Worldcrunch
ISTANBUL — What does voter turnout in Sunday’s Turkish presidential election tell us about the popularity and ambitions of President-Elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan? So far, we know the number of Turks who went to the polls for the country’s first direct presidential election in history was about 13% lower than the number who turned out […]
A Latin American call for the global soccer chief to step aside amidst ongoing corruption investigations. Yet even a Blatter-less FIFA would still have a long road to rectitude.
TEHRAN — A trip down the 19 kilometers of Valiasr Street, the avenue that splits Tehran in two, is like walking through a metaphor for Iranian society. At one end, by the railway station on Rahahan Square, the houses are narrow and tatty; but continue towards Tajrish Square, and glass skyscrapers and shining buildings rise […]
One year after rising to power, Chinese President Xi Jinping shows no signs of turning back on major reforms…or sweeping purges.
CAIRO — He might as well already be president. His photo is on every wall in Cairo. His constant television appearances, broadcasts of his speeches and video clips glorifying the army eclipse the presence of interim leader Adly Mansour. Even Field Marshall Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s mention of his night visions from 35 years ago, in […]
Just three years after wave of democracy, Egyptians appear ready to trade in freedom in order to have more stability. Is Cairo set to usher in a new era of pure military rule?
With Sunday’s election of Michelle Bachelet in Chile, three of Latin America’s most pivotal countries are now led by women. There is symbolic unity, but very different types of leaders.
SOUTH AFRICA NIGERIA EGYPT KENYA FRANCE GERMANY BELGIUM SWEDEN SPAIN IRELAND ITALY
“A tragedy for the world…” is how the Manchester Guardian entitled its Nov. 23, 1963 obituary of President John F. Kennedy, killed the day before — exactly 50 years ago — as his motorcade drove through the city of Dallas, Texas. The Milan daily Corriere della Sera called the killing: “Una Tragica Pagina Della Storia […]
BOGOTA — Ingrid Betancourt, the Colombian politician held hostage by FARC guerrillas for six years in the jungle, may return from self-imposed exile and become a candidate in the 2014 presidential election, Colombia’s El Pais newspaper reported. The country’s Green Alliance began to gauge her interest in returning to Colombian politics in recent weeks, and […]
BRASILIA — “I threw on a helmet and rode the motorcycle through the streets of Brasilia,” a content Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff recently, and casually, told the country’s Minister of Mines and Energy Edison Lobão, who listened in disbelief. The minister said that he was shocked at first, just like the reporter to whom he […]
AL JAZEERA Worldcrunch HARARE — Zimbabwe’s veteran leader Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for a new five-year term in a massive stadium inauguration that was boycotted by his election rival, Al Jazeera reports. Mugabe pledged “to observe, uphold and defend the constitution of Zimbabwe,” extending his 33-year rule. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who insists […]
AFP, JOURNAL DU MALI (Mali) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali’s presidency after his opponent conceded defeat late Monday. Former Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse, who had denounced electoral fraud during the first round, congratulated his rival on his victory in Sunday’s second round. Cisse told the AFP: “My family and […]
The legacy of the 44th president of the United States is in peril, as he is seen as weak-willed with an unfocused foreign policy. Is it 1979 all over again?
Horacio Cartes won a comfortable victory in last weekend’s election, putting the long-ruling Colorado Party back in power. But this time it may be a new brand of personality politics.
AFP (France), BBC (UK), DAWN (Pakistan) Worldcrunch ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani court has ordered the arrest of ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf on Thursday, in connection with his March 2007 attempt to put judges under house arrest. After the Islamabad High Court rejected his bail application, Musharraf immediately left the premises, escorted by his bodyguards. It […]
As Sunday’s election looms, Folha de S. Paulo sits down with, and gets a ride from Nicolas Maduro, the fiery former bus driver and heir apparent to Hugo Chavez.
EL OBSERVADOR (Uruguay), LA NACION (Argentina) Worldcrunch MONTEVIDEO – Latin American diplomacy is buzzing after Uruguayan President José Mujica — apparently unaware that his microphone was still on — made nasty comments about his Argentinian counterpart, and her late husband. At the end of an online broadcast about relations between Uruguay and surrounding countries, Mujica […]
AP (USA), BBC, THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch NICOSIA – Cyprus has no intention of leaving the euro zone, President Nicos Anastasiades said in a press conference on Friday. “In no way will we experiment with the future of our country,” declared President Anastasiades. He said the situation of the country had been “contained” following its […]
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was called on to lead a caretaker government. His expertise was welcome, but then the economics professor was bitten by the bug of political ambition…
FRANCE 24, LE MONDE, BBC, REUTERS Worldcrunch PARIS –Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been placed under formal investigation over claims his 2007 campaign was funded by “exploiting the weakness” of elderly Liliane Bettencourt, the L’Oréal heiress and France’s richest woman. Le Monde reports that Sarkozy’s supporters in the current center-right opposition called the decision […]
ALL AFRICA, THE EAST AFRICAN, (Kenya), AFP WORLDCRUNCH NAIROBI – Malik Obama, the 54-year-old half-brother of U.S President Barack Obama, failed miserably in his effort to get elected as county governor in Kenya reports All Africa. Malik Obama shares a father with the most powerful man in the world but it didn’t seem to help […]
RUE89, BVA (FRANCE) Worldcrunch PARIS – In an exclusive interview with right-wing magazine Valeurs Actuelles, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he was thinking about a political comeback. After his defeat at the last presidential elections, Sarkozy had said he was leaving politics for good. According to Rue 89, the interview will be published […]
Karel Janecek became a billionaire before 40. Now, as President Vaclav Klaus steps down in a cloud after a decade, Janecek is leading the fight for those who want to clean up Czech politics.
-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 […]
Nawal El Moutawakel was ignored by Morocco when competing in the 1984 Olympics — until gold made her a national hero. Now she’s looking to clear another hurdle or two.
ABC.AU, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia), REUTERS Worldcrunch PRAGUE – Meet Karel Schwarzenberg, the bow-tied, 75-year-old prince who channels the Sex Pistols and wants to be president of the Czech Republic. Born into a family that owned large amounts of Czech and Austrian lands, the Schwarzenbergs fled when the Communists took over in 1948, writes Reuters. […]
SBS (Australia), WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORK TIMES (USA) Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – Barack Obama spoke for 19 minutes after taking the oath for his second term as President of the United States. The first African-American President was sworn in on Monday, which coincided with the day the nation celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King — […]
TELESUR (Venezuela), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch HAVANA – According to a top official, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is battling a “severe” lung infection that has caused respiratory failure, reports state-funded media TeleSur. Fifty-eight-year Chavez underwent cancer surgery for the fourth time in Cuba on Dec. 11 and then developed a respiratory infection, according […]
SKYNEWS (UK), KOREAN TIMES (South Korea) Worldcrunch SEOUL – South Korea has elected its first female president, as Park Geun-Hye, the daugther of the country’s longtime autocratic ruler, defeated opposition candidate Moon Jae-in. Park, 60, the conservative party candidate, claimed victory early Thursday, after collecting 51.5% of the votes against Moon’s 47.9%. The campaign largely […]
CNN, CBS, NEW YORK TIMES (US) Worldcrunch Instant reaction polls, conducted late Wednesday night, showed Republican candidate Mitt Romney won the first presidential debate in Denver, in a performance expected to raise GOP hopes just one month before the election. According to a CNN/ORC poll of 430 people who watched the debate, 67% of registered […]
NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, MOTHER JONES (US), FINANCIAL TIMES (UK) Mitt Romney’s campaign team hastily scrambled together a press conference late Monday night to respond to a leaked video, in which the Republican candidate labels 47% of Americans as “people who pay no income tax” and are “dependent upon government.” Romney said he stands […]