Four years ago, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford disappeared from the public eye for five days, telling his staff he was “Hiking the Apalachian trail.” Since then, the expression has become the euphemism in American popular culture for infidelity, but Sanford may have the last laugh. The 52-year-old Republican pulled off an unexpected political comeback, […]
Category: Geopolitics
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Boko Haram Raid Kills 55 In Nigeria
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE (Nigeria), BBC WORLD NEWS (UK), REUTERS Worldcrunch BAMA– Suspected members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram have killed 55 people during a raid on the Nigerian town of Bama, the military reported Wednesday. Around 200 armed members of the rebel group laid siege on this remote town in a predawn raid Tuesday, and […]
CORRIERE DELLA SERA, LA REPUBBLICA, RAI NEWS 24, LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch GENOA- A ship crashed into the control tower at Genoa’s port late Tuesday night, killing at least seven people. The ship had been turning to leave the harbor when it hit the tower, knocking most of it into the water, reports Corriere della […]
PUTIN REFERENDUM REQUEST IGNOREDPro-Russian activists in the region of Donetsk announced that a referendum on the region’s status would go ahead as planned on Sunday, despite yesterday’s call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone it, RT reports. Earlier Ukraine officials had said that the military operation in Eastern Ukrainewould continue regardless of whether the […]
While U Slept DEADLY FIGHTS IN EASTERN UKRAINE Ukrainian troops have briefly retaken the city hall building in the eastern city of Mariupol after heavy fights at barricades around the city held by pro-Russian activists overnight, CNN reports. A spokeswoman for the pro-Russian side said that five militants had been killed in the fights. Meanwhile, […]
AFP, ALJAZEERA (Qatar), PAK TRIBUNE (Pakistan), REUTERS, ZEE NEWS (India) Worldcrunch KURRUM – The death toll from a bombing at a political rally near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has increased to at least 25 as of Tuesday morning, making it the deadliest attack to date on the current national election campaign, says the AFP. The explosion […]
Italy’s seven-time prime minister, known as one of the most powerful and intriguing post-War politicians, died Monday at 94.
SEOUL – North Korea recently attacked newly elected South Korean President Park Geun-hye, making a jibe at the “venomous swish of her skirt.” The swish of South Korea’s long traditional silk skirts has long been used as a macho joke – if not an insult – targeted toward strong women. Aggressive women, women who do […]
SZ-NEWSBLOG (Germany) Worldcrunch MUNICH – The trial began Monday of National Socialist Underground (NSU) activist Beate Zschäpe, 38, and four other accused extreme right-wing terrorists, with all eyes fixated on the one female defendent. Along with four men, Zschäpe is accused of participation in two bombings and 10 murders, the first of which was committed […]
UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH (Bangladesh), AP Worldcrunch DHAKA – At least 15 people have died in and around the capital of Bangladesh on Monday in clashes between police and Islamic hardliners demanding that the nation implement an anti-blasphemy law. Eight people, including two policemen and a paramilitary soldier, were killed during clashes in Kanchpur just […]
OVER 30 DEAD IN EASTERN UKRAINEUkraine’s Interim Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced on his Facebook page that more than 30 pro-Russian militants, labelled as “terrorists,” had been killed in the army’s offensive in Eastern Ukraine, The Guardian reports. According to officials, four Ukrainian troops were killed and at least 30 were injured in the fighting. […]
HAARETZ, JERUSALEM POST (Israel), NEW YORK TIMES (U.S.), REUTERS, AFP, BBC Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – The situation in Syria has gotten both more dangerous and more complicated over the past 72 hours. On Monday, Chinese officials indirectly criticized Israel’s weekend strikes in Syria, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began a five-day visit to China. During a […]
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NATO, The Existential Question
With major geopolitical changes and severe economic restraints, some wonder if the military alliance is destined for the dustbin of history.
FIGHTING CONTINUES IN EASTERN UKRAINEUkrainian troops have launched a new offensive against pro-Russian militants in the eastern city of Sloviansk, with reports of shootings at rebel-held checkpoints outside the city, forcing them to retreat deeper into the town’s center. At least one woman was killed and another 11 pro-Russian militants were reported injured in the […]
Worldcrunch PARIS – La Stampa’s veteran war correspondent Domenico Quirico has been missing in Syria more than three weeks now. Our Turin-based partner released the news earlier this week after working quietly with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to trace the journalist. Heading for Homs, he crossed the Syrian border through Lebanon on April 6 […]
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Magazines, Mapped! Week Of May 3
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
In the first interview with the foreign press since his victory, the new Venezuelan President tells Le Monde that he will carry on Hugo Chavez’s policies, both at home and abroad.
NBC NEWS (USA) Worldcrunch Southern California firefighters early Friday were battling a growing, brush-fueled wildfire that had reached the beach in Ventura County and was pushing toward the upscale city of Malibu, officials said. The so-called Springs Fire, made worse by howling Santa Ana winds and unusually dry vegetation, was within “seven or eight miles” […]
ISLAMABAD – A senior prosecutor investigating the 2007 murder of Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was shot down in an ambush on Friday morning near Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali was also Pakistan’s main state prosecutor in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people were killed. Zulfikar was shot multiple times by gunmen […]
UKRAINE LAUNCHES MILITARY OPERATIONThe Ukrainian government launched what France24 describes as a “large-scale military operation that included an air assault” to retake the town of Sloviansk in the eastern part of the country. But Pro-Russian militants fought back and shot down at least two helicopters, killing two Ukrainian soldiers, with one dead and one injured […]
KCNA (North Korea), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) REUTERS Worldcrunch PYONGYANG – U.S. citizen Pae Jun-ho, detained in North Korea since last November, has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, North Korean state news reported on Thursday. Pae Jung-ho, known in the U.S. as Kenneth Bae, was tried on April 30, for allegedly […]
Lashkar-e-Taiba is the terrorist group responsible for the 2008 deadly attacks in Mumbai. Le Temps conducted a rare interview with its founder, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
From South Korea to Ukraine to the Alabama state house, politicians are ready to fight for their ideas. Literally. The latest example comes from Venezuela, where legislators got into a mega-brawl Tuesday over the contested results of the recent presidential election. Buckle up and roam around our map of Parliament fights to see lawmakers getting […]
VENEZUELA AL DÍA, EL TIEMPO (Venezuela), CNN MEXICO (Mexico). Worldcrunch CARACAS – As the country remains tense following the election of Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor, Venezuela’s National Assembly erupted in violence, as a brawl broke out between members of the ruling party (United Socialist Party) and representatives from the opposition (Democratic Unity Roundtable, which unites […]
IMF APPROVES $17 BILLION IN UKRAINE AIDThe International Monetary Fund approved a $17 billion bailout package over the next two years for Ukraine, with a first installment of $3.2 billion available immediately, Bloomberg reports. The loan “is dependent on strict economic reforms, including raising taxes and energy prices,” with reports of planned severe cuts in […]
BD NEWS 24 (Bangladesh), THE TIMES OF INDIA (India), BBC NEWS (UK), REUTERS Worldcrunch DHAKA – Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis joined May Day protests Wednesday demanding the death penalty for the owner of the garment factory building that collapsed last week near Dhaka, as the number of people killed in the disaster moves past […]
CASABLANCA – For a Moroccan tomato to be sold on the Algerian market, it first has to pass through Marseille. This sounds like a joke, but it describes a well-known reality: While in all other continents, countries group themselves in a common market or free trade zone (ASEAN in South-East Asia, Mercosur in Latin America, […]
The first question in European capitals remains: freedom for Yulia Tymoshenko
UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES PUT ON FULL ALERT Acting Ukrainian President Olexandr Turchynov announced that the country’s armed forces had been put on combat alert, as he fears Russia could launch a continental war, Interfax reports. According to Ria Novosti, Turchynov also admitted that “the power structures are incapable of operatively taking control of the situation […]
HAARETZ (Israel), BBC NEWS (UK), REUTERS Worldcrunch GAZA – An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed one Palestinian and wounded two others on Tuesday, in the first targeted attack since last November’s ceasefire. The victim, identified by locals as 29-year-old Haitham Misshal, was hit while riding his motorbike in the north of the Gaza strip. He […]
AP, DUTCH DAILY NEWS, DUTCH NEWS (The Netherlands); THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch AMSTERDAM– Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands formally abdicated Tuesday, making way for her son Willem-Alexander to become king — the first in the country for 123 years, reports The Guardian. After 33 years, the 75 year-old queen — whose title now reverts to […]
On April 15th, India announced that an “intrusion” of around 50 Chinese military personnel had crossed onto the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, and set up a tent camp. The Indian military immediately responded with tit for tat camp of tents nearby. Thus started the so-called “Tents Confrontation” standoff. The […]
CORRIERE DELLA SERA, LA REPUBBLICA, LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME – A day after a dramatic shooting outside Italian government headquarters, one of the two injured Carabinieri police officers remains in critical condition Monday as Italy’s entire political system attempts to begin its own recovery with a key confidence vote in Parliament. Sunday morning’s shooting […]
Even if outwardly the UK and Germany may appear on opposite sides of the debate over Brussels’ power, the European economic heavyweights share common interests.
MOSCOW WORRIED BY NATO BUILDUP Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow was concerned by the “unprecedented” increase in U.S. and NATO activity along the Russian border and urged U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel to help “turn down the rhetoric” over the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, Reuters reports. This comes after U.S. troops were deployed in the […]
ABC, TELECINCO (Spain) QUITO – It’s the latest sign of a global economy turned on its head. Ecuador, in search of qualified workers to fuel the economy, is actively trying to lure its nationals back home from Spain, which is mired in Europe’s ongoing debt crisis, reports Madrid-based daily ABC. The Ecuadorian government has announced […]
AL JAZEERA, BBC, ASSOCIATED PRESS Worldcrunch DAMASCUS -At least six people died and 20 others were wounded in a blast Monday targeting Syrian Prime Minister Wael Al-Halqi’s car in central Damascus. The explosive device was planted under a parked car in a busy intersection, and then detonated as Al-Halqi’s car drove by, reports AP. The […]
IN UKRAINE, MAYOR OF KHARKIV SHOT The Mayor of Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, Gennady Kernes, was shot in the back and admitted to a hospital where “doctors are fighting for his life,” The Kyiv Post reports. It is unclear who shot him, with the newspaper explaining that although Kernes was a supporter of ousted […]
A selection of the week’s magazine covers from around the world: from Einstein in Brazil to an old president in Italy to bird flu in China, and more…
RIA NOVOSTI, KOMMERSANT, THE MOSCOW TIMES (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – At least 38 people have died in a fire that broke out early Friday at a psychiatric hospital outside of Moscow. The death toll may rise further as many are still believed to be in the one-story facility in Ramenye, 120 kilometers north of Moscow. […]