Worldcrunch
Last year 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded globally. In 2020, with borders closed and airplanes grounded, the tourism industry has been decimated and its recovery could take years. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development anticipates a 45% to 70% decline in the tourism economy — amounting to losses between $295-$430 billion for […]
Ageism at its most inhumane.
Tucked away in a isolated corner of Germany, the owners of a rural restaurant have somehow managed to make ends meet for 17 years. But that was before the coronavirus outbreak.
Welcome to Friday, where a shooting at a favela in Rio kills 25, the Pfizer jab shows promising results against COVID variants, and pizza vending machines arrive in Rome. We also look at how central banks are finally starting to take an interest in cryptocurrencies. • COVID-19: Pfizer vs. variants, pandemic Olympics: Two different studies […]
After weeks of denial and manipulation, China wanted to play the role of a caring superpower. But something about its soft-power push went awry.
Airline operators and manufacturers are taking one on the nose and scrambling to contain the fallout from a crisis that appeared out of the blue.
Welcome to Monday, where Modi loses a key state after COVID backlash, a different cryptocurrency record is broken and the ancient Colosseum gets a high-tech remodeling. Warsaw-based daily Gazeta Wyborcza also looks at how Poland’s long-time right-wing leader Jarosław Kaczyńsk may be losing his grip on power. • Modi’s ruling party loses key state amid […]
Vietnam and Slovakia are among those that have stood out in the response, though the apparent reasons vary.
The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated tensions between Beijing and Washington. It’s time that cooler heads prevail, and Germany has just the right person for the job.
Fewer seats, fewer trains, more masks. A quick world tour from Milan to Paris, Beijing to Tehran finds the wheels (tentatively) ready to roll on subways and buses.
For most of human history, the best way to protect personal privacy was to simply stay at home. Lock yourself in your room, or the proverbial closet, and nobody can find out a thing. In little more than a decade, those walls and doors have vanished as digital technology invites us to take large chunks […]
Welcome to Friday, where dozens die in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel, Brazil’s COVID death toll surpasses 400,000 and an owl-like bird is crowned Instagram influencer. We also look at how a Taiwanese oenologist is working to turn his country into a tropical wine terroir. • Dozens killed at Israeli religious festival […]
Given its reliance on both oil and tourism, the Mexican economy is in major trouble. So far, though, President López Obrador has refused to have the state take on new debt.
As the coronavirus has spread across the world, so too have an array of fake remedies and cures that promise to protect people. Social media have been flooded with claims about foods, products and other assorted concoctions that can allegedly cure or prevent the virus. Up to the point that the World Health Organization had […]
Cuba could repay part of its $2 billion of debts to Argentina by sending some of its renowned medics to treat coronavirus patients in the Buenos Aires province.
In a number of countries around the world, the pandemic pulled the plug on street protests. But demonstrators have been quick to find digital alternatives.
With a large chunk of the world’s population forced still to stay at home, local communities and entire nations are recording steep drops in overall crime rates. Burglars are generally less likely to prey on a home that’s occupied, and most theft and assault hotspots such as sporting venues and pubs are shuttered. Still, it’s […]
Are we “at war” with COVID-19? That’s what we might believe from a quick tour of the planet’s most powerful leaders, from the presidents of the United States and France to the director general of the World Health Organization to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who declared that we are in the middle of “a […]
In Benin, Senegal or Mali, marabouts and traditional healers offer solutions which range from alternative medicine to downright quackery.
French super chef Philippe Etchebest was simply describing reality when he called coronavirus a “national nightmare” in a recent article published by La Croix. He was referring specifically to France’s shutdown restaurant owners and workers, but the metaphor can also describe the collective, surreal sense of uncertainty and fear currently permeating the world’s subconscious like […]
It’s tempting to imagine the pandemic as a turning point. The thing that undoes the EU, perhaps, or challenges the capitalist hegemony. But that may just be wishful thinking.
The health crisis is real. But so too are the economic costs of an extended lockdown, which will soon become unmanageable on all sides.
Now more than ever is the time to find just the right light for our homes and apartments.
No one knows how the coronavirus arrived in the historic convent nestled in the Drôme valley where elderly friars lived in close quarters. Today, jut six are left.
Welcome to Tuesday, where Chad’s president is reportedly killed on the front lines, Minnesota braces for a verdict in the George Floyd murder trial and Switzerland celebrates its mountain-climbing cat. Indian news website The Wire also takes us to Delhi, where real estate dealers are pushing Muslim families to sell their houses and move out, […]
Welcome to Monday, where Russia is warned of Navalny “consequences,” Egypt’s second deadly train crash in a month kills 11, and Mars gets its first ever helicopter ride. Le Monde also explores the feeling of deep injustice surrounding grieving, one year into the pandemic. [rebelmouse-image 27046599 original_size=”600×200″ expand=1] [rebelmouse-image 27046600 original_size=”394×47″ expand=1] • Navalny to be transferred to hospital: Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny will be transferred to hospital according to the Russian penitentiary service. The pro-democracy activist is said to have lost 50 kilos after going on a hunger strike. Yesterday the U.S., France and Germany warned Russia against […]
Shortage of masks and respirators, lack of hospital space, muddled government action: inadequate responses to the COVID-19 outbreak are evident even in the world’s most stable countries. So what happens when the virus arrives in places already under the weight of war? Yemen: Given the ongoing stalemate, many had hoped Saudi Arabia would take the […]
The insidious path of COVID-19 across the planet reminds us how small the world has become. Worldcrunch is delivering a daily update on this crisis from the best, most trusted international news sources — regardless of language or geography. To receive the daily Coronavirus global brief in your inbox, sign up here. SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S BOGUS […]
The insidious path of COVID-19 across the planet is a reminder of how small the world has become. For the coming weeks, Worldcrunch will be delivering daily updates on this crisis from the best, most trusted international news sources — regardless of language or geography. To receive the daily Coronavirus Global Brief in your inbox, […]
The COVID-19 propaganda war in and around China now includes a familiar face: There’s only one Jackie! The martial arts movie legend, who is a native of Hong Kong, has long since evolved into a fervent supporter and spokesman for the Communist regime on the mainland. Now critics of Beijing, both inside China as well […]
Welcome to Friday, where a mass shooting in Indianapolis leaves eight dead, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai is sentenced and a Danish photographer’s image from Brazil wins World Press Photo of the Year. Independent media Kayhan-London also exposes how the suspected sabotage at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran has done more than physical harm for the regime. [rebelmouse-image 27046599 original_size=”600×200″ expand=1] [rebelmouse-image 27046600 original_size=”394×47″ expand=1] • Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai sentenced: Two of Hong Kong’s best-known activists were sentenced today for their participation in unauthorized assemblies during the 2019 mass pro-democracy protests. Media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced […]
The colossal impacts of that tiny virus are visible from space. Wired magazine reported about a Colorado-based space technology company Maxartaking low-Earth orbit satellite photographs of COVID-19 hotspots, capturing images of empty cities, make-shift hospitals being constructed and airport rental car lots suddenly filled with cars as people stopped traveling. But the flipside question to […]
Quarantines, closed borders, grounded airlines, crowded beaches … It may be a summer to forget, that we’ll always remember.
When a virus sucks all the oxygen out of the public space — and then another arrives.
The 1968 pandemic was the first spread by mass air travel on its way to a toll of 1 million dead. Yet somehow it has been largely ignored by history, even if its lessons raise many questions for the COVID-19 world.
A surprising visit Thursday from French President Emmanuel Macron multiplies the questions around controversial microbiologist advocating the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
Communities across the globe are all grappling with the same scourge. And yet, the pandemic is also fueling an every-nation-for-itself mentality. Where will it lead us.
The insidious path of COVID-19 across the planet is a blunt reminder of how small the world has become. For the coming weeks, Worldcrunch will be delivering daily updates on this crisis from the best, most trusted international news sources — regardless of language or geography. To receive the daily Coronavirus Global Brief in your […]
Welcome to Friday, where Prince Philip dies, Kim Jong-un warns of upcoming hardships, and archeologists unearth a “lost golden city” in Egypt. German daily Die Welt also looks at the problematic white hegemony in the world of western classical music. • Prince Philip dies aged 99: Buckingham Palace has announced the death of the Queen’s […]
As the death toll in the U.S. marked a new global high, topping 1,900 dead on Wedneday alone, President Donald Trump is back on the hunt for someone to blame. Facing criticism for initially downplaying the severity of the coronavirus crisis, Trump continues to point fingers at supposed enemies, both foreign and domestic: WORLD HEALTH […]