Worldcrunch
UKRAINE TALKS BEGIN AFTER DEADLY CLASHES The four-way talks between Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and the EU began this morning in Geneva, after deadly clashes in the southeastern city of Mariupol as pro-Russian protesters tried to seize a military base. Three people were killed and another 13 injured, while 63 were detained, Russia’s Ria Novosti […]
EFE; CLARIN (Argentina); LA TERCERA (Chile); EL UNIVERSAL, TELESUR (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Campaigns have officially closed in Venezuela ahead of Sunday’s election showdown between the heir to Hugo Chavez’s legacy, Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Just five months after reelecting Chavez, the country is being called back to the polls following the […]
PRO-RUSSIAN PROTESTERS SEIZE BUILDINGS IN EASTERN UKRAINEPro-Russian protesters seized government buildings last night in the East Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk, following rallies to demand independence referendums there, Reuters reports. FRANCE AND RWANDA ARGUE GENOCIDE Rwanda is launching commemorations today in Kigali to mark the 20th anniversary of genocide there, which lasted 100 […]
After the death of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela is set for the second presidential election in less than six months. Chavez’s handpicked successor Nicolas Maduro faces challenger Henrique Capriles.
ANSA, LA STAMPA, VATICAN RADIO (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME– Pope Benedict XVI stunned his Church and the world at large, by announcing that he will resign from the papacy on February 28. He made the announcement himself, in Latin, during Monday morning’s consistory for the canonization of martyrs of Otranto, victims of a massacre in 1480. […]
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME– Like every other weekday, 100,000 free papers were handed out in the main metro stations around the Italian capital on Tuesday. But, reports La Stampa, the regular menu of political back-stabbing, soccer trade rumors and crime blotter were missing. In its place were hard-to-believe reports about an Italy and the […]
Barack Obama’s longtime campaign guru David Axelrod has a new client: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. Axelrod slipped into Rome to meet privately with Monti, 69, a political centrist and longtime university professor and European Union Commissioner, who served one year as caretaker Prime Minister. Monti is now in his first campaign for higher office, […]
REUTERS, TELEGRAPH (UK), CNN, SENATE.GOV (USA) Worldcrunch WASHINGTON, D.C. – Barack Obama will be sworn in Monday as the President of The United States for a second time. A swearing-in ceremony, parade and an inaugural ball will mark the event. A private ceremony took place on Sunday because the U.S. Constitution mandates that the president […]
BBC, EL NACIONAL, EL UNIVERSAL, ULTIMAS NOTICIAS (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS- After a three-hour debate, the Venezuelan National Assembly has approved the request of President Hugo Chávez to postpone the inauguration for his new term in office, which was scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 10. Photo: Wilson Dias/ABr via Wikipedia According to the BBC, the Venezuelan constitution […]
AL MASRAWY (Egypt), SKY TV Worldcrunch CAIRO – After weeks of confrontation over a proposed new Egyptian Constitution, President Mohammed Morsi has signed the decree that makes the new document the law of the land after voters approved a nationwide referendum, according to press reports early Wednesday. Al Masrawy reported the official results of the […]
CAPITAL FM (Kenya), BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS Worldcrunch NAIROBI – At least 30 people have been killed Friday in clashes between rival farming communities in the Tana River district on the Kenyan coast, reports BBC News. The attacks, that come after weeks of sharp tension between rival Pokomo and Orma communities occurred […]
BUENOS AIRES – When Nicolás Maduro was named president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, in January of 2006, Cilia Flores – his “life partner” – hung amulets above all the doors. “They are to ward off the bad vibes,” Flores said in an interview. She was right to worry. Maduro’s gradual rise within the governing […]
-Essay- SANTIAGO – As recent nationwide municipal elections proved once again, there’s never a shortage of surprises when it comes to politics in my country. The elections were a real blow to the rightist government of President Sebastián Piñera, a businessman who three years ago displaced the center-left Concertacion coalition that had led Chile since […]
THE MIAMI HERALD, WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS (U.S.) Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – Fresh from his election victory and emotional Thank You’s (see below), Barack Obama will turn back to the gritty business of trying to turn the U.S. economy around. The first order of business will be a Friday appearance to address the so-called “fiscal cliff,” a […]
To say that the U.S. is more divided than ever has become a cliché. The country has been largely divided down the middle ever since Ronald Reagan’s runaway victories in the 1980 and 1984 elections, when the Republican candidate won respectively 44 and 49 out of the 50 U.S. states. What Americans call “a landslide” […]
Worldcrunch Four more years. Barack Obama has been re-elected President of the United States, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and defying odds for an incumbent candidate running in the face of persistent economic problems. Winning at least 303 electoral votes, he swept the battleground states of Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia Tuesday […]
PARIS – Naive or arrogant? Daring or cautious? Four years after he entered the White House, Obama remains an enigma. Naive or cunning?“I never saw someone so competitive. What is the only thing that Barack Obama hates more than losing? Losing twice,” confides Robert Gibbs, his former press advisor. But Obama wants to win fair […]
PARIS – Happy Election Day, America! Happy American Election Day, World! Still undecided? Still hungry for poll numbers?? Still there??? Worldcrunch is here to help. In particular, with our news partners from around the world, we have kept a close eye on how non-Americans have been covering the U.S. campaign: from the Italian correspondent trying […]
NEW YORK – In the focus groups he organizes to understand American voters, Democratic Party pollster Stan Greenberg says lately participants have actually broken down emotionally when answering questions about their lives. “Three-quarters of the population are struggling. Families are overwhelmed, salaries have decreased by 20% and health benefits are falling,” Greenberg, co-author of the […]
FOLHA DE S.PAULO (Brazil) Worldcrunch DE TERESINA – Federal Police in the northeastern state of Piauí are investigating allegations of a drugs-for-votes ring. Candidates for the city council in the capital Teresina used crack to lure dealers and addicts to vote for them, accuses a prominent lawyer in the region Lúcio Ribeiro, who heads the […]
NEW YORK TIMES (US), O GLOBO (Brazil) Worldcrunch In a country famous for its carnival imbued spirit, it is only appropriate that Brazil’s municipal elections, often a dreary affair elsewhere in the world, are somewhat… colorful, to say the least. Inspired by superheroes, cartoon characters and American presidents, take a look at the candidates screaming […]
DE TELEGRAAF (The Netherlands), BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch AMSTERDAM – Two Dutch centrist parties have secured an absolute parliamentary majority between them in Wednesday’s elections, reports The Guardian. VVD, the party of liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte, claimed victory with 41 seats, two more than center-left rivals Labor, which won 39. According to […]
LA PRESSE, CBC (Canada), BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (UK), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch MONTREAL – A gunman opened fire during a midnight victory rally for Quebec’s first female premier-elect Pauline Marois, killing one person and critically wounding another, reports CNN. The shooting cast a shadow over preliminary results indicating that the separatist Parti Quebecois was set […]
LA PAZ – Indigenous people armed with slings and wearing traditional ch’ullu headgear surround President Evo Morales. Soldiers pivot a cannon. A sergeant comes to present arms… If the scene wasn’t taking place on a red carpet in front of La Paz“s biggest mall, it would have been easy to mistake Bolivia for a country […]