EURONEWS, AFP, LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch MOGADISHU – Somali Islamist militants announced on Wednesday that they had decided to execute a French hostage they have been holding since 2009, reports the AFP. French DGSE secret-service commandos launched a raid last Saturday in an bid to rescue French intelligence agent Denis Allex, but the attempt failed, […]
Author: Leo Tilmont
–Analysis– RABAT – Recent estimates from the Moroccan High Commission For Planning (HCP) found the median age for marriage in Morocco was 31 for men and 27 for women. There are many reasons for this – more years spent studying, and the high cost of housing and wedding ceremonies being the most obvious. Some, it […]
MUNICH – Our meeting takes place at Munich’s old Jewish synagogue on Reichenbachstrasse. Rachel Salamander and her Synagogue Reichenbachstrasse charity co-chair, attorney Ron Jakubowicz, are telling us about their plans for the synagogue’s future. The mission of the charity, which was launched in November 2011, is to save and restore the pre-war synagogue that was […]
Local memories and a final salute from French-speaking Switzerland to the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, who died on January 10.
KANSAS CITY- It looks like the typical American neighborhood home: a flag out front, a terrace with a rocking chair and a barbecue in the backyard. But this ordinary Kansas City street contains a hidden treasure. It’s one of the first places to have access to “Google Fiber,” the super-fast broadband that is 100 times […]
BBC (UK), DAWN (Pakistan) Worldcrunch ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on corruption allegations. Ashraf has been accused of accepting bribes during his term as minister for water and power in 2010. Authorities have 24 hours to take him into custody, along with 15 others included […]
France’s just launched military intervention in Mali has earned the old colonial power praise from those fearing Islamist extremists. The fight, however, has only just begun.
CHITTAGONG – In the port of Chittagong, containers pile up like colorful cubes of sugar. Dozens of ships scurry down the estuary of the Karnaphuli, the river that winds around the economic capital of Bangladesh to finally stream down into the Bay of Bengal. The port is bustling. The newly built mooring container terminal (NCT) […]
FRANCE 24, LIBERATION (France) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – On the third day of the French-led “Operation Serval” to drive the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group MUJAO out of northern Mali, air strikes have been carried out Monday on Timbuktu and Gao, two key rebel strongholds. Four Rafales fighter jets pounded rebel training camps, logistic depots and infrastructure […]
LAMINGAN – It’s late November, patches of a green mountainous landscape are piercing through the morning fog. They follow a regular pattern, typical of palm oil plantations. The trees’ bases are surrounded by burned vegetation – a sign that pesticides were used. The palm oil plantation, started in 2005 by Nakeen, a subsidiary of the […]
GURGAON – Shoes are not allowed on the foam mat. We are surrounded by the noise of fists hitting the leather of the punching bags, the high-paced breathing of two fighters training one-on-one. We are in Gurgao, in the suburbs southwest of New Delhi, a snapshot of the fast-developing India with its shiny new buildings. […]
Some provocative studies are cited as the debate heats up in France over a law to legalize gay marriage.
FRANCE INFO, SLATE AFRIQUE (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – A French woman of Guadeloupian origins, Rosita Destival, has filed suit against the French state for not having emancipated one of her ancestors after the legal abolition of slavery. The woman’s lawyer cites the 2001 bill stating that slavery was now considered to be a crime against […]
XINHUA (China), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch KUNMING – At least 40 people were believed to be buried in a massive landslide Friday morning in the Yunnan capital city, with 18 confirmed dead. The rescuers are still digging for survivors. Ten residential homes were crushed under tons of rubble and mud in this region of southwest China […]
THE GUARDIAN (UK), CBS NEWS (US) Worldcrunch After wrapping up an unusual and notably tight-lipped visit to North Korea, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt urged the Pyongyang regime on Thursday to open up to the Internet or risk the further economic consequences of isolation. “As the world is becoming increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually […]
Top Congolese leaders say it’s time the DRC got off the US currency and returned to the local franc. But ending “dollarization” comes with risks if not done properly.
At the end of this year, when Apple’s cheap iPhone comes out, it is going to be amusing to listen to all the Apple fans who consoled themselves about Apple’s loss of market share by dismissing competitors’ phones as “cheap plastic crap.” Because the new cheap iPhone is supposed to have a cheap plastic back. […]
BARCELONA – The couple looks in love and relaxed. The evening twilight gives the picture perfect lighting and the background is idyllic. But right next to them, in front of the Alpine range, there’s a herd of tourists with their horrible fluorescent bobble hats. You know them – the photo bombers, the people who just […]
INDIA TIMES, HINDUSTAN TIMES (India) Worldcrunch NEW DELHI – India lashed out at Pakistan after two Indian soldiers were killed in a firefight in the disputed region of Kashmir, and reports spread that one of the soldier’s body had been mutilated. India’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement about the incident that used the terms “barbaric […]
Worldcrunch ZURICH – The results for Golden Ball 2012 killed any remaining doubt over who is our era’s undisputed emperor of the soccer planet. FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won his fourth straight trophy for best player of the year, the first to notch that record for a man whose talent seems to know no limits. […]
RAMNICU VALCEA – To the tourist eye, Râmnicu Vâlcea is a quiet, leafy city. Located at the bottom of the Carpathian mountain range, in central Romania, no one would guess this town’s secret, buried in its working-class neighborhood, Ostroveni. You have to leave the boulevard that stretches across the city to end up in narrow […]
ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS, YONHAP NEWS (South Korea) Worldcrunch PYONGYANG – Google Chairman Eric Schmidt became the highest profile American corporate executive ever to visit North Korea, arriving Monday on a mission led by former US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, the Associated Press reports. Richardson, also a former governor of the state of […]
Set to be available in the US this year, this mixture of medicines in one pill is aimed at reducing heart attacks. Its inventor says even middle age people with no symptons should take it.
Categories
Happy 300th Birthday, Paris Opera Ballet
PARIS – Founded in 1713, the Paris Opera Ballet is about to celebrate 300 years of innovations, while continuing to transmit its classical repertoire. This festive season, as always, the Ballet is a huge success. Whether it is for its 26 performances of the classic “Don Quixote” at the Bastille Opera; the 21 nights dedicated […]
XINHUA (China) Worldcrunch ZHENGZHOU – A fire that broke out in a private orphanage in China’s central Henan province has killed seven children, according to local government officials. Four children were pronounced dead at the scene while three died in the ambulance. Another child is receiving treatment in a local hospital. Rescuers did not know […]
PARIS – Do the Internet and digital devices make us happier and more efficient. Or do they just make us less intelligent? Two new books try to answer the question asked by Nichols Carr in The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains. Italian linguist Raffaele Simone and French philosopher Jean-Michel Besnier deliver […]
LE MONDE, EUROPE 1 (France) Worldcrunch MOSCOW- The Kremlin has issued a press release stating that Vladimir Putin had signed a decree on Thursday granting French movie legend Gerard Depardieu Russian citizenship if he ever needed it. The actor confirmed it to his friends in a Parisian restaurant Tuesday: “Putin has already sent me a […]
LA VOIX DU NORD, AFP (France) Worldcrunch ROUBAIX- A 73-year-old French woman rang in the New Year in a supermarket in northern France after being locked in for the night. The elderly woman went into bathroom after feeling slightly dizzy, reported La Voix du Nord. When she came out, she found the supermarket empty – […]
GENEVA – To distinguish themselves from Facebook and Twitter, new social networks are trying to find a different economic model. A trend is emerging – the return to paid subscriptions. From App.net to Diaspora, here is a short review of these new actors. App.net, the paying Twitter “We are selling our product, not our users.” […]
HAMBURG – Irina Galtsova has to concentrate on what she’s doing. If she makes a mistake, the inhabitants of Bonga Island won’t be able to plant any more palm trees, go fishing, or make pottery. Plus she could ruin the fun for hundreds of thousands of women who love the computer game she designs. The […]
DONETSK – Four hundred miles south of Kiev, the oppressively cloudy sky overwhelms the vast plain. The only things cutting through the horizon are the slag heaps from the region’s coal mines. The coal basin of Donbass has seen better times – before Ukraine became independent in 1991, it was the heart of the Soviet […]
CAIRO- The khatba has made a comeback in the last few years. A modern and polished version of the modestly dressed middle-aged matchmaker from the movies who visits families with a collection of pictures of prospective brides and grooms, a few Cairo women are looking once again to facilitate marriages and help people find their […]
LONDON- We’re at 70 Lower Clapton Road, northeast London, where David and Eleanor are manning the register. While the clock approaches noon, the machine passes the 500-pounds mark (more than $810). It’s been ages since the two owners of independent bookshop “Pages of Hackney” managed to tally such amount, all done without any special marketing […]
Using lasers for tracking objects through the sky has been possible for years, but there’s never been anything like Lockheed’s new laser defense system successfully tested last week. It’s not that using high-powered lasers to drop incoming missiles is anything new, and was achieved by Boeing with a nine-year Air Force project that was canceled […]
LE MONDE (France), SKY NEWS (Australia), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – The United Nations Security Council has approved an open-ended resolution authorizing military operation to secure northern Mali from terrorist organizations. The design of this gradual intervention, authored by France and to be led by African forces (Ecowas) and supported by the UN military, has […]
PICHARI – Miguel doesn’t make a sound on his way to the plantation. “Best to keep a low profile, put away your microphone,” he advises. The path leads all the way over the Apurímac River, whose brown waters wind through the middle of the forest, to a clearing where shrubs of coca grow across 12 […]
DHARAMSALA – Sacrifice of life for Tibet. Under this scarlet red title, the giant poster displays photos of deceased Tibetans. The poster was put up on a steep road in McLeod Ganj, a village on the slopes of Dharamsala, home of the Tibetan government in exile, in northern India. The street leads to the Tsuglakhang […]
PRETORIA – Jacob Zuma sang in the choir when he was a political prisoner on Robben Island in the 1970s. South Africa’s president has a remarkable voice, and these days he uses it particularly effectively during election campaigns. Not necessarily when he gives speeches (he tends to read these) but in the songs he sings; […]
SKYNEWS (UK), KOREAN TIMES (South Korea) Worldcrunch SEOUL – South Korea has elected its first female president, as Park Geun-Hye, the daugther of the country’s longtime autocratic ruler, defeated opposition candidate Moon Jae-in. Park, 60, the conservative party candidate, claimed victory early Thursday, after collecting 51.5% of the votes against Moon’s 47.9%. The campaign largely […]
PARIS – As the end of the year approaches, it is difficult to escape the gift-giving madness. Santa has the family covered, of course, but the office is a different matter. Here, a postman replaces the old man with the red coat. The person who sent the present is rarely from Lapland – most often […]