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In The News

FCAS And Us: Why Europe’s Signature Fighter Jet System May Be Grounded Forever

Germany and France once saw FCAS as the future of European defense, but political rifts and industrial rivalry now threaten the project itself.

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In The News

How The War In Ukraine Is Forcing Europe To Rethink Its Railways

The EU’s new military mobility push is turning delayed infrastructure projects like Germany’s Murr Railway into potential defense assets, reshaping transport priorities across the continent.

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Society

The Challenges Of Turning On The Lights In Nepal’s Far-Flung Himalayas

On paper, the river-rich Karnali province is perfect for hydropower. In reality, the disaster-prone and far-flung region struggles to turn on the lights.

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Economy Green

Measuring What Is Gained With Car-Free Cities — Including Cash Profits

Copenhagen is a great example of the positive impacts of pedestrianization: it provides €400,000 in profit for every kilometer of bike lane, and helps to decrease the deadly effects of air pollution.

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Ideas

U.S. v. Europe: Is The Great Transatlantic Schism About To Happen?

As Donald Trump stares down NATO, we may be witnessing the dying days of the post-War alliance between Europe and the U.S..

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In The News

Lunar Glow, What’s Driving The New Space Race To The Moon

PARIS — Even as the global economy struggles to recover, investment in space activities is flying high. The overall public expenditure in the sector — approximately $70 billion today — has been steadily increasing, projected to reach $80 billion in the next few years. And the commitment is not just growing deeper, but also wider: […]

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Economy

How Robert McNamara And The Whiz Kids Invented Big Data

History mostly knows him as the disgraced architect of the Vietnam War, but McNamara first made his mark in the corporate world with his mastery of numbers before it was as fashionable as it is today.

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blog

Unlikely Taiwan Tops Global Ranking For Open Data

Government transparency is considered something of a Scandinavian specialty. And Taiwan? After having ranked 36th in 2013 and 11th last year, the Asian island nation has shot to the top of this year’s Global Open Data Index, the China Times reports. It is the first time a non-European country has topped the annual ranking from […]

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Society

Power vs. Education In Chinese Universities

BEIJING — A few days ago, a video showing Zhou Huzhen, the board chairman of Hebei College of Science and Technology, captured the attention of the Internet. The inevitable existential questions followed: Are Chinese universites bona fide educational institutes? Or are they really there just to maintain the power of the status quo? Zhou Huzhen […]

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Geopolitics

Why Israel’s Sanctions Threat Against Palestinians Is A Big Bluff

Reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority has angered Israeli leaders. But Israel’s own economy can’t afford a strangling of the Gaza and West Bank economies.

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blog Food / Travel

Cheap And Chic: A Boom In Designer Budget Hotels

The hotel’s location is practical, in one of the most sought-after areas of Edinburgh: just steps away from the railroad station, with the Old Town and Princes Street shopping only close by. Old and imposing on the outside, inside it’s all modern, minimalist, and even a little Scottish. Chairs in the reception area are upholstered […]

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Geopolitics

Kim Jong-Un’s Uncle Executed, More On Syria Attacks, Child Euthanasia

KIM JONG-UN’S UNCLE EXECUTED North Korea’s official news agency KCNA announced that Kim Jong-un’s uncle and mentor, considered the second most powerful man in the country until his recent dismissal, was executed yesterday. Official media branded Jang Song-thaek a “despicable human scum” guilty of leading a “depraved life.” Read the full announcement here. CHEMICAL WEAPONS […]

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Geopolitics

Latest On Ukraine, U.S. Budget Deal, French Fries Onslaught

UKRAINE PROTESTS: UPDATE U.S. CONGRESS CLOSING IN ON BUDGET DEAL Republican and Democrat negotiators have agreed on a federal budget for the next two years, brushing aside fears of a new government shutdown in January, The Washington Post reports. If passed by the House and the Senate, the deal will translate into spending cuts and […]

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Geopolitics

In Televised Address, French President Denies Covering For Disgraced Budget Minister

LE MONDE, FRANCE 24, JEROME-CAHUZAC.COM, LIBERATION, L’HUMANITE, LA VOIX DU NORD (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – French President Francois Hollande appeared in a brief televised address broadcast on Wednesday, after his former Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac admitted he was guilty of tax fraud. In the pre-recorded broadcast, Hollande said Cahuzac had “fooled the highest authorities of […]

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Economy

French Government Heavyweight Resigns Over Swiss Bank Account Scandal, Triggers Confidence Vote

LIBERATION, LE PARISIEN, LES ECHOS (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – French President Francois Hollande’s government faces its first confidence vote Wednesday over its handling of the country’s finances as a government heavyweight resigns over allegations of tax fraud. The confidence vote was called by the opposition Union for a Popular Movement party (UMP). While it is […]

Categories
Future

Report: German Military Set To Purchase Armed Drones

SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, DER SPIEGEL (Germany) Worldcrunch BERLIN – The German military looks eager to get in the drone business. According to Der Spiegel Germany’s coalition government is planning to rapidly equip the country’s defense forces with armed combat drones, saying they would provide a “credible deterrent” to enemies and thus offer greater security. The government […]

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Society

Meet The Eccentric Greek Mayor Fighting To Keep Thessaloniki Afloat

THESSALONIKI – Great defender of bears and forests, a winemaker who left the family business to launch his own high-end wine – Iannis Boutaris was an eccentric businessman. Since 2010, he is the atypical mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city with a population of 800,000. In his seventies, Iannis Boutaris wears colorful suspenders; tattoos, […]

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Economy

Global Markets Drop After ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Talks Collapse In Washington

WALL STREET JOURNAL, CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch European stocks and U.S. stock futures fell Friday after Republican House members canceled a vote on a tax bill intended to avert a massive budget crisis, reports the Wall Street Journal. Republican lawmakers have rejected party leader John Boehner’s proposal designed to win concessions from President Barack Obama […]

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Economy

Resignation, Not Revolt: Portugal’s Unusual Calm On The Brink Of Economic Collapse

LISBON – Manuela, an animal rights activist, is standing outside the entrance to the Entrecampos train station in Lisbon, calling out to the occasional passersby, who pretend they don’t see her. The majority of the shops in the station’s arcade are empty, and even though the building is new, there is a feeling of neglect. […]

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