Worldcrunch
👋 Halo!* Welcome to Thursday, where U.S. President Donald Trump signs a travel ban for 12 countries, Israel recovers the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages in southern Gaza, and our daily quiz question goes Back to the Future. Meanwhile, for Worldcrunch, Hagar Farouk explores how Gulf states are using architecture as a strategic tool of […]
Trump’s tariffs are putting China’s shaky growth at serious risk. The standoff threatens to escalate across the globe, and the worst-case scenario would find the world’s two superpowers turning to other means.
Diplomats in Vietnam warned Washington that halting USAID’s efforts to clean up the massive deposit of postwar pesticides would be a catastrophe for public health and relations with a key strategic partner in Asia.
A legendary dancer’s birth, a pivotal moment for Tibet, and a groundbreaking political achievement.
A political assassination, a controversial referendum, and the birth of a comedy legend.
Many young Vietnamese pay huge sums to get a training position in Germany. Only very few of them have any idea what they are getting themselves into. It’s a troubling twist to the eternal struggles of the immigrant journey.
Asia and above all China, have shown how the size of a market can drive state relations, and nowhere is this truer than in the Mercosur bloc’s increasing dependence on Asian exports. But regional integration in South America is stalling, as Argentina and Brazil are in another nasty spat.
Updated June 11, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. On this day in 1963, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức self-immolated to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. Why did the monk self-immolate during the Vietnam war? Buddhists were facing religious discrimination, and the South Vietnamese government had imposed various restrictions on them. […]
More workers are leaving the country by illegal means. Those who are caught are deported back home, but often have nothing to return to — except government surveillance.
Updated April 29, 2024 at 1:15 p.m. In April of 1975, as North Vietnamese troops approached the southern capital of Saigon, U.S. President Gerald Ford ordered the evacuation of all Americans from the country. How did the fall of Saigon happen? After years of conflict, the North Vietnamese army launched a final offensive on South […]
Spain’s national anthem, dating back to 1770, is the oldest in continual use — it also happens to be wordless. For other nations, what can be done about aging anthem lyrics that may need to be placed in their original context to avoid upsetting or offending contemporary ears.
Vietnam’s capital offers any visitor a rich culinary experience, featuring in TripAdvisor’s top 20 food destinations in the world for 2023. So here’s what and where to eat when visiting Hanoi.
On this day in 1972, photographer Nick Ut captured the devastating impact of the Vietnam War on innocent civilians, particularly children. The girl in the photo is Kim Phuc, a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl, running naked and severely burned from a napalm attack. What happened to Kim Phuc after the Napalm Girl photograph was taken? Kim […]
Forget about Cantonese fried rice and spring rolls, new-look Chinese restaurants have been multiplying in Paris. They attract French people with increasingly diverse tastes… and a growing number of Chinese tourists.
Following the escalation of the Chinese-U.S. trade war in 2018, the “Made in China” label is not as ubiquitous as it once was. Southeast Asian economies are on the rise — but their growth doesn’t necessarily threaten Chinese dominance.
It’s been exactly 50 years since the photograph was taken that many say is the most powerful image of innocent war victims ever. “Napalm Girl,” which was captured at the height of the Vietnam War in 1972, is also the story of that girl at the center of the image.
The United Kingdom is seen by migrants as the promised land. Many are prepared to embark on a perilous journey to get there. But on arrival, they often find that life is not what they expected. Some even discover working conditions resembling slavery.
East Asia is home to 30% of the world’s population but has recorded only 2.4% of the COVID-19 global death toll. Scientists are looking at possible immunity from past epidemics or even genetics.
Vietnam and Slovakia are among those that have stood out in the response, though the apparent reasons vary.
Our new OneShot commemorates Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức’s self-immolation, which took place exactly 55 years ago, on June 11, 1963. The images of this dramatic moment by Associated Press photographer, Malcom W. Browne, won both the World Press Photo of the Year and the Pulitzer Prize. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/gaFZvscGsM8 expand=1] Thích Quảng Đức’s self-immolation, June 11, 1963 (© Malcolm W. Browne/Associated Press/Public Domain) OneShot is a new digital format to tell the story of a single photograph in an immersive one-minute video. Follow OneShot:
Even in a pre-internet era, the impact was almost immediate. Eddie Adams’ Feb. 1, 1968 photograph of Lt. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a North Vietnamese prisoner hit the Associated Press wires, and would soon appear in newspapers in the United States and around the world. The graphic image stunned the public and politicians alike, quickly adding to the mounting opposition to the war in Vietnam. Some historians say it may have changed the course of the war itself. Adams, who would win the Pulitzer Prize for the image, had mixed feelings about the work. For a seasoned AP war […]
A vital source of agricultural crops, fish and shrimp, the Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s most fertile area. But it’s also the most fragile.
Whatever the hopes for Cuba, the country’s regime seems keen to follow the profit model for the economy to shore up its political grip. Just like China and Russia.
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SPOTLIGHT: OBAMA VIETNAM PIVOT Following last year’s diplomatic breakthrough on Cuba and ahead of an unprecedented trip to Hiroshima, Japan, U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement this morning of an end to the longstanding weapons embargo on Vietnam can be quickly dropped into the “historic” file of his presidency. The presence of U.S. Secretary of State […]
With half of the world’s food tossed out, how can we be less wasteful? For starters, looking for smart new ways to earn money by decreasing waste.
Vietnam has come a long way since the real estate bubble burst a few years back.
Buyers are scooping up properties since a new law opened the market to foreigners.
Since ascending to the papacy two years ago, Pope Francis has been quietly and not-so-quietly leaving his mark on the world, pursuing a number of ambitious foreign policy goals. His nine-day trip to Latin America that begins Sunday will be mostly focused on pastoral issues. But from Cuba to Vietnam, the Middle East and environmental […]
Forty years after the North Vietnamese conquered Saigon, tourists and locals alike shun the colonial hotel that once was a den for the chronicles of war.
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HO CHI MINH CITY — The night begins with a concerto of motor bike horns as the heat lies like a damp rag over everything. All the mopeds take off at the light, tooting their horns at once, and in the twilight we leave behind Ho Chi Minh City’s tourist district, with its French-colonial buildings, […]
Egypt is forcing civilians to move to create a buffer zone after terrorists hit again in the Sinai. From Vietnam to Algeria, such tactics have caused as much hardship as they’ve prevented.
Haiphong, the third largest Vietnamese city, could become a new Asian transport hub to compete with Hong Kong and Singapore.
PALAWAN — Chito Villarin starts up the engine of his small fishing boat. The 36-year old makes his living by sailing into the waters of the South China Sea, off Palawan’s west coast, in the hopes of bringing back a good catch. “I catch different types of fish and octopus,” he says, adding that he travels about 20 kilometers into the water. But Filipino fishermen like Villarin aren’t the only ones casting off into these waters. Foreign poachers are frequently found off the coast of Palawan, and the authorities here are trying to stop them. “Narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, […]
What the growing tensions look like, up close, aboard a Vietnamese Coast Guard vessel coming face-to-face with the Chinese navy.
Last week’s anti-Chinese protests led to vandalism of Chinese and Taiwanese factories, causing casualties and property damage. But Vietnam could wind up the worst victim in the long run.