Worldcrunch
👋 Salut!* Welcome to Friday, where a Thai court dismisses the prime minister, the U.S. names a new CDC director and today’s quiz question is about a woman fined 110 euros by a French train operator. Meanwhile, Marco Revelli in Italian daily La Stampa writes about his time with author Primo Levi and how that […]
SAUDI KING ABDULLAH DIES“The Good King Leaves, Salman Becomes Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” London-based pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat writes on its front page after Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud died early Friday at age 90, three weeks after being hospitalized for pneumonia. Abdullah is succeeded by his 79-year-old half-brother Salman […]
Bangkok is no Hong Kong right now. Once considered an Asian model of democracy, Thailand is under strict military rule since the spring, with free speech squashed and fears deepening.
While U Slept THAI PM DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT, CALLS FOR NEW ELECTIONS Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced this morning the dissolution of the country’s parliament, a move that paves the way for new elections on Feb. 2, The Bangkok Post reports. Shinawatra will remain PM until a new cabinet is formed. Anti-government protests have resumed […]
Friday, May 30, 2014 REBELS CLEARED FROM PARTS OF UKRAINE Ukraine’s Interim Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval said that Ukrainian armed forces would push ahead with military operations in eastern Ukraine until peace and order were restored. They said they had “completely cleared” separatists from the southern and western parts of the Donetsk region and the […]
Friday, May 23, 2014 MORE CLASHES IN DONETSK At least five people died in fresh fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian groups near Ukraine’s eastern city of Donetsk, with an AFP photographer saying that four of the dead appeared to be rebels and the fifth a member of a “volunteer force attached to the military.” […]
Thursday, May 22, 2014 UKRAINIAN TROOPS KILLED IN FIGHTING Overnight attacks from pro-Russian gunmen on a Ukrainian military checkpoint in the Donetsk region and against a military convoy in the Luhansk region have left at least nine Ukrainian soldiers dead and several injured, AFP reports. But the total number of casualties is likely higher, with […]
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 THAILAND ARMY DECLARES MARTIAL LAW Thailand army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha declared martial law throughout the country this morning in an attempt to restore peace and order after months of anti-government protests and the recent dismissal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, The Nationreports. But the army insisted that the move was […]
YANUKOVYCH WANTED FOR “MASS MURDER”A police warrant has been issued for ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, whose current whereabouts are unknown, the acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced this morning. Yanukovych, who was last seen at his residence in Crimea, is wanted for “mass murder of civilians,” after last week’s riots in Kiev in which […]
THAILAND PM TO BE CHARGEDThailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will be charged with neglect of duty, which could see her lose her post if found guilty, AFP quotes an anti-graft panel as saying. The country’s Anti-Corruption Commission accuses the PM of having ignored its warnings concerning a rice farm subsidy scheme that guaranteed farmers above-market […]
UKRAINE PM RESIGNS Ukraine Prime Minister Mykola Azarov offered his resignation early Tuesday in an effort to end the country’s political crisis. This was followed by news that the Ukrainian Parliament had voted to repeal nine of the 12 anti-protest laws that reignited the anti-government protests two weeks ago. SYRIAN DEFENSE MINISTER’S HOMETOWN BOMBED According […]
SYRIA TALKS TO FOCUS ON TRANSITION Talks about Syria’s future are due to continue today in Geneva and will focus on the thorny issue of power transfer, amid reports that the Israeli air force bombed a Syrian base in the town of Latakia. Yesterday, both parties agreed to let women and children leave the besieged […]
GENEVA 2 PEACE CONFERENCE OPENS UKRAINE PROTESTS TURN DEADLY Officials say at least two protesters have died in Kiev, as the violent fights with the police continue to escalate. According to The Kyiv Post, there may have been a third victim, after two were killed by gunfire, with one apparently shot four times. The reported […]
OVER 200 DROWN IN SOUTH SUDAN FERRY ACCIDENT Between 200 and 300 people are believed to have drowned in a ferry accident on the White Nile river, AFP reports an army spokesman as saying. The civilians were trying to flee from the town of Malakal where there is intense fighting, but the boat was overcrowded. […]
BANGKOK “SHUTDOWN”Anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok are blocking the main access points to Thailand’s capital as they try to shut down the city to increase pressure on the government and on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to resign. It comes just a few weeks ahead of a general election, The Bangkok Post reports. According to Reuters, 10,000 […]