Worldcrunch
GULF OF GUINEA – In the dark of night, dozens of oil wells are spitting orange flames. They are the only things to be seen on this jet-black sea. This area south of Nigeria is one of the largest offshore oil fields in the world. There are no lights on the deck of the Latouche-Treville […]
GENEVA – For a long time, the brain was considered a kind of black box, whose internal workings were largely a mystery. But recently, this special organ has started yielding its secrets, thanks in part to the progress made in the field of genetics. Neuroscientists from the University of Geneva have achieved a breakthrough that […]
You probably have never heard of French engineer Louis Pouzin. But you might not be reading this website without him. At 82, he offers a unique perspective on Edward Snowden, and us all.
Here are the songs topping the charts from some music hot spots around world. First, warm up with the Worldcrunch pick of the week:
The Egyptian Army Chief and Defense Minister had ordered the ultimatum to President Morsi, and then followed through. A portrait of Egypt’s strongest strong man.
BEIJING – An article last month in the Beijing Evening News declared that: “one-third of news going viral on microblogs are rumors.” Referring to a survey called China New Media Development Report, 2013, the article cited the “chaos” of China’s microblogging platforms. Since then, this form of media has received a wave of mainstream attention […]
Some like to travel for the breathtaking sights, some want to discover exotic new cultures. But the real adventure often comes delivered on your plate. We know our classics, here at Worldcrunch: the French eat frogs and the Cambodians eat bugs. We went a bit further than that. Way further. Now, fasten your eatbelts as […]
BEIJING- Not long ago, I raised the question of why 35 years after China began to open up its political and economic system, the task of reform seems harder than ever. Why, in other words, is it so difficult to change a system? Wouldn’t it be better to just proclaim that China has built a […]
After a string of acquittals by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, some accuse Judge Theodor Meron, a Polish-born American citizen, of having a political agenda.
Lance Armstrong hasn’t told “the whole story” yet. Ever since his long-awaited January confession with Oprah Winfrey, the high priestess of American talk shows, the now former seven-time winner of the Tour de France hasn’t uttered a word, just a rare tweet from time to time to his four million followers on Twitter. So when […]
They were shocked by 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and they firmly believe the world is coming to an end. To cope with the imminent disaster, some of these preparation enthusiasts (or “preppers”) turn their SUVs into armored fortresses while others buy fancy bunkers. Julie Zaugg met one of those so-called “survivalists.” NEW […]
PARIS – Jessica is the pseudonym she used. Her real name is Vasvija Ferhatovic. She was born in Rome on Jan. 24, 1985 and the only “job” this young woman ever had is thief. In May, a Paris criminal court convicted her and 15 other girls to sentences between one and five years in jail. […]
Edged out for a time by greasy, imported food, traditional meals are staging a comeback in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Beyond the playboy billionaires and international tax dodgers, people work regular jobs in this slice of Mediterranean paradise.
To help mark France’s annual Fete de la Musique, Le Monde looks back at an old study that asked whether country music causes suicide.
-OpEd- BEIJING – Since late last year the way Chinese people cross the road has been receiving particular attention. Dubbed Chinese-style Of Crossing The Road, this phenomenon refers to the behavior of Chinese pedestrians, who cross an intersection not based on red and green lights, but on whether or not there are enough pedestrians to […]
NEW DELHI – In 2012, out of the millions of people displaced by natural disasters around the world, over a quarter were from northeast India. Almost nine million inhabitants were forced to flee the region’s devastating monsoon. These forced displacements are a common occurrence. Floods have become so routine in Assam, a state located at […]
GRENOBLE – Since 2009, a team of 30 researchers from the Clinatec biomedical platform of the French Alternative Energies And Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has been tackling a huge challenge: allowing quadriplegics to walk and open a door thanks to a brain-controlled implant system. For this to happen, the CEA is relying on different technologies […]
HANOVER – Students here at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university in New Hampshire have been protesting against the rising numbers of sexual assaults on campus, as well as discrimination against homosexuals. The rallying cry of protesters is: “Dartmouth has a problem!” There have also been protests in recent weeks at other elite academic institutions, […]
TOKYO – A few months ago, Shin Sugimoto, Human Resources director at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Tokyo, revolutionized the traditional methods of recruitment in Japan. Instead of automatically promoting the most experienced man, as it is traditionally done – who had patiently been waiting for his turn for years – Sugimoto proposed to choose the next […]
PARIS – A cheeky move, one might say. To retrace the history of the undergarment – from the XXL fig leaf on Adam’s attributes taken from a 10th century manuscript to the tighty-whities of the 1980s (called kangaroo briefs in France because of their front pocket) – is a daring, er, undertaking indeed. A challenge […]
Iranian voters rejected the regime’s hard line on the nuclear issue that led to a deep economic crisis. Now whether Hossan Rohani softens Iran’s stance also depends on the West.
VALETTA – It is an inhospitable rock floating in the Mediterranean Sea. A piece of coralline limestone blown by the winds and burned by the sun with a layer of earth so thin that nothing much can grow on it. Welcome to Malta, a simple and unpretentious place. Yet, this archipelago comprising eight islands – […]
As Iran voted in an apparently more moderate successor, Hassan Rouhani, the country and world could look back and ask what is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s true legacy.
ZAATARI – The Khamsin is what they call the desert wind that blows in gusts, blocking your sight with an opaque fog, burning your eyes and lungs at the same time. Scruffy-looking kids are pushing makeshift carts through the mini windstorm, piles of clothes and kitchen tools almost falling off them, as ghost-like figures of […]
Idjwi is a rare example of a preserved ecosystem in the troubled eastern Congolese region. But poverty and crop disease are now putting this tranquil island at risk too.
Why did he do that? And if you ever thought to do the same…?
It’s summer time here in Paris and we are already stacked up on ice cold deliciousness. Over in Berlin, Die Welt is reporting that George Clooney got it right when he paid for a round of ice cream for residents of the German capital inconvienced by his film crew shooting in their neighborhood earlier this […]
SALOU – It’s about 4 p.m. in the lobby of a hotel in the Costa Dorada, on the Catalan coast of Spain. A brunette sporting micro-shorts and a boy without a shirt are miming a sexual act amongst a sweaty and inebriated crowd. The deejay shouts into his microphone: “Have you had enough?” Of course […]
Founded in Latvia, Ask.fm is exploding around the world. Its users communicate with questions and answers. Here’s one: How cruel can young people be with each other?
ISTANBUL – Dozens, maybe hundreds of articles saying more or less the same thing have been published by the Turkish media: “The Prime Minister doesn’t understand the street…” This sentence (and the sentiment) continues as such: If he ever could properly understand it, he would also realize that he is in the wrong and will […]
A wedding ceremony should make for the happiest of memories. But the now infamous closing scene of the latest Game of Thrones episode (referred as the “red wedding”) reminds us in a whole new way how quickly nuptials can turn gnarly. We have tracked down some of the funniest, quirkiest and just plain disastrous wedding […]
PARIS – After years at Dior, designer Hedi Slimane was named creative director at Yves Saint Laurent in 2012, where he has embarked on a strategy to revolutionize the legendary French fashion house. He has just opened a new flagship store on Paris’s luxurious Avenue Montaigne and renamed the brand “Saint Laurent.” Black, white and […]
Though not its original intention, the demonstrations in Turkey are widening the cracks between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gül.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga knocked off Roger Federer to advance to the semi-finals of the French Open. Can history repeat itself?
Underage workers wind up digging for gold, and too often dying in the process. Family traditions are part of why no one is ever held responsible.
Drugs themselves are crazy enough, but what they’re called can sometimes make them (or at least make them seem) even more insane. Drug producers, dealers and users are increasingly creative in both the manufacturing and naming of drugs. Die Welt reported last month on the growing concern over the use of crystal methamphetamine, which in […]
BRUSSELS- The European Union-Russia summit taking place in Yekaterinburg has a major sticking point forming over privacy for travelers arriving — or even just passing through — Russian territory. The Russian Ministry of Transportation has decreed that airlines flying in Russian airspace, or taking off or landing in Russia, have to provide authorities in Moscow […]
Even if the urban riots in Sweden last week took many by surprise, the signs were all around.