Haven’t finalized your Halloween costume yet? Don’t worry! Worldcrunch has been browsing the news archives of recent months looking for good ideas, bad puns and other ways to abuse the powers of photoshop. Scary, right…??
Author: Julie Farrar
BUENOS AIRES — There was a time when we resolved everything, absolutely everything, around a café table. Or at least, that was the feeling. A coffee bar provided the perfect backdrop and the necessary mutual understanding with friends that allowed you to talk about anything at all: the world, the country, sports, sex, television, you […]
From the concrete jungles of New York and Mexico City to the outbacks of Australia and Tunisia, ground-level isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. With our populations rising and spreading out across the lands, it makes sense to dig deeper into the earth. There are a growing number of projects embracing this solution to […]
FLORENCE — “This taxi is a revolution of love: I’m rediscovering life thanks to death …” Caterina Bellandi’s words are nearly as colorful as her coat. For the past 12 years, this exuberant Florentine taxi driver has turned off the meter to give joy rides around Florence to child cancer patients, or simply accompany them […]
ACAPULCO — Before coming to Acapulco, I had heard many disturbing things about the city. For example, that six Spanish girls were brutally raped on the top floor of a beautiful beachfront villa last February as their boyfriends, handcuffed, were made to watch. That Acapulco had suddenly become the most violent city in Mexico — […]
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11 Smart Cities Around The World
There is a long and healthy tradition of “sister cities,” where municipal leaders from different countries build ongoing relationships and exchange ideas. The same spirit drives this Smarter Cities series, the second installment of our Worldcrunch Impact solutions journalism initiative. For experts in the field, a “smart city” may refer to those using the latest […]
LAMPEDUSA — Yesterday, they buried those remaining of the 385 victims from the Oct. 3 shipwreck off Lampedusa. There were no flowers. No gravestones. None of the ceremony that so many had promised. That first day, as the death toll mounted, various political leaders, including Prime Minister Enrico Letta, had called for some kind of […]
The tragedy earlier this month off the coast of the island of Lampedusa, which left more than 300 dead, is a cruel reminder of the treacherous journey across the sea to Italy’s southern coastlines made by so many would-be immigrants. But Italy is typically just the entry point for immigrants, a springboard for other European […]
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Eid Al-Adha Around The World
Eid al-Adha is a central holiday on the Muslim calendar, celebrating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to God. Muslims all over the world go to mosque for prayers and thank Allah for their blessings. Those who can afford it then sacrifice a sheep, or sometimes a goat, as a reminder of Abraham’s obedience and […]
SAO PAULO — Watch out William Tell wannabes: There’s a big group of archers training from dawn until dusk in the hopes of golden glory at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. What makes them different from any other athletes training for the Olympics? Well, just a minor detail: Until very recently, they had been […]
One native of Sierra Leone, who arrived in Italy via the now notorious island of Lampedusa, is trying to find peace in a Roman slum.
OSLO – “This year’s nominations come from all over the world … well-known names, well-known presidents and prime ministers and also lesser well-known names…” Norwegian Nobel Committee’s non-voting secretary Geir Lundestad acknowledged the controversy sparked by recent numbers, as he announced the number (not names) of nominations for the Peace Prize, which will be awarded […]
PARIS – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), whose global ranking of schooling levels has become a reliable source of national pride and shame, has now set out to measure how different countries in the developed world stack up in adult skills. (Read this piece by OECD’s Andreas Schleicher, who has spearheaded both […]
LAMPEDUSA — Two brothers, both with the same dream: escaping the violence and chaos of Eritrea. One has already spent nine years living that dream; the other still hasn’t been rescued from the sea that swallowed him last Thursday. Desperation and grief are in the eyes and voice of Adel, who emigrated to Sweden nine […]
BUENOS AIRES – The announcement came this weekend that Argentine President Cristina Kirchner will be recuperating for at least the next month from a brain condition brought on by a head injury in August. While the news is shaking up the nation, it is also putting a veil across a potential political crisis for Argentina. […]
-Editorial- Ten months after taking over the presidency of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto has found himself at a critical moment. His ambitious project to reform practically all Mexican institutions is meeting opposition from the right and the left, at a time when his popularity is beginning to wane. The right opposes his proposal to increase […]
LAMPEDUSA — “Follow me,” said Jesus, “and I will make you fishers of men.” A disturbing parallel is evoked from this famous passage of the Gospel of Matthew, as nets tossed into the sea off the Italian island of Lampedusa fill up with the bodies of men… of women and children. After the latest tragic […]
ROME — Berlusconi’s world has never been at such odds with Berlusconi himself. Nobody could rightly agree with the decision to pull out of the coalition that was providing stability for the Italian government as the country attempts to pull out of a deep recession. You could count on one hand the number of loyalists […]
Over the past decade, the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa has become one of the main points of European entry for illegal immigrants. Even though the 90-mile open sea journey from Tunisia has already killed thousands, a new wave of refugees from Syria are following the same route. LAMPEDUSA — Two Syrian mothers with young […]
BUENOS AIRES – Felicitas Pizarro’s huge smile is more than just glowing, it’s contagious. And now her life and her smile are about to enter radically new territory: Pizarro, a passionate amateur chef, is set to step up to the highest ranks of the foodie world, with the help of none other than British-born culinary […]
SITAKUND — Welcome to one of the most polluted and dangerous coastlines in the world. On this murky stretch just a few kilometers from Bangladesh’s main industrial port, Chittagong, are dozens and dozens of beached ships. Sea carriers, oil tankers and huge containers that at the end of their lives — many that can no […]
-OpEd- GUATEMALA CITY – In Guatemala, we know about the damage done by gangs and drug traffickers. We see them paraded across the national and international media as the embodiement of “evil,” with their steely glares and tattooed arms. But too often, simply blaming the gangs and drug trade ignores the complex set of elements […]
Animals are adorable. Usually. In a recent competition on YouTube, the blobfish was voted the ugliest animal in the world and is now the face of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. But is it truly the least fairest of them all? We took a look and found some creatures that only a mother that ugly […]
-Analysis- VATICAN CITY — The pope who came from “almost the ends of the earth” continues to spread his message of hope, secure in the knowledge that the proclamation of the Gospel has much to offer men and women of our times. By no means should we believe that modernity will bring the end of […]
The Catalan Igualada Hockey Club has long been one of the best ice hockey clubs in Spain, both the men’s and women’s teams. But due to a recent lack of sponsorship and a cut in subsidies caused by the ongoing Spanish economic crisis, the company decided it could only keep the men’s squad. The women’s […]
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Prego? The Future Of Dialects In Italy
TURIN – It’s a little like Babel. In Italy, words can have one meaning on one side of the street and something entirely different on the other. From the mountains to the sea, from the north to the south, this is the land of endless dialects. But because families are using these local languages less […]
Worldcrunch The sun is shining, the sky is blue and it’s time to head to the beach. But, where? According to travel website Tripadvisor earlier this year, the best beach in the world is in Lampedusa, Sicily. Each year their list is released, which also rates hotels, entertainment and destinations, which is compiled thanks to […]
Worldcrunch Over the past year, China’s outbound investment set new records. Although North America jumped to the forefront of Chinese business activity, it is likely to be temporary: Chinese companies move as a group from region to region, from sector to sector, according to a survey by the Heritage Foundation. Wine, treasury bonds, soy, ports… […]
ROME – Italy won’t be the new Saudi Arabia, but few realize that it does have its own small treasure trove of oil and natural gas, underground and under the seabed. There is, however, one condition required to benefit from it – not saying “No, grazie!” Italians will only see the gushing of oil and […]
BERLIN – The shock came in his first year of training. His employer – the BMW motorcycle factory in Berlin-Spandau – asked Johann Gundel to don a strange suit: the “age suit,” with weights in it. Gundel could hardly move in the suit. His joints stiffened, and every step was an effort. Gundel, blond, slim […]
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Magazines, Mapped! Week Of May 31-June 6
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
HINDUSTAN TIMES, INDIA TODAY, TIMES OF INDIA (India), REUTERS, AFP, BBC Worldcrunch DELHI – Figures were released Friday showing India’s economy grew at its slowest pace in a decade during the 2012-13 financial year. Low business confidence, slumping investment, high inflation and weak export demand from Western countries were blamed for the bleak performance, which […]
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Why A Saudi Virus Is Spreading Alarm
Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, closed the annual World Health Assembly this week May 27 sounding alarm about a new SARS-like virus circulating primarily in Saudi Arabia. “My greatest concern right now is the novel coronavirus,” Chan warned the representatives of two hundred nations gathered in Geneva. “We do not know […]
A look at what the world has been saying, week of May 23-30.
DAWN, NEWS PAKISTAN, PAKISTAN TODAY (Pakistan), WASHINGTON POST (U.S.), REUTERS Worldcrunch MIRAMSHAH – At least seven people were killed in a reported U.S. drone attack early Wednesday in northeastern Pakistan. The drone fired two missiles at a mud-built house in the tribal region of North Waziristan, which is considered a bastion of Taliban and al-Qaeda […]
A program in Uganda helps chimpanzees deal with their emotions through sign language and art. Mariangela Ferrero can compare their woes to those of her human patients near Turin.
Worldcrunch SAGARMATHA – Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay ascending to the highest point on earth – the summit of Mount Everest. Since May 29, 1953, an estimated 4,000 alpinists have climbed to the ‘roof of the world.’ We have crunched Everest, by the numbers… 8,848 – The height […]
ABC, THE AGE, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA, SYNDEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) Worldcrunch MELBOURNE – Australia’s top Cardinal George Pell acknowledged Monday that senior members of the Australian Catholic Church had covered up cases of sexual abuse. “I am fully apologetic and absolutely sorry,” Pell said. “I’m certainly totally committed to improving the situation. I know the […]
GENOA – How do you bring the Dolce Vita Italian lifestyle to the Chinese without actually landing in China? Well, the Costa Cruises company will be offering all the top Made-in-Italy food, fashion and style with a new around-the-world “Italian” cruise geared to a Chinese public. The Italian cruise line opened its doors to the […]
Worldcrunch CANNES – Most of the pictures emerging from the film festival in the south of France are from press photographers and paparazzi, but some of the most candid photos are being snapped by the festival’s long-time president, Gilles Jacob. Jacob, who turns 83 in June, is a film critic, writer, director and producer. He […]