Worldcrunch
December 19, 2014 KURDS BEAT ISIS ON MOUNT SINJARKurdish forces have broken a months-long ISIS siege on Mount Sinjar after a two-day offensive backed by U.S. airstrikes. The BBC describes it as the Kurds’ “biggest victory yet” against the terrorist group. Thousands of displaced people had been trapped on the mountain in northwestern Iraq since […]
Thursday, December 4, 2014 NEW YORK PROTESTS GRAND JURY DECISION For the second time in less than two weeks, the presiding grand jury in a high-profile case of a white police officer who’d killed an unarmed black man chose not to bring charges against the officer involved. Protests quickly spread around New York and in […]
Wednesday, December 3, 2014 DID IRAN STRIKE ISIS IN IRAQ? Iran denied claims made by Al Jazeera and confirmed by the Pentagon that Tehran’s warplanes had launched strikes against ISIS in eastern Iran. Reuters reports that the unnamed senior Iranian official also said that “any cooperation in such strikes with America is also out of […]
Tuesday, December 2, 2014 UKRAINE AND REBELS AGREE ON CEASEFIRE Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian rebels have “agreed in principle” on a “total ceasefire” in the eastern region of Luhansk, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced. According to the OSCE, heavy weapons will start being withdrawn from the region on Dec. 6. Such […]
Tuesday, November 25, 2014 FERGUSON BURNS AFTER GRAND JURY DECISIONViolent rioting and looting erupted in Ferguson, Missouri, after a grand jury decided last night not to indict police officer Darren Wilson, who shot black teenager Michael Brown Aug. 9. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar described the night’s events as “probably much worse than […]
Monday, November 24, 2014 DEADLINE DAY FOR IRAN NUCLEAR DEALLast-minute talks in Vienna hold little hope that Iran will reach an agreement with world powers today, the deadline, about the country’s nuclear program and the lifting of economic sanctions. U.S. officials admitted yesterday that negotiations might be extended for a second time, The New York […]
Monday, November 17, 2014 ISIS EXECUTES U.S. AID WORKER U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed yesterday the killing of American aid worker Peter Kassig, who was executed by ISIS, and described it as an act of “pure evil,” The New York Times reports. A video released by the terrorist organization shows Kassig’s beheaded body as well […]
Friday, November 14, 2014 G20 IN AUSTRALIA The summit season continues with a meeting of the G20 this weekend in Australia, where Prime Minister Tony Abbott is hoping to postpone climate change talk in favor of focusing on a growth target, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. But his wish will likely be challenged by U.S. […]
Thursday, November 13, 2014 SERIES OF ATTACKS TARGET EGYPT A series of apparently unrelated attacks has targeted Egypt, the most significant and unusual being one on an Egyptian navy ship yesterday in the Mediterranean Sea, which left five servicemen injured and eight more missing at sea. Four of the gunmen were killed and 32 arrested. […]
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 APEC SUMMIT ENDS WITH CHINESE FREE-TRADE PROGRESSAfter two days of meetings at the Beijing-hosted Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, leaders of the 21 regional economies agreed to begin work toward possible adoption of a free-trade pact proposed by China, AP reports. A two-year study of the initiative will be launched with the […]
Monday, November 10, 2014 APEC SUMMIT Asia-Pacific leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, are in Beijing for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit, where China’s Xi Jinping and Japan’s Shinzo Abe met for formal talks for the first time after more than two years of deep tensions over disputed islands. South Korea and China announced this […]
Monday, November 3, 2014 EAST UKRAINE ELECTIONS Eastern Ukraine’s rebel-held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held their own elections yesterday, which Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called a “farce” and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini characterized as a “new obstacle on the path towards peace.” Despite Poroshenko’s calls to ignore the vote, Russian officials said […]
Wednesday, October 29, 2014 ANTI-ISIS TROOPS JOINING FORCES IN KOBANI Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have arrived in Kobani to fight alongside Syrian Kurds in the besieged border city, more than a week after Turkey announced it would let them cross into Syria, The New York Times reports. The 150-strong group were reportedly to be joined […]
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 ISIS SAYS KOBANI BATTLE “NEARLY OVER” In a new video showing captive British journalist John Cantlie, and which The Washington Post calls “bizarre,” ISIS claims that the battle for the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani is “is coming to an end. The Mujahideen are just mopping up now.” The video, made […]
Monday, October 27, 2014 ELECTION RESULTS GALORE It was “election weekend” around the world, with notable ballots held in five countries, though not always without problems. In Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc and the party of his Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk were holding talks Monday to create a coalition after the two led in preliminary […]
IDLIB – On my trip to northern Syria a week ago, I asked my hosts lots of questions. Will the Syrian regime be able to recapture the liberated areas inside Syria? Are you better off with the regime returning to your area, or with the rule of the others, including those run by civilians, the Free Syrian Army or the al-Qaida-backed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)? After all, many changes had taken place since my last visit in early July. The elected president of Egypt, a patron of Syrian refugees in that country, was removed from power by […]
Friday, October 24, 2014 MORE ALLEGATIONS OF ISIS CHEMICAL ATTACK There is a new accusation that ISIS fighters launched a chemical attack, this time against Iraqi security forces north of Baghdad, The Washington Post reports just hours after unconfirmed details emerged of a similar attack against Kurdish fighters in Syria. U.S. officials are investigating. A […]
Thursday, October 23, 2014 CANADA “NOT INTIMIDATED” Details of the suspected Ottawa gunman who killed Canadian soldier Nathan Cirillo in Ottawa yesterday are starting to emerge. The Globe And Mail describes 32-year-old Michael Zehaf-Bibeau as “a man who had had a religious awakening and seemed to have become mentally unstable.” The Toronto Star portrays him […]
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 ISIS SHOWS OFF CAPTURED U.S. WEAPONS ISIS fighters released a video in which they appear to be in possession of at least one cache of weapons dropped two days ago by U.S. military aircraft and intended to supply Kurdish fighters battling against the terrorist group in the Syrian border town of […]
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 NEW ISIS OFFENSIVE IN KOBANI ISIS fighters have launched an assault “on all fronts” in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP. The offensive came hours after U.S. airplanes dropped ammunition and medical aid to besieged Kurdish fighters. It also came […]
Friday, October 17, 2014 EBOLA: A CZAR, LOW DONATIONS, MORE TROOPSUnited Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched an urgent donations appeal in the fight against the Ebola virus. This came after it emerged that despite receiving pledges of about $20 million from various governments, the UN Trust fund had received only $100,000 from Colombia, The […]
NOBEL WINNERS: MALALA AND SATYARTHIMalala Yousafzai, the now-17-year-old Pakistani activist shot by the Taliban on her way to school in 2012, has won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize alongside Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel committee announced this morning. “Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right […]
ISIS CONTROLS ONE-THIRD OF KOBANIDespite airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters in and around the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, the jihadist group has seized more than one-third of the city, Reuters quotes the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying. While Turkey’s inaction as the battle unfolds on its border has been heavily criticized, Turkish Foreign […]
Wednesday, October 8, 2014 AIR STRIKES PUSH ISIS BACK ISIS fighters have withdrawn from areas they had earlier seized in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani after a series of strikes from the U.S.-led coalition, Kurdish officials in the town have said, echoing previous a previous report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. But […]
ISIS ADVANCES INTO KOBANIISIS fighters advanced into the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani overnight after a three-week siege and amid intense street fighting with the Kurds, and are now occupying southwestern neighborhoods, Reuters reports. Karwan Zebari, a representative of the Kurdish regional government, told the BBC that the town could fall into ISIS hands unless […]
ISIS ASSAULT OF KOBANI CONTINUESISIS fighters are gaining ground in Syria’s Kurdish town of Kobani, on Turkey’s border, forcing a wave of Kurdish civilians to try to cross into Turkey, where the police repeatedly used tear gas to disperse them and the press. Those who managed to cross the border told Guardian journalists stories of […]
AUSTRALIA APPROVES ANTI-ISIS STRIKESAustralia has become the latest country to join the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s cabinet approved Iraq strikes against the group, the BBC reports. The Turkish parliament also voted yesterday to send troops to Iraq and Syria, and to allow foreign forces to use its territory for operations. But […]
TURKEY EXPECTED TO JOIN ANTI-ISIS COALITIONToday could see the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition expand, as the Turkish Parliament is expected to vote on whether to send Turkish troops into Iraq and Syria to fight against the terrorists and whether to allow foreign troops to use Turkish military bases, newspaper Today’s Zaman reports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip […]
01.10.2014 BRITAIN BEGINS AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISIS Britain’s Royal Air Force has joined the anti-ISIS coalition, launching its first airstrikes last night against the jihadist group in Iraq, before U.S.-led forces targeted fighters in villages near the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, not far from the Turkish border. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby warned yesterday […]
WILL UK JOIN ANTI-ISIS COALITION?All eyes will be on Westminster today, where the House of Commons will vote on what the British media are calling the “third Iraq war.” Members are expected to support the the anti-ISIS coalition with strikes in Iraq, though Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said these might be extended to Syria in […]
ISIS-CONTROLLED OIL REFINERIES TARGETEDThe U.S. Air Force and those of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have continued to hit ISIS targets in northern Syria, including 12 oil refineries captured by the jihadist group believed to generate up to $2 million per day in revenues, the BBC reports. Fourteen terrorist fighters and five civilians […]
U.S. AND ALLIES STRIKE ISIS IN SYRIAThe United States has begun striking ISIS and a new al-Qaeda group named Khorosan in Syria, “unleashing a torrent of cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs from the air and sea,” according to The New York Times. The military said its first direct intervention in the country had been backed […]
SYRIAN KURDS FLEE ISISTurkish authorities have closed some of the country’s border crossings with Syria after ISIS’ advance has caused some 130,000 Syrian Kurds to flee to Turkey over the past two days, the BBC reports. But after clashes with the refugees on the border, with Turkish troops using water canons and tear gas, British […]
SCOTLAND SAYS “NO” TO INDEPENDENCEScotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom with 55.3% of voters rejecting independence. The results from all 32 council areas show the “No” side won with 2,001,926 votes to the 1,617,989 “Yes” votes. The independence campaign did score four big successes, though, winning 53% in the largest city of Glasgow, […]
While You Slept Wednesday, September 17, 2014 LAST DAY OF CAMPAIGNING IN SCOTLAND Pro-independence and pro-union militants are campaigning for the last day in Scotland, with the latest polls ahead of tomorrow’s referendum giving the “No” to independence a slight lead, although more than 8% are still undecided, according to The Daily Mail. Newspapers across […]
U.S. STEPS UP ANTI-ISIS STRIKESWashington opened a new phase in its anti-ISIS campaign by launching airstrikes near Baghdad to help the Iraqi government regain territories it lost to the terrorist group, The New York Times reports. The newspaper also reported that ISIS is recruiting heavily in the poor neighborhoods of Turkey’s capital Ankara, from which […]
PARIS HOSTS IRAQ/ISIS CONFERENCEFrench President François Hollande opened an international conference in Paris this morning on the subject of battling Iraq’s ISIS terror organization, warning that “there is no time to lose” in fighting the jihadist group. At the same time, France announced it had joined Britain in carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq. NEW […]
Sept. 12, 2014 SYRIA AND ALLIES OPPOSE U.S. ISIS PLANSyrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and its allies Russia and Iran reacted negatively to U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to launch airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, warning that such a move would violate international law if done outside the UN or without Assad’s approval, The Guardian […]
Sept. 11, 2014 OBAMA OUTLINES ANTI-ISIS STRATEGYOn the eve of today’s 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks, President Barack Obama vowed to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Mideast’s ISIS terror group, also known as ISIL. Saying he had authorized air strikes against the jihadist group in Syria and the deployment […]
Tuesday, September 9, 2014 MH17 PRELIMINARY REPORT Dutch experts this morning published their preliminary report into the causes of the July 17 crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine. The report stopped short of saying whether a missile had hit the aircraft, explaining instead that it broke in mid-air after being hit by […]