable, for their passengers. Whether it’s WiFi on the subway so you can check your emails, smartcards so queues don’t back up, or […]
TURIN — There are journeys even more awful than the perilous crossings in rickety boats made by would-be immigrants trying to reach European shores. In these trips instead – made to Pakistan, Iran, Egypt or certain Eastern European countries – people sell a part of themselves: a journey of transplants, to places where the human […]
The sixth Climate Change Vulnerability Index report produced by risk analysis firm Maplecroft has found that climate change “may pose a serious obstacle to sustainable economic growth in the world’s most commercially important cities.” The index ranked the vulnerability of the world’s countries to the impacts of climate change by evaluating their risk of exposure […]
A workplace murder in China’s Forbidden City, farmyard horrors in northern Italy and a lucky smartphone in Florida are among the crimes that made it on this week’s global police blotter. photo credit: alvaro-qc