When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Geopolitics

South African Mine Clash Kills 35

MAIL & GUARDIAN, SABC (South Africa), BBC NEWS (UK), CNN (USA)

Worldcrunch

JOHANNESBURG- Thirty-five people were killed Thursday in a shooting between police and miners in Marikana, northwest of Johannesburg, reports the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, confirmed this figure, bringing the death toll to 45 since the strike started at the mine last Friday, reports SABC.

According to witnesses, police opened fire on the strikers, who were armed mostly with clubs and machetes, reports BBC News.

The circumstances that led police to open fire remain unclear, but eyewitness reports suggest the shooting took place after a group of miners rushed at a line of police officers, adds BBC News.

(Warning: this video may not be suitable for all viewers)

The Marikana mine, owned by the world's third-largest platinum producer Lonmin, has been at the center of a violent pay dispute and exacerbated by tensions between two rival trade unions: the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mine Workers and Construction Union (AMCU).

The miners, who earn between $300 and $500 a month, are demanding $1,500 a month, explains CNN.

This is the worse police-related death toll since the end of apartheid in 1994. Labor unions have called for an inquiry into what actually happened, reports the Mail & Guardian.

In January, three people were killed during a strike at the world's second-largest platinum mine, run by Impala Platinum. Trade union rivalry was also blamed for the violence.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

eyes on the U.S.

A Foreign Eye On America's Stunning Drop In Life Expectancy

Over the past two years, the United States has lost more than two years of life expectancy, wiping out 26 years of progress. French daily Les Echos investigates the myriad of causes, which are mostly resulting in the premature deaths of young people.

Image of a person holding the national flag of the United States in front of a grave.

A person holding the national flag of the United States in front of a grave.

Hortense Goulard


On May 6, a gunman opened fire in a Texas supermarket, killing eight people, including several children, before being shot dead by police. Particularly bloody, this episode is not uncommon in the U.S.: it is the 22nd mass killing (resulting in the death of more than four people) this year.

Gun deaths are one reason why life expectancy is falling in the U.S. But it's not the only one. Last December, the American authorities confirmed that life expectancy at birth had fallen significantly in just two years: from 78.8 years in 2019, it would be just 76.1 years in 2021.

The country has thus dropped to a level not reached since 1996. This is equivalent to erasing 26 years of progress.Life expectancy has declined in other parts of the world as a result of the pandemic, but the U.S. remains the developed country with the steepest decline — and the only one where this trend has not been reversed with the advent of vaccines. Most shocking of all: this decline is linked above all to an increase in violent deaths among the youngest members of the population.

Five-year-olds living in the U.S. have a one in 25 chance of dying before their 40th birthday, according to calculations by The Financial Times. For other developed countries, including France, this rate is closer to one in 100. Meanwhile, the life expectancy of a 75-year-old American differs little from that of other OECD countries.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest