Lower visibility, a falling ruble and rising inflation: The Ukrainian crisis is taking its toll on the Russian economy.
Author: Patrick Randall
Long revered amongst the founders of modern India, the Gandhi family is now facing the most delicate political moment in memory as its INC party risks losing national elections.
LVIV — There’s a commotion in Room 312 of Lviv’s social services department, where over 50 Crimean Tatars are crowded into the small space — families with children, older married couples, students. All of them fled Crimea in March and headed for this western Ukrainian city. They’re now in the concrete block near St. George’s […]
It’s the look on the faces of mothers that Sarah Lawan finds so painful. And when the 19-year-old walks by them in the Nigerian village of Chibok, the mothers frequently break into tears. Lawan, who spoke with the Associated Press, is one of the 53 girls who got away from the Islamist extremist group Boko […]
France’s May 1954 defeat in this battle in north Vietnam marked the beginning of the end of centuries of Western colonialism. A visit to the battle scene that should have been a warning to others.
The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will take place Saturday in Copenhagen. Through the glitter and cheese, some may again ask why such a show even exists — apart from its official claim of uniting the European continent through music. And no, you don’t watch the Eurovision in the hope of discovering that singularly euroesque talent […]
A professor at the London School of Economics argues that the free market and everything we thought we knew about economics are now irrelevant.
Since Crimea became part of Russia, China is the first foreign country looking to invest. In light of Moscow’s standoff with the West, this is about much more than money.
Since insecticides have killed most bees in China’s Sichuan province, local farmers are forced to fertilize the flowers themselves. But the “bee-men” may now be a dying breed.
Here’s what words have been making news…
The St. Varena Hermitage is trying to recruit a new hermit to oversee see its chapels, but the job description raises a dilemma: how to find a recluse who can schmooze with visitors.
Below are some of the songs currently topping charts around the world. Worldcrunch Pick On May 19, the American band Brian Jonestown Massacre will release their 14th studio album, Revelation. After an almost 25-year career in shoegaze, folk and even experimental music, Anton Newcomb and his crew haven’t finished exploring and playing with the 1960s […]
Two Argentine authors dig deeper into the causes – and cycles – of poverty in Latin America.
-OpEd- PARIS — From Vichy France to the Algerian War, the demand that France “open the archives” resonates every time the country struggles with one of its “pasts that don’t pass.” Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi people, researchers are once again singing this refrain, especially in light of the provocative declarations […]
Just before last week’s death of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, El Espectador spoke with arguably the only other Latin American author in his league, 2010 Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa.
Residents of Ballarpur city in India woke up to an unpleasant surprise this week, after a full-grown leopard had taken shelter in a cowshed during the night. Early Monday morning, local residents of the busy neighborhood, with the help of a forest department team, eventually managed to capture the leopard. The one injury reported can […]
Falsely considered a type of magic, achieving hypnotic trance is already part of our everyday lives. Its potential applications for medical science are vast, if still largely unexplained.
Some see signs that the world’s tectonic plates are positioned in such a way to set off “the mother of all quakes.” Seismology has made advances, but is still not a perfect science.
Even if you don’t judge him South America’s greatest writer, there’s no denying that his life lived with joy and principle is the stuff of modern legend for a country, and continent.
Being overly shy isn’t always a simple personality trait, something kids will “grow out of…” It can also reach the point of clinical illness. How to know when your child needs treatment.
Below are some of the songs currently topping the charts around the world. Worldcrunch Pick Last month, the London-based band Gallon Drunk released their 8th studio album, The Soul Of The Hour, and it’s probably one of the best things you’ll hear this year, or ever. The Soul Of The Hour is as rock’n’roll as […]
Infighting among Syrian rebel leaders and radicalization of certain groups are dissuading private donors in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf, who’d backed the Syrian opposition since 2011.
LANZHOU — Over the last few days, panic has been spreading about the drinking water in Lanzhou, the capital city of the northwest Gansu Province. The water contains dangerously high levels of benzene, a cancer-causing substance. Television reports show the public madly rushing to the supermarkets for bottled water. What if this also happens to […]
Critics of both Nestor and Cristina Kirchner have focused on the “populist” nature of their hold on power. But to understand their rule, it may be wiser to follow the money.
ALGIERS – Shaken by the strength of bloggers and Internet users opposed to a fourth term for outgoing Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the head of state’s campaign team didn’t wait long before equipping themselves with their own virtual communication tools. The unprecedented online confrontation has put the Bouteflika’s supporters on the defensive. His team opened […]
BERLIN — It looked as if a great moment might be in the making: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Polish colleague Radoslaw Sikorski had teamed up with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and the trio flew to Kiev for joint talks with the then-Ukrainian government and opposition. At the time violence on Maidan […]
Disabled kids can be integrated in regular classes, but only if they are on the university track.
TEL AVIV — Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah made an official visit to Indonesia last month. While a number of economic agreements were signed on the visit, one stood out for its huge tourism potential. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, has an increasing number of would-be pilgrims interested in traveling to Palestine’s religious sites. […]
Below are some of the songs currently topping the charts around the world. Worldcrunch Pick Union Jacks, parkas and tracksuits. This month marks the 20th anniversary of Britpop, that music genre symbolizing the new pride Britons had for their Kingdom in the 1990s. Now some might say Britpop was born long before April 1994, that […]
WASHINGTON — Calvin is discovering a new popularity in America. No, not the character from the Bill Watterson comic Calvin and Hobbes, but John Calvin, the 16th-century French Protestant Reformer. The rise of this latest wave of neo-Calvinism, which follows another revival at the beginning of the 20th century, is all the more surprising because […]
Embargo? Ha! The North Korean leader relies on an entire black-market system dedicated to getting around UN sanctions so he can enjoy the best the West has to sell.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had high hopes of bringing the Israelis and Palestinians together, but fell into the same traps as other would-be saviors of the Middle East of the past.
There are medically proven explanations for why our minds and bodies generally feel better when the season changes. So, goodbye Winter Blues, and hello Spring Euphoria!
Even as diplomats look to push the peace process, a movement of ultraorthodox Jews is demanding the right to pray at the Temple Mount, home to the Dome of the Rock.
CAIRO — The Egyptian military, with its recently announced Complete Cure device, is hardly the first to claim unproven cures for diseases that have ravaged millions of lives. Since the discovery of HIV/AIDS, false claims of cures have been advertised and often endorsed by governments all over the world — especially in Africa, the continent […]
Tough on crime and blatently ambitious, Valls was plucked by President Hollande to lead a new government after Sunday’s disaster in local elections. It’s a risky choice, for many reasons.
President Dilma Rousseff’s once widespread popularity is sinking. But if Brazilian protests reignite when the World Cup begins, it could have major consequences on her October reelection bid.
One year after rising to power, Chinese President Xi Jinping shows no signs of turning back on major reforms…or sweeping purges.
Bracing itself for an influx of Russian-speaking Ukrainians, Russia has indicated an easy path to citizenship. But skeptics note Moscow’s notoriously tough migration policies.
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — The saying goes that if the word “but” is featured in a sentence, nothing that comes before it should be taken seriously. Whether this is always true, I don’t really know, but what happened after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan targeted Twitter at a political rally in Bursa reminds me of this […]