Worldcrunch
While You Slept IRAN VOTES Polls have opened throughout Iran as the country votes for two assemblies in the most important election since the 2013 presidential campaign that ushered in the reformist Hassan Rouhani. Voters will cast ballots for the unicameral “Islamic” parliament (Majles) and the Assembly of Experts (Majles-e khobregan), a body of clerics […]
Suspended for three months by FIFA’s Ethics Committee for a 2 million Swiss franc payment from Sepp Blatter, the former French soccer star denies any wrongdoing, and still says he’s the right man to be the next president of the global soccer org
PARIS — Eternally nostalgic of its past grandeur, France is already dreaming about the prospect out loud: Platini! As an attacking midfielder, he led France to the 1984 European Championship and Italian squad Juventus to club dominance, before turning manager and overseeing the 1998 World Cup organization in France and eventually taking over as head […]
SCORES DIE IN GHANA GAS STATION BLAST At least 96 people were killed in an explosion at a gas station in Ghana’s capital Accra last night, The Accra City Times reports. Local radio station JOYFM put the death toll at more than 100. Most of the victims had sought shelter at the gas station as […]
TOLL OF CHINESE SHIPWRECK CLIMBS Photo: Stringer/Cpressphoto/ZUMA Hopes of finding survivors of China’s shipwreck were fading Wednesday, after a total 14 survivors were rescued from the Eastern Star, the cruise ship carrying 456 that sank Monday night in China’s Yangtze River after a storm hit. So far, 19 bodies have been recovered, leaving more than […]
HUNDREDS MISSING AFTER CHINA SHIPWRECK At least 400 people were missing this morning after a Chinese ship carrying 458 passengers and crew was hit by an apparent cyclone and sank in the Yangtze River late yesterday, Chinese news agency Xinhua reports. So far, there are only 15 to 18 survivors, and just five bodies recovered, […]
FIFA TO VOTE DESPITE SCANDAL The FIFA congress opened this morning as expected, and the 209 members will decide later today whether to give a record fifth term to embattled President Sepp Blatter amid the media storm resulting from a massive corruption scandal that also threatens to entangle Nike. According to The Guardian, the 79-year-old […]
WILL BLATTER SURVIVE AS FIFA PRESIDENT? The world of sports continued to reel today after the arrests of seven top FIFA officials on corruption charges, with the fate of the international soccer body’s longtime chief Sepp Blatter hanging in the balance. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and others are calling for the postponement […]
SENIOR FIFA OFFICIALS ARRESTED IN CORRUPTION PROBE Swiss police have arrested at least 14 senior FIFA officials on charges that include “racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy,” the AFP reports. The charges follow an FBI investigation and allege “widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well […]
Thursday, August 28, 2014 UKRAINE DENOUNCES “RUSSIAN TROOP DEPLOYMENT” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko cancelled a trip to Turkey over what he described as “Russian troop deployments” in eastern Ukraine. His decision comes amid reports of a Russian “invasion” and the gathering of special OSCE meeting in Vienna. Writing on Twitter, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey […]