Worldcrunch
PARIS – To look at them, you would never know the agony these young men, relaxed and self-assured, have endured. Drinking wine and eating blinis in their comfortable Parisian apartment, Nicolas (not his real name), Bertrand, Fabrice and Damien all tell a similar story. Raised in practicing Catholic families, and believers themselves, they have taken […]
THE NEW TIMES (Rwanda), LE MONDE (France), BBC (UK), REUTERS Worldcrunch Rwanda is tipped to take one of five UN Security Council seats today, despite mounting pressure on the country over the allegations that it is backing an armed rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A confidential UN report, leaked to Reuters on […]
BBC, GUARDIAN, SYRIAN NETWORK FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (UK), AVAAZ (USA) Worldcrunch According to human rights organizations, at least 28,000 civilians have disappeared in Syria since the beginning of the protests last year, the BBC reports. Most of them seem not to be militants but ordinary people who have been picked up by the regime of […]
MOSCOW – The first third of Srdzhan Dragoevich’s new film, The Parade, will bring a smile to even the gloomiest of faces. It’s a silly, rude comedy that is meant to be fun for the viewers. It is also very much a film with a message about tolerance for homosexuals, as well as for those […]
MOSCOW – The question of whether or not citizens in Russia have the right to defend themselves if they are being beaten by police was taken up by the Supreme Court in June. The case came just after a large protest on May 6 that was marred by several police beatings. In regulations released soon […]
BANGKOK POST (Thailand), AFP (France), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch HO CHI MINH CITY – The Vietnamese communist party has jailed three bloggers Monday for disseminating anti-government propaganda. The three bloggers belong to the independent media group Free Journalists Club, which sought to outline human rights violations in the southeast Asian country. The renowned dissident blogger, Nguyen […]
MOSCOW – U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland has announced that Washington would close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) offices in Russia. Nuland said that it was the Russian government forcing the closure, a charge the Kremlin denies. “Like all foreign agencies that provide financing to Russian NGOs, USAID needs to follow […]
AFP (France), BBC (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch A Syrian fighter-jet killed 18 people in the rebel-held town of Al-Bab on Monday. AFP reports that the airstrike on Monday was the latest in a series of attacks on towns and villages in Aleppo province. Victims of the attack on the building in Al-Bab included 10 […]
JERUSALEM POST (Israel), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch An Israeli court ruled Tuesday that the state of Israel was not at fault in the 2003 death of US activist Rachel Corrie. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Haifa District Court has ruled against the Corrie family, who have been fighting for justice for the pro-Palestinian activist after […]
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 […]
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 […]
REUTERS, THE LOCAL (Sweden) Worldcrunch Belarus announced on Wednesday it was pulling all of its remaining embassy staff from Sweden and gave Swedish authorities until August 30 to withdraw their own diplomats from Minsk. The move worsened a disupte about a pro-democracy teddy bear drop over Belarussian territory in July that embarassed authorities and further […]
Analysis: As Europe closes its borders, Morocco is becoming a new immigration destination for the rest of Africa. And like Europe, it is failing to address the issue intelligently.