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👋 Alii!* Welcome to Thursday, where the U.S. government opens back up after the longest shutdown ever, Paris marks 10 years since the Bataclan attacks, and today’s quiz question focuses on seagulls. Meanwhile, our latest podcast touches base with French philosopher and gentleman farmer Gaspard Koenig. [*Palauan, Republic of Palau] ✅ SIGN UP This is […]
Terror attacks in Paris, a deadly eruption in Colombian and the birthday of Caryn Elaine Johnson.
In the deadliest attack on France since World War II, 131 people were killed in a series of shootings and suicide bombings across Paris by Islamist terrorists. Who was responsible for the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris? Nine members of the Islamic State (ISIS), based mostly in Brussels, carried out the coordinated attacks at the […]
Three survivors of terrorism in France are now being targeted online for the compassion they have shown towards the children of Islamic militants. They are taking the power in their own hands and taking the social media giant to court.
German magazine Zeit Magazin has made this week’s cover an image of at ticket to the fateful concert of the rock band Eagles of Death Metal at Le Bataclan in Paris on November 13, 2015. The cover marks one year after the attacks in Paris, which killed 130 including 89 at the concert. The venue […]
PARIS — How much is the life of a victim of terrorism worth? How do you quantify the loss of children taken from their parents? Of husbands or wives torn from their spouse by the bullets of a madman? These are harrowing questions that require reflection but also a dose of cold economic reasoning. The […]
Foreign correspondents, and their editors, have long wrestled with translations of newsworthy words from one language to another — both those quotable quotes from colorful personalities, and the jargony langue de bois of international bureaucrats and businessmen. We like to think of ourselves at Worldcrunch as experts in the field, and watched with some amusement […]
Criminals of the 21st century do not have to go to clubs to sell their drugs or drive across the border to buy their weapons. They only have to smuggle malware onto someone’s computer or sell their goods at the black market of the digital underground.
PARIS — Arnaud Danjean, member of the European Parliament for the French opposition party Les Républicains, spoke to Les Échos about the aftermath of the Nice attack and France’s ongoing fight against terrorism. Les Échos: Every attack evokes a feeling of powerlessness, especially in the wake of one as “low-cost” as the one in Nice, […]
Following attacks in Paris, Brussels, Istanbul, and now Nice, Europe must unite to combat the Islamist terror campaign.
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 […]
French daily Le Figaro reports Wednesday that a 24-year-old woman will be prosecuted for posing as a victim of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris in order to get a 20,000-euro compensation (about $23,000). The police started having doubts after the woman presented forged medical certificates, saying her arm had been wounded from an explosion […]
Why do we refuse to admit that discrimination and poverty help the spread of Islamic fanaticism? Understanding is not justifying, explaining is not forgiving.
PARIS — Jihadism in Europe seems to always be one step ahead of European security services, which despite enhanced cooperation remain fundamentally national operations. Paradoxically, terrorism is unifying Europe with a sense of common identity in the face of the attacks in Paris and Brussels, which seem as if they could have just as well […]
Coming four months after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, the series of explosions Tuesday in Brussels show that terrorist networks in Europe are one step ahead of authorities, who struggle with the Schengen border loopholes and collaboration between nationa
PARIS — Our usual spot at Parc Sainte-Périne to plop our blanket and sports equipment for a few hours of recreational escape was already taken when we arrived on Saturday. A group of about 10 young men were sprawled out on the patch, enjoying the sunshine and talking among themselves — in Arabic, I noticed. […]
HILLARY V. DONALD SHOWDOWN NEARS Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have expanded their respective leads after 14 million voters cast their ballots yesterday in Democratic and Republican primaries in five states, with The Washington Post reporting that it is now increasingly improbable that rivals stand a chance of catching up to the frontrunners in the […]
Le Soir, March 16, 2016 “Deadly search in Forest,” writes Brussels-based daily Le Soir on its front page Wednesday, a day after Belgian and French police killed a gunman linked to the terror attacks in Paris, in a raid on an apartment in a Brussels suburb. At press conference in Brussels early Wednesday, a spokesperson […]
POLICE FIND PRINTS OF PARIS ATTACKS FUGITIVE Belgian police have found a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam, the fugitive jihadist who participated in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, in a Brussels apartment, where the suicide belts worn by some of the terrorists were made, Le Soir reports. The discoveries were made almost a month ago, but […]
LIBYA POLICE SCHOOL BOMBED At least 65 people were killed this morning after a truck bomb exploded at a police training center in Zliten, Libya, the BBC reports. Reuters reports that hundreds of recruits were gathered at the center when the explosion occurred. Martin Kobler, the UN’s special representative to Libya, characterized the blast as […]
Since the Jan. 7, 2015 killings, many humorists have been struggling to tackle the question of Islamic terrorism, security and freedom of speech. Most are undeterred.
“One year later, the assassin is still on the run,” this week’s special edition of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo reads, as it depicts a fugitive, bloodstained God figure carrying a Kalashnikov. The special edition marks the Jan. 7 anniversary of the deadly terror attack on Charlie Hebdo“s newsroom in Paris. Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen […]
From politicians to entertainers and ordinary citizens, we take a quick look at some of the words that made news in 2015. “Je suis Charlie” is both a slogan and logo created by French art director Joachim Roncin in the wake of the Jan. 7 shooting at the Paris offices of the French satirical weekly […]
Hey Donald Trump, Hugo Chavez Would Be So Proud CHILE / America Economia, Aug. 25 Jihadism As Nihilism, An X-Ray Of Homegrown Terror In France FRANCE / Le Monde, Dec. 3 The Siberian Fasting Cleanse For Body And Mind RUSSIA / Le Temps, Aug. 17 El Chapo Escape, When Income Inequality Breeds Corruption MEXICO / […]
Both private and public French organizations are trying to strike the right balance between respecting beliefs among Muslim employees and keeping company welfare in mind.
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PARIS — With 20 to 25 burials a day on average, the iconic Père Lachaise Cemetery is used to a steady pace of funerals — but these ceremonies are different. On Monday, the largest cemetery in Paris was partially closed for two hours to allow 19 employees to meet with a psychologist about the trauma […]
FINAL BATACLAN ATTACKER IDENTIFIED The last of the three suicide attackers at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where 90 people were killed on Nov. 13, has been identified as Foued Mohamed-Aggad, a 23-year-old man from Strasbourg, in eastern France, Le Parisien quotes French authorities as revealing Wednesday. TALIBAN KILL 22 IN AFGHAN AIRPORT, HOLD […]
SYRIA’S OPPOSITION GROUPS MEET IN RIYADH Syrian armed and political opposition groups are set to meet in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh today as part of a three-day conference aimed at finding a common position ahead of potential peace talks with President Bashar al-Assad’s government, Al Jazeera reports. VERBATIM “I am hereby barring Donald Trump […]
-Analysis- France is at war! Perhaps. But at war against whom, or what? The Islamic State (ISIS) isn’t sending Syrians to commit attacks in France in order to dissuade the French government from bombing it. ISIS instead is tapping into a pool of young radicalized French who, whatever happens in the Middle East, are already […]
PARIS — Colonel Eric de Lapresle had never seen anything like it. Since this month’s Paris and Saint-Denis terrorist attacks, the French Armed Forces recruitment services have received some 1,500 requests for information per day. That’s three times more than before Nov. 13, says de Lapresle, the head of marketing and communication for French military […]
KREMLIN WON’T JOIN SINGLE ANTI-ISIS COALITION Photo: Dai Tianfang/Xinhua/ZUMA The Kremlin said today that Western nations were “not ready” to form a single coalition with Russia to defeat ISIS, AFP reports. The comments come one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with French President François Hollande at the end of a diplomatic blitz in […]
Research suggests that sustained terror attacks over time deal a crippling blow to economies, but a single act of appalling violence, like the Nov. 13 attacks in France, may have fewer lasting effects than one might think.
The Islamic State has been significantly weakened, at least from a military point of view, in Iraq and Syria. But the final blow keeps being postponed, even as jihadists strike in the heart of the West.
Tunisia is the birthplace of the Arab Spring democratic uprising, and the only to have seen democracy survive. But it is both a source and victim of homegrown terrorists.
The killers and victims of the Paris violence are part of the same demographic, though they share different realities. Authorities haven’t heard the angst, but rap has been telling us for years how little the two groups share.
TURKEY SHOOTS DOWN RUSSIAN JET Two Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane this morning near the Syrian border after the Turkish military repeated warnings about airspace violations. This is the first time the armed forces of a NATO member shot down a Russian or Soviet aircraft since the 1950s, Reuters reports. The Turkish military […]
LOCKDOWN, MANHUNT CONTINUE IN BRUSSELS The terror threat In the Belgian capital of Brussels remains at its maximum level, with the city entering its third consecutive day under lockdown, Le Soir reports. Schools, universities and most public transportation are closed, as the police continue to hunt suspect Salah Abdeslam, believed to have participated in the […]
Bewildering technology and savage capitalism fuels desperation and hatred against the West. War was declared a long time ago, and the underdeveloped world are the primary victims.
NEW YORK — French President Francois Hollande pledged a “pitiless” war on ISIS after Friday’s Paris massacre. Russian President Vladimir Putin says his nation is focused on “finding and punishing the perpetrators” who downed a Russian passenger jet over Egypt. U.S. President Barack Obama says the goal is to “degrade and ultimately destroy this barbaric terrorist organization.” How? That’s the question none of these men seems willing to answer. Here’s one idea that, while not optimal militarily, might hedge the political risk: Form a broad alliance, akin to the one that pushed Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991, […]