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Lila Paulou

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2022 Kharkiv Pride Parade​
LGBTQ Plus

LGBTQ+ International: Cuban Marriage, Kharkiv Pride, Trump’s Gaffe — And The Week’s Other Top News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

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Tunisian migrants travel through the Mediterranean Sea in a small fishing boat towards the island of Lampedusa​
Migrant Lives

Across Africa, Families Of Migrants Lost At Sea Join Forces For Comfort And Justice

In West and North Africa, survivors of migrants who've vanished have come together to support each other and pay tribute to their family members. But above all, they're trying any means possible to find out the truth and get justice after years of silence.

ZARZIS — “I need to know the truth! Where is my son?”

Souad’s voice resonates strongly through the square in the town of Zarzis, in the south of Tunisia. On Sept. 6, 2022, in spite of the sweltering heat, the families of people who went missing during migration marched through the town with sympathetic activists, holding banners and slogans.

This date was chosen in homage to the 80 people who went missing after a small boat departing from Tunisia sank off the coast of Italy. Ten years later, the mother of one of the lost at sea is still there, waiting for answers.

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Mobilization Sparks Protests And Wave Of People Trying To Flee Russia
In The News

Mobilization Sparks Protests And Wave Of People Trying To Flee Russia

In response to Vladimir Putin’s announcement of partial mobilization, protesters flocked to the streets in outrage across Russia. By Thursday morning, Russian independent monitoring group OVD, puts the number of arrests as a result of the protests at 1,300.

Perhaps more telling for both public opinion and the potential effectiveness of the mobilization are mulitple indications of Russian trying to leave the country. Travel sales websites inside the country indicate that all direct flights to nations that do not require Russian visas are sold out until Friday at least.

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Archive photo of ​Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by photographers in Rome in 1961
Society

Cover Queen: Elizabeth II’s Life In 38 Magazine Covers

From infancy to marriage, from coronation to globetrotting, through until her death, Queen Elizabeth graced the covers of countless magazines. Here's an international collection, from 12 countries around the world, from her baby cover of TIME magazine in 1929 to being bid farewell from Brazil last week.

Queen Elizabeth II’s life encompassed so many aspects, from time-honored royal tradition to behind-the-scenes family drama to public acts of kindness. But the Queen was also a tour deforce of modern celebrity management. Seventy years of royal apparitions and iconic looks from her British throne to consistent globetrotting made her the most famous woman in the world — decade after decade — without it ever going over the top.

Like her 1952 coronation, one of the first public events to be covered live on television, her death on Sept. 8 at 96, and Monday’s funeral, were those rare moments when the world came together to celebrate the life of a single person.


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Photo of a rainbow near Buckingham Palace after the announcement of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II
LGBTQ Plus

LGBTQ+ International: The Queen’s Mixed Legacy, Acceptance On Ukraine Frontlines — And The Week’s Other Top News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

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Ming dynasty painted ceremonial warriors
Green

Did Climate Change Cause The Fall Of The Ming Dynasty?

In the mid-17th century, the weather in China got colder. The frequency of droughts and floods increased while some regions were wiped out by tragic famines. And the once-unstoppable Ming dynasty began to lose power.

The accounts are chilling. In the summary of his course on modern Chinese history at the Collège de France, Pierre-Etienne Will examined journals held by various individuals, often part of the Chinese administration, during the final years of the Ming dynasty. These autobiographical writings were almost always kept secret, but they allow us to immerse ourselves in the everyday life of the first half of 17th-century China.

In the Jiangnan region, close to Shanghai and generally considered as a land of plenty, the 1640s did not bode well. The decade that had just ended was characterized by an abnormally cold and dry climate and poor harvests. The price of agricultural goods kept rising, pushing social tension to bursting points.

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Gisèle Halimi and Marie-Claire Chevalier
Society

A Closer Look At "The French Roe" And The State Of Abortion Rights In France

In 1972, Marie-Claire Chevalier's trial paved the way for the legalization of abortion in France, much like Roe v. Wade did in the U.S. soon after. But as the Supreme Court overturned this landmark decision on the other side of the Atlantic, where do abortion rights now stand in France?

PARIS — When Marie-Claire Chevalier died in January, French newspapers described her role in the struggle for abortion rights as an important part of what’s become the rather distant past. Yet since the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States, Chevalier’s story has returned to the present tense.

A high school student in 1971, Chevalier was raped by a classmate, and faced an unwanted pregnancy. With the help of her mother and three other women, the 16-year-old obtained an abortion, which was illegal in France. With all five women facing arrest, Marie-Claire’s mother Michèle decided to contact French-Tunisian lawyer Gisèle Halimi who had defended an Algerian activist raped and tortured by French soldiers in a high-profile case.

Marie-Claire bravely agreed to turn her trial into a platform for all women prosecuted for seeking an abortion. Major social figures testified on her behalf, from feminist activist Simone de Beauvoir to acclaimed poet Aimé Césaire. The prominent Catholic doctor Paul Milliez, said, “I do not see why us, Catholics, should impose our moral to all French people.”

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Ukraine Says 385 Square Miles Recaptured Since Counter-Offensive Began
In The News

Ukraine Says 385 Square Miles Recaptured Since Counter-Offensive Began

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces reclaimed 1,000 square kilometers (385 square miles) of territory in the south and east since launching their counter-offensive on Sept. 1. The troops continue to advance in both the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

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“As part of ongoing defense operations, our heroes have already liberated dozens of settlements. And today (Thursday) this movement continued, there are new results,” Zelensky said in a nightly address on Thursday. Ukraine’s military has reportedly retaken 20 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast.

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The Paglia Orba (Corsica linea ferry) near the Frioul islands in Marseille​
Green

My Failed Attempt At An Eco-Friendly Summer Vacation

Mass tourism developed by taking advantage of cheap and abundant energy. But those days are over and we are all going to have to reinvent how we holiday. But as I found out, that is no easy task.

-Essay-

PARIS — I had a wonderful vacation, thank you for asking. At the same time, I couldn't let go and relax fully because one question has been on my mind all summer. Is my vacation sustainable? In other words, will my kids be able to take the same kind of vacation 20 years from now?

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Zelensky Warns Of Russian “Energy Blow”
In The News

Zelensky Warns Of Russian “Energy Blow”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Europeans that Russia was preparing "a decisive energy blow" during the next few months. He also praised his troops for the advances being made with the counteroffensive launched in southern Ukraine to reclaim Russian-occupied territories. He said that two settlements in the south of the country as well as a settlement in the eastern Donetsk region had been liberated. He added that Ukrainian forces had “advanced and regained certain heights” in the Lysychansk direction.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

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His comments came ahead of the European Union’s energy ministers meeting Friday to discuss urgent measures in order to deal with the soaring energy prices, including gas price caps as well as the energy market.

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Chairman Of Russia’s Lukoil “Falls Out Window,” Reported As Suicide
In The News

Chairman Of Russia’s Lukoil “Falls Out Window,” Reported As Suicide

Ravil Maganov, chairman of the Russian oil company Lukoil, died on Thursday after "he fell out of the window of a Moscow hospital," according to Russian media reports. Meanwhile TASS news agency reported his death as a suicide. The 67 year-old was hospitalized after suffering from a heart attack.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

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Maganov was one of the historical leaders of Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, founded in November 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed.

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Photo of Argentine Alejandra Ironici speaking at an event
LGBTQ Plus

LGBTQ+ International: Argentine Trans Icon Murder, Fleeing Russia, Bad Bunny Kiss — And The Week’s Other Top News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

Watch VideoShow less