Worldcrunch
La Stampa’s veteran war correspondent Domenico Quirico was held hostage in Syria for five months by rebel soldiers. Earlier this week, along with Belgian writer Pierre Piccinin, the 61-year-old was released after what he described as a “very dangerous and complex” captivity. Here is his first account of what happened… TURIN — We entered Syria […]
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 […]
Though Russia’s proposed diplomatic solution casts doubt over a U.S. military strike in Syria, Lebanese fear being caught in the middle if the fire spreads across the entire region.
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will hold off on plans for a military strike in Syria if the country agrees to surrender its chemical weapons to international gatekeepers, as Russia suggested Monday. But Obama has doubts that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Western countries are convinced was responsible for gassing his […]
A strange thing has happened on the way to the war in Syria: U.S. public opinion, like in Turkey, has lined up this time alongside Europe’s perennial reflex against intervention.
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME — Domenico Quirico, a veteran war correspondent for the Italian daily La Stampa, has been freed after five months as a hostage in Syria. Quirico, 62, who was released Sunday together with a Belgian teacher, Pier Piccinin, was kidnapped by Syrian rebels during his fourth trip to the country to […]
What is the world reading this week? The situation in Syria and its consequences features on several magazine covers, 21th century explorers from Portugal are preparing for Mars colonization and Quebec discovers it has surprisingly good wine. Check out our selection of covers from top magazines around the world…
ROME — Way back in 1998, Bill Clinton bet on the young Assad. He was to be his father’s successor, and the United States believed that the young Bashar al-Assad, once he reached power, would be the person to bring Syria back into the fold among the civilized nations of the world. And so Clinton’s […]
BBC, RUSSIA TODAY, AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch ST. PETERSBURG — The G20 world leaders failed to find common ground Thursday on the U.S. push for military intervention in Syria in the wake of the chemical attack there. The Syrian conflict was the main topic of the summit’s first day, as President Barack Obama tried to […]
A quarter of the two million Syrians fleeing their country have wound up in Jordan, where there is overcrowding and difficulty obtaining work permits. Refugees are rooting for strikes asap.
RIA NOVOSTI (Russia), REUTERS, RUSSIA TODAY, AFP, BBC Worldcrunch ST. PETERSBURG — The leaders of the world’s 20 most powerful economies arrived Thursday in Russia for the annual G20 summit. The two-day meeting was initially supposed to focus on the economic slowdown in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as well […]
The Syrian crisis will dominate the G20 summit in St Petersburg. While the U.S. readies a lonely military strike, Russia’s President presents himself as protector of international law.
AP, NEW YORK TIMES, BBC Worldcrunch MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin says he doesn’t rule out his country’s participation in a military operation in Syria if evidence showing that Damascus carried out chemical attacks is “convincing”. He added that the operation must be conducted with U.N. approval. In a rare interview with the Associated […]
President Hollande has the power to strike militarily without parliamentary consent. But democratic and political necessities require it.
LE FIGARO (France) Worldcrunch DAMASCUS — Bashar al-Assad warned France not to launch a military strike, which the Syrian president said would support terrorism against the interests of the Syrian people. In an exclusive interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Assad said that should Paris take part in a military intervention, “there will be repercussions, […]
HAIFA – His pack is ready: spare clothing, two clean uniforms, his combat boots and a charger for his smartphone. If he is called, Haim Halévy, a 32-year-old from Haifa, will only have a few hours to join his field regiment stationed on the Golan Heights. The fateful phone call may arrive today, tomorrow, in […]
French President Hollande has been in step with U.S. calls to strike Syria. Now with Obama’s request for a Congressional vote, France is left flapping in the wind.
GUARDIAN (UK), LE MONDE (France), AFP, ARUTZ SHEVA, JERUSALEM POST (Israel), RUSSIA TODAY, REUTERS Worldcrunch WASHINGTON — The Syrian crisis shifts in a new direction this week after President Barack Obama’s announcement that he will seek Congressional approval for any U.S. intervention. Following that news, Secretary of State John Kerry clarified that Obama had the […]
As war has made regular work scarce, Ayham has trafficked in anything that has a buyer. But lately he says the face of the black market has started to change.
Syria is more reminiscent of the Balkan wars in the 1990s than Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s imperative for the West to act to force Assad’s hand, not just to slap his wrist.
THE GUARDIAN (UK), LE MONDE (France), BBC, AFP, REUTERS Worldcrunch LONDON — The U.K. Parliament dealt a heavy blow to a gathering international coalition against the Syrian regime – and David Cameron’s premiership – by voting against a crucial government motion that would have paved the way for British involvement in a possible intervention in […]
The conflict in Syria has reshuffled the deck for Kurds across the region, from Turkey to Iraq. A recent mass exodus from Syria is just one sympton of a deeper problem.
After the chemical attacks, military intervention is a question of humanity, but also of realpolitik. That does not, however, mean it will resolve the situation in Syria.
FOREIGN POLICY, REUTERS, BBC, RUSSIA TODAY, SANA (Syria) Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – American intelligence services say they have intercepted “panicked phone calls” between an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense and a leader of a chemical weapons unit last Wednesday, after the alleged chemical attack took place. The magazine Foreign Policy, which reported the claim […]
After months of talk, the United States and its allies may now be on the verge of military intervention in Syria. As American military leaders met with European and regional leadership in Amman to discuss the Syrian crisis, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the BBC Tuesday that the U.S. has “moved assets into place” […]
Though Kurdish Syrians have largely avoided any involvement in the country’s civil war, they are now caught in the middle and fleeing in droves. A visit to the refugee camp in Iraq.
REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch LONDON — Oil prices have risen to a five-month high, stock share prices are falling, and demand for safe-haven assets has risen amid international fears about the Syrian crisis and the anticipation of U.S. and possibly European military intervention there, Reuters reports. After U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said […]
BBC, NEW YORK TIMES, AL JAZEERA, AFP Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – As the United States appeared to toughen its stance against Syria, United Nations inspectors were forced Tuesday to postpone their investigation into the sites of the alleged chemical attacks in the suburbs of Damascus, according to the AFP. The Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister Walid Muallem […]
AL JAZEERA, BBC, NEW YORK TIMES, LE MONDE (France), IZVESTIYA (Russia) Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – As pressure mounted for a strong Western response against the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, United Nations inspectors were heading Monday to the site of last week’s suspected chemical attack in the outskirts of the Syrian capital. Both the Syrian […]
DAMASCUS – A boy, who appears to be sitting in some sort of makeshift hospital, describes how his entire family was killed early Wednesday morning on an attack in their home in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Below the video (courtesy of c.m.o algota) is a transcript of the child’s account: “First thing, my grandfather […]
LE FIGARO (France), BBC Worldcrunch PARIS – Specially-trained Syrian rebel fighters, alongside US, Israeli and Jordanian forces, have crossed the border into Syria as an unprecedented assault begins against Bashar al-Assad’s regime, French daily Le Figaro reports Friday. The newspaper cites military sources saying the operation began last week in the southern Syrian region of […]
The images of an apparent chemical attack in Syria mean that the West’s wait-and-see approach is simply no longer viable.
BBC, LE MONDE (France), RUSSIA TODAY, SANA (Syria) Worldcrunch NEW YORK — Calling this week’s alleged chemical attack in Syria “a serious escalation with grave humanitarian consequences,” United Nations Deputy Chief Jan Eliasson called an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Wednesday and urged an investigation “as soon as possible,” Russia Today reports. Eliasson […]
REUTERS, SKY NEWS (UK), SANA (Syria) Worldcrunch DAMASCUS — Two Syrian opposition groups claim that government forces launched rockets with poison gas Wednesday morning in an attack they say killed more than 200 people in a rebel-held area near Damascus, Reuters reports. Syrian officials denied the claims on state television, calling the allegations “completely baseless.” […]
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?
REUTERS Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – Syrian rebels said on Thursday they targeted President Bashar al-Assad“s motorcade heading to a Damascus mosque to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but state television showed him unharmed and the government denied he had been attacked. “The news is wholly untrue,” Information Minister Omran Zoabi said. The Tahrir al-Sham […]
“We knew there would be a price to pay for democracy. But no one imagined it would cost so much.”
SANA (Syria), REUTERS Worldcrunch BEIRUT – Sixty-two rebel fighters were killed in a Syrian army ambush at dawn on Wednesday near the town of Adra, east of Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. The state news agency SANA did not give a death toll for […]
BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch ALEPPO – Rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have captured a key military airbase in Aleppo province, near the Turkish border, activists say. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said rebels took Menagh airport early on Tuesday. The opposition has been trying to capture the base since […]