When Twitter made its debut in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez did his best to co-opt the social network and flood it with official statements. But now the social network is used by those undermining the twitterer-in-chief.
Month: June 2012
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to inform you that we cannot proceed to takeoff because we are still waiting to receive papers for the radioactive cargo on board – please excuse the delay….”
WorldcrunchCAIXIN / CHINA DAILY (China) BEIJING – As far as mass national mobilizations go, nothing can quite match the Spring Festival transportation rush around the Chinese New Year. But in China, another massive annual event is the “Gaokao,” when millions of high school graduates take part in the National College Entrance Examination in 7300 test […]
BLOOMBERG (U.S.), EL MUNDO (Spain) MADRID – European markets got a boost following Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s confirmation that Spain received 100 billion euros ($125 billion) from the European Union to rescue a major chunk of its banking sector. The rebound in Monday trading was described as “euphoria” in the Spanish press. According to […]
Worldcrunch LIBERATION (France) PARIS – On the wave of the solid popularity of newly installed French President François Hollande, left-wing parties look to be headed for a clear majority after Sunday’s first round of parliamentary elections. First estimates give the Left — led by Hollande’s Socialist Party — 47% of the vote, in front of […]
Worldcrunch DAILY TIMES OF NIGERIA, AP (Nigeria), CORRIERE DEL MEZZOGIORNO (Italy) Police rescued midfielder Christian Obodo, a player in Italy’s top soccer division, a day after he was abducted in his native Nigeria. Obodo’s abductors had contacted his family in the delta city of Warri to demand a ransom of 150,000 euros, the Daily Times […]
More than 15 years after the end of French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, 720 people afflicted with cancer and other illnesses have sued France for compensation.
No one knows what goes on or even who are all the people taking part in this invitation-only, top-secret club for the world’s most powerful elites. So how did a loquacious Green Party member manage to get invited?
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants plays to be submitted to public servants before they can be shown, and for inappropriate scenes to be “reformed.”
CBN RADIO (Brazil) In Jardim Helena, a poor area 18 miles from downtown São Paulo, postmen now need a security escort to deliver mail. Already this year, more than 450 mailmen have been victims of robbery and flash kidnappings, CBN Radio reports. Authorities explain that Jardim Helena’s many alleyways make it easy for criminals to […]
In the northwestern African nation, anti-slavery activist Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid is accused of burning pages from a holy book that promoted slavery, prompting a call for his execution and a return to Sharia Law.
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Why Putin Is Betting On China
Analysis: After getting elected to a third term, Russian President Vladimir Putin skipped last month’s G8 in the US, and spent three long days in China this week. You do the math.
Worldcrunch MILANO OGGI NOTIZIE (Italy) MILAN – In Italian restaurants, if you want to drink water with your meal, you have two choices: bottled still water or bottled fizzy water, each about 2 euros a pop. Tap water is rarely served, and when it is, you often have the bad surprise of being billed for […]
In the Russian capital, where rush-hour traffic lasts past midnight, the Mayor has decided to make the city more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Will drivers finally give way?
Worldcrunch SINGPAO.COM (China) ZHEJIANG – Earlier this week, a nursing student used her blog to post some photos she’d taken in a neo-natal ward in Zhejiang Province. The young woman had made paper cut-outs of blue eyebrows and pig ears and noses, and attached them to two sleeping babies. She then picked up each child […]
Are iron-fisted bans on tobacco the best way to reduce smoking? Or will it end up replacing regulated tobacco by counterfeit, dangerous, organized-crime produced cigarettes?
Worldcrunch BBC NEWS (United-Kingdom), RMC (France), LA STAMPA (Italy) Although the 14th European Soccer Championship is only just kicking off in the Ukraine and Poland, it has been the topic of headlines for many weeks now. The two countries hosting the competition are at the center of multiple controversies: *There is a culture of hooliganism […]
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Pakistan Bus Bombed, At Least 19 Dead
Worldcrunch REUTERS PESHAWAR – A bomb exploded on a bus on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday, killing at least 19 people, police officials told Reuters. (DEVELOPING…)
AL ARABIYA (Saudi Arabia), FRANCE 24, LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR (France) PARIS – Syria appears set to descend into all-out civil war, as pressure from the international community heightens following allegations of a new massacre in the central province of Hama. United Nations observers are attempting to reach the town of Al Koubeir to investigate the […]
As Euro 2012 kicks off in Ukraine and Poland under a cloud of controversy, a female protestor in Brazil is already planning for the World Cup in two years — joining forces with feminist group Femen from Ukraine, which has a unique way of making themselve
CHINA TIMES, ECONOMIC OBSERVER (China) BEIJING – “Chinese people should tolerate a certain degree of corruption, because nowhere in the world is any country able to solve this problem completely. The importance is just to limit the corruption so people can tolerate it…” This commentary appeared three days ago in the Global Times, a branch […]
LES NOUVELLES NEWS (France) PARIS – The women’s semifinals were held Thursday at Roland Garros, an opportunity for some of the world’s best female athletes to shine. Yet the French Open organizers decided to turn centre court’s signature clay surface… pink! Sinking deeper in old clichés, the tennis officials set up a special “women’s village” […]
Call it the Internet’s ‘Neutral Territory’ – Switzerland is one of the few places in the world where Internet users can take whatever they want from the Web, regardless of the source. But creators of content are fighting back.
In the Jabal al-Akrad mountains, the Free Syrian Army rebels are fighting an uneven war against Bashar al-Assad’s army: with outdated weapons, depleting ammunition and barely a doctor to be found.
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Syria Denies New Massacre Claims
Worldcrunch AP, BBC NEWS DAMASCUS – Damascus denies reports of new mass killings in Syria’s central Hama region as pressure continues to build on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Syria discarded as “absolutely baseless’ claims by opposition groups about a new massacre in which government forces allegedly killed some 100 people, AP reports. The […]
Worldcrunch EL PAIS, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, IL SOLE 24 ORE TOKYO, LONDON, MADRID – Markets rallied in Asia and Europe on Thursday, with all eyes on the response to a gathering financial crisis in Spain. The Spanish Central Bank successfully auctioned more than 2 billion euros in medium and long-term bonds, El Pais reported, adding a […]
President Fernando Lugo has recognized his second child from his days as a supposedly celibate Catholic man of the cloth. Other paternity suits from various women are outstanding. Some estimates of the number of offspring might make a rock star blush.
ANT1 (Greece) ATHENS – Only weeks after the neo-Nazi Greek party Golden Dawn entered Parliament, one of its deputies physically attacked two left-wing women rivals during a TV show on ANT1. Ilias Kasidiaris, Golden Dawn’s spokesman, exploded when Rena Dourou, from the far-left party, referred to Kasidiaris’ current trial for armed robbery. Kasidiaris stood up […]
A painting of black President Jacob Zuma, in full frontal nudity, by a white artist creates a racial controversy that reminds South Africa the wounds of the Apartheid are not even close to be healed.
A wind of change is sweeping through Berlin, as Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble declares the need for stronger banking cooperation in Europe. Is this the big shift that can save the single currency?
LE SOIR (Belgium) MONS – Rock stars aren’t the only ones with groupies – bow-tied prime ministers have some too. During local celebrations last Friday, Belgium Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was targeted by just such a super-fan. While the professorial PM was posing with Socialist Party supporters, a young woman pounced on him and […]
South Korea is rediscovering its beautiful coastline, and is working hard to turn its sleepy fishing ports into tourist destinations. Yeosu World Expo 2012 is the first among many events aimed at drawing visitors into the region.
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The 42 Rejections Of Gisele
Worldcrunch TERRA (Brazil) RIO DE JANEIRO – Does anyone have any doubts about Gisele’s beauty? Well apparently, before rising to supermodel status, Brazil’s Gisele Bündchen was rejected 42 straight times when trying to get an international runway job in London, the website of the Brazilian magazine Terra reported. “I turned to myself and asked ‘am […]
AL-ARABIYA (Saoudi Arabia) / SANA (Syria) DAMASCUS – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had commissioned a regime insider to form the next government according to the al-Arabiya news channel. Riad Hijab, who served as minister of agriculture in the previous government, was appointed to replace outgoing Prime Minister Adel Safr. The formation of the new cabinet […]
PAJHWOK (Afghanistan), L’EXPRESS (France) PUL-I-ALAM – At least 17 civilians were killed during a NATO air strike in Afghanistan on Wednesday morning, Afghan news agency Pajhwok reports. The attack struck the Logar Province, in the eastern part of the country: women and children were among the victims. The intended target of the raid was the […]
CTV NEWS, BBC NEWS (Canada) VANCOUVER – Vancouver’s False Creek Elementary School and St George’s school for boys have both received a package containing human body parts in what some suspect may be the latest twist in the case of Canadian porn actor Luka Rocco Magnotta, who was arrested The packages contained a human hand […]
Op-Ed: Moroccan author and political scientist offers a subtle thesis: sexual repression is a gateway to corruption and political repression.
Worldcrunch THE AUSTRALIAN, AFP SYDNEY – Venus and the Sun have put on a show for skywatchers, in a rare astronomical event that will not be seen again for another 105 years. The nearly seven-hour transit of Venus moving across the face of the Sun was best seen from the far northwest of America, the […]
Hibiscus flowers, palm trees- the loud colorful shirts sported by Magnum PI are making an unlikely comeback on catwalks and in Europe’s most fashionable stores.
A recent study compared the sleeping patterns of people living in western and eastern Germany, who all share the same time zone. When it comes to zzzz’ing: longitude matters!