CRUZ AND KASICH TEAM UP AGAINST TRUMP
U.S. Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich have announced their plan to team up against rival Donald Trump in order to prevent him from gathering the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination outright, The Washington Post reports. Sen. Cruz (Texas) is set to stop campaigning in Oregon and New Mexico to help Kasich, while the governor of Ohio will give Cruz a “clear path” in Indiana. Trump described the move as “desperate.”
OBAMA, MERKEL PUSH FOR TRANSATLANTIC DEAL
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Photo: Zhang Fan/Xinhua/ZUMA
During a visit in Hanover, Germany yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a vibrant plea in favor of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), saying it would be positive for employment in both the U.S. and the E.U, Die Welt reports. He also praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel, stating she was on the “right side of history” and insisted on the important role Germany has has played in the world in recent years. A new round of TTIP talks is opening today in New York between the European Commission and the Obama administration. Meanwhile, French President François Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will join Obama and Merkel in Hanover today for more general talks.
AUSTRIAN FAR RIGHT THRIVES
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) won the first round of presidential votes yesterday, the Austrian daily Kurier reports. The party’s candidate, Norbert Hofer, received 36.4% of the votes. He is followed by the Green-backed independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, with 20.4% of the votes. For the first time since World War II, Austria’s main parties, the Social Democrats and the People’s Party, did not make it to the second round, which will take place in May. In Austria, the role of the president is essentially ceremonial, but he is still head of the army, appoints the chancellor and can, in certain circumstances, dissolve the parliament.
— ON THIS DAY
Say “happy birthday” to my little friend…! That, and more, in today’s 57-second shot of history.
800 AL-QAEDA FIGHTERS KILLED IN YEMEN OFFENSIVE
More than 800 presumed al-Qaeda fighters were killed in southern Yemen yesterday in a military offensive carried out by Yemeni forces and backed by a Saudi-led coalition, the AFP quotes an official Saudi statement as saying. The Arab coalition has managed to retake the city of Mukalla, previously an al-Qaeda stronghold. This major offensive was part of a wider military campaign aimed at recovering parts of the war-torn country from al-Qaeda and Houthi rebels. The death toll could not be independently confirmed and no indication was given of civilian casualties.
— EXTRA!
Marches took place in more than 40 cities across Mexico yesterday, in the country’s first national march against gender violence. See how La Prensa, a Mexico City daily, covered the protests.
VERBATIM
“Of course the PKK will escalate the war,” Cemil Bayik, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said in an interview with the BBC published today. He blamed Ankara for the deepening conflict between Kurdish armed forces and the Turkish army. “The Kurds will defend themselves to the end, so long as this is the Turkish approach,” Bayik said. Meanwhile, Turkish presidential adviser Ilnur Cevik accused the PKK of “trying to create a separate state in Turkey,” describing its actions as “outright secession.”
250
U.S. President Barack Obama is set to announce plans today to send 250 additional troops to Syria to work along local Syrian forces battling ISIS fighters, Reuters reports. The move will increase the number of American soldiers in the war-torn country to 300.
BOMBED BRUSSELS METRO STATION REOPENS
Brussel’s Maelbeek metro station reopened this morning, just over a month after a terrorist suicide attack killed 16 people there on March 22. The Belgian television network RTBF reports a tribute wall was made in honor of the victims.
— WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
When it comes to relationships, “Millennials” are plagued by a constant feeling that somewhere out there is something better. “Scientists have shown that there is universal desire for a classic, stable partnership. Only the expectations, and the idea of what it should represent, have changed dramatically over generations,” Fanny Jimenez writes in the German daily Die Welt. “People aren’t in relationships anymore because it’s comfortable. These days, it must have some added value. A partnership is something people invest in only if it’s really worth it. Today’s romantic relationships also suffer from a general mania about ‘optimization.’ What do people want? The perfect partner. And the possibilities have become more than vast, thanks to the Internet.”
Read the full article, No App For That, Millennials Struggle With Love And Commitment.
SERBIAN PRO-EU PM CLAIMS GENERAL ELECTION VICTORY
Serbia’s pro-E.U. Prime Minister Aleksandar VuÄić and hi Progressive Party claimed a landslide victory in general elections, winning 48.25% of the votes, the Serbian daily Politika reports. “I’m almost certain we’ll carry on our E.U. integration process,” Vucic said after returns showed his victory. Vojislav Šešelj and his far-right Radical Party finished in third place behind the Socialist Party of Serbia. The result means that Šešelj could return to parliament after just being acquitted of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1990s Balkan conflict.
LARGE-SCALE “MODERN SLAVERY” IN UK EXPOSED
Al Jazeera has carried out an investigation exposing slave masters and human smugglers in the United Kingdom, revealing a “modern slave trade” in which foreign workers live in squalid conditions, are sometimes paid $50 (less than half the legal minimum wage) for 12-hour shifts and regularly suffer physical and verbal abuse.
— MY GRAND-PERE’S WORLD
No Carnival Today — Rio de Janeiro, 1992
BILLY PAUL DIES
Philadelphia-born soul singer Billy Paul, a Grammy Award winner best known for his hit “Me and Mrs. Jones” and his cover of Elton John’s “Your Song,” died yesterday from pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
MORE STORIES, EXCLUSIVELY IN ENGLISH BY WORLDCRUNCH
- Traumatized Young Refugees Present New Challenges For German Doctors — Süddeutsche Zeitung
- Meet The First European Union Exchange Student In Iran — La Stampa
- Indian Spiritual Leader Lays Yoga Path For World Peace — Le Monde
MERRY MARATHON
A dinosaur, a hotdog, a rhinoceros, a giant ear, a Stormtrooper … Because running the London Marathon apparently isn’t hard enough if you dress normally.
