Worldcrunch
NEW YORK — For some years now, I have been observing China from a distance, never going back to the country that I called my third home for many years. Back then, during my long stays in China, I learned a lot about the country and its culture. In the past, foreigners had to travel […]
One of the poorest countries in the world is nevertheless setting big goals for itself and looking to richer countries for help. A 10-year, $70 billion plan aims to produce clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Too many nations and peoples with too many grievances. A wealth divide that grows deeper. A new (new) world order is needed, with the U.S. and China firmly in charge.
Locals used to cook their food in bubbling pools of steaming groundwater. Now a project is underway to turn it into electricity.
The Obama administration says, try talking to truculent states instead of squeezing or bombing them. In its own way, this is an eminently imperial approach.
Rights groups say that cops in Herat are cracking down on “adulterers,” stopping couples on the street,even brothers and sisters, and demanding proof of marriage.
Hong Kong’s umbrella protesters have all but conceded defeat, and China is taking a victory lap. The showdown offers a glimpse of Beijing’s new use of smart power, and its deeper weaknesses.
BERLIN — Worldwide researchers are experimenting increasingly with moss, algae and potted plants as a way to turn houses into multifunctional buildings. The question is “how a facade in a city neighborhood can generate additional value,” says Steffen Braun of the Stuttgart Fraunhofer Institute’s Urban System Engineering. Behind that lies “a whole new approach to […]
At 1,000 rooms and a $350 million pricetag, the vast new palace the Turkish president has had built for himself is both illegal and a bold expression of his own power and that of the “new Turkey.”
BEIJING — Wang Huning is on time, standing alone. The lean man, who looks as if he might be a university professor, doesn’t stand out in the lobby of the luxury hotel. He is waiting for the sign that it’s time for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s delegation to leave. The protocol officers who’ve come to […]
CORDOBA — Back in 1984, UNESCO included Spain’s Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba on its World Heritage list. Thirty years later, the site that tourist guides describe as one of Andalusia’s architectural masterpieces — a symbol of the golden age of the Umayyad civilization and of the “concord” between religions — now represents conflict. Though the exceptional […]
What happened when the most powerful man in the world felt the aura of the Argentine pontiff.
There is power, and there is truth. Then it’s up to you what to say and do. An essay to mark Jan. 25 in an Egypt where things change and stay the same.
The Sochi Olympics are to Putin what Saint Petersburg was to Peter The Great. Freeing rivals, such as Khodorkovsky and Pussy Riot, are one more step toward sealing his place in history.
With Sunday’s election of Michelle Bachelet in Chile, three of Latin America’s most pivotal countries are now led by women. There is symbolic unity, but very different types of leaders.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governed Mexico, at times with an iron fist, for 70 years until it lost the presidency in 2000. It returned with Enrique Peña Nieto’s victory in this year’s presidential elections. But have politics changed in Mexico? Will the PRI resort to its old ways, asks Luis Rubio,* or will it […]
SASSARI — The raw material costs absolutely nothing, and to fill up your tank there’s no need to look for a gas station. All you need to do is drink some water to stimulate your diuretic system and take a break at a rest stop. Yes, the solution to expensive petrol may be a car […]
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 ISIS SAYS KOBANI BATTLE “NEARLY OVER” In a new video showing captive British journalist John Cantlie, and which The Washington Post calls “bizarre,” ISIS claims that the battle for the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani is “is coming to an end. The Mujahideen are just mopping up now.” The video, made […]
KEFLAVIK — The first thing that strikes you on landing at Keflavik International Airport is the weather. It’s raining. The clouds hang so low that it looks like you could reach out and touch them. Welcome to Iceland. A land mass covering 103,000 square kilometers, Iceland is a little larger than Hungary, but at 330,000 […]
BEIJING — Economists rack their brains studying the nature of business. In the simplest terms, the essence of business is to make money. But in today’s China, as elsewhere, particular political, economic and social factors make a difference — and a wide range of uniquely Chinese money-making mechanisms have been developed. What Wang Lin, the […]
BERLIN – Winegrower Barbara Banke of the Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates in California doesn’t just love the sun because it ripens grapes. The sunnier it is, the lower the winery’s electricity and gas bills are. And those savings are possible because of the large mirrors mounted on the football-field-sized tin roof of the winery’s production facility […]
BEIJING – French Minister of Economy Pierre Moscovici was recently in Beijing to convince Chinese officials that the French debate over the transfer of the nuclear technology to China was nothing to worry about. “We are discussing the way the strategic clauses will be applied in regard to technology transfer and intellectual property,” said Moscovici. […]
BEIJING – Men conquer women by conquering the world; women conquer the world by conquering men. This ancient Western proverb is often cited by Chinese in reference to Cleopatra, and her conquest of Julius Caesar. In 2000, I was responsible for covering the story of Cheng Kejie, the former vice chairman of the National People’s […]
THE KOREA HERALD (South Korea), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch SEOUL – South Korea has shut down two nuclear reactors after it was revealed that some parts used had not been properly vetted, reports BBC News. Almost all the parts were used in a nuclear power complex in Yeonggwang, which is located some 330 kilometers southwest […]
-Editorial- BEIJING – In response to a letter sent by a women’s rights NGO regarding quota on enrollment of women in certain colleges and universities, China’s Education Ministry said that this restriction was based on “considerations of national interest.” The officials probably thought they would subdue any unruly voices with such a pompous answer. However, […]
BEIJING – Conduct a survey anywhere in the world and ask respondents to describe the United States with one word, many will surely choose the word “arrogant.” In their view, this superpower has become synonymous with conceit and a bald sense of superiority. In Lord Acton’s famous words: “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Typically, such people […]