Worldcrunch
–OpEd- BERLIN — It’s been said that house guests are like dead fish: After three days they start to smell. When it comes to government officials, it usually takes a little longer. Americans make a president clear out of the White House after eight years, at the latest. That’s smart. Heads of government in Germany […]
SPOTLIGHT: CAMERON & CORBYN, STANDARD & POOR’S What a difference a week makes. Britain’s two leading political figures, Prime Minister David Cameron and opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared to be cementing their power in their respective parties last week. But Thursday’s verdict to leave the European Union spurred Cameron’s decision to resign. And now […]
SPOTLIGHT: BRITISH BREAKUPS AFTER BREXIT Whatever the result, last Thursday’s referendum was always going to leave Britain deeply divided. It was also bound to divide the UK’s major political parties, whose leaders now face the daunting task of both negotiating the best possible exit deal and bringing the country together, avoiding, if possible, a breakup […]
The editor-in-chief of top French daily Le Monde says the UK’s departure from the EU must be a wake-up call for the remaining 27 countries. But the answer may be more Europe, not less.
SPOTLIGHT: BREXIT WINS, CAMERON’S BAD BET No one ever forced David Cameron to call the referendum to decide whether the UK should stay in the European Union or not. But the British Prime Minister’s calculation was clear: Popular sentiment against the EU (particularly among his fellow Conservative Party members) was strong enough to make a […]
Defying doomsday predictions about traditional journalism, the UK on Monday welcomed its first standalone national print newspaper in 30 years. The newspaper will trial at 25p ($0.35) for two weeks before the price is raised to 50p ($0.70). Its publishing company Trinity Mirror, whose flagship paper is the tabloid Daily Mirror, hopes the new title […]
ISIS TARGETS SYRIA’S MUSLIM MINORITIES Despite losing ground across much of Syria, ISIS remains a dangerous threat in the western part of the country under the Syrian government’s control. A series of explosions in the cities of Homs and in the capital Damascus yesterday killed at least 140 people and wounded dozens more. ISIS claimed […]
UK TO VOTE ON SYRIA AIRSTRIKES Photo: Andrew Parsons/i-Images/ZUMA British Members of Parliament are set to vote on whether the United Kingdom will join the United States, France and Russia and several other countries in carrying out airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. The vote is expected late Wednesday after a long debate in the House […]
The Economist, Oct. 16, 2015 London-based weekly The Economist warns against the growing risk of “the reluctant European” as it calls the UK facing the spectre of a so-called Brexit from the EU. As part of a special report for the weekly, writer John Peet argues that it would be a mistake for the UK […]
GERMANY CAN TAKE 500,000 REFUGEES A YEAR Photo: Paul Hackett/London News Pictures/ZUMA Germany can cope with at least 500,000 asylum seekers a year for several years, Die Welt quoted German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel as saying today, as authorities there expect to receive more than 800,000 this year alone (four times the 2014 figure). TURKEY […]
 Die Welt, June 9, 2015 “G7 agrees to ambitious climate goals,” reads the front page of German daily Die Welt“s Tuesday edition. The Group of Seven talks have ended in the German mountain resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a photo op worthy of the Sound of Music (which was filmed in the nearby Austrian Alps). […]
ISIS TAKES FULL CONTROL OF SYRIA-IRAQ BORDER CROSSINGS Terrorist group ISIS continues to gain territory, and its latest victory against the Syrian army on the Syria-Iraq border puts its militants in complete control of the border crossings between the two countries, and more than half of Syrian territory, The Independent reports, citing The Syrian Observatory […]
LONDON — What all British pollsters foresaw as the tightest election in decades turned out to be a night of triumph for incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative Party and a stinging defeat for the Labour opposition. The Conservatives won 331 seats, enough to form a small majority, Labour won 232, the Scottish […]
A view from France of Thursday’s high-stakes election across the Channel.
Newsmaking images that caught our eye.
Extraordinary Russian wealth has accumulated in London, much of it of questionable origins. Inevitably, it will be factored into British decisions in the showdown with Vladimir Putin.
It’s not recession, but secession that’s worrying many: Scotland will vote on independence from the UK, while Britain’s own potential exit from the EU could stunt an economic rebound.
Immigrants from Eastern Europe are an all-too-convenient target for the Tory prime minister as voters still struggle despite reports of economic recovery.
LONDON – Double-parked cars causing a traffic jam, mothers in a rush, a supervisor watching the gate: the usual end of a school day in South London. Except that the school is Iqra VA, a Muslim primary, and all the mothers are wearing the veil. Five of them even wear a niqab, the full veil […]
RIA NOVOSTI (Russia), REUTERS, RUSSIA TODAY, AFP, BBC Worldcrunch ST. PETERSBURG — The leaders of the world’s 20 most powerful economies arrived Thursday in Russia for the annual G20 summit. The two-day meeting was initially supposed to focus on the economic slowdown in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as well […]
Thursday, September 4, 2014 UKRAINE TOPS NATO SUMMIT AGENDA Western and NATO leaders are meeting in Newport, Wales, for what the military alliance’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen described as “one of the most important summits in the history of our alliance” because of Russia’s incursion in Ukraine. Calling on Moscow to “stop the flow […]
Take a tour of what the world has been saying this week…
BBC, THE GUARDIAN, ITV, THE TELEGRAPH, SKY NEWS, PRESS ASSOCIATION (UK) Worldcrunch LONDON– One of the two injured suspects has been named after Wednesday afternoon’s terrorist machete murder of a soldier outside a military barracks in southeast London. Both alleged attackers were wounded and arrested by armed police in the aftermath of the spectacular murder […]
BUENOS AIRES HERALD, CLARIN, LA RED, PAGINA 12 (Argentina) Worldcrunch BUENOS AIRES – Residents of the Falkland Islands voted en masse in favor of remaining a British territory. Thirty-one years after the UK and Argentina went to war over the remote South-Atlantic archipelago, the referendum asked: “Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their […]
UK-GERMANY THREATEN RUSSIA WITH MORE SANCTIONSBritish Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have reached common ground on the issue of the Crimean referendum, scheduled for next Sunday, by saying that Russia faced further consequences if it attempted to legitimize the vote, The Guardian reports. CALIFORNIA HIT BY EARTHQUAKEA magnitude 6.9 earthquake off […]
Palestinians are victims not only of Israeli power politics, but of linguistic deception.
-Essay- We’re all critical of the leaders of our time: Obama let us down, Merkel isn’t Adenauer, and Hollande and Cameron are just pale copies of Monsieur Mitterrand and Lady Thatcher. Meanwhile, in Italy, in front of the disappointing batch of candidates for national elections, nostalgia runs deep for figures of the past from Christian […]
SKY NEWS (Australia), THE GUARDIAN (UK), LIBERATION (France), AP Worldcrunch PARIS – Gay marriage rights are gaining momentum around the world. In the last four days, three countries have each taken a major step toward expanding marriage rights to same-sex couples. FRANCEThough the legislative process is just beginning, the French National Assembly approved a centerpiece […]
After UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s support for a referendum on pulling out of the European Union, a German viewpoint on what it means for a country and a continent.
BBC, THE GUARDIAN, THE TELEGRAPH (UK), THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA) Worldcrunch LONDON – UK Prime Minister David Cameron has opened the door to a national referendum to allow voters to decide whether to pull Britain out of the European Union. During a much anticipated speech Wednesday in London, Cameron said that if he is […]
BUENOS AIRES HERALD, CLARIN (Argentina), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch BUENOS AIRES – Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has sent a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to hand over the Falkland Islands. In the letter, writes Clarin, Kirchner asks Cameron to comply with a 1960 UN resolution that “proclaimed the necessity […]
BBC NEWS (UK), AL ARABIYA (United Arab Emirates) Worldcrunch ABU DHABI – British Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday a safe exit and immunity “could be arranged” for President Bashar al-Assad if it would end the bloodshed in Syria. Speaking to Al Arabiya TV during a diplomacy and trade visit to Abu Dhabi, Mr. Cameron […]