Worldcrunch
Welcome to Tuesday, where Trump’s Attorney General resigns, Somalia cuts diplomatic ties with Kenya and we meet one weird-looking dinosaur. Meanwhile, t’is the season to look at how the world is getting ready for a very special kind of Christmas. SPOTLIGHT: EUROPE IS RIGHT TO CALL UP BIG GUNS AGAINST BIG TECH Europe is moving […]
At best, pro-migrant advocacy raises awareness. At worst, it reinforces tensions, new research shows.
Asked in a mock interview by fellow actor Ryan Reynolds: “Do you ever age?” Hugh Jackman replied, “Not since 2008.” The Sydney-born actor seems to share something with Wolverine, the fast-healing mutant from the X-Men franchise that made him a Hollywood superstar. Jackman is also an accomplished singer, which led him to be cast as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman. Now, 10 years after being named People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” everyone’s favorite Australian hunk is turning 50 — Happy birthday, mate! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/cYqZL7SOo2Y expand=1] Hugh Jackman — Photo: © Keystone Press Agency/ZUMA/OneShot […]
-OpEd- TURIN — Everyone knew that Australian politician Rachel Carling-Jenkins had filed for a divorce, but nobody knew why. She explained it herself, a few days ago, standing up to speak before the state parliament of Victoria, of which she is a member. In February 2016 she had found images on her husband’s computer of […]
-Analysis- “The DPRK North Korea is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.” Coming in response to the U.S. deployment of a navy battle group to the Korean Peninsula, this chilling statement from the North Korean foreign ministry suggests that Donald Trump’s muscle-flexing has only raised the stakes in what […]
Like the jousting events of the Middle Ages, modern-day tennis tournaments combine skill and courage with unparalleled excitement and drama.
Although conventional warfare makes headlines, a more insidious conflict also warrants attention. Cyber warfare, in its many forms, is arguably still in its infancy. But the new-age combat is a growing concern — so much so that the latest NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, chose to focus on cyber defense. The list of government agencies, […]
SPOTLIGHT: AUSTRALIA’S REFUGEE PROBLEM While Europe’s migrant crisis has made headlines over the past year, another continent’s treatment of refugees has received far less scrutiny — until now. In a joint report published yesterday, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch took the Australian government to task over what they describe as the “appalling abuse” and […]
CRUZ’S BIG WIN OVER TRUMP, SANDERS TOPS CLINTON The Republican party’s improbable presidential frontrunner Donald Trump suddenly looks vulnerable after a stinging double-digit loss to Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Wisconsin primary. The New York Times reports that by early today Cruz had received 48% of the vote to 34% for Trump. Wisconsin also […]
The Daily Telegraph, March 31, 2016 Sydney-based The Daily Telegraph devoted its front page Thursday to the city’s plans to scrap 62 public alcohol-free zones in parks and streets, featuring Lord Mayor Clover Moore as a bartender in an end-of-prohibition photomontage. Moore is using new crime statistics to justify removing the booze-free areas in and […]
OBAMA-CASTRO MEETING IN CUBA President Barack Obama’s second day itinerary of his historic visit to Cuba will include face-to-face negotiations with Cuban President Raul Castro, as well as a state dinner this evening at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana. The two leaders, who have met three times since the December 2014 surprise announcement […]
“BREAKTHROUGH” MIGRANT DEAL European leaders and Turkish officials have reached an agreement in principle that German Chancellor Angela Merkel described as a “breakthrough if it becomes reality.” The deal, whose final details still need to be settled, would see Turkey take back migrants who have traveled from Turkey to Greece but don’t meet criteria for […]
Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most powerful Catholic Church official, is facing growing scrutiny amidst a national inquiry into priest sex abuse. Pell, featured on the front page of Tuesday’s edition of Sydney-based The Daily Telegraph, is being forced to testify over several days in the Royal Commission probe into decades of alleged abuse of children […]
Australia’s controversial policy of diverting immigrants to tiny Pacific Islands dominated the Australian media Thursday, after country’s highest court ruled it was legal for the government to fund and participate in offshore detention. The Sydney Morning Herald juxtaposed a photograph of an immigrant baby with the faces and votes of the High Court’s seven justices […]
With a Sons of Anarchy-inspired front page, The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia, is reporting that police have launched a large-scale crackdown on biker gangs. In the process, club houses have been shuttered and membership numbers have been reduced, costing the gangs millions of dollars in lost income from drug trafficking, extortion, gun running and […]
Meet Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s new — and smiley — Prime Minister. A multi-millionaire, former lawyer, investment banker and tech entrepreneur, Turnbull deposed the growingly unpopular Tony Abbott “in a lightning coup after declaring the country needed new leadership and a clear economic vision,” The Courier-Mail wrote on Tuesday’s front page. Turnbull, backed by Australia’s Foreign […]
With the state of California now in its fourth year of what is classified as a “mega-drought,” Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency and Hollywood stars are getting shamed over their abundant water consumption. But there are less notable corners of the earth going dry as well, as droughts are increasing in […]
An Australian woman diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that will soon take her sight decided she would travel the world and document her photos on Instagram.
EU EMERGENCY MIGRANT SUMMIT European Union leaders arrived in Brussels for an emergency summit Thursday on the migration crisis, following Europe’s worst maritime disaster since World War II last weekend that killed hundreds of would-be immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea. There is a working list of 10 objectives that was put together earlier this week […]
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 […]
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.”
Inspired by the Black Cab Sessions in London and the Take-Away shows in Paris, the Australian project Tram Sessions puts bands on Melbourne trams for the pleasure of commuters. Since 2010, the small team, equipped with cameras and recording devices, brings various musicians and bands such as Vance Joy or Passenger onto public transportation to […]
The news in quotes, and quotes making news…
Who knew!? Koalas are (true) tree huggers, not for environmental reasons, but as a way to keep cool and regulate their body temperatures during hot summer months. The BBC explains how PhD student Natalie Briscoe was studying koalas’ behavior and she noticed that in the winter the animals would stay high in the trees, up […]
MAYDENA — Down below, ferns and moss thrive on the surrounding humidity. Higher up, they give way first to sassafras, then to giant eucalyptus trees that have been growing for centuries, here in the Upper Florentine Valley. This thick forest in the southern part of this Australian island was added last year to the Tasmanian […]
Hive hustlers stung a beekeeping club in Australia when they stole 12 hives that contained more than 480 kilos of honey, not to mention the 240,000 bees inside them. The haul potentially netted the thieves more than $1,800, but the theft has left the Ipswich and West Moreton Beekeepers’ Association devastated, as they use their […]
Here are some of the songs topping the charts from music hot spots around the world. Worldcrunch Pick: This year’s Sundance Film Festival (Utah), which runs through January 26, will feature the new documentary “20,000 Days on Earth,” by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. The film focuses on the ever fascinating Australian musician Nick Cave, […]
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 TALIBAN MASSACRES DOZENS IN SCHOOL ATTACKAt least 126 people, including at least 84 children, were killed and another 122 wounded when Taliban gunmen attacked an army-run school in Peshawar, in northern Pakistan, this morning, Dawn reports on its live blog. A rescue operation is still ongoing with more children believed to […]
Protests turn deadly in Thailand, a mesmerizing angle for beach sculpture, extreme jumping and more photos that capture our world the past seven days…
AUSTRALIA APPROVES ANTI-ISIS STRIKESAustralia has become the latest country to join the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s cabinet approved Iraq strikes against the group, the BBC reports. The Turkish parliament also voted yesterday to send troops to Iraq and Syria, and to allow foreign forces to use its territory for operations. But […]
Wednesday, August 6, 2014 GAZA CEASEFIRE HOLDS FOR SECOND DAYThe Israel-Hamas ceasefire that began yesterday is still holding, ending at least temporarily a month of war in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports. Negotiations for a more permanent truce between Israel and Hamas are expected to take place in Cairo in the coming days with the […]
THE AUSTRALIAN (Australia) Worldcrunch DARWIN – A mining company convicted in a landmark ruling of desecrating an Aboriginal sacred site has apologised after being fined $150,000 for the damage. In the first successful prosecution by a government authority of a mining company for desecration under Australian law, OM Manganese was found to have caused a […]
NEWS.COM.AU, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) Worldcrunch CANBERRA – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has had another sandwich thrown at her as she was visiting Lyneham High School in Canberra — the second bread-based attack to target her this month. Gillard was visiting the school to announce education funding reforms when a student hurled a white-bread-salami […]