Welcome to *Gazablanca…
Author: Patrick Randall
ZUWARAH — Proudly dressed in his military uniform, Ali Abou Soud looks out toward the sea as cargo ships sail around in circles off the coast of this Libyan town. “That one,” he points out, “is sailing under the Sierra Leone flag.” The 26-year-old dentist explains why he has stopped working for the past two […]
Some 400,000 people leave the country every year to work abroad, often recruited by agencies that are really human traffickers. A close-up view of the human toll in Katmandu.
Here are some of the songs topping the charts from music hot spots around the world. Worldcrunch Pick: This week, the jazz label Blue Note Records celebrated its 75th anniversary. And to do so, they have organized a series of live events, exhibitions, book and music releases to take place throughout the year. On Jan. […]
What will remain of the socialist ideals of Mexico’s 1910 revolution, as the country’s rulers dance to the singular drum of global capitalism and North America’s elite?
The Syrian conflict and the surrounding chaos are allowing al-Qaeda to reinforce its presence in the region, starting with Iraq and Lebanon.
BEIJING — For many Chinese, the successful Dec. 14 moon landing of the Chang’E-3 spacecraft was a moment of particular pride and joy. China has become the third country in the world to independently achieve a soft landing on the Moon and begin a round of lunar prospecting. It is also a milestone in China’s […]
Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, a taboo-busting humorist for some, a shocking anti-Semite for others, is currently at the center of a spiraling controversy in France over the acceptable limits of free speech. After inventing and encouraging the questionable gesture known as the “quenelle,” which some say is an allusion to the Nazi salute, the French comic […]
Kholoud, a Sunni, and Nidal, a Shiite, got married in a civil ceremony, a first for Lebanon where sectarianism warns against loving the “wrong” neighbor. Now they have a baby boy.
BEIJING — Winter has come to the capital, and Wang Jie (a pseudonym) feels particularly cold. The multinational communication equipment company where he’s worked for 20 years has just announced widespread layoffs in the marketing, sales and service departments. Wang’s name was on the list. When he joined the firm in 1994, he was part […]
Here are some of the songs topping the charts from music hot spots around the world. Worldcrunch Pick: It’s the first Friday of 2014, so to celebrate the new year, here is Jimi Hendrix and his unique version of “Auld Lang Syne”, bidding farewell to the 1960s at the Fillmore East in New York, on […]
Protests are on in New Delhi demanding a bonafide old-age pension. Right now, most Indians don’t qualify for benefits, and those that do only get $4 a month.
Jeanne was looking for work when she came across a telemarketer offer for an Apple contractor in Barcelona. She took the job without hesitating. A few months later, she is a broken woman: constant surveillance, timed breaks, aggressive customers … The pressure is constant. BARCELONA — My story begins several months ago. I wanted a […]
Dubbed the new ‘cave dwellers’ of Beijing, these people were recently found living in the city’s underground water system. Society’s lowest rung raises hard questions about modern China.
Here are some of the songs topping the charts from music hot spots around the world. Worldcrunch Pick: The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” turned 50 in late 2013. The Fab Four’s best selling single of all time was released on Nov. 29, 1963 in the UK, and marked the start of the […]
MATADI — It’s one of the Internet revolution’s more twisted novelties. Men ready to do anything to get back at the girlfriend who left them or whom they suspect of cheating on them post naked photos or sex videos on social networks. And now, so-called “revenge porn” has also arrived in the Democratic Republic of […]
Faced with Colombia’s military strength and apparent resolve not to hand over a disputed swathe of the Caribbean, Nicaragua is inviting friendly Russia into the area.
Seven decades after Winston Churchill’s secret coterie of female spies were sent undercover during World War II, the United Kingdom is honoring their service and sacrifice.
Though physical money will still be around for a while, the spread of digital money is inevitable for four basic reasons: efficiency, hygiene, durability – and anonymity.
The migration of rural population into Chinese cities is seen by some as the way to ensure a new burst of economic growth. But urbanization-by-state-planning is not the right road.
Christmas is a global holiday, which sort of makes Christmas World Music a musical genre. See below for some holiday hits from across the planet. Worldcrunch Pick: Yes indeed, every December, the world celebrates the birth of an eternal figure who has inspired multiple generations of men, women and children around the world. For some, […]
VILLANOVA MONDOVI — Aldo Bongiovanni, a 30-year-old beanpole, laughs timidly. Where others in a crisis-stricken Italy see no hope, he sees opportunity — in a mill in the countryside of the Cuneo province, in northwest Italy, near where he played as a child. “In Italy, complaining is in fashion,” he says. “I can’t stand it […]
PARIS — For the last few years, cheese has been at the center of a debate that is as gastronomic as it is economic and sociocultural. Facing increasingly strict regulations, many producers are concerned about the future of cheese made with ancestral methods, and the anxiety is particularly high in France and Italy, which each […]
CAIRO — After being unemployed for three years, 26-year-old Emad Hassan was offered a job at a local bank on the condition that he take a blood test. It was then that he discovered he had been infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which can cause liver disease and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma — better […]
One of the heartbreaking side-effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
MEXICO CITY — Roberto Servitje, co-founder and former president of the Mexican bread and pastry giant Bimbo, is upright and elegant at 85 years old. He has plenty to stand tall about, having started a company with his brother 68 years ago that remains successful and in the family. At a time when Mexican producers […]
The last of the past century’s ‘counter-history’ leaders, Mandela represented the ultimate triumph over the destructive powers of the notion of racial superiority.
Nelson Mandela is mourned in South Africa, authorities are challenged with music in Ukraine and more images capturing the news..
Cover Photo: Kainet Here are some of the songs topping the charts from music hot spots around the world. Worldcrunch Pick: Belgian singer-songriter Martijn Teerlinck, a.k.a. Cole Williams, a.k.a. The Child of Lov died on Tuesday at the age of 26, following complications after undergoing surgery. He had worked with Damon Albarn on his self-titled […]
A writer in Damascus says Assad’s regime is trying every tactic to reduce its adversaries to something subhuman. “Kneel,” his soldiers laugh, “or you will go hungry …”
For one prominent Polish columnist, all the European Union’s panting for expansion to the East may lead it to choke on its own ambitions.
Categories
The Risks Of China’s GDP Obsession
BEIJING — Last month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping gave a speech and released a document to local authorities reaffirming a key new reform message: From now on, “officials should no longer blindly compare only their GDP when it comes to performance and success.” Xi added that “the problem of “GDP-based promotions’ shall be rectified.” His […]
LUANG PRABANG — As they say, the early bird gets the worm. Luang Prabang, the former royal capital of Laos and a UNESCO world heritage site since 1995, is one of those early morning cities — not necessarily calm, but where a walk at the crack of dawn is very satisfying. As early as 5 […]
The recession of 2008 created a new population of poor in the U.S., concentrated in the outskirts of once thriving urban areas. In Atlanta, poverty has risen by 122%.
BEIJING — Both the definition of “Free-Trade Zone” and the “Pacific” should be called into question as the U.S. and Japan try to seal a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by the end of the year. As an ambitious multilateral trade cooperation mechanism outside the World Trade Organization (WTO), the TPP would not currently […]
JOHANNESBURG — “As long as he’s alive, his family members still refrain, but you’ll see when he passes away …” Earlier this year, a man close to several of Nelson Mandela’s relatives told Le Monde of his fear that the unity displayed during the moments of reverence around South Africa’s global icon of reconciliation, would […]
Here are some musical tributes to Nelson Mandela, whose lifetime work for peace and equality inspired artists around the world and across musical genres.
BANGKOK — The situation that has taken over Thailand’s capital this past week has been, among other things, surreal. The government has been paralyzed after demonstrators occupied several ministerial buildings, and even entered, on Dec. 3, the complex where Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s offices are located. But below the surface, the upheaval is a political […]
“He’s not human. He’s a robot. Dante Pryor is a socialbot,” lawyer and series’ heroine Alicia Florrick says in the latest episode of the TV series The Good Wife. “How could a robot defame your client?” the judge character asks her. “It’s designed to repackage comments and gossip by others and disperse it onto sites,” […]
Justin Bieber’s graffiti global tour continues, Berlusconi lingers, Pope Francis surprises again, and other notable quotes from around the world…