Love. This is a subject that leaves no one (or almost) indifferent, wherever you are on earth. As a “watchdog of the world†editorial team, we are committed to offering you articles that offer an offbeat, innovative, even new point of view, on subjects that concern us all. This is how in 2025 the theme of love was in the spotlight at “Courrier international…, starting with the front page of our weekly, which was adorned with a heart and two drifting souls on the occasion of our report on “heteropessimism”, this deep weariness of women with regard to heterosexual relationships.
Here we invite you to discover our best of love, with your favorite readings and videos.
• Stories “Love, etc.†on new relational modes
You thought you’d seen it all after that time you got ghosted after years of dating, then that other time you took the plunge on dating apps (we could have warned you that the relationship might not last). But the worst was yet to come, with the “hobosexuals” (of hobo, “vagabond†in English), these seducers who seek not to put you in their bed, but to squat in yours. So, as described on the Canadian site Urbania, “the hobosexual is an individual without a fixed address or stable income who enters into a relationship solely to sleep in your home and live off your hooks†.
Rest assured: from our advice taken from the foreign press, you will only have to memorize the operating methods of hobosexuals to avoid them with class.
Don’t have enough? In this case, do not hesitate to accept other risks specific to our modern loves, all discussed in our Stories “Love,†etc.†, “shrekking†, that is, the temptation to choose a person who does not correspond to your standards in the hope that they will treat you like a princess (a la Shrek and Fiona, therefore) microdeception, a theory which suggests that our non-verbal behavior and certain subtleties of language constitute a betrayal of our partner – enough to make us extremely paranoid.
• In videos, the “trends†of love decrypted
Taking advantage of the very visual aspect of the videos in our “Stories” format, we analyze the “trends” of love based on the testimonies of Internet users on social networks. In added value, the press sheds light on what these trends say about our changing lives, starting with marriage, an institution in crisis with these women who, more and more, say no to heterosexuality.
Our trend monitoring will have shown us: those who act as “sentimental guides” are very appreciated; whether they are well-intentioned, like these women who document their romantic setbacks in viral videos, or whether they act out of greed, like these influencers “love gurus”, and above all scammers. Journalists from all over the world review these videos, and we extract the great stuff for you. To your popcorn.
• Stories beyond borders
Who says international press says cross-border loves, and our readers love it as much as we do. On this point, our “Courrier Expat†section is full of stories of adventurers who go elsewhere to see if love is there or who “leave everything for love†to end up “expatriés désenchantésâ€. But nothing beats the lively tone of journalists when they tell us, without even hiding it: “How crazy they are, these French!†In this genre, we recommend the testimony of a German journalist from the magazine Stern who recounts her colorful and conflicting life with her French husband, from debates over cheese cutting to disagreements over education. But don’t worry: love always triumphs.
• The opinions of the foreign press on developments in love
Faced with love, the world is only torn between traditions and renewal, and for each step forward (in the Philippines, a country where LGBTQI people have very few rights, co-ownership has just been authorized for gay couples), a step back (in Ireland, in 2024, referendums to modernize the place of women in marriage have failed). But if certain situations seem hopeless (like the inexorable increase in celibacy among rural men in China), solutions are never far away (why leave each other when you can just live apart?).
• Long-term testimonies
The major international dailies always find a little space for great first-person stories. We gladly relay them, without forgetting that, if happy endings exist, disappointments are just as numerous (and they can occur at any time, when emptying your dishwasher, for example). It’s all about knowing how to be reborn.
What if we had to choose an aspect of love that particularly interests the press? Multiple loves, and their few tactical rules. Because in love as in life, the more the merrier: this is what these Paraguayans understood, who were 600 couples who said yes to each other at the same time for “the largest collective marriage in history†of the country, the newspaper enthused ABC. Without forgetting the joys of the “polycule”, where you add to your “nest mate†no less than 80 other partners, as reported in the British daily The Times in a long report translated by us.
• Et vos préférés : les Modern Love
A format that no longer needs to be presented: the chronicle of the phenomenon of New York Times on love, which is brought to you exclusively and in French by International mail. Stories that we love for what they give us, but above all for what they teach us: because we have all already wanted to be chosen, regardless of the quality of the relationship, because we have all already given up, and because we will all, one day perhaps, tempted to cure our ailments with the words of a chatbot.
