Worldcrunch
Once a pub pastime, darts is now drawing millions of viewers and breaking broadcast records. Its mix of entertainment, accessibility, and fast-paced action has turned it into a commercial powerhouse.
The EU should resist the temptation to retaliate against U.S tariffs on European cars. If we look closer at the recent past and the uncertain future, Trump’s bad intentions produce some good.
DeepSeek has become the most downloaded free app in the U.S. just a week after it was launched. Its sudden rise has triggered shockwaves on Wall Street, where U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Monday. With equivalent performances to rival ChatGPT but at the fraction of the cost, the startup is threatening the aura of invincibility surrounding the U.S. technology industry.
Germany is trying to avoid tariffs on Chinese electric cars because it is interested in selling its own cars to China — and wants to avoid direct confrontation. But the European Union has decided to impose new tariffs. All of this may wind up as a full-fledged new trade war between China and Germany.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has assured Xi Jinping that, if elected, Kamala Harris would handle ties between their countries “responsibly.” U.S.-China relations are the major issue of this century, as tensions rise over Taiwan, technology and the South China Sea. A Trump victory would make that prospect scary.
Modern times and capitalism have given the words failure and success an emotive charge and excessively personal connotations, turning mechanical, humdrum notions into engines of angst.
Egypt disqualified a track cyclist from the Paris Olympics following an incident of unsportsmanlike behavior. But there is general confusion in Egyptian society — whether in politics or soccer — over the concept of competition.
The author indulges himself in some summer reflection about the world and himself, and what future his children will build.
Updated July 1, 2024 at 12:10 p.m. The first Tour de France bicycle race was held on this day in 1903 and started in the city of Paris, France. How many participants took part in the first Tour de France? In the first Tour de France, a total of 60 cyclists participated. However, not all […]
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s declaration labeling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as “extreme right-wing” is a politically charged move. But is this assessment fair, given Meloni’s strong support for Ukraine and responsible economic decisions — or is there some demonizing and distracting at play?
My eldest told me he wanted to quit going to football training. “When something feels hard, the mind and body resist because they seek comfort”.
Each year, millions of French people take to the saddle more or less regularly, making horse riding the country’s third most popular sport, and the most popular for women. The sport will get special attention at the Paris Games.
Discreet about its strategy, the Chinese company Temu is proving a fierce competitor to incumbent e-commerce brands, notably Amazon, by operating at a major loss. Some are worried whether its aim is to collect something more valuable: data on the habits of Westerners.
Women bodybuilders are rare in a society that prefers them thin, soft — and fully clothed. But with sports, gold-medal winners like Rajani Shrestha are helping inspire change.
With both fans and diplomatic dignitaries missing, it’s an Olympics that recalls politically combustible Games of the past. COVID-19, like it did for the Summer Games in Tokyo, will also help haunt the premises. The good news is that the athletes will most likely take over our attention as soon as they hit the ice and snow.
MEXICO CITY — Huge lamps swing from the ceiling on the sixth floor of a building in downtown Mexico City, illuminating the wrestling ring below. The crowd holds its collective breath as a woman emerges from the shadows. Her bright blue hair whirls behind her sparkling makeup as she kicks out her knee-high black boots. A deep voice booms over the loudspeaker: “From the Mexican jungle comes Ladyyy Amazonaaa!” Responding to the cheers and shouts, she takes her time posing in each of the ring’s four corners at the Furia de Titanes women’s championship. “I have wrestling in my blood,” […]
The Omicron variant is again forcing event organizers to weigh whether to cancel, postpone or forge ahead in the face of superspreader risks.
Though every day a new bit of bad COVID-related (and other) news arrives, the already once-delayed Summer Olympic Games must go on.
With infections surging, and only 1% of the population fully vaccinated, many say that devoting so many resources to hosting the Summer Games is a recipe for disaster.
There’s croissants and cheese, bérets and Brigitte Bardot — and then there’s pétanque. On the list of the Frenchest things, this national pastime ranks pretty high, conjuring up scenes of convivial apéros where old and young gather together, a boule in one hand and a glass of pastis or rosé in the other. What shock […]
French President Emmanuel Macron is among those demanding that an eventual vaccine be available to all. But there’s also money in play, and a market guided by a whole different set of priorities.
Like the jousting events of the Middle Ages, modern-day tennis tournaments combine skill and courage with unparalleled excitement and drama.
-Analysis- PARIS — Last year was full of surprises across the world: a spike of protectionist fever in the United States at the instigation of Donald Trump, an anti-globalization wave of populism in developed countries bogged down by mass unemployment, Britain’s planned exit for from the European Union, worries about a widening inequality gap, migration […]
PALAWAN — It’s the middle of a grueling practice for young women competing in a local beauty pageant. They sashay back and forth in high heels to perfect their walk without tripping. Their trainer, Thom Avila, explains the rigors of his beauty boot camp. “When the girls wake up, we start the day with jogging,” he says. “After jogging, we have breakfast, followed by walking exercises. After that, we teach them how to put on makeup and that is followed by question and answer exercises.” Most of his students come from impoverished backgrounds. One of them is Janicel Lubina, 20, […]
Haiphong, the third largest Vietnamese city, could become a new Asian transport hub to compete with Hong Kong and Singapore.
Without competition in the television industry, as there is for telecommunications and banking, Chinese broadcasters have little to offer viewers and a limited revenue model for themselves.
Many outsiders regard Latin America as monolithic about soccer. But as the World Cup begins in Brazil, a closer comparison of the region’s top two teams might surprise you.
BUENOS AIRES – Felicitas Pizarro’s huge smile is more than just glowing, it’s contagious. And now her life and her smile are about to enter radically new territory: Pizarro, a passionate amateur chef, is set to step up to the highest ranks of the foodie world, with the help of none other than British-born culinary […]
-OpEd- BEIJING — Apple released the iPhone 5c and 5s in Beijing last week, marking the first time ever that Apple has chosen the world’s biggest market for a launch. The company seems to hope that the two new smartphones will help the brand here, where it hovers alternately between fifth and sixth place in […]
BOGOTA — After a long, drawn-out build-up, Starbucks has confirmed it will be coming to Colombia. The arrival of Howard Schultz’s company’s in the South America country famous for its coffee production will be the start of a very interesting showdown with local chain Juan Valdez — as well as all the small coffee shops […]
Not prone to emotional effusiveness, the Finnish have developed a particular taste for euphemisms: “Naturally, this is a day of big change for Finnish industry,” Premier Jyrki Katainen affirmed modestly last Tuesday, when the country’s best-known company, Nokia, sold its mobile phone outfit to Microsoft for $7.2 billion. That is about 15 times less than […]
MOSCOW — The city of Moscow is covered with graffiti, and proudly so. Members of the “Best City On Earth” project have said they will paint street art on 150 buildings by September. Meanwhile, there is graffiti at the Faces & Laces urban culture festival in Gorky Park, as well as an exhibition of a […]
HERZOGENAURACH – The thing with the brush shoes gets Helmut Fischer going to this day. The small man with the friendly smile and pirate goatee sits in the visitors’ room of Puma Deutschland in the small, central German city of Herzogenaurach. Around here, Fischer is known as “Mister Puma.” The 63-year-old has been working for […]
The South African paralympian, accused of killing his girlfriend, has no immediate plans to travel abroad, his lawyer says.
A casting call for kids in the Swiss Alps offers a somewhat softer image than the all-or-nothing American children’s paegants.
PARIS – The event was supposed to start on September 2 at 7 a.m. at the Josephine Baker swimming pool in Paris, on the banks of the Seine River. More than 3000 participants had signed up to take part in the swim that would take them up the Seine to the André-Citroën Park, west of […]