Worldcrunch
PARIS — The two French visitors just couldn’t get over it. “Why were you wrong again?” the elderly English lady asked them with a severe, inquisitive tone. The woman, Queen Elizabeth II, should have had other things on her mind. It was April 21, 2026, after all, her 100th birthday, and the whole planet seemed […]
SPOTLIGHT: MIXED GREEN FEELINGS Even as we’ve been consumed by a news cycle that includes wars, elections and the biggest European reorder after World War II, our planet is quietly waiting for some attention. Nature reveals that pledges taken by countries during the Paris COP21 climate summit may need a big boost “to maintain a […]
Metro, July 1 This Friday’s Metro front page features a parody of the hit TV series Game of Thrones with the faces of three Conservative Party pols, from left to right, Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Theresa May, with the headline “The Real Game of Thrones.” After last week’s Brexit vote effectively ended the career […]
Germany and Britain have always competed for top European talents. Now, Europe’s best and brightest may see the UK as too complicated. One of many potential positive side effects of Brexit.
SPOTLIGHT: AIRPORT TERROR, BRUSSELS TO ISTANBUL After a week of Brexit uncertainty and anxiety, outright horror has returned to the top of the news. The wail of sirens and scenes of panic are back on our screens after last night’s terrorist attack at Istanbul’s airport killed dozens of people. Yet it is not too much […]
SPOTLIGHT: CAMERON & CORBYN, STANDARD & POOR’S What a difference a week makes. Britain’s two leading political figures, Prime Minister David Cameron and opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared to be cementing their power in their respective parties last week. But Thursday’s verdict to leave the European Union spurred Cameron’s decision to resign. And now […]
The once Great Britain has just gotten smaller. But Brexit has also rendered the meekness of the European project evident to all. And the big players like the U.S. and China will eat them for lunch if something doesn’t change quickly.
SPOTLIGHT: BRITISH BREAKUPS AFTER BREXIT Whatever the result, last Thursday’s referendum was always going to leave Britain deeply divided. It was also bound to divide the UK’s major political parties, whose leaders now face the daunting task of both negotiating the best possible exit deal and bringing the country together, avoiding, if possible, a breakup […]
La Voz de Galicia, June 27th The Monday edition of Spanish daily La Voz de Galicia features a victorious Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy kissing his wife, Elvira Fernandes, after winning the most seats in Spain“s parliamentary elections. Sunday’s vote followed an inconclusive election in December, when the parties failed to agree on a coalition. […]
BERLIN — When exactly should the British leave? How should the European Union react? Following the initial horror at the UK vote in favor of Brexit, the search is now on, from Brussels to Berlin and beyond, to find practical solutions to pick up the pieces and set Europe on a new path forward. Here […]
The result is in: The British have voted 52% to 48% in favor of having the UK split from its continental partners. It’s a momentous decision that has deep economic, political and cultural ramifications. Some will come down the line, and others — like Prime Minister David Cameron’s resignation — are more immediate. Here’s a […]
SPOTLIGHT: BREXIT WINS, CAMERON’S BAD BET No one ever forced David Cameron to call the referendum to decide whether the UK should stay in the European Union or not. But the British Prime Minister’s calculation was clear: Popular sentiment against the EU (particularly among his fellow Conservative Party members) was strong enough to make a […]
If the UK leaves the European Union, the members of the free market camp in the EU would be severely outnumbered.
SPOTLIGHT: SARAJEVO RUBBLE TO TRUMP TOWER The pace of modern communication tells us that what’s here today is gone … tonight. The potential worldwide virality of any piece of digitally circulated information comes with the caveat that everything is also potentially, and eternally, invisible. The tree falling in some proverbial unseen forest of the Internet. […]
Europe has seen its relative economic and military power decline for decades, but its “soft power” has held strong. But even that is now at risk.
-Essay- BERLIN — “No other place recalls so vividly the fragility of democracy in Europe in the 20th century.” On the streets of Berlin, passersby may notice this line etched on a building plaque in German, French and English. It can be found in the finance ministry complex that used to house Nazi Germany’s Ministry […]
SPOTLIGHT: BRAZIL, THE LONG ARM OF PETROBRAS PROBE Five weeks. That’s all it took for Brazil’s interim President Michel Temer to become directly implicated in the far-reaching Petrobras corruption scandal. Of course, there had been warning signs. First the resignation of two of his ministers amid allegations they were trying to subvert the ongoing probe. […]
SPOTLIGHT: LONE WOLVES OF ISIS The Islamic State terror group (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for two terrorist attacks in the past two days: a mass shooting at a gay nightclub early Sunday in Orlando, Florida, and a targeted stabbing of a police officer and his wife near Paris late last night. But while the attacks […]
SPOTLIGHT: HILLARY HISTORY Hillary Clinton has held a long list of impressive titles: U.S. first lady, senator, secretary of state. And now she’s added another one to the list — Democratic Party nominee for the Oval Office. By virtually every count now, Clinton is set to be the first female candidate of a major party […]
SPOTLIGHT: GOOD AND BAD NEWS FOR THE PLANET Breathe in … Last year, an estimated 147 gigawatts was added to the world’s renewable power capacity — the largest such global rise ever recorded, making it an “extraordinary” year for renewable energies. According to the Renewables 2016 Global Status Report, investment in green energies around the […]
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S SILENT ANNIVERSARY It was 50 years ago today that the Chinese Communist Party and its leader Mao Zedong released a circular that was bound to unleash a decade of violence that would kill more than 1.5 million people. It would come to be known as the Cultural Revolution, and the history books consider […]
SPOTLIGHT: GREECE REDUX It’s that time of year again: Greek anger and economic strife are making headlines: general strikes, bailout reviews, anti-austerity reforms. But a recent study looking to the recent past, published in Handelsblatt, a business newspaper from Germany (of all places), shows the Greeks have every right to be angry. Berlin-based economists found […]
CLINTON-SANDERS DEBATE GETS FEISTY The gloves came off Thursday night in Brooklyn as Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders faced off in the last debate before New York’s crucial primary on Tuesday. Dan Balz of The Washington Post notes that the nature of the Democratic campaign now poses risks to whomever wins the […]
GIBRALTAR — There is a troubling side story jutting into the Brexit debate from this tiny British territory at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula. Madrid-based daily El Mundo reports that in Gibraltar — affectionately known as “the Rock” — locals and the government alike are opposed to “Brexit”, a British exit from the […]
A frowning Queen Elizabeth is making the Thursday front page of London-based Daily Express tabloid, and she is “not amused” by a report claiming she supports Britain’s exit from the EU. Queen Elizabeth filed a complaint with the British press watchdog yesterday after Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid The Sun reported that she supported Britain’s exit from […]
The Sun, Feb 22, 2016 After obtaining concessions from Brussels in order to stay in the European Union, British Prime Minister David Cameron faces major internal blowback as popular London Mayor and Tory party ally Boris Johnson announced he would campaign in favor of the so-called “Brexit.” A day after Cameron called the June 23 […]
TURKISH TROOPS HIT AGAIN IN DEADLY ATTACK Photo: Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua/ZUMA A Turkish military convoy in southern Turkey was targeted by a roadside bomb this morning, an attack that killed at least six soldiers and wounded another, Hürriyet reports. It came just hours after a car bomb in Ankara also targeted military personnel yesterday, killing 28 […]
The Economist, Oct. 16, 2015 London-based weekly The Economist warns against the growing risk of “the reluctant European” as it calls the UK facing the spectre of a so-called Brexit from the EU. As part of a special report for the weekly, writer John Peet argues that it would be a mistake for the UK […]
From Athens’ corrupt and radical politicians to the staid bankers and diplomats of Brussels, all are to blame for the crisis in Greece. An un-lesson for modern politics.
PARIS — Europe is truly a strange character. In Greek mythology, Europa was a princess kidnapped by a white bull whose breath smelled like Crocus flowers. In today’s reality, it’s a body threatening to cut off its own limbs. Its left foot is considering stopping its own blood flow. Suffering from cramps for the past […]
PARIS — “It’s the economy, stupid!” Just like the famous slogan in Bill Clinton’s 1992 challenge, the economy may have been decisive for David Cameron — but in a positive way this time for the incumbent. The economic crisis 22 years ago was George H. W. Bush’s downfall, despite his laudable record in foreign policy. […]