Worldcrunch
BEIJING- Not long ago, I raised the question of why 35 years after China began to open up its political and economic system, the task of reform seems harder than ever. Why, in other words, is it so difficult to change a system? Wouldn’t it be better to just proclaim that China has built a […]
Tuesday, July 1, 2014 ISRAEL STRIKES GAZA AFTER RECOVERY OF SLAIN TEENSThe recovery late Monday of the bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers sparked widespread reaction across the country, including angry words from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by swift military action. The Israeli army launched a major air strike operation in Gaza, hitting 34 […]
Duped like other international reporters, Kommersant’s correspondent took the phantom flight to Havana. Now he’s back in Moscow, as the search for Snowden continues.
After a string of acquittals by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, some accuse Judge Theodor Meron, a Polish-born American citizen, of having a political agenda.
KASSERINE – Sitting on his doorstep, squinting under his straw hat, the shepherd looks closely at the military tank that crosses his land with a deafening rumble. “For now, we let them, but if it goes on, we, the people, we will revolt and stop this joke by all available means,” says Ridha Messaoudi. Early […]
Monday, June 30, 2014 ISIS DECLARES CALIPHATE IN IRAQ AND SYRIA Jihadist group ISIS has renamed itself “Islamic State” and declared the areas it occupies in Syria and the territories conquered in recent weeks in Iraq as an Islamic “Caliphate,” promising “a new era of international jihad.” According to The Independent, the move “has huge […]
CARACAS – The ongoing shortage of basic products – including food, personal hygiene products and medicine – is having a huge effect on Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro and his government have made several announcements to fight the shortage and have accused the opposition of fanning the flames. Meanwhile, people continue to struggle to find the […]
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
Take a tour of what the world has been saying this week…
While Syrian rebels and Assad’s soldiers fight each other near the border, Israelis accustomed to rhetoric but relative tranquility are getting ready to defend themselves for real.
Friday, June 27, 2014 UKRAINE SIGNS EU PACT Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko penned this morning an association agreement that includes free-trade and political cooperation with the European Union, the same that former president Viktor Yanukovych had refused to sign months ago, triggering massive protests in Kiev that eventually brought his presidency to an end. “I […]
Thursday, June 26, 2014 SYRIA STRIKES ISIS IN IRAQ Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki confirmed in an interview with the BBC previous reports that the Syrian military had carried out air strikes against ISIS near the Iraqi border town of Qaim, explaining he had not requested them but “welcomed” the strikes against the jihadist group. […]
AMMAN – The majority of Syria’s 25 million-strong population is Sunni, and while activists increasingly blame the Alawite-led shabiha Ba’ath operatives and mercenary Hezbollah forces for keeping the Assad regime in place, it is in fact the Sunni population that is quietly propping it up. Whether out of fear, genuine ideological support or financial interest, […]
-Analysis- ROME – Silvio Berlusconi’s sentence to seven years in prison and a life ban from public office signals the end of his political adventures. More generally, it also marks the end of Italy’s so-called “Second Republic”: the political era that began in 1992 of which the ex-prime minister has been the ubiquitous figure, just […]
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 UKRAINE CEASEFIRE TEETERS Following yesterday’s request by President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Senate repealed a law, passed when tensions with Kiev were at their highest, that allowed Putin to use military intervention in Ukraine, RT reports. Despite this step towards a political solution, there are growing doubts over the temporary ceasefire […]
Former South African President Nelson Mandela is now in critical condition two weeks after being admitted to a Pretoria hospital with a lung infection, South African President Jacob Zuma told reporters during a Monday press conference. “Mandela can leave us in peace, his work is done,” the Globe and Mail wrote, as South Africans were […]
Tuesday, June 24, 2014 ISIS CLAIMS CAPTURE OF IRAQ OIL REFINERY Jihadist group ISIS has claimed to have taken control of Iraq’s biggest oil refinery in Baiji, after it offered hundreds of Iraqi soldiers safe passage if they laid down their weapons, Al Jazeera reports. But Iraq’s foreign minister rejected the claims, and New York […]
Monday, June 23, 2014 KERRY IN BAGHDAD AS ISIS ADVANCES U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad early this morning and is expected to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as well as Sunni and Kurdish leaders to push for a coalition government to fight ISIS, The New York Times reports. The […]
RIO DE JANEIRO – They want to be heard. They want injustices reversed. They want attention. They probably didn’t think they would achieve this – but they did, to the point where the whole region is now looking at them. They are Brazilian. And since last week, hundreds of thousands of them have taken to […]
With the World Cup and Olympics arriving, tough security plans are being overseen by the Brazilian Air Force. Nationwide protests have provided yet another “event” to be monitored.
Friday, June 20, 2014 BATTLE RAGES AROUND IRAQ OIL REFINERY The Iraq army is still trying to push back ISIS jihadists, who are surrounding the country’s biggest oil refinery in Baiji. The Iraqi air force, meanwhile, claimed to have killed as many as 70 fighters in air strikes just north of Baghdad to prevent the […]
QOM – “What are you going to do there?” asks an Iranian youth I meet in Tehran. “For us, that’s not even Iran.” My destination is Qom, 120 kilometers south of the capital. On this day, at the end of March 2013 (year 1392 according to the Persian calendar), it is snowing. I arrive at […]
Thursday, June 19, 2014 U.S. WANTS MALIKI GONE U.S. officials are increasing pressure on the Iraqi government, warning that the U.S. won’t intervene militarily to stop the barbaric ISIS fighters until Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki steps down, British newspaper The Independent reports. Speaking to the BBC this morning, Maliki’s spokesman rejected calls for his […]
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 POROSHENKO TO ISSUE CEASEFIRE Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko announced after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that he would order shortly a “unilateral ceasefire” by government troops engaged in fights with pro-Russian groups in Eastern Ukraine, The Kyiv Post reports. According to RT’s live blog, fighters in the […]
Iranian voters rejected the regime’s hard line on the nuclear issue that led to a deep economic crisis. Now whether Hossan Rohani softens Iran’s stance also depends on the West.
SAHARONIM – Last summer, Israel passed an amendment to the 1954 Prevention of Infiltration Law, which allows refugees to be held for a minimum of three years without detention without a trial or charges being brought against them. According to the law, refugees from “enemy states” can be held in indefinite detention, even if they […]
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 ISIS APPROACHES BAGHDAD Fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant have gained control of parts of Baquba, a town 37 miles north of Baghdad, as they continue their march towards the capital. Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced he would send 275 troops “to provide support and security […]
Monday, June 16, 2014 U.S. EYES IRAN TALKS OVER IRAQ CRISIS The United States is expected to hold talks with Iran this week over possible intervention in Iraq following the aggressive jihadist offensive there, The Wall Street Journal reports. But in reaction to the U.S. decision to move the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush […]
As Iran voted in an apparently more moderate successor, Hassan Rouhani, the country and world could look back and ask what is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s true legacy.
ZAATARI – The Khamsin is what they call the desert wind that blows in gusts, blocking your sight with an opaque fog, burning your eyes and lungs at the same time. Scruffy-looking kids are pushing makeshift carts through the mini windstorm, piles of clothes and kitchen tools almost falling off them, as ghost-like figures of […]
Take a tour of what the world has been saying this week…
Friday, June 13, 2014 ISIS FIGHTERS GAIN MORE GROUND Islamist group ISIS gained more ground in Iraq overnight with the capture of two more towns east of Baghdad, where the government is reinforcing its defenses, Al-Arabiya reports. Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama suggested that Washington might act. “I don’t rule out anything, because we do […]
BUENOS AIRES – The meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Venezuelan counterpart, Elias Jaua, was certainly one of the most significant during the recent annual assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Guatemala. During their 40-minute encounter, the two top diplomats agreed to reopen a dialogue at the highest […]
The European Union has plenty to fear from the revelations of Edward Snowden, but may be caught between the costs and benefits of America’s vast network of data collection.
Thursday, June 12, 2014 JIHADISTS PUSHING TOWARDS BAGHDAD Jihadist fighters with the Islamic group known as ISIS have continued their offensive in northern and central Iraq and are heading south towards the capital Baghdad, where they have said that the “battle will rage,” Sky News reports. Meanwhile, Kurdish forces claimed to have gained control of […]
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 500,000 FLEE IRAQI CITY OF MOSUL As many as 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Mosul, in northern Iraq, after Islamist fighters from the organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took control of the city, the International Organization for Migration said in a statement. The […]
With the United States embroiled over the National Security Agency’s alleged spying on American and foreign citizens, there are other battles taking shape over the Internet.
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 […]
Monday, June 9, 2014 POROSHENKO INITIATES PEACE TALKS Newly inaugurated Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said violence in the country must end “this week,” as he took part in peace talks with the Russian ambassador to Kiev and a representative for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Financial Times reports. Meanwhile, fighting continued […]
Though not its original intention, the demonstrations in Turkey are widening the cracks between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gül.