Tuesday, June 10, 2014
UKRAINE TO CREATE HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced creation of “humanitarian corridors” for eastern Ukrainian civilians to leave areas where Kiev’s “anti-terrorist operation” in under way, Interfax reports. Human Rights Watch said it welcomed the decision, while leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic expressed their mistrust at the move. Ukraine is due to pay a large chunk of its $4.46 billion gas debt to Moscow today amid threats from Russia that it could cut off its supply.
SNAPSHOT
A German daredevil enjoys the wave of warm weather that hit most of Europe on Monday by diving into Lake Ammer, southwest of Munich.
FIGHTS RESUME NEAR KARACHI AIRPORT
A group of three or four Taliban gunmen launched a second attack on a security checkpost outside the Karachi airport in Pakistan, less than 48 hours after fights that killed at least 37 people at the site, including 10 of the attackers, The Express Tribune reports. This comes after the Pakistani military launched air strikes on suspected militant hideouts in response to yesterday’s attack, killing at least 15 Taliban fighters.
WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
As Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Johannes Knuth writes, beloved professional soccer players are no strangers to depression, though there remains a stigma attached to the mental health problem. A recent survey of about 300 current and former professional players was particularly telling. “What emerged from the study is the fact that every third active player suffers from depression or anxiety, and the figure is around 40% overall for former professional players,” the journalist writes. “The sport is ‘littered with psychological cases,’ says study leader Vincent Gouttebarge.”
Read the full article, Soccer's Long-Ignored Depression Problem.
IRAQ REBELS SEIZE MOSUL
Fighters with al-Qaeda-linked group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have taken control of Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, after a four-day fight with government troops, Al-Arabiya reports. The gunmen are said to have attacked a government building, armed with “rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles and heavy machine guns mounted on vehicles.” According to CNN, the rebels freed up to 1,000 prisoners as they stormed the city’s central prison and several police stations.
MY GRAND-PÈRE'S WORLD
ASSAD GRANTS GENERAL AMNESTY
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad decided to grant what state-backed news agency Sana describes as “general amnesty” for crimes committed before June 9. Under the decree, some death sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment, with reduced jail terms for others. Foreign militants fighting with the rebels will also receive amnesty if they surrender within a month. The New York Times notes, however, that “the government has offered amnesties before that did not lead to the release of the tens of thousands of people who human rights advocates say have been detained or imprisoned during the unrest in the country.” Meanwhile, Euronews reports that the country’s Tourism Ministry launched a campaign to convince tourists that “it’s safe to travel to tourist sites” despite ongoing fights in several parts of the country.
VERBATIM
“Most leaders are quieter in person than they appear to be on stage. Not Sarkozy.” As she prepares for her likely presidential candidacy, Hillary Clinton's memoir Hard Choices is being released today. In some choice excerpts Monday, Politico noted that the former first lady did not spare the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy from her humorous observations.
FERRY CREW MURDER TRIAL OPENS
The trial of the sunken South Korean ferry crew opened this morning in the southern city of Gwangju, with the ship’s captain and three crew members facing death sentences after having been charged with murder, Yonhap news agency reports. Another 11 crew members are also standing trial. They are accused of abandoning the victims and violating a ship safety act during the disaster that killed at least 292 people, most of them high school students. Divers are still searching the ferry, with 12 bodies still missing.
COPA QUIZ
To get all you Crunchers in the World Cup spirit, we’ve launched a special series with global coverage of the tournament. Plus, every day until the end of the games we’ll be playing a Copa Quiz on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Here’s the inaugural quiz. Do you know which country we’re talking about?
