Worldcrunch
CHITTAGONG – In the port of Chittagong, containers pile up like colorful cubes of sugar. Dozens of ships scurry down the estuary of the Karnaphuli, the river that winds around the economic capital of Bangladesh to finally stream down into the Bay of Bengal. The port is bustling. The newly built mooring container terminal (NCT) […]
OVER 200 DROWN IN SOUTH SUDAN FERRY ACCIDENT Between 200 and 300 people are believed to have drowned in a ferry accident on the White Nile river, AFP reports an army spokesman as saying. The civilians were trying to flee from the town of Malakal where there is intense fighting, but the boat was overcrowded. […]
CNN (USA), LE FIGARO (France), REUTERS Worldcrunch U.S. troops lent “limited technical support” in France’s bloody and failed bid in Somalia to rescue Dennis Allex, a French intelligence agent who’d been held hostage by al-Qaeda linked terrorists since 2009. President Barack Obama detailed the U.S. military involvement in the Friday night mission in a letter […]
FRANCE 24, LIBERATION (France) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – On the third day of the French-led “Operation Serval” to drive the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group MUJAO out of northern Mali, air strikes have been carried out Monday on Timbuktu and Gao, two key rebel strongholds. Four Rafales fighter jets pounded rebel training camps, logistic depots and infrastructure […]
EFE, GRANMA, PRENSA LATINA (Cuba) Worldcrunch HAVANA- Effective from midnight local time on January 14, thanks to a new reform by the Cuban government, Cuban citizens are now allowed to apply for passports, without having to apply for special exit visas. Photo: Rindo75 via Wikipedia First announced in October, these new regulations include an extended […]
BANGKOK “SHUTDOWN”Anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok are blocking the main access points to Thailand’s capital as they try to shut down the city to increase pressure on the government and on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to resign. It comes just a few weeks ahead of a general election, The Bangkok Post reports. According to Reuters, 10,000 […]
LE MONDE, LIBERATION, FRANCE 24 (France) Worldcrunch BAMAKO – France has launched a military intervention in Mali, with President François Hollande declaring that the “terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists” in the northern part of the country “show a brutality that threatens us all.” In the declaration late Friday, Hollande added that the operation would […]
The killing of three Kurdish activists in Paris shines new light on a longstanding fact of a millions of people spread across large swaths of terrritory, but with no nation of their own.
FRANCE INFO, SLATE AFRIQUE (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – A French woman of Guadeloupian origins, Rosita Destival, has filed suit against the French state for not having emancipated one of her ancestors after the legal abolition of slavery. The woman’s lawyer cites the 2001 bill stating that slavery was now considered to be a crime against […]
AL JAZEERA, BBC, LAHORE TIMES (Pakistan) Worldcrunch KARACHI/QUETTA/SWAT– Pakistan has declared three days of mourning after a string of bombings killed more than 100 people, while nine others died in separate shootings. Photo: CIA via Wikipedia In the northwest city of Quetta, a suicide bomber entered a snooker club on Thursday that was close to […]
XINHUA (China), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch KUNMING – At least 40 people were believed to be buried in a massive landslide Friday morning in the Yunnan capital city, with 18 confirmed dead. The rescuers are still digging for survivors. Ten residential homes were crushed under tons of rubble and mud in this region of southwest China […]
BEIJING – After a five-year hiatus, Shinzo Abe is back as Japan’s Prime Minister. What will this mean for China-Japan relations, which are at a historic 40-year low because of the Senkaku Islands dispute? According to observers, Chinese officials had been expecting the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to step down from power, so they […]
Just before the first anniversary of the deadly sinking of the Italian cruise ship, La Repubblica daily’s website posts a never-before-seen video of the final desperate moments.
THE GUARDIAN (UK), CBS NEWS (US) Worldcrunch After wrapping up an unusual and notably tight-lipped visit to North Korea, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt urged the Pyongyang regime on Thursday to open up to the Internet or risk the further economic consequences of isolation. “As the world is becoming increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually […]
Worldcrunch CARACAS – Thursday was supposed to be the day Hugo Chavez was inaugurated for a fourth term as Venezuela’s president. But the ceremony has been postponed as he is recovering from a reported “severe” lung infection after his latest cancer surgery in Havana, Cuba. Though Chavez has not been seen in public for more […]
LE PARISIEN, EUROPE 1, FRANCE INFO (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – Three Kurdish women activists, including a founding member of the militant group PKK, have been found dead inside a Kurdish cultural center in Paris, each with gunshot wounds. The bodies of the women were found early on Thursday inside the information center of the Kurdish […]
Top Congolese leaders say it’s time the DRC got off the US currency and returned to the local franc. But ending “dollarization” comes with risks if not done properly.
HÜRRIYET (Turkey), THE GUARDIAN (UK), REUTERS, FRANCE 24 Worldcrunch ISTANBUL– The Syrian government has announced it would free 2,130 civilian prisoners on Wednesday, in exchange for the release of 48 Iranians held by Syrian rebels. Iranian state TV confirmed that the 48 hostages, captured by the Free Syrian Army back in August, had been freed. […]
BBC, EL NACIONAL, EL UNIVERSAL, ULTIMAS NOTICIAS (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS- After a three-hour debate, the Venezuelan National Assembly has approved the request of President Hugo Chávez to postpone the inauguration for his new term in office, which was scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 10. Photo: Wilson Dias/ABr via Wikipedia According to the BBC, the Venezuelan constitution […]
INDIA TIMES, HINDUSTAN TIMES (India) Worldcrunch NEW DELHI – India lashed out at Pakistan after two Indian soldiers were killed in a firefight in the disputed region of Kashmir, and reports spread that one of the soldier’s body had been mutilated. India’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement about the incident that used the terms “barbaric […]
“FRIENDS OF SYRIA” TO MEET IN PARIS ON SUNDAY Foreign Ministers of the group of 11 countries dubbed “Friends of Syria,” including the U.S., UK and France, will meet with the opposition group Syrian National Coalition on Sunday in Paris, AFP quotes an official source as saying. On the battleground, opposition fighters are still fighting […]
BBC, BELFAST TELEGRAPH (Northern Ireland), THE IRISH TIMES, RTE (Ireland) Worldcrunch BELFAST– The North Ireland capital of Belfast saw its fifth consecutive night of violence last night after a largely peaceful demonstration at City Hall erupted into riot. The Union flag over Belfast City Hall. Photo: Anosmia via Flickr The Belfast Telegraph reports that loyalist […]
BBC NEWS (UK), PAKTRIBUNE (Pakistan), REUTERS Worldcrunch ISLAMABAD – At least seven militants have been killed in two U.S. drone attacks close to the town of Mir Ali in northwestern Pakistan, a region along the Afghan border that is a key stronghold of the Taliban. According to the news service Paktribune, unmanned aircraft fired three […]
TRAPANI – After Pretoria until 1993, and Alabama through the early 1960’s, the Italian city of Trapani has discovered Apartheid in 2013. The cold bureaucratic language of Trapani City Council member Andrea Vassalo leaves little room for doubts: the head of the council’s urban territory commission cited the “frequent complaints of the indigenous” (using exactly […]
BBC, CNN, NEW YORK TIMES Worldcrunch WASHINGTON – Barack Obama’s choice for Secretary of Defence is Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran and former Republican senator from Nebraska. White House officials have also confirmed to multiple sources that Obama is set to name his counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan as the new director of the CIA. […]
URBAN TIMES, XINHUA (China), MING PAO (Hong Kong) Worldcrunch BEIJING – A top Chinese official announced on Monday that China would put an end to its controversial “Reeducation Through Labor” system. According to the Urban Times, addressing a meeting in Beijing, new Political and Legal Affairs Committee head Meng Jianzhu, said: “the use of Reeducation […]
SOUTH SUDAN CEASEFIRE TALKS BEGINGovernment and rebel representatives of South Sudan have both confirmed the beginning of ceasefire talks in neighboring Ethiopia, almost a month after the alleged coup attempt from soldiers loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar. Read more from Al Arabiya. STATE OF EMERGENCY IN N.Y. AS COLD CONTINUESNew York Gov. Andrew […]
CHINA MEDIA PROJECT, SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (Hong Kong), REUTERS Worldcrunch GUANGDONG– Journalists at the Chinese newspaper The Southern Weekly (also known as the Southern Weekend) have gone on a rare strike, claiming in an open letter that a New Year’s editorial calling for political reform and protection of individual rights was censored and re-written […]
THE AGE, AAP, THE MERCURY, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) Worldcrunch As wildfires rage across eastern and southern Australia, authorities warn that persistent record temperatures could spark the country’s worst fire catastrophe in recorded history over the coming days. With at least 100 people unaccounted for, people are being told to be diligent amid warnings that […]
ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS, YONHAP NEWS (South Korea) Worldcrunch PYONGYANG – Google Chairman Eric Schmidt became the highest profile American corporate executive ever to visit North Korea, arriving Monday on a mission led by former US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, the Associated Press reports. Richardson, also a former governor of the state of […]
IRAQ’S PM URGES FALLUJAH TO ‘EXPEL’ AL-QAEDA Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on “the people of Fallujah and its tribes to expel the terrorists” so that “their areas are not subjected to the danger of armed clashes,” the BBC reports state television channel Iraqiya as saying. Last week, al-Qaeda-linked fighters took control of Fallujah […]
International security experts are watching Nigeria “s radical Islamist movement Boko Haram with concern. The militant group has destabilized northern Nigeria and attracted the attention of other jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda affiliates gaining strength in neighboring northern Mali. Boko Haram is highly diffuse. It has an important Islamic revival dimension, but also has political and […]
-Analysis- SANTIAGO – After presenting their closing arguments, Peru and Chile are now awaiting the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on a maritime border dispute dating back to the 1980s. While the verdict is not expected for several months, how both countries respond to the ruling when it is […]
BBC NEWS, ITV (UK) Worldcrunch BIRMINGHAM – Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for urging girls to attend school, has been released from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, reports ITV. The Pakistani schoolgirl activist was admited at the hospital in October following an attack on October 9 on her schoolbus in […]
XINHUA (China) Worldcrunch ZHENGZHOU – A fire that broke out in a private orphanage in China’s central Henan province has killed seven children, according to local government officials. Four children were pronounced dead at the scene while three died in the ambulance. Another child is receiving treatment in a local hospital. Rescuers did not know […]
TELESUR (Venezuela), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch HAVANA – According to a top official, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is battling a “severe” lung infection that has caused respiratory failure, reports state-funded media TeleSur. Fifty-eight-year Chavez underwent cancer surgery for the fourth time in Cuba on Dec. 11 and then developed a respiratory infection, according […]
CAIRO – The Muslim Brotherhood has been accused of illegally receiving 10 billion Egytian pounds ($1.5 billion) from the United States government. Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah ordered an immediate investigation into the charges on Thursday. Lawyers Mohamed Ali Abd al-Wahab and Yasser Mohamed Sayab filed the complaint, in which they quoted Mitt Romney — the […]
CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATIONS OPEN IN SOUTH SUDAN Representatives of South Sudan’s government have started negotiating a ceasefire with opposition forces in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, three weeks after the outbreak of violence in the world’s youngest nation, AFP reports. ISRAEL SUCCESSFULLY TESTS MISSILE SHIELD SYSTEM Israel carried out a successful test of its future […]
HÜRRIYET (Turkey) Worldcrunch ISTANBUL – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on his nation’s families to have at least three children, Turkey’s daily Hurriyet reports. Erdogan used a speech to declare that the strength of a nation lies within its families, which must be fortified with more children. “One or two children means […]
BUENOS AIRES HERALD, CLARIN (Argentina), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch BUENOS AIRES – Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has sent a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to hand over the Falkland Islands. In the letter, writes Clarin, Kirchner asks Cameron to comply with a 1960 UN resolution that “proclaimed the necessity […]