AL-QAEDA GAINS AMID YEMEN CHAOS
Airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen’s Houthi rebels have “indirectly helped empower al-Qaeda in ways the group had not enjoyed before” because the focus elsewhere leaves them “unopposed,” The New York Times writes. The jihadist group has seized a major airport, a military base and a significant oil terminal, expanding the territory it controls in southern Yemen. Meanwhile, coalition warplanes have continued to target Houthi positions, killing at least 36 people, including three civilians.
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR GERMANWINGS CRASH VICTIMS
Photo: Jurgen Corveleyn via Instagram
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other officials are attending a memorial service for the 150 victims of last month’s Germanwings plane crash. About 1,500 people are expected to gather in Cologne’s Gothic Cathedral.
WIKILEAKS RELEASES ALL SONY EMAILS
WikiLeaks has published more than 30,000 documents and 170,000 emails stolen from Sony Pictures at the height of last year’s hacking scandal that was blamed on North Korea. According to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the archive belongs in “the public domain” because Sony is an “influential multinational corporation” that is “at the center of a geopolitical conflict.”
ON THIS DAY
The Cambodian civil war ended 40 years ago today. Time for your 57-second shot of history.
PRO-RUSSIAN JOURNO KILLED IN KIEV
Pro-Russian journalist Oles Buzina was killed yesterday by two masked gunmen outside his home in Kiev, Ukraine. Sky News reports the circumstances of his killing were similar to those of opposition politician Oleg Kalashnikov’s murder the previous day. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko called the crimes “a conscious provocation” meant to “destabilize” the Ukrainian government. According to Russia’s Sputnik News, Ukrainian nationalist politicians applauded Buzina’s murder, calling him a “degenerate” who had led a “bastard life.” This comes as 300 U.S. paratroopers arrived in Ukraine to train the country’s National Guard. Canada is also preparing to send 200 troops.
WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
It's an untold story that offers hope during troubled times in Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Anna Boros survived the Holocaust thanks to a courageous Egyptian doctor, Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Zweiter Weltkrieg reports. “The Jewish teenager he saved visited Dr. Mohammed Helmy because she wasn't allowed to go to a white doctor, his descendents say. Helmy stayed voluntarily in Berlin during the Nazi reign because ‘he wanted to help to treat the sick and wounded.’ While doing so, the Egyptian Helmy walked a very fine line between adaptation and subversion from 1933 onward. But he succeeded in executing a brilliant plan to save Anna’s life.”
Read the full article: When A Muslim Doctor Saved A Jewish Teenager From The Nazis.
AFRICAN MIGRANTS DROWN CHRISTIANS
Italy’s migrant crisis was made worse yesterday after Sicily police arrested 15 African migrants accused of killing 12 other migrants by throwing them off a boat for being Christian.
EXTRA!
TIME Magazine revealed, as it does every year, its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, with five different covers. Kanye West was chosen as head of the “Titans” category. Read more about it on our 4 Corners blog.
590 KPH
Central Japan Railway Co.’s magnetic levitation bullet train has set a new world speed record of 590 kilometers per hour (367 miles per hour), smashing the previous record it set 12 years ago. The train operator said it would attempt to reach 600 kph as early as next year.
VETERAN CHINESE JOURNALIST JAILED
Gao Yu, one of China’s top journalists, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after a court found her guilty of “leaking state secrets abroad,” South China Morning Post reports. The 71-year-old will also be stripped of her political rights for a year after her release. Amnesty International characterized the sentence as “deplorable,” saying it was “nothing more than blatant political persecution.”
MY GRAND-PÈRE’S WORLD
VERBATIM
“No amount of frustration or anger can ever justify the attacks on foreign nationals and the looting of their shops,” South African President Jacob Zuma said as a wave of violent anti-immigrant protests spread to Johannesburg. The unrest has already killed six people and led hundreds of foreigners to flee.
CHEWY’S HOME
The latest trailer for the upcoming Star Wars movie The Force Awakens will please fans of the original trilogy. And is Darth Vader still alive? Watch it here.
