How the intersection of show biz and state power looks from China.
Category: Geopolitics
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch ROME– Like every other weekday, 100,000 free papers were handed out in the main metro stations around the Italian capital on Tuesday. But, reports La Stampa, the regular menu of political back-stabbing, soccer trade rumors and crime blotter were missing. In its place were hard-to-believe reports about an Italy and the […]
U.S. WARNS OF BOMB THREAT ON SOCHI The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned airline companies to watch out for explosive materials that could be hidden in cosmetic tubes, including toothpaste, CNN reports. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul said that according to the bulletin, the explosives could be used during flights to or in Sochi, where […]
TUNISIALIVE, MOSAïQUE FM (Tunisia), BBC NEWS (UK), AFP Worldcrunch TUNIS – Chokri Belaid, a senior leader in Tunisia“s left-leaning opposition Democratic Patriotic party, was shot dead as he was leaving his house in Tunis. “My brother was assassinated. I am desperate and depressed,” Belaid’s brother Abdelmajid Belaid told the Agence France Presse news agency. Chokri […]
CNN, OPEN SOCIETY JUSTICE INITIATIVE Worldcrunch From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, South Africa to Sweden, a new report identifies as many as 54 countries allegedly involved in the controversial CIA-run “extraordinary rendition” and detention program aimed at combatting terrorism after the September 11 attacks. The human rights watchdog group, the Open Society Justice Initiative took an […]
AFP, AP, BBC (UK), NEWS.COM.AU, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) Worldcrunch HONIARA– At least five people have been killed in the Solomon Islands after an undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami at 12:12pm local time Wednesday. @wxbrad The 8.0 earthquake struck near the Santa Cruz island and the worst damage was reported on the west coast, with […]
THE KOREA TIMES (South Korea), URIMINZOKKIRI (North Korea), AFP Worldcrunch North Korea, which is expected to carry out a third nuclear test any day now, has released a video depicting a city that resembles New York under missile attack. The footage shows a dream sequence, set to the tune of Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie’s […]
GULF NEWS (UAE), THE INDEPENDENT (BANGLADESH), BBC (UK), AP, AFP Worldcrunch DHAKA – On Tuesday, a Bangladesh war crimes tribunal sentenced Abdul Quader Molla, a leader of the country’s main Islamic party, to a life sentence for crimes against humanity during the independence war against Pakistan in 1971. In anticipation of the verdict, violent riots […]
U.S. CURBS DRONE STRIKES IN PAKISTAN AMID PEACE TALKS The United States has sharply reduced its drone strikes following a request from the Pakistani government, which is currently pursuing peace talks with the Taliban, The Washington Post quotes U.S. officials as saying. This does not, however, mark an end to such attacks to prevent imminent […]
KARZAI HAD SECRET MEETINGS WITH THE TALIBAN Afghan President Hamid Karzai has held covert negotiations with Taliban officials, aimed at forging a peace agreement without the participation of Western allies, The New York Times reports. The discovery of these meetings seems to explain Karzai’s recent combative behavior toward the U.S., the Times reports, citing his […]
ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS, BBC (UK) Worldcrunch JERUSALEM – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak appeared to admit for the first time that his country launched an air raid last week on a military research center near Damascus. Barak’s apparent acknowledgment of the Jan. 30 strike on the Syrian target was followed up Monday by a veiled […]
LIBYA’S CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTROYED Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s lethal arsenal of chemical weapons have quietly been destroyed over the last three months, The New York Times reports. The U.S. and Libya used a transportable oven technology to destroy hundreds of bombs and artillery rounds filled with a deadly mustard agent that American officials feared could be […]
Nawal El Moutawakel was ignored by Morocco when competing in the 1984 Olympics — until gold made her a national hero. Now she’s looking to clear another hurdle or two.
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Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch Dead At 88
AP, NEW YORK POST (U.S.) Worldcrunch NEW YORK– Former New York Mayor Ed Koch died early Friday at the age of 88. A spokesperson said that Koch, who ran NYC city hall through most of the 1980s, died of congestive heart failure. PATRICK J. CASHIN & US NAVY In and out of the hospital for […]
-OpEd- CAIRO – As Egypt sinks deeper into crisis, the main political parties, which are fighting for power, are now starting to talk about a “national dialogue.” If they are unable to reach an agreement, the army might have to step in. When he confused the democratic ideals of the Egyptian revolution with the political […]
BBC, JERUSALEM POST (Israel), THE NEW YORK TIMES, VOA (U.S.), REUTERS Worldcrunch DAMASCUS– Russia has expressed its concern at an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria that left four dead and two injured says the BBC. Various reports about the airstrike differ in details, while Israel remains silent about its action. Sources told Reuters on Wednesday […]
NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS, ATLANTIC WIRE (US) Worldcrunch BEIJING –The New York Times says that it has been repeatedly targeted by Chinese cyber-attacks over the past four months, following a report the newspaper had published detailing allegations of hidden wealth of China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. The American Newspaper claimed that these hacking attempts failed. […]
HIGH LEVELS OF RADIATION AT UK NUCLEAR SITEAll nonessential workers at a nuclear reprocessing plant in the British town of Sellafield were instructed to remain at home after elevated levels of radioactivity were detected at the site, The Guardian reports. But the company explained that the levels didn’t represent a risk for the public or […]
SYRIA ACCUSED OF RAZING NEIGHBORHOODSThe Syrian government is alleged to have unlawfully demolished entire neighborhoods in parts of Damascus and Hama to punish civilians in areas where the regular army had been fighting with the opposition, NGO Human Rights Watch said in a report published this morning. The study is based on satellite pictures that […]
EL TIEMPO, SEMANA (Colombia) MILENIO (Mexico) Worldcrunch BOGOTÁ– Colombia’s Justice Minister announced a government proposal to decriminalize personal use of synthetic drugs such as ecstasy and methamphetamines. If the proposal, as laid out by Justice Minister Ruth Stella Correa this week, passes Congress, it will authorize the carrying and consumption of what are known to […]
LE PARISIEN, LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR (France), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch PARIS – French troops have taken control of the airport in the town of Kidal, one of the last major rebel strongholds in northern Mali. French Armed Forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard confirmed Wednesday that French troops had landed overnight in Kidal – the third biggest […]
BLOOMBERG, VELO NEWS (USA), THE INDEPENDENT (UK) Worldcrunch AIGLE – The UCI (International Cycling Union), has given in to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and American Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and disbanded its independent commission on the Lance Armstrong affair, opting instead to create a “truth and reconciliation panel” that looks more broadly at investigating the culture […]
UKRAINE PARLIAMENT DEBATES AMNESTY FOR PROTESTERS The Ukrainian Parliament is expected to debate an amnesty for pro-EU protesters who are being detained after the recent clashes in Kiev and other cities around the country, German news agency DPA reports. According to the capital’s Deputy Mayor Anatoly Golubchenko, the property damage from the ongoing protests in […]
ABC AUSTRALIA, THE BRISBANE TIMES, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) Worldcrunch SUNSHINE COAST– While some spots in the northern hemisphere are covered in snow, the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia has been covered in something that looks a little bit like it – sea foam. Revellers on the Sunshine Coast lap up yesterday’s foam-tacularbit.ly/WtlLHp #bigwet Pic: […]
MOPTI – Each dugout canoe that arrives on the banks of Mopti, unloads its passengers, cargo — and the latest news. In this dry and cold season, it takes a few days to reach Gao and Timbuktu, which are further up the Niger River. These two cities are now seeing a crucial phase of the […]
AL AHRAM (Egypt), MASRAWY (Egypt), AL-MASRY AL-YOUM (Egypt) Worldcrunch CAIRO – As Al-Masry Al-Youm describes it on Monday, President Mohammed Morsi’s latest speech to the nation, meant to calm Egypt after days of deadly unrest, only “added fuel to the fire.” The Egyptian President announced the state of emergency Sunday night in the major Canal […]
UKRAINE PM RESIGNS Ukraine Prime Minister Mykola Azarov offered his resignation early Tuesday in an effort to end the country’s political crisis. This was followed by news that the Ukrainian Parliament had voted to repeal nine of the 12 anti-protest laws that reignited the anti-government protests two weeks ago. SYRIAN DEFENSE MINISTER’S HOMETOWN BOMBED According […]
FRANCE 24, FRANCE TV INFO, AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE (France), REUTERS Worldcrunch PARIS – French forces, supported by the Mali army have captured both the rebel strongholds of Timbuktu and Gao in a fast-moving offensive against Al Qaeda-linked fighters occupying northern Mali. Battling together to loosen the grip of Islamist fighters in the country’s north, French […]
DER SPIEGEL (Germany), THE GUARDIAN (U.K) Worldcrunch BERLIN – This is not your daddy’s “video game.” Privacy activists in Berlin are protesting against surveillance video cameras by destroying and debilitating them, as part of a social game where you earn points for every CCTV taken down. The Guardian spoke to the anonymous creator of the […]
REUTERS, BEERSHEBA – Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for seven years, has surprised doctors by showing brain activity and a “certain degree of consciousness” for the first time since his debilitating stroke. The extent of the 84-year-old’s response is still limited as he cannot move any muscle, though […]
FOLHA DE S.PAULO, O GLOBO, ZERO HORA (Brazil) Worldcrunch SANTA MARIA – At least 245 people were killed early Sunday in a fire that swept through a popular nightclub in the city of Santa Maria, in the Southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, reports O Globo. The fire broke out at around 2 a.m. […]
SYRIA TALKS TO FOCUS ON TRANSITION Talks about Syria’s future are due to continue today in Geneva and will focus on the thorny issue of power transfer, amid reports that the Israeli air force bombed a Syrian base in the town of Latakia. Yesterday, both parties agreed to let women and children leave the besieged […]
PORT SAID – Following an unpopular court ruling linked to a deadly burst of violence last year, clashes in this northern Egyptian city have left at least 30 dead on Saturday. The Ministry of Health announced the death toll in a statement, added that more than 300 people have been injured in the clashes. According […]
AL ARABIYA (Saudi Arabia/Egypt), MASRAWY (Egypt) Worldcrunch CAIRO – At least 16 people have been injured in and around Tahrir Square as both protesters and Egyptian police geared up for major demonstrations Friday to mark two years since the Arab world’s uprising coalesced in the region’s largest country on Jan. 25, 2011. Ahead of what […]
GLOBAL TIMES, XINHUA (China), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch PYONGYANG – For the second straight day, North Korea has lashed out at its enemies, raising the stakes in the showdown over its nuclear program by warning Friday that new UN economic sanctions would amount to a “declaration of war.” The KCNA North Korean news agency, relayed a […]
AFP, FRANCE 24 (France), REUTERS Worldcrunch BAMAKO- Two weeks after the start of the French military intervention in Mali, the Ansar Dine Islamist militant group has split into two, with the dissident faction calling for peace negotiations. The dissident group is calling itself the Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA) according to France 24. In a […]
CAIRO – While still both recognizing the ongoing struggle for freedom and social justice, the Muslim Brotherhood and its political party on one side and the opposition on the other will mark the second anniversary of the Jan. 25 Egyptian revolution in two very different ways. As the Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party […]
ABC.AU, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia), REUTERS Worldcrunch PRAGUE – Meet Karel Schwarzenberg, the bow-tied, 75-year-old prince who channels the Sex Pistols and wants to be president of the Czech Republic. Born into a family that owned large amounts of Czech and Austrian lands, the Schwarzenbergs fled when the Communists took over in 1948, writes Reuters. […]
CLARIN (ARGENTINA), EL NACIONAL (VENEZUELA) EL PAIS (Spain) Worldcrunch MADRID – Spain’s most widely circulated newspaper El País was forced Thursday to retract a story and image it had claimed showed Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez undergoing surgery. With information scant on the Venezuelan President, who is in Cuba for cancer treatment, the front-page story was […]
FRANCE – They are the “invisibles.” Behind closed doors, they cook, clean, take care of children and the elderly. They are often the victims of abuse – sexual and physical – they are underpaid and overworked – sometimes for more than 65 hours a week, they don’t get benefits and rarely have organizations to defend […]