Worldcrunch
As the U.S.-China standoff sways, President Donald Trump’s administrative stance toward Chinese students has wavered. In the U.S., they’re at times branded as potential spies; in China, coming home can carry the stigma of disloyalty. Caught in the middle, many are weighing life-changing decisions with no safe choice.
The National Security Strategy, an official document released Friday in Washington, delivers a sharp attack on Europe while echoing far-right themes. It signals a break with the Europe we know, one that threatens support for Ukraine and the continent’s security.
As natural disasters intensify, insurers are withdrawing from high-risk regions, mortgages are failing, and real estate values are weakening. Analysts fear a chain reaction that could resemble, or surpass, the 2008 crisis.
The reality is that Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to Israel, but rather to the Lebanese state itself; whereas Israel represents an existential threat to the state, to Hezbollah, and to Lebanese society as a whole.
Venezuela is being held hostage. Rather than outrage, the appearance of a U.S. armada has produced an almost sacrilegious sigh of relief in many. But is even that enough?
Why do a few U.S. megachurches boom while most barely survive? A decade of data reveals the secrets — and limits — of evangelical growth.
Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart’s 1970s classic How To Read Donald Duck still offers a mirror to today’s politics and media circus — from Uncle Scrooge to Uncle Sam. Its thesis has been both reaffirmed and turned on its head in the Trump era.
Donald Trump was the first to congratulate Javier Milei on his surprise victory Sunday, having earlier promised financial support tied to his Argentine ally’s campaign. But that alone doesn’t explain the success of a man who has slashed social services.
New research suggests sunlight has unexpected benefits, but this doesn’t mean everyone should ditch their sunscreen.
A German woman’s vision of “racial purity” has grown into an international platform linking neo-Nazis, conspiracy theorists, and white nationalists in search of partners.
A week of record highs flipped to panic with new China tariff talk, exposing fragile nerves as experts warn that a fast growing $2.2 trillion private credit market with light oversight, risky PIK structures, and bank and insurer exposure could turn the next shock into a chain reaction.
Ukrainian intelligence reports reveal that Cuban women are among the foreign and female recruits serving in Russia’s war in Ukraine, raising new questions about recruitment networks and human trafficking.
From political folly to looming crises, investors are betting on collapse — and turning to gold as their safe haven.
Despite being 89 and having little support among the Palestinian population, Mahmoud Abbas remains central to the Franco-Saudi peace plan. The president of the Palestinian Authority is, however, being shunned by Israel and the United States over the decision of who is to oversee the “aftermath” in Gaza.
For some, it is not enough; for others, it is a gift to Hamas. But the recognition of Palestine by a growing number of Western countries is way of saying “no” to the eradication of Palestinians from their land.
China has banned imports of semiconductors from the American company Nvidia, marking a new episode in their technological war with the United States. China is standing up to Donald Trump, bolstered by its technological capabilities that rival those of the Silicon Valley giants.
By trading class struggle for identity politics and lifestyle dogmas, Germany’s left has estranged ordinary citizens and handed the far right a chance to pose as their defenders.
On Thursday, Europeans activated a mechanism at the UN to reinstate economic sanctions against Iran if, within 30 days, Tehran fails to meet its obligations regarding the nuclear program. The tense international context does not favor an agreement, which signals a worsening of the crisis.
Experts in flood mitigation see a national system decades behind. A disbanded FEMA advisory group was supposed to help.
U.S. ambassador to France Charles Kushner’s inflammatory letter on antisemitism is part of a campaign against President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to recognize the State of Palestine. It is an unwelcome interference in France’s affairs and a warning ahead of its 2027 presidential election.
India, which is one of the largest producers of cotton, has to now accept US cotton under geopolitical pressure and has to sacrifice her cotton farmers for potential gains with the Trump administration.
As Spotify CEO Daniel Ek pours millions into an AI weapons company, bands like Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are pulling their music from the streaming platform, challenging a model they say was never built for them.
Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have resumed. While Europe demands guarantees that Tehran will not build a nuclear bomb, Trump is also pushing for a deal. Is the regime willing to give ground, or is it bluffing?
For one farmer, the barley supply once made flour for a year. Now, it is limited to two handfuls. The loss of USAID adds to the long list of challenges.
America is carrying massive debt, and half of it is financed by the rest of the world. If foreign nations and investors coordinated, they could force Trump to negotiate more reasonably on tariffs. Will they take the risk?
Donald Trump says he will hike tariffs on Brazil unless it halts prosecution of the country’s former right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro. Only, Brazil exports relatively little to the U.S. and Trump’s meddling could be boosting his socialist nemesis, President Lula da Silva.
As a European court rules that the iconic toy can’t be trademarked, we go back to an earlier interview with Erno Rubik, who explained what inspired him to design that singular brain-and-fingers toy that has sold billions. And why it may be more relevant than ever in our digital world.
After turning his war on crime into a global spectacle, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has reportedly cut deals with the Mara gangs, like his predecessors, possibly in return for their quiescence in order to keep Donald Trump happy.
As international research projects are upended, European leaders say they will fill the funding void. Is that realistic?
Putin is happy to go around the Europeans, and just needs Trump to stay out of the way.
After a week of unprecedented conflict between sworn enemy states, Israel and Iran may actually be holding back in the coming days, as the White House mulls its options. But surprises are no doubt in store with so much at stake.
The U.S. president insists he wants peace and claims no involvement in Israel’s military campaign against Iran. But conflicting signals, secret briefings, and political pressures raise the question: just how far is Trump willing — or able — to stay out?
With global diplomacy now driven more by personalities than institutions, summits resemble showdowns — and geopolitics risks becoming a game where the stakes are dangerously real.
After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who fell victim to the theater of cruelty staged by Donald Trump in the Oval Office. What is the American president seeking by humiliating his visitors? He is orchestrating a performance to glorify himself.
Abderrahmane Ouatiki, an Algerian student working at the hotel front desk, was taken hostage and forced to lead the robbers to their priceless loot. As the trial for the 2016 robbery unfolds in the French capital, Le Figaro revisits how everything fell apart for the PhD candidate, who lost his passion for studying and was forced to return to his home country.
RFK Jr.’s rise reveals how pseudoscience paranoia now holds political power. Conceived in the late 19th century, the survival of the fittest ideas of Social Darwinism helped drive Nazi ideology.
President Donald Trump has begun eroding the United States presence in Antarctica by announcing deep funding cuts to his nation’s science and logistics on the icy continent.
By challenging Putin to face-to-face talks in Istanbul, Ukraine’s president has reshaped the diplomatic game and forced Moscow into a high-stakes dilemma.
The U.S. president has tried to impress (and reshape) the world with a “tough guy” act. But it’s hardly going as planned: start by looking north of the border.
The unlikely alliance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk didn’t make it past the 100-day mark of the new presidency. What’s really to blame?