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

The UN General Assembly's "Performances Of The Week"

NEW YORK POST (U.S.), BFM (France), REUTERS

Worldcrunch

As the rhetorical rollercoaster that is the UN General Assembly draws to a close Friday, amidst some of those heartfelt, or sometimes excruciatingly awkward, moments, we have picked our 2012 All-Star Team of top performers.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
By now, we shouldn't be surprised by the Iranian President's blatant disregard for UN protocol: hailing Allah at the moment he was supposed to offer customary greetings to the sitting president of the General Assembly; ignoring the mighty power of the flashing red button by speaking far beyond his allotted time. The twist this year, expected to be Ahmadinejad"s final official appearance at the annual event, was a stab at becoming a Persian incarnation of Che Guevara: he gave shouts out to the Occupy Wall Street Movement and called for a new world order that doesn't rely on "self-proclaimed centers of power who have entrusted themselves to the devil."

The UN General Assembly is also a chance for the New York Post to take its particular hometown Big Apple sensibility on the global stage. Outraged that Ahmadinejad would dare to give the peace sign, journalist Kate Sheehy exclaimed: "We've got a finger for you, too, Mahmoud!" Terrifying.

[rebelmouse-image 27085946 alt="""" original_size="1280x1432" expand=1]

Robert Mugabe
Bashing the West is something of a sport at the General Assembly. Robert Mugabe, true to form, gave a scathing critique of the U.S. and the UK. In his speech Wednesday to the Assembly, Mugabe compared the death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as no less tragic as the murder of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, killed earlier this month amid protests inflamed by the now-infamous anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims. Almost moved to tears, the longtime Zimbabwean leader evoked Gaddafi's death as "a tragic loss for Africa" and described Western efforts to oust the Libyan dictator as "a hunt, a brutal hunt."

Benjamin Netanyahu
Listening to all those speeches drone on, admittedly, must get a little tiring. Well the ever creative Israeli Prime Minister had an idea: props. A little visual aid would get people's attention about the progress of Iran's nuclear intentions. Right? Netanyahu's turning up with what he presumably thought was a very realistic (and scary) drawing of a nuclear bomb...SECURITY!!... set off a different kind of explosion, as the pundits and public universally mocked how silly the homemade drawing (and prime minister) looked up on the UN stage:

Netanyahu's cartoon bomb at the UN looks like the instruction manual for one of Wile E. Coyote's weapons from Acme. twitter.com/rorybarrs/stat…

— Rory Barrs (@rorybarrs) September 28, 2012

I didn't realize nuclear bombs looked like the bombs from Super Mario. twitpic.com/ayvcg7

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) September 27, 2012

Iran is very close to getting bob-omb. twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew…

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) September 27, 2012

François Hollande
And then there are the rare moments when the UN General Assembly can feel like an episode of Beverly Hills 90210. French President François Hollande was forced to forget such trivial matters as Mali and Syria, when he was forced to deal with some real serious drama: bumping into his ex- long term partner and mother of his children, Ségolène Royal, the Socialist politician. Knowing that his current partner Valérie Trierweiler and Royal are locked in an embittered Twitter dispute and fearing he may be sentenced to the dog-house for talking to Royal, he chose to snub his ex. Watch this video of Royal, being egged on by French journalists to go and say "Bonjour!" to Hollande, who doesn't respond. Awkward.

Stephen Harper
Real funny, those Canadians huh? A comedy duo from Quebec decided to have a little fun with the news that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper would not be attending the General Assembly this year, and decided to prank-call UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Impersonating Harper, they apologized for his not turning up as he was too busy combing his hair with super-glue. Now, if you're unfamiliar with Harper (let's face it, you probably are), he is known for his somewhat "helmet-like hair" (see image below). Ban Ki-moon, reports Reuters... well, brushed off the joke. Harper would be proud.

[rebelmouse-image 27085947 alt="""" original_size="290x461" expand=1]

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.

Society

Italy's Right-Wing Government Turns Up The Heat On 'Gastronationalism'

Rome has been strongly opposed to synthetic foods, insect-based flours and health warnings on alcohol, and aggressive lobbying by Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government against nutritional labeling has prompted accusations in Brussels of "gastronationalism."

Dough is run through a press to make pasta

Creation of home made pasta

Karl De Meyer et Olivier Tosseri

ROME — On March 23, the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, announced that Rome would ask UNESCO to recognize Italian cuisine as a piece of intangible cultural heritage.

On March 28, Lollobrigida, who is also Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's brother-in-law, promised that Italy would ban the production, import and marketing of food made in labs, especially artificial meat — despite the fact that there is still no official request to market it in Europe.

Days later, Italian Eurodeputy Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of fascist leader Benito Mussolini and member of the Forza Italia party, which is part of the governing coalition in Rome, caused a sensation in the European Parliament. On the sidelines of the plenary session, Sophia Loren's niece organized a wine tasting, under the slogan "In Vino Veritas," to show her strong opposition (and that of her government) to an Irish proposal to put health warnings on alcohol bottles. At the end of the press conference, around 11am, she showed her determination by drinking from the neck of a bottle of wine, to great applause.

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