REUTERS, SKY NEWS, BBC (UK), AL JAZEERA (UAE) Worldcrunch Sectarian violence in Lebanon escalated Tuesday night, claiming at least 10 lives, Reuters reports, as the Syrian crisis spills over to its neighbors. Old tensions between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon’s second city Tripoli have flared up due to the continuing Syrian conflict, which has […]
Author: Chris Arden
For a long time, the only people interested in Yemen were Joseph Kessel and Al-Qaida. After the revolution that brought down 32 years of dictatorship, the interest of the West quickly waned, abandoning the country to its difficult political transition. It is an exhausted country, without a vision nor a hope of something better and […]
THE IRRAWADDY (Thailand), DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA (Burma), AFP (France) Worldcrunch The Burmese government has announced it is ending media censorship with immediate effect — a symbolic step on the road to freedom in the long repressed Asian country. The Burmese pro-democracy newsmagazine Irrawaddy, based in Thailand, reported that officials from the government’s Press Scrutiny […]
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India’s Rapidly Shrinking Coastline
PONDICHERRY – India’s coastline is in danger, not because of extraordinary monsoons or devastating tidal waves, but because of erosion, which day upon day, centimeter by centimeter, eats away at the coast. Every year, 75,000 hectares of cultivated earth and almost 35,000 buildings are gnawed or swallowed up by the sea. If erosion is a […]
THE GUARDIAN (UK), THE MOSCOW TIMES (Russia) Worldcrunch On Friday, the three members of Russian punk-band Pussy Riot were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in prison. Judge Marina Syrova said the defendants had “crudely undermined social order” when they staged an impromptu performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of […]
NHK, ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan), CHINA DAILY (China) Worldcrunch TOKYO – Japan announced on Friday that it will send back the 14 Chinese activists who were arrested after landing on a disputed island, in an attempt to defuse the diplomatic feud between the two countries. The activists were arrested on August 15 after sailing from Hong […]
SANA, AL IKHBARIYA (Syria), BBC (UK), AP (USA) Worldcrunch A bomb attached to a fuel truck shook the Syrian capital Damascus, injuring three people, Syrian state-television reports Wednesday morning. The bomb exploded in the car park of the Dama Rose Hotel, which is popular among UN observers — however, none of the injured parties is […]
BENI – Last June, with rebel groups trying to force him to enroll, Paluku managed to escape into the Rwenzori mountains, in northeastern Congo. Near his 20th birthday, this native of Eringeti, about 400 kilometers to the north of the Congolese capital, Goma, is hardly the only one to have fled a region where armed […]
OP-ED – As the world’s eyes were focused on the Olympic Games in London and Bashar al-Assad’s killer tanks and planes battered Syria throughout the summer, Kofi Annan“s resignation went almost unnoticed. But when the UN peace envoy to Syria threw in the towel, it marked the end of a shameful fiasco. The affable Ghanaian […]
DAILY NEWS EGYPT (Egypt), JERUSALEM POST (Israel), AP Worldcrunch On Tuesday, Egyptian President Morsi appointed Mohamed Mekki as his new Vice-President. Mekki is a former senior judge and the first civilian to assume the role. Abdel Fattah el-Sissi was also named as the new chief Field Marshal whilst General Sidqi Sobhi became Chief of Staff. […]
EFE (Spain), BBC (UK), AP Worldcrunch A thousand people were evacuated Sunday night in La Gomera, in Spain’s Canary Islands, as forest fires continue. Two boats transported residents from the Valle Gran Rey area to the town of San Sebastian overnight, after the fire blocked off road access, the BBC reported. The Garajonay nature reserve, […]
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Taiwan’s Fading Chinese Identity
TAIPEI – Flags have a particular knack for causing trouble in Taiwan, the de facto sovereign island state, which is nevertheless still lacking full sovereignty and therefore does not have much say in the matter when it comes to showing off its national colors. The Republic of China (the official name of Taiwan) is participating […]
GOMA – After trying their luck in Europe, a growing number of Congolese immigrants are returning home to Goma in the North Kivu province to start their own businesses. Their accounts of hardships – which offer an alternative view of Europe – discourage those who are thinking of following in their paths. “Life in Europe […]
THE KOREAN HERALD, YONHAP (South Korea), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak is visiting the disputed Dokdo islands Friday, in an attempt to reassert the country’s control over the territory which is also claimed by Japan, reports the Korean Herald. The Dokdo islets, or Takeshima as the Japanese call them, are equidistant between […]
BUENOS AIRES/ASUNCION – Argentine actress and pop star Moria Casán is still in trouble for supposedly stealing a sapphire and diamond necklace and earring set worth around $85,000. Paraguayan officials have issued an international arrest warrant for Casán, her manager and her assistant. Her lawyers have requested that she be exempt from preventative incarceration, and […]
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Snap! Cuba’s Pole Fault
LE MONDE, FRANCE TV (France) Cuba’s dreams of winning Olympic gold in the pole vault today were left in shatters – after Lázaro Borges’ pole snapped into pieces. The 26-year-old slammed the pole into the ground when attempting to clear a height of 5.35 meters but ended up awkwardly crashing into the mat when the […]
Syria is sinking deeper into civil war as the UN Security Council remains deadlocked. The death toll keeps rising, massacres and torture continue, all under the helpless eyes of the international organization that’s in charge of peacekeeping and human rights. The inaction of the Security Council is largely due to the Russian veto, or threat […]