WorldcrunchBertrand Hauger is a graduate of La Sorbonne Nouvelle school of bilingual journalism, and joined Worldcrunch after working briefly as a reporter in a local newspaper in his native eastern France. He now serves as Worldcrunch’s deputy editor-in-chief and director of content.
Thursday, August 7, 2014 ISLAMISTS SEIZE IRAQ’S LARGEST CHRISTIAN TOWN Thousands of Iraqi Christians are fleeing Qaraqosh, the minority’s largest town in the country, after the Islamic State (IS) — the militant group previously known as ISIS — seized it early today.This follows the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the area, the BBC reports. Qaraqosh […]
Wednesday, August 6, 2014 GAZA CEASEFIRE HOLDS FOR SECOND DAYThe Israel-Hamas ceasefire that began yesterday is still holding, ending at least temporarily a month of war in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports. Negotiations for a more permanent truce between Israel and Hamas are expected to take place in Cairo in the coming days with the […]
Tuesday, August 5, 2014 ISRAELI TROOPS LEAVE GAZA AS 72-HOUR CEASEFIRE BEGINSIsrael announced the withdrawal of its ground troops from Gaza this morning after Egyptian mediators brokered a 72-hour truce with Hamas late Monday. An Israeli military spokesman said the army’s main goal of destroying Hamas’ cross-border tunnels had been completed, adding that the troops […]
Monday, August 4, 2014 LIMITED CEASEFIRE FRAGILE AFTER ISRAEL STRIKE KILLS CHILD Palestinians have accused Israel of breaking its own ceasefire Monday after it launched a strike on the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, killing an eight-year-old girl and wounding 29 people. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the strike took place after […]
Friday, August 1, 2014 GAZA CEASEFIRE BROKEN, SOLDIER CAPTURED, VIOLENCE SPIRALS A planned 72-hour ceasefire lasted just two hours after taking effect Friday morning, as fighting broke out and casualties quickly began piling up again. The temporary truce had been announced late Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary General Ban […]
Thursday, July 31, 2014 ISRAEL CALLS UP 16,000 RESERVISTSAs the conflict in Gaza continues, Israel announced it was calling up 16,000 extra reserve soldiers for its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza — bringing the total of soldiers mobilized to 86,000. The BBC quotes Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying he is “determined” to […]
Wednesday, July 30, 2014 ANOTHER GAZA SCHOOL HIT, MORE CIVILIAN DEATHS A second Gaza school was hit by Israeli Defense Forces, killing at least 19 people. Today’s assault was on the United Nations-run Abu Hussein School in Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp where displaced Gazans have sought shelter, CNN reports (video included). In total, at least […]
Tuesday, July 29, 2014 U.S. SAYS RUSSIA VIOLATED NUCLEAR MISSILE TREATY The United States claims Russia has violated a landmark Cold War-era arms treaty by testing a prohibited cruise missile, an assertion that President Barack Obama has conveyed by letter to President Vladimir Putin, The New York Times reports. “It is the most serious allegation […]
Monday, July 28, 2014 UN’S MIDNIGHT CALL FOR CEASEFIRE GOES UNHEEDED The UN Security Council agreed on a statement during an emergency midnight meeting calling for “an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas that has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 40 Israeli soldiers […]
Friday, July 25, 2014 NO ALGERIAN FLIGHT SURVIVORS French President François Hollande confirmed in televised comments today that French soldiers reached the wreckage of Algerian Airlines flight AH5017 in Mali, and retrieved one of the plane’s two black boxes. None of the 110 passengers and six crew members survived. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told […]
GAZA: NO TRUCE, BANNED BROADCAST, SEEN FROM SPACE 37 Palestinians were killed this morning in Gaza, taking the death toll after 17 days of the Israeli operation to 734, with more than 4,000 injured, Ma’an news agency reports. Hamas meanwhile claimed to have killed 8 Israeli soldiers early this morning, as Tel Aviv was targeted […]
Wednesday, July 23, 2014 GAZA: WAR CRIME ACCUSATIONS An emergency UN Human Rights Council is being held in Geneva as Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” enters its 16th day, with the death toll in Gaza now standing at least 647, after new attacks this morning. UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay opened the meeting saying that […]
GAZA WAR ENTERS THIRD WEEK Israel’s assault on Gaza and Hamas rocket fire into Israel show no sign of abating. Gaza’s Health Ministry officials reports 604 Palestinians killed in 15 days, with more than 3,700 injured. Most of the victims are civilians. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday, taking the total to 27 since the […]
Monday, July 21, 2014 GAZA DEATH TOLL TOPS 500 Israel pushed ahead with its military operation in Gaza, with Reuters reporting massive attacks, including one that killed 25 members of the same family, as the death toll reached 508 in 14 days of the operation “Protective Edge,” with at least 81,000 displaced. The Guardian also […]
Friday, July 18, 2014 RUSSIA, UKRAINE TRADE BLAME OVER MH17 DISASTER Moscow and Kiev are accusing each other of being responsible for the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 yesterday in eastern Ukraine, with 298 people on board, most of them Dutch. All sides agree on the fact that the aircraft was hit by a […]
Thursday, July 17, 2014 GAZA’S SHORT-LIVED CEASEFIRE A temporary ceasefire that was planned to last at least five hours was broken less than three hours after it started, with the southern Israeli town of Eshkol targeted by what the Israeli military says were three mortars. The Guardian says there are conflicting reports about the attack […]
Wednesday, July 16, 2014 ISRAEL TARGETS HAMAS LEADERS IN FRESH STRIKES The Israeli air force is continuing to strike Gaza, targeting the residences of four Hamas leaders hours after warning 100,000 Gazans to flee their homes, AP reports. This comes after Hamas rejected an Egypt-brokered ceasefire yesterday. Blogger Richard Silverstein writes that a well-placed Israeli […]
Monday, July 14, 2014 GAZA STRIKES CONTINUE AS OFFENSIVE ENTERS 7TH DAY The Israeli army continues to launch air strikes in Gaza, while more rockets are fired towards Israel, as the open conflict reaches its seventh day. At least 172 Palestinians are reported killed with more than 1,100 wounded. The United Nations said that 17,000 […]
Friday, July 11, 2014 NEW EVIDENCE OF EASTERN UKRAINE TORTURE NGO Amnesty International says it has gathered evidence of “stomach-turning beatings and torture” committed by pro-Russian and pro-Kiev groups against “activists, protesters and journalists” in Eastern Ukraine. In its report, the organization notes however that pro-Kiev forces have committed “a smaller number of abuses,” and […]
Thursday, July 10, 2014 77 PALESTINIANS DEAD IN GAZA A Gaza health ministry spokesman said that at least 77 Palestinians had been killed and more than 500 injured in the past three days, as Israel intensified strikes on targets in Gaza, The Guardian reports. Israel military said it had hit 322 targets last night, taking […]
Wednesday, July 9, 2014 AIR ATTACKS INTENSIFY BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMASIsrael carried out dozens of air strikes early Wednesday, with at least 28 people reported killed and more than 100 wounded in Gaza since Monday. Palestinian authorities said two women and five children were among the victims killed in what the Israeli military called “Operation […]
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 ISRAEL PREPARES FOR GROUND OFFENSIVE IN GAZA Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to prepare for a possible ground offensive in Gaza, Haaretz quotes a senior official as saying. This comes after the Israeli military launched “Operation Protective Edge” hitting more than 50 targets in air strikes. Palestinian militants […]
Monday, July 7, 2014 THREE SUSPECTS CONFESS MURDER OF PALESTINIAN TEEN Israeli news sources report that three of the six suspected Jewish extremists arrested by the Israeli police yesterday have since confessed to murdering Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the 16 year-old Palestinian abducted and believed to have been burned alive last week. Israel’s daily Haaretz also […]
Friday, July 4, 2014 ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE EXPECTED A truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to be on the cards this morning, after Egypt intelligence officials held negotiations with both sides, The Times of Israel reports. Despite the imminence of a possible ceasefire, more rockets were fired at Israel and IDF continued to fire artillery in […]
Thursday, July 3, 2014 ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN STRIKES CONTINUE Israel’s air force and Palestinian militants exchanged fire for another night, with 15 air strikes in Gaza leaving at least 10 Palestinians injured. The New York Times reported that multiple rockets were also fired from across the border, with two Israeli houses hit in the border town of […]
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 CLASHES IN JERUSALEM AFTER DEATH OF PALESTINIAN TEEN A 16 year-old Palestinian who was allegedly kidnapped yesterday by Israelis, in an apparent retaliation for the death of the three abducted Israeli students, was found dead early this morning in a forest west of Jerusalem, AFP reports. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said […]
Tuesday, July 1, 2014 ISRAEL STRIKES GAZA AFTER RECOVERY OF SLAIN TEENSThe recovery late Monday of the bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers sparked widespread reaction across the country, including angry words from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by swift military action. The Israeli army launched a major air strike operation in Gaza, hitting 34 […]
Monday, June 30, 2014 ISIS DECLARES CALIPHATE IN IRAQ AND SYRIA Jihadist group ISIS has renamed itself “Islamic State” and declared the areas it occupies in Syria and the territories conquered in recent weeks in Iraq as an Islamic “Caliphate,” promising “a new era of international jihad.” According to The Independent, the move “has huge […]
Friday, June 27, 2014 UKRAINE SIGNS EU PACT Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko penned this morning an association agreement that includes free-trade and political cooperation with the European Union, the same that former president Viktor Yanukovych had refused to sign months ago, triggering massive protests in Kiev that eventually brought his presidency to an end. “I […]
Thursday, June 26, 2014 SYRIA STRIKES ISIS IN IRAQ Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki confirmed in an interview with the BBC previous reports that the Syrian military had carried out air strikes against ISIS near the Iraqi border town of Qaim, explaining he had not requested them but “welcomed” the strikes against the jihadist group. […]
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 UKRAINE CEASEFIRE TEETERS Following yesterday’s request by President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Senate repealed a law, passed when tensions with Kiev were at their highest, that allowed Putin to use military intervention in Ukraine, RT reports. Despite this step towards a political solution, there are growing doubts over the temporary ceasefire […]
Tuesday, June 24, 2014 ISIS CLAIMS CAPTURE OF IRAQ OIL REFINERY Jihadist group ISIS has claimed to have taken control of Iraq’s biggest oil refinery in Baiji, after it offered hundreds of Iraqi soldiers safe passage if they laid down their weapons, Al Jazeera reports. But Iraq’s foreign minister rejected the claims, and New York […]
Monday, June 23, 2014 KERRY IN BAGHDAD AS ISIS ADVANCES U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad early this morning and is expected to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as well as Sunni and Kurdish leaders to push for a coalition government to fight ISIS, The New York Times reports. The […]
Friday, June 20, 2014 BATTLE RAGES AROUND IRAQ OIL REFINERY The Iraq army is still trying to push back ISIS jihadists, who are surrounding the country’s biggest oil refinery in Baiji. The Iraqi air force, meanwhile, claimed to have killed as many as 70 fighters in air strikes just north of Baghdad to prevent the […]
Thursday, June 19, 2014 U.S. WANTS MALIKI GONE U.S. officials are increasing pressure on the Iraqi government, warning that the U.S. won’t intervene militarily to stop the barbaric ISIS fighters until Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki steps down, British newspaper The Independent reports. Speaking to the BBC this morning, Maliki’s spokesman rejected calls for his […]
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 POROSHENKO TO ISSUE CEASEFIRE Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko announced after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that he would order shortly a “unilateral ceasefire” by government troops engaged in fights with pro-Russian groups in Eastern Ukraine, The Kyiv Post reports. According to RT’s live blog, fighters in the […]
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 ISIS APPROACHES BAGHDAD Fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant have gained control of parts of Baquba, a town 37 miles north of Baghdad, as they continue their march towards the capital. Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced he would send 275 troops “to provide support and security […]
Monday, June 16, 2014 U.S. EYES IRAN TALKS OVER IRAQ CRISIS The United States is expected to hold talks with Iran this week over possible intervention in Iraq following the aggressive jihadist offensive there, The Wall Street Journal reports. But in reaction to the U.S. decision to move the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush […]
Friday, June 13, 2014 ISIS FIGHTERS GAIN MORE GROUND Islamist group ISIS gained more ground in Iraq overnight with the capture of two more towns east of Baghdad, where the government is reinforcing its defenses, Al-Arabiya reports. Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama suggested that Washington might act. “I don’t rule out anything, because we do […]
Thursday, June 12, 2014 JIHADISTS PUSHING TOWARDS BAGHDAD Jihadist fighters with the Islamic group known as ISIS have continued their offensive in northern and central Iraq and are heading south towards the capital Baghdad, where they have said that the “battle will rage,” Sky News reports. Meanwhile, Kurdish forces claimed to have gained control of […]