Worldcrunch
WEST STRENGTHENS ANTI-RUSSIA RHETORIC In what marks a further escalation of the war of words between the pro-Ukraine and Russian Federation factions, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said Moscow wanted “to start World War III.” The comment came after Russian President Vladimir Putin increased military exercises along the border following yesterday’s deadly fights in Eastern […]
Horacio Cartes won a comfortable victory in last weekend’s election, putting the long-ruling Colorado Party back in power. But this time it may be a new brand of personality politics.
BANGLADESH NEWS 24 HOURS (Bangladesh), BBC NEWS (UK), AP Worldcrunch DHAKA – Police said Thursday that the owners of the eight-story building housing garment factories that collapsed in Bangladesh, killing at least 187, had ignored warnings not to allow their workers into the building. Search for survivors is continuing as hundreds are still unaccounted for, […]
A mild-mannered centrist, Enrico Letta has a well-placed uncle.
CAIRO – Rafah and other cities on the Sinai peninsula’s north coast have been suffering from pollution of the Mediterranean Sea and its underground water reservoir, which has caused serious environmental and health issues for the local population, experts argue. Some blame Israel for the pollution, while others attribute it to domestic sources. The National […]
KIEV LAUNCHES NEW ASSAULT IN EASTERN UKRAINE The Ukrainian military launched an offensive against pro-Russian militants just outside the eastern city of Sloviansk, sending armored vehicles and a helicopter, according to RTÉ, with Ukraine’s Interior Ministry reporting at least five dead on the pro-Russian side. According to AFP, civilians in the town hall have been […]
BANGLADESH NEWS 24 HOURS (Bangladesh), THE HINDU (India), REUTERS Worldcrunch DHAKA – At least 70 people have died and many more are feared trapped after an eight-story building housing garment factories and a shopping center collapsed on the outskirts of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. “We assume scores of people are still trapped inside and many of […]
KERRY AND LAVROV EXCHANGE BLAME In a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Moscow to “tone down escalatory rhetoric,” criticizing Russia for failing “to de-escalate” the crisis, The Guardian reports. During the conversation, Lavrov replied that Ukrainian ultranationalists were responsible for the collapse of the deal […]
ARUTZ SHEVA, HAARETZ, JERUSALEM POST (Israel); REUTERS Worldcrunch TEL AVIV – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons against civilians, an Israeli Intelligence official stated on Tuesday. Haaretz reports that the head of the Research Division at Military Intelligence, Brig. Gen. Itai Brun said: “To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has […]
20 MINUTES, LE MONDE, LE FIGARO (France), REUTERS Worldcrunch PARIS – French President François Hollande has condemned a car bomb attack that hit France’s embassy in Libya’s capital Tripoli early Tuesday, injuring two French guards. “France expects the Libyan authorities to shed light on this unacceptable act so that the perpetrators are identified and brought […]
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – The canonization of Pope John Paul II could be celebrated as soon as October, writes La Stampa, as Vatican sources say a presumed miracle has been approved by Church doctors. The beloved Polish pontiff, who died in April 2005, is on his way to sainthood in record time. […]
Families of the Turkish citizens killed three years ago in the raid of the Mavi Marmara say that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s apology means nothing to them.
LA NACION, ULTIMA HORA, MERCOPRESS (Paraguay) Worldcrunch ASUNCION – Self-made millionaire Horacio Cartes won Paraguay’s election on Sunday with 46% of the vote, returning the conservative Colorado Party to power. Cartes, 58, is a political novice, who had never voted before joining the Colorado Party (ANR) four years ago, reports MercoPress. He owns dozens of […]
SICHUAN RIBAO, CHINADAILY, XINHUA, GLOBAL TIMES (China) Worldcrunch LU SHAN – The death toll from this weekend’s earthquake in central China climbed to 188 on Monday, with thousands injured and forced from their homes, reports Xinhua. The quake’s epicenter was registered in Lushan County in the southwest of Sichuan Province at around 8 a.m. local […]
THE IRRAWADDY (Burma), HRW (USA), RADIO AUSTRALIA Worldcrunch RANGOON – A new report by NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) published on Monday says there is evidence of government complicity in crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing against Burma’s Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority. Since June 2012, more than 220 people have died in sectarian fighting between […]
BIDEN VISITS KIEV IN SHOW OF SUPPORT U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met with Ukrainian leaders Tuesday in a show of support for the new government. Speaking in the capital’s Parliament building, Biden said the U.S. stood with Ukraine in the face of “humiliating threats,” the BBC reports. Earlier, a phone conversation between Biden and […]
MOSCOW – There’s a novelty for the spring in two of the capital’s parks that has the air of democracy: Muscovites can now submit applications to hold public events on the official websites of Gorky Park and Sokolniki Park without having to get authorization from the authorities. This is part of a new program instituted […]
In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez’s handpicked heir will find securing his narrow victory was nothing compared to actually serving as president of a country with deep structural ills.
MOSCOW – As the U.S. woke up to discover that the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing had been identified and one had been killed, the news also came out that the two young men were Russian citizens, Chechen brothers who appear to have grown up in Dagestan. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a […]
Lilian Soto is a longshot to win Sunday’s election, but she may have already changed the last South American country to have female voting rights.
LE PARISIEN, LES ECHOS (France), LE JOURNAL DU CAMEROUN (Cameroon) Worldcrunch YAOUNDE – Seven members of a French family kidnapped in February while holidaying in northern Cameroon were freed on Friday. The Cameroonian government and the French government both issued statements on Friday saying the father, mother, uncle and four children aged between five and […]
SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (Germany) Worldcrunch MUNICH – This Saturday, April 20, a group of right-wing fraternities in Germany will hold what they are calling a “regional conference” in Munich. The extreme right-wing Danubia fraternity has also been invited to attend. Such a summit might not be particularly noteworthy except that April 20 also happens to be […]
AFP (France), BBC (UK), DAWN (Pakistan) Worldcrunch ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani court has ordered the arrest of ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf on Thursday, in connection with his March 2007 attempt to put judges under house arrest. After the Islamabad High Court rejected his bail application, Musharraf immediately left the premises, escorted by his bodyguards. It […]
BOSTON GLOBE, BOSTON HERALD, CNN (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch BOSTON – Amidst conflicting reports, the around-the-clock investigation continues three days after bombs killed three people and wounded more than 180 during the Boston Marathon. U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to fly to Boston on Thursday to lead an interfaith service for the victims of the […]
MINSK – At the age of nine he has already met a pope and a few presidents. He likes guns and carries around a gold-plated pistol he was given by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Wearing his mini-uniform, he attends military parades and takes part in high-level meetings. Meet Kolya, the youngest son of Belarusian […]
After the most serious terror attack on US soil since 9/11, some believe the culprits will turn out looking more like Timothy McVeigh and Anders Breivik than Osama Bin Laden.
UKRAINE TALKS BEGIN AFTER DEADLY CLASHES The four-way talks between Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and the EU began this morning in Geneva, after deadly clashes in the southeastern city of Mariupol as pro-Russian protesters tried to seize a military base. Three people were killed and another 13 injured, while 63 were detained, Russia’s Ria Novosti […]
BBC RADIO 4, THE INDEPENDENT (UK) REUTERS Worldcrunch LONDON – Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was honored Wednesday at a solemn funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral in central London. An estimated 2,300 people from 170 different countries attended the ceremony, which Reuters compared to Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965. The scene inside St Paul’s […]
CLARIN, LA CAPITAL (Argentina); 20 MINUTOS (Spain); TELESUR (Venezuela); REUTERS Worldcrunch CARACAS – Unrest after Sunday’s Venezuelan elections has left at least seven dead and more than 60 injured, with president-elect Nicolas Maduro and his opponent Henrique Capriles each blaming the other for provoking the escalating violence. Maduro, speaking early Wednesday, also blamed the CIA […]
UKRAINE STANDOFF CONTINUES At least five armored vehicles flying Russian banners were reported to have entered the town of Slaviansk, north of Donetsk, as the standoff between Kiev and pro-Russian protesters continues in the eastern part of Ukraine. Although most Western media organizations initially described the vehicles as Russian, Moscow media outlets and Der Spiegel […]
CLARIN (Argentina); EL NACIONAL (Venezuela); AP Worldcrunch CARACAS – Protests in the Venezuelan capital have turned violent in the wake of presidential electoral results, which gave Nicolas Maduro a slim majority but prompted opposition calls for a recount. After Sunday night’s official declaration of Maduro as winner with 50.7% of the vote, opposition candidate Henrique […]
BBC NEWS (UK), UNITED STATES FORCES KOREA, YONHAP (South Korea), REUTERS Worldcrunch SEOUL – As tensions mount on the Korean peninsula, a U.S. helicopter crashed Tuesday near South Korea’s border with the North while conducting routine flight operations. All 21 people aboard the helicopter survived. The exact cause of the crash is not yet known, […]
BOSTON GLOBE, TWITTER, CNN, REUTERS Worldcrunch BOSTON – Two explosions near the finish line at the prestigious Boston Marathon on Monday have killed at least two people and left dozens injured. During a news conference late Monday afternoon, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said a third explosion was registered at the John F. Kennedy Presidential […]
MOSCOW – On Friday, the United States made public its list of Russian officials who are barred to enter the U.S. under the Magnitsky Act. The law imposes visa and banking sanctions on Russians officials accused of human rights violations. It is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a corruption lawyer and whistleblower who was accused of […]
UKRAINE LAUNCHES MILITARY OPERATION Acting Ukraine President Olexandr Turchynov announced the launch of a military “anti-terrorist” operation in the northern region of Donetsk, The Kyiv Post reports. Speaking to the country’s parliament, Turchynov said that the operation “will be conducted step by step, responsibly, deliberately. The goal of these actions, I want to underline, is […]
EFE; BBC; FRANCE24 (France); EL UNIVERSAL, EL NACIONAL (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro declared himself the narrow winner of Venezuela’s highly anticipated presidential election, but his opponent has already demanded a recount. The Spanish news agency EFE reported the final tallies were 50.66% for Maduro and 49.07% for rival candidate […]
BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS, AP Worldcrunch BAGHDAD – A wave of coordinated attacks Monday in Baghdad, Kirkuk, and other towns has left dozens killed and hundreds of injured across Iraq. The exact number of people killed in the bombings is still unclear, with Al Jazeera reporting at least 19 casualties and AP […]
Ten years after Saddam’s fall, Iraq’s richest city is rife with courruption and can’t even clean up after itself.
STANDOFF CONTINUES IN EAST UKRAINE An ultimatum from acting Ukrainian President Olexandr Turchynov expired this morning, ignored by pro-Russian protesters who have been occupying state buildings in several East Ukrainian cities, increasing fears of further escalation in the region, the BBC reports. Although they were urged to lay down their weapons, armed protesters in Gorlovka […]
After a successful visit to Israel, President Obama has apparently turned the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio over to Secretary of State John Kerry, says Martin Indyk, a leading Middle East expert. Past secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, Cyrus Vance, James Baker, and Warren Christopher, distinguished for their work on Middle East issues, always had their president’s complete […]