Worldcrunch
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.” […]
CNN (US), THE WASHINGTON POST (US), REUTERS Worldcrunch MOORE – The search for survivors was coming to an end Wednesday after a deadly tornado tore through the city of Moore, in the suburbs of Oklahoma City. The tornado killed at least 24 people and injured about 240, Reuters reports, a revised toll after initial reports […]
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 […]
LE MONDE, LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, EUROPE 1 (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – The Notre Dame Cathedral was evacuated on Tuesday after a man committed suicide in front of the altar. The man was soon afterward identified as Dominique Venner, essayist, historian and far-right militant with close ties to the anti-gay marriage movement, reports Le Nouvel Observateur. […]
Militias in the North Kivu region are facing desertions as the UN armed contingent begins to move into the embattled territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But fighting still flares.
The Syrian leader left open the possibility to negotiate with the opposition but ruled out stepping down in this rare interview obtained by top Argentine daily Clarin.
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 […]
AL JAZEERA (Qatar), CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch BAGHDAD – At least 32 people have been killed and scores injured on Monday in a series of car bombs and shootings across Iraqi cities. Reports are still conflicting as to the number of attacks and casualties in this latest spate of violence plaguing the country. CNN reports […]
YONHAP, THE KOREA TIMES (South Korea), AAP (Australia) Worldcrunch SEOUL – North Korea fired its fifth test missile in three straight days on Monday, in the latest series of weapons drills that have been condemned by South Korea and United Nation chief Ban Ki-moon, reports the AAP. According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the […]
AL BAWABA (Jordan), IRAN’S VIEW, PRESS TV (Iran), REUTERS, CNN (U.S.) Worldcrunch TEHRAN – Two men convicted for spying for the United States and Israeli spy agencies have been hung, reported Iran’s Press TV. There were no details on when the men were arrested, tried or sentenced, only that they were hung at dawn on […]
From Fiji to the Marshall Islands, it’s time to react to the effects left by emissions from large industrialized nations.
Monday, May 19, 2014 RUSSIAN TROOPS PULLED FROM BORDER The Kremlin announced in a statement that President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian troops stationed near Ukraine to return to their home bases, AP reports. According to RT, Putin also expressed support for talks between Kiev and supporters of the country’s federalization, and urged the Ukrainian […]
In the southern Turkish town of Reyhanli, near the Syrian border, anger is rising against Prime Minister Erdogan’s support of Syrian rebels.
Moscow allowed for observer status for additional countries that don’t border the Arctic, but will grant them virtually no voice whatsoever on policy.
SEOUL – The distance between the North Korean border town of Hyesan and South Korea’s capital Seoul is 440 kilometers (273 mi) as the crow flies. It took Park Kun-ha five years to complete the journey. His way turned out not only to be a lot longer but tortuous, taking him through the jungle of […]
Was deadly beating on North Sea island due to a dispute over the quality of his fusion cooking?
Friday, May 16, 2014 UN WARNING ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN EASTERN UKRAINE In its monthly report on the Ukrainian crisis, the United Nations warned of an “alarming deterioration” in eastern regions of the country, the BBC reports. The organization denounces violent attacks on “peaceful demonstrations, primarily by supporters of Ukraine’s unity,” adding that local police […]
KAMPONG SPEU – Part of a shoe factory collapsed on Thursday in Cambodia, killing at least three workers, and adding to concerns about industrial safety after last month’s disaster in Bangladesh. The concrete roof of the Wing Star Shoes factory collapsed on Thursday morning, in the Kampong Speu province, west of the capital Phnom Penh. […]
NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE, CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch NEW ORLEANS – Police have arrested the main suspect in the New Orleans Mother’s Day shooting that left 19 people wounded last Sunday. Nineteen-year-old Akein Scott had been on the run for three days. New Orleans police spokesman Garry Flot told Reuters that Scott was arrested late Wednesday […]
ISTANBUL – To understand the current stage of Turkey’s so-called “Kurdish problem,” rather than political analysis we are better off relying on the fundamentals of chemistry: The law of conservation of mass tells us that “nothing can be created out of nothing, and nothing can ever be completely destroyed.” Therefore, promoting the concept that “there […]
DONETSK SETS ULTIMATUM FOR UKRAINE FORCES Pro-Russian groups in the region of Donetsk have issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Ukrainian armed forces, threatening to take the region by force if they don’t leave, RT reports. This comes as acting President Olexandr Turchynov said the government forces had destroyed two rebel military bases, in Kramatorsk and […]
KUALA LUMPUR – The father, Anwar Ibrahim failed: the opposition coalition he’s been leading lost this month’s national elections. By all accounts, he will never be Prime Minister. The daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, was instead reelected comfortably to her seat as Member of Parliament in the May 5 legislative ballot. Time is on her side, […]
KCNA (North Korea), AP Worldcrunch PYONYANG – U.S. citizen Pae Jun-ho who was recently sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea, has started life a “special prison,” state media said Wednesday. Pae, known in the U.S. as Kenneth Bae, has been detained in North Korea since last November. He was tried on […]
HUNDREDS DEAD IN TURKEY MINE BLASTAt least 205 workers have been killed in a fire following an explosion in a coal mine in Western Turkey, with hundreds still trapped inside the mine, Hurriyet reports. The country’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz that Tuesday’s explosion could be “the worst mining disaster in Turkey,” as numbers given by […]
CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch NEW ORLEANS – Police have identified a 19-year-old man as a suspect in the shooting during a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans that left 19 injured. New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas told CNN late Monday that authorities are looking for 19-year-old Akein Scott. WANTED: 19yr old Akein Scott, ID’d […]
To talk or not to talk with the Taliban may be the most pressing matter of all, writes Le Monde’s correspondent from Islamabad.
AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS Worldcrunch SITTWE – Rescuers were searching for survivors Tuesday after a boat carrying up to 200 Rohingya Muslims capsized off the western Burmese coast. Many are feared drowned among the oft-persecuted minority, who were being evacuated late Monday from low-lying regions of Burma (also referred to as Myanmar) ahead […]
MUNICH – In early July, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone may come to Germany to attend the F1 race hosted by the Nürburgring south of Cologne. Ecclestone, the British mogul who has turned motor sports into a billion dollar business, enjoys showing up for the racing events to chat with the drivers, meet sponsors, and […]
DONETSK AND LUHANSK START UNIFICATION TALKS The self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have initiated talks that could lead to the two cities forming a single state after Sunday’s referendum demonstrated that voters wanted to secede from Kiev, Ria Novosti reports. This comes after Donetsk voiced its collective wish to follow in the footsteps […]
BD NEWS 24H (Bangladesh) Worldcrunch DHAKA – Bangladesh army officials have announced that the search for bodies in the collapsed Rana Plaza garment factory was to end Monday. The news comes three days after a woman was pulled alive from the rubble more than two weeks after the April 24 collapse. As of Monday afternoon, […]
DAWN, NATION, THE NEWS (Pakistan), BBC, THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch ISLAMABAD – Following the contested Pakistani elections, marred by accusations of voter fraud, several candidates participated in nationwide sit-in protests Monday, writes The News. Muslim League leader, Nawaz Sharif claimed victory in Saturday’s polls, but was short of a clear majority. “There was total rigging. […]
SEPARATISTS CLAIM VICTORY IN EAST UKRAINE REFERENDUM The Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favor of political independence from Kiev, with regional Electoral Commissions claiming to have counted close to 90% in support in Donetsk and over 96% in Luhansk in what The New York Times describes as “chaotic and sometimes […]
ISLAMABAD – If Pakistan’s May 11 parliamentary elections unfold according to recent national opinion surveys, two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif will once again take power in Islamabad. Deposed in a 1999 coup led by General Pervez Musharraf, Sharif fled for nearly a decade of Saudi-sponsored exile. Today, however, it is Musharraf who lives under house […]
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
YONHAP NEWS AGENCY, KOREA TIMES, KOREAN HERALD (Korea) Worldcrunch SEOUL – South Korean President Park Geun-hye fired her spokesman Yoon Chang-jung on Friday, amid allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman during an official visit to the United States. According to the President’s office, Yoon Chang–jung was dismissed on the grounds that he had […]
DAWN, THE NEWS, NATION (Pakistan) Worldcrunch ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s bloodiest election campaign ever came to an end overnight, marred by terror threats and attacks that killed at least 117 people including candidates, reports Dawn. On Friday, a motorbike bomb near party political offices killed three people and wounded 13 in the northwestern town of Miranshah, […]
TUNCELI – The recent death of two Turkish soldiers by a mine blast has brought the land mine issue to the country’s agenda once more – and at a moment ripe with hope for lasting peace with Kurdish minority. Turkey, a signatory of the Ottawa Treaty in 2003 was supposed to clear its territory of […]
Italy’s Giulio Andreotti died this week at the age of 94. His handling of the abduction of fellow politician Aldo Moro tells us much about the seven-time prime minister.
BBC (UK), AFP Worldcrunch DHAKA – A new fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh has killed eight people including the factory’s managing director and a police officer. The fire broke out overnight in a clothes factory in the capital Dhaka, racing through first three floors of the 11-story building. The factory’s 300 workers had […]
GUNFIRE IN UKRAINE ON VICTORY DAY Members of self-defense groups in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol told news agency Interfax that Kiev’s law enforcement units had opened fire as they attempted to storm a building belonging to the city’s police and detained officers who had disobeyed orders from Kiev. According to RT, unconfirmed reports […]