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.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 500,000 FLEE IRAQI CITY OF MOSUL As many as 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Mosul, in northern Iraq, after Islamist fighters from the organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took control of the city, the International Organization for Migration said in a statement. The […]
Tuesday, June 10, 2014 UKRAINE TO CREATE HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced creation of “humanitarian corridors” for eastern Ukrainian civilians to leave areas where Kiev’s “anti-terrorist operation” in under way, Interfax reports. Human Rights Watch said it welcomed the decision, while leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic expressed their mistrust at the […]
Monday, June 9, 2014 POROSHENKO INITIATES PEACE TALKS Newly inaugurated Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said violence in the country must end “this week,” as he took part in peace talks with the Russian ambassador to Kiev and a representative for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Financial Times reports. Meanwhile, fighting continued […]
Friday, June 6, 2014 D-DAY COMMEMORATIONS TODAY This morning, French President François Hollande launched commemorations for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, describing the Normandy landings as a day that “began in chaos and fire, would end in blood and tears, tears and pain, tears and joy at the end of 24 hours that changed the […]
Thursday, June 5, 2014 G7 THREATENS MORE RUSSIA SANCTIONS Leaders of the G7 are meeting today in Brussels, and the unrest in Ukraine is expected to be high on the agenda, the BBC reports. Because Russia was kicked out of the G8, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending the meeting. He will nevertheless meet […]
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 HUNDREDS DEAD AMONG REBELS IN EAST UKRAINE As Kiev’s “anti-terrorist operation” continues in Eastern Ukraine, a spokesman for the operation said that government forces had killed more than 300 rebel fighters and injured some 500 in the past 24 hours in Sloviansk, Reuters reports. Russia’s Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights […]
Tuesday, June 3, 2014 HEAVY FIGHTING IN SLOVIANSK At least one Ukrainian soldier was killed and 13 more were injured in the eastern city of Sloviansk overnight in what the country’s interim Interior Minister described as an “active offensive phase of the anti-terror operation,” The Guardian reports. There were also victims among the insurgency. This […]
Monday, June 2, 2014 BATTLE AROUND LUHANSKAt least five separatists were killed after hundreds attacked a border post with automatic weapons in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk near the Russian border. According to the AP, seven Ukrainian troops were also injured in the early morning attack. The news agency also quotes the spokesman for […]
Friday, May 30, 2014 REBELS CLEARED FROM PARTS OF UKRAINE Ukraine’s Interim Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval said that Ukrainian armed forces would push ahead with military operations in eastern Ukraine until peace and order were restored. They said they had “completely cleared” separatists from the southern and western parts of the Donetsk region and the […]
LONDON – Police are investigating complaints about a British National Party (BNP) election leaflet depicting Polish people as monkeys campaigning for the Labor Party. This is just one of several recent controversies involving the BNP, an assortment of neo-fascists, nationalists and xenophobes, whose members have been accused of verbal and physical attacks against ethnic and […]
Thursday, May 29, 2014 UKRAINE HELICOPTER SHOT DOWN Pro-Russian militants near the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk shot down a military helicopter, killing 14 soldiers, acting President Olexandr Turchynov said. This came after local media reported intense shooting around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk and the shelling of the two cities. Media described the situation as a […]
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 FIGHTS CONTINUE IN EASTERN UKRAINE Pro-Russian fighters in Donetsk have shot down a drone, self-appointed local authorities said, amid reports of ongoing fighting outside the building of the Security Service of Ukraine in the center of the eastern city, seized by the rebels. According to RT journalist Paula Slier, fights have […]
DOZENS DEAD IN DONETSK Dozens of separatist fighters and civilians were killed after violent fights against Ukraine’s armed forces around Donetsk airport. The exact number of victims is unclear because there is conflicting reporting between Western and Russian media. According to AFP, the mayor of Donetsk said that “two civilians and 38 participants” had died […]
Monday, May 26, 2014 POROSHENKO WINS UKRAINE PRESIDENCYAs many observers expected, multibillionaire Petro Poroshenko will become Ukraine’s next president. The man dubbed “The Chocolate King” leads the race with 53.75% of the votes in the first round, with 70% of the votes counted, The Kyiv Post reports. He said during his victory speech that his […]
Worldcrunch OSAKA – Tired of getting the same cup o” Joe every morning? Think your Starbucks barista should be more of a bartista? Meet Kazuki Yamamoto, a 26-year-old Japanese “cappuccino painter” based in Osaka, who took latte art (drawing on espresso with milk) to the next level. No doubt Yamamoto’s unbelievable 2D and 3D moch’art […]
Friday, May 23, 2014 MORE CLASHES IN DONETSK At least five people died in fresh fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian groups near Ukraine’s eastern city of Donetsk, with an AFP photographer saying that four of the dead appeared to be rebels and the fifth a member of a “volunteer force attached to the military.” […]
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (China), AFP Worldcrunch BEIJING – Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei has released a foul-mouthed heavy metal music video entitled Dumbass that parodies his months in police detention. In the video for the top single from his upcoming debut album The Divine Comedy, Weiwei tells the story of his 81 days […]
Thursday, May 22, 2014 UKRAINIAN TROOPS KILLED IN FIGHTING Overnight attacks from pro-Russian gunmen on a Ukrainian military checkpoint in the Donetsk region and against a military convoy in the Luhansk region have left at least nine Ukrainian soldiers dead and several injured, AFP reports. But the total number of casualties is likely higher, with […]
LE MONDE, LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, EUROPE 1 (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – The Notre Dame Cathedral was evacuated on Tuesday after a man committed suicide in front of the altar. The man was soon afterward identified as Dominique Venner, essayist, historian and far-right militant with close ties to the anti-gay marriage movement, reports Le Nouvel Observateur. […]
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 U.S. UPS RHETORIC AHEAD OF UKRAINE ELECTIONU.S. Vice President Joe Biden threatened Moscow with tougher sanctions if it undermines Sunday’s planned presidential election in Ukraine. “If Russia undermines these elections on Sunday we must remain resolute in imposing greater costs on Russia and we must be equally resolute to invest in […]
REUTERS, NME Worldcrunch Ray Manzarek, keyboard player and founder member of the 1960s rock band The Doors died late Monday aged 74, following a battle with cancer. Manzarek, who lived in Northern California’s Napa Valley wine country for the past decade, had been seeking treatment for bile duct cancer at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, […]
The Syrian leader left open the possibility to negotiate with the opposition but ruled out stepping down in this rare interview obtained by top Argentine daily Clarin.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 THAILAND ARMY DECLARES MARTIAL LAW Thailand army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha declared martial law throughout the country this morning in an attempt to restore peace and order after months of anti-government protests and the recent dismissal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, The Nationreports. But the army insisted that the move was […]
AL JAZEERA (Qatar), CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch BAGHDAD – At least 32 people have been killed and scores injured on Monday in a series of car bombs and shootings across Iraqi cities. Reports are still conflicting as to the number of attacks and casualties in this latest spate of violence plaguing the country. CNN reports […]
Monday, May 19, 2014 RUSSIAN TROOPS PULLED FROM BORDER The Kremlin announced in a statement that President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian troops stationed near Ukraine to return to their home bases, AP reports. According to RT, Putin also expressed support for talks between Kiev and supporters of the country’s federalization, and urged the Ukrainian […]
Friday, May 16, 2014 UN WARNING ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN EASTERN UKRAINE In its monthly report on the Ukrainian crisis, the United Nations warned of an “alarming deterioration” in eastern regions of the country, the BBC reports. The organization denounces violent attacks on “peaceful demonstrations, primarily by supporters of Ukraine’s unity,” adding that local police […]
NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE, CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch NEW ORLEANS – Police have arrested the main suspect in the New Orleans Mother’s Day shooting that left 19 people wounded last Sunday. Nineteen-year-old Akein Scott had been on the run for three days. New Orleans police spokesman Garry Flot told Reuters that Scott was arrested late Wednesday […]
ISTANBUL – To understand the current stage of Turkey’s so-called “Kurdish problem,” rather than political analysis we are better off relying on the fundamentals of chemistry: The law of conservation of mass tells us that “nothing can be created out of nothing, and nothing can ever be completely destroyed.” Therefore, promoting the concept that “there […]
DONETSK SETS ULTIMATUM FOR UKRAINE FORCES Pro-Russian groups in the region of Donetsk have issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Ukrainian armed forces, threatening to take the region by force if they don’t leave, RT reports. This comes as acting President Olexandr Turchynov said the government forces had destroyed two rebel military bases, in Kramatorsk and […]
KCNA (North Korea), AP Worldcrunch PYONYANG – U.S. citizen Pae Jun-ho who was recently sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea, has started life a “special prison,” state media said Wednesday. Pae, known in the U.S. as Kenneth Bae, has been detained in North Korea since last November. He was tried on […]
DIE WELT (Germany) Worldcrunch BERLIN – A German driver who insults another with gestures like tapping their finger against their head to indicate craziness, or raising the middle finger, gets five points in the central index of traffic offenders in addition to a hefty fine sometimes as high as four figures. Supporters of the severe […]
HUNDREDS DEAD IN TURKEY MINE BLASTAt least 205 workers have been killed in a fire following an explosion in a coal mine in Western Turkey, with hundreds still trapped inside the mine, Hurriyet reports. The country’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz that Tuesday’s explosion could be “the worst mining disaster in Turkey,” as numbers given by […]
CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch NEW ORLEANS – Police have identified a 19-year-old man as a suspect in the shooting during a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans that left 19 injured. New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas told CNN late Monday that authorities are looking for 19-year-old Akein Scott. WANTED: 19yr old Akein Scott, ID’d […]
DONETSK AND LUHANSK START UNIFICATION TALKS The self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have initiated talks that could lead to the two cities forming a single state after Sunday’s referendum demonstrated that voters wanted to secede from Kiev, Ria Novosti reports. This comes after Donetsk voiced its collective wish to follow in the footsteps […]
BD NEWS 24H (Bangladesh) Worldcrunch DHAKA – Bangladesh army officials have announced that the search for bodies in the collapsed Rana Plaza garment factory was to end Monday. The news comes three days after a woman was pulled alive from the rubble more than two weeks after the April 24 collapse. As of Monday afternoon, […]
MOSCOW – Natasha writes “Frank, 11:20 a.m.” on a slip of white paper and hangs it on the pin board behind the counter next to “Nina and Katya, 10.55 a.m.,” “Sergei, 11 a.m.” and other names. Then she opens an antique cabinet filled with dozens of old alarm clocks and watches, all different, but with […]
SEPARATISTS CLAIM VICTORY IN EAST UKRAINE REFERENDUM The Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favor of political independence from Kiev, with regional Electoral Commissions claiming to have counted close to 90% in support in Donetsk and over 96% in Luhansk in what The New York Times describes as “chaotic and sometimes […]
-OpEd- More than 500 people died on April 24 when a factory collapsed near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. In November, more than 100 workers perished in a fire at the Tazreen garment factory on the outskirts of the city. Not long afterwards, more than 50 people were hurt in a fire at a textile […]
UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH (Bangladesh), AP Worldcrunch DHAKA – At least 15 people have died in and around the capital of Bangladesh on Monday in clashes between police and Islamic hardliners demanding that the nation implement an anti-blasphemy law. Eight people, including two policemen and a paramilitary soldier, were killed during clashes in Kanchpur just […]
DIE WELT (Germany), NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (UK) Worldcrunch BONN – The equivalent of pressing a button that activates your body’s fat-burning mechanism…and watch the pounds disappear. It sounds like advertising hype, but researchers at the University of Bonn and their colleagues at Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices believe it may be revolutionize the […]