Worldcrunch
Updated June 5, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. The famous tank man photo is an iconic image captured during the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, China, on this day in 1989. The photo depicts an unidentified Chinese man standing in front of a column of tanks, blocking their path. Who took the tank man photo? The […]
Several notable political prisoners in Egypt have renounced their citizenship to gain freedom. The choice is a difficult one to make personally, and the practice is highly questionable politically.
Hologram idols are the new stars of the entertainment industry in China, performing in live concerts and in front of audiences of millions. It’s not just tech companies that are happy about the boom, the leadership in Beijing is too for more political reasons.
Women held in Syria’s government prisons report psychological abuse, sexual assault and torture. But for many, the suffering they experience after their release is even worse.
-Analysis- Looking at some of the world’s intractable problems today, we often wish that governments had done things differently in the past. In the future, we may be looking back with similar regret at what’s happening now with the Rohingya in Myanmar, whose plight could develop into a lasting problem for the Southeast Asian nation, […]
When I told the guy at my neighborhood grocery store in the Turkish city of Istanbul that I was traveling abroad, he said, “Don’t come back. Not if you can.” I told him I have a life here. “They will arrest us all, one day,” he responded. I’d never previously discussed politics with my grocer. […]
Turkey has grown silent. Since the failed military coup in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown across Turkish society has featured a particular focus on journalists working for opposition newspapers. According to Reporters Without Borders’ Julie Majerczak: “Turkey has become the world’s biggest prison for journalists.” But the crackdown goes well beyond press freedom. Two […]
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 […]
There’s always a clever argument – security, stability, secularism – to put rule of law and democracy on hold. But denying human rights is a certain recipe for destruction.
To appease conservatives, Egypt’s government is again targeting the LGBT community, arbitrarily arresting them, conducting anal examinations and jailing them for “debauchery.”
KIRI SAKOR — It was 8 in the morning, and families living in Cambodia“s Kiri Sakor district were desperately fleeing from their homes. Backed by the military, a company called the Union Development Group was systematically burning down people’s houses. Children were crying while their parents fought authorities, who marched on their community with guns. Nearly 2,000 families had been living in the area since the 1980s. Local farmer Prak Sareth, who is 30, says her 49-acre piece of land was seized by the Chinese-owned company last year and now their houses have been burned down. “This is our parents’ […]
DAMASCUS — Across the country, an increasing number of would-be soldiers are ducking Syria’s mandatory 18-month military service requirement. In most cases, the young men are either hiding out — or taking up arms for the opposition. Hossam, a 26-year-old from Hama, has been summoned by the Syrian army to fulfill the compulsory 18-month service required of all young men here. But three years into a conflict that has killed more than 62,800 fighters from all sides, he is refusing to comply. “The Syrian army is no longer the nation’s army, and nothing motivates me to join it,” he says. […]