Worldcrunch
After prolonged talks, the P5+1 group (U.S., Russia, China, U.K., France and Germany) and Iran agreed Thursday on a “historical” framework agreement for Iran’s nuclear program. “Important implementation details are still subject to negotiation, and nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” the White House warns. But the main points of the preliminary deal are […]
After winning last year’s show with Conchita Wurst’s performance, Austria has the pleasure of organizing this year’s Eurovision. According to Oikotimes, a website on which “Eurovision becomes a passion,” it will cost Vienna a total of €35 million to host the event, for a revenue of €10 million for the host broadcaster ORF. So much […]
When Patricia started hearing voices, she was fascinated. Within a year, she would wind up in the hospital. She now tries to cope with her illness, refusing medicine, opting for church and yoga.
When we first saw Australia would be competing in the 2015 edition of the European Song Contest, we simply thought the organizers misspelled “Austria”. But no, it turns out Aussies really enjoy the ESC. In fact, the public broadcaster SBS has been airing the show for more than 30 years. In 2014, 3 million dedicated […]
The victory of challenger Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential election in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest and richest country, was making big headlines around the world Wednesday. At home, the daily Nigerian Tribune covered the results and reactions of Buhari’s victory over incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan. Buhari polled a total of 15.4 million votes, according to the […]
For the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, Armenia will be represented by Genealogy, a supergroup of singers from five different continents and all from Armenian descent. Genealogy includes Ethopian Vahe Tilbian, American Tamar Kaprelian, Japanese Stephanie Topalian, French Essaï Altounian, Australian Mary-Jean O’Doherty Basmadjian and Armenian Inga Arshakyan. They will perform “Face the shadow,” a song […]
Egypt’s participation in the military operation “Decisive Storm” against the Houthis in Yemen is a question of interests, alliances and cold, hard cash.
Zurich has adopted a system that feeds past criminal information into an algorithm that can help predict when and where crimes will occur. Early indications are that it may actually be reducing crime rates.
The 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, that annual European musical event that no one really understands, will take place on May 23 in Vienna, Austria. This year, 40 countries will participate, including, for the first time that country down in the extreme southeastern corner of Europe: Australia. (organizers cite “strong cultural ties” to […]
Though the law says otherwise, citizenship is typically not granted to the children of Nepalese women if they don’t give proof that the father is also from Nepal.
Andean towns like Pariacaca, in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, are keeping a cautious eye on rapidly melting glaciers, from which giant blocks of ice can break off into lakes, creating huge and potentially deadly waves.
Andreas Lubitz, the 27-year-old German co-pilot who authorities believe deliberately crashed the Germanwings Airbus A320 Tuesday in the French Alps, had been treated for a “major depressive episode” in 2009, the German daily Bild reported Friday. Quoting internal Lufthansa documents and sources, the German tabloid reports that Lubitz went through an 18-month psychiatric treatment and […]
It’s a different kind of Arab Spring in Egypt that you may have missed.
BEIJING — A military-style boot camp in Beijing’s suburbs is at the front line of China’s battle against Internet addiction, a disorder that the government claims is afflicting millions of its children. The camp run by an army colonel is where desperate parents are sending their children in the hopes of weaning them off online games, cybersex and chats. The China Young Mental Development Base in Daxing district uses a blend of therapy and military drills to treat children such as 18-year-old Wang Dewei, the son of middle-class officials in the Hebei province. He says they forced him to come […]
The architecture and interior design of a residential care home serving autistic people were specially designed to make the patients more comfortable. A look inside the award-winning facility.
The cover of this week’s issue of the German weekly Der Spiegel shows a smiling Angela Merkel spliced into a photograph of Nazi officers standing by Athens’ Parthenon during the German World War II occupation of Greece. Along with the headline, “How Europeans see Germans — the German Supremacy,” the controversial cover was published two […]
The moderate president symbolizes the hope of rapprochement with the West in nuclear talks, but he must also deal with the regime’s hardliners. Can he manage to strike a deal with the enemy?
Blur have made another track of their upcoming album available. “There Are Too Many of Us” will feature on The Magic Whip, set to be released on April 27 and their first album since Think Tank, in 2003.
As the video below puts it perfectly, “Jackson 5 and Bach were funky way before Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”,” we’d say even funkier, by far.
A brother and sister have set Lausanne alight for the past two years with a celebration of “positive sex” and “alternative porn.” The Swiss city has been surprisingly submissive. Austin, Texas might call it the XXX answer to their SXSW
Both born with the incurable disease of cystic fibrosis, 35-year-old Nicolas and Damien Delmer are desperately sick. With the life they have left, they’re working for the right to die the way they want.
Our Song du Jour is these goats giving it all they’ve got to Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer.”
The New York jazz singer Robyn Adele Anderson gives us an idea of what Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” might have sounded like if he had written it in the 1920s.
A nationwide protest against left-wing Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff drew at least 1.5 million people across 147 cities in the country Sunday. Shouting “Fora, Dilma!” (“Dilma out!”) and dressed in the national flag’s colors of blue, green and yellow, the protestors marched against the deteriorating state of Brazil’s economy, inflation and corruption, the daily Folha […]
The American MC KRS-One gathered 14 rappers from 14 different countries (South Korea, Italy, Bosnia, Singapore, India, Portugal, Wales, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Japan, Egypt, Taiwan, Finland and the U.S.) to record this amazing track. The goal is to unite the world under the love for hip hop, as “We are the World” aimed to 30 years […]
Three years after Lonerism, the Australian psychedelic band are seemingly set to release their third album this year. They revealed a first new track this week, “Let It Happen.”
The Solar Impulse flight aims to show that clean technologies exist. Masdar City, the plane’s departure site near Abu Dhabi, was set to be the city of the future. What’s left of this dream?
The second highest-paid DJ in the world, a celebrity with 17 million Twitter followers, is currently touring the world. The hedonist sits down with Le Monde after a concert in Brazil.
As electricity costs climb in the face of energy shortages and a steep reduction in government subsidies, a new website helps consumers track their consumption and calculate costs.
It’s been a year since the Russian Federation annexed Crimea. The controversial move, which caused as much anger as paralysis in the West, confirmed Vladimir Putin in his role of strongman of the East. This was a move that the Russian president prefers calling a “restitution” rather than an “annexation” — a mere question of […]
Every now and then, a “new”, “unearthed” or “never heard before” Hendrix song is released. This time, it’s “Station Break”, an instrumental track recorded in 1965 by Curtis Knight & The Squires, to which Hendrix contributes with his already unmistakable style.
Despite death threats, three young Syrians are fighting the jihadists terrorizing their country with the only weapon they have: pure mockery.
With the release of their first album in 35 years last February, Bristol’s best ever post-punkers The Pop Group prove once again that the most pop thing about them is their name. Because Citizen Zombie, the quartet’s third album, seems to be a glorious mix of all the sounds that ever hit their ears and […]
Brooklyn lost its hip hop king 18 years ago today. On March 9, 1997, Notorious B.I.G was shot to death over on the west coast, after attending a party in Los Angeles. He was promoting his second album, Life After Death, which would be released on March 25 and soon reach No. 1 in the […]
This 53-year-old German encryption coder helped the U.S. whistleblower stay one step ahead of the NSA. Now, he’s getting financial support from some big players to expand his work.
Governments are taking Twitter to task for inadvertently helping jihadists “recruit, incite and horrify.” But they’re forgetting what a valuable law enforcement resource the platform is too.
Supervised and armed by Iran, young Shia volunteers have launched a major battle against ISIS in Tikrit. But taking revenge on local Sunnis is not likely to pacify the region. And what about Uncle Sam?
The Finnish band Steve’n’Seagulls did a rather amazing cover of ACDC’s “Thunderstruck”.
Today is Dieter Meier’s 70th birthday. In addition to being the best Swiss in the world, the frontman of the band Yello, a millionaire, a performance artist and a professional poker player, Dieter also released a couple of punk records with his previous band Fresh Color. In 1978, their track “Cry For Frame” proved that […]
Lilou, 32, lives a double life as a married mother of an infant and libertine blogger. Her endless string of lovers are shared on Twitter, with pictures as evidence. And her husband?