Worldcrunch
BERLIN – Two of the world’s economic superpowers have spent the past days picking their leaders for the future. Barack Obama and the Democrats are now ensconced in the U.S. while China’s big political show began with this week’s opening of the National Congress of the Communist Party, where over 2,000 delegates will decide on […]
MANDALAY – A narrow little street between two houses, filthy walls on both sides, baby clothes hung out to dry – is this really where the enemies of the state reside? But the taxi driver is sure. He gets out of his car, walks down the alley and turns to wave me on. We reach […]
MOSCOW – Barack Obama’s re-election has allowed many people in Moscow to sigh with relief: The Cold War really is over. And that is the most important take-away from the Russian capital after the 2012 presidential election in the United States. The Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, had surprised everyone during the campaign by citing Russia […]
LA NACION, BUENOS AIRES HERALD (Argentina), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch BUENOS AIRES – Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Argentina’s capital — and other cities in the country and around the world — in a coordinated protest against the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, reports La Nacion. The massive […]
ATLANTICO, MARIANNE (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – Since becoming France’s first lady, Valerie Trierweiler has caused “nothing but trouble” at the magazine where she’s been working, according to a new biography of her boss, French publisher Arnaud Lagardère. Lagardère, the billionaire owner of French celebrity weekly Paris Match, is said to view the 47-year-old divorcee and […]
VIENTIANE – The feeling of lethargy still lingers in the streets of old Vientiane. Things, however, are beginning to change: the time for indolence is over. The capital of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River, is brushing off its image as a sleepy, colonial market town by hosting the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) this […]
Beginning this week, there will be a new generation of Chinese leaders. The world’s media are all highly attentive to China’s coming changes and the policy direction of China’s new leaders. I’d like to share my personal views, focused on the domestic issues such as the economy and the government. I believe the focus of […]
LA HORA (Guatemala), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch SAN MARCOS – The death toll rose Thursday to at least 48 after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Some 20 others have been reported missing, says BBC News. Forty deaths have been confirmed in the San Marcos province and another eight in Quetzaltenango, […]
CITI FM (Ghana), AFP (France) Worldcrunch A multi-story shopping complex has collapsed in the Ghanaian capital Accra Wednesday morning. Ghanaian public radio Citi FM reports that at least six people have been rescued. Reports suggest there could be as many as 200 people trapped inside, with many feared dead. There have been three reported deaths […]
BBC NEWS (UK), AL ARABIYA (United Arab Emirates) Worldcrunch ABU DHABI – British Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday a safe exit and immunity “could be arranged” for President Bashar al-Assad if it would end the bloodshed in Syria. Speaking to Al Arabiya TV during a diplomacy and trade visit to Abu Dhabi, Mr. Cameron […]
BBC NEWS (UK), BFM.RU (Russia), REUTERS Worldcrunch MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and replaced him with a loyal political ally after his ministry was involved in a corruption scandal. Putin’s decision appears to be connected to a probe announced by the Russia’s top investigative agency two weeks ago. […]
GULFNEWS.com (Dubai), EL WATAN (Algeria), FASO.net (Burkina Faso), BBC (UK), JEUNE AFRIQUE (France) Worldcrunch The situation in the north of Mali is provoking increasing anxiety in its neighbors. Fundamentalist Islamic rebels close to Al Qaeda have taken over the region, while the Mali government now controls only one-third of the country. The United Nations Security […]
PARIS – If the images didn’t show a large scar on Ghazi Béji’s chest, the photo collection of his journey might pass for a mere holiday album. Yet the 28-year-old Tunisian has a very different tale to tell: in seven months, Béji traveled across seven countries in hiding, facing hunger, fear, cold and physical violence. […]
XINHUA (China), NEW YORK TIMES, AP (USA), RADIO AUSTRALIA, (Australia) Worldcrunch BEIJING – China is mobilizing its security apparatus and tightening its grip over the public space ahead of the 18th Communist Party Congress, which begins on Nov. 8. A volunteer security force of 1.4 million people has been assembled for the congress. Workers and […]
KOMMERSANT, 36ON.RU, MOSCOW TIMES (Russia)

 Worldcrunch VORONEZH – Russian Billionaire (and owner of the Brooklyn Nets) Mikhail Prokhorov has announced that he will open a “School for Citizen Leaders,” in this city of nearly one million, some 500 kilometers due south of Moscow, 36on.ru reports. The stated goal of the school will be to find […]
THE CARIBBEAN JOURNAL, CNN, NBC, AP (USA), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch Haiti is pleading for international help in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as more than a million Haitians risk being victims of food shortages. The Caribbean Journal reports that Johan Peleman, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ […]
FOLHA DE S.PAULO (Brazil) Worldcrunch SAO PAULO – One policeman is killed every 32 hours in Brazil, according to a new report by the State Public Security Department shows. Official statistics show that at least 229 police officers – from both civil and military police – were killed in Brazil this year, reports Brazilian daily […]
THE HANKYOREH, KCNA (North Korea), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch SEOUL – Rumors are spreading fast that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, is pregnant. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published a picture of her wearing a long coat that could be hiding an imperial baby bump. Ri Sol Ju […]
AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AL ARABIYA (United Arab Emirates), REUTERS Worldcrunch RIYADH – At least 10 people were killed when a truck carrying flammable liquids crashed in Riyadh on Thursday, triggering a large explosion, reports Al Jazeera The blast occurred after the fuel tanker crashed into a concrete flyover in the Saudi capital. According to Al […]
MOSCOW – On the evening of October 10th, Turkish Air Force jets forced Syrian Air flight 442, a civilian passenger plane, to land at the airport in Ankara, Turkey. They suspected that the plane, which was carrying 35 passengers from Moscow to Damascus, contained cargo not allowed under the rules of civilian aviation. After searching […]
LE MONDE (France), ANSA, MISNA (Italy) Worldcrunch TRIPOLI – Some 100 armed men stormed Libya’s parliament late Tuesday, preventing the confirmation of 30 cabinet members for the new government of prime minister Ali Zeidan, Italian news agency ANSA reported. Fighters have invaded parliament several times before, each time bringing proceedings to a halt. “This has […]
EL COLOMBIANO, EL TIEMPO (Colombia), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch POPAYAN – Six police officers were killed while on patrol in the South West province of Cauca, reports BBC News. The ambush took place in a rural zone between the towns of Puerto Tejada and Villa Reca, reports El Tiempo. The investigation has shown that the […]
KIEV POST (Ukraine), INTERNEWS EURASIA (U.S.), DIE ZEIT (Germany), BBC NEWS (U.K.), HURRIYET (Turkey) Worldcrunch KIEV – The Russia-friendly Party of Regions of incumbent president Viktor Yanukovych was claiming victory Monday in the closely watched Ukraine parliamentary elections. Together with its Communist party allies, the Regions party says it will have a simple majority in […]
HAARETZ, THE JERUSALEM POST (Israel), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch GAZA CITY – An Israel Air Force strike hit a Palestinian rocket launching pad and two militant activity sites in the Gaza Strip on Monday, reports Haaretz. The strike ended an Egyptian-brokered truce, which had calmed cross-border fighting since Thursday. The informal cease-fire went into effect […]
ANKARA – Turkish opposition groups plan to defy a government ban of a rally outside parliament to mark Turkey’s Republic Day. The Oct.29 rally has been banned by the Ankara Governor’s office, who claim to have received intelligence that warns of mass provocation at the rally. If the banned protest takes place as planned, legal […]
CAIRO – Mohamed Gad al-Rab, more commonly known as Sambo, was not a committed revolutionary. He did not participate in the 18-day uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, nor the immediate events that followed it. Inadvertently, he became an icon in events after much of the history had been made, having been caught up in the […]
LA STAMPA, CORRIERE DELLA SERA (Italy) Worldcrunch MILAN – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for tax fraud in his dealings with the Mediaset televsion network, which he owns. The case, which took six years to arrive at a verdict, is the latest in a long string […]
NEW YORK TIMES (U.S.), THE BBC (UK) Worldcrunch BEIJING – China’s foreign ministry Friday blocked access to the website of the New York Times in response to the newspaper’s investigation into the wealth of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s family. The article by David Barboza, which was published late Thursday, reported that Wen’s extended family have […]
KIEV – “If we don’t stop Yanukovych, we will lose Ukraine…” Speaking in perfect Russian, one of Yulia Tymoshenko’s young supporters is talking about the upcoming election while working a shift at one of the protest tents set up along Kiev’s main street, Khreshchatyk. The stakes she sees in Sunday’s election are high indeed. “We […]
AL JAZEERA (Qatar), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch MAYMANA – A suicide bomb attack killed at least 41 people outside a mosque in northern Afghanistan. The worshippers had gathered for prayers to mark Eid al-Adha, reports BBC News. This important Muslim holiday, also called the Feast of Sacrifice, celebrates the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage […]
XINHUA (China), WALL STREET JOURNAL (US) Worldcrunch BEIJING – Disgraced politician Bo Xilai has been formally expelled from China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and stripped of his legal immunity according to Chinese state media. Xinhua news agency reported that the NPC had removed Bo from his post last month, but only made […]
AFP, ASIANEWS, IRRAWADDY (Burma), REUTERS, AL JAZEERA (Qatar), Worldcrunch A crisis is building in western Burma where one of the world’s largest groups of stateless people, the Muslim Rohingya, are being burned out of their villages by Buddhist Burmese nationalists. Since Sunday, several people have been killed and hundreds of homes have been burned. Thousands […]
JERUSALEM POST (Israel), NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, AFP (France), REUTERS (U.S.), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AHRAM ONLINE (Egypt), LIBERTÉ ALGÉRIE (Algeria) Worldcrunch JERUSALEM – An informal ceasefire brokered by new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was holding in most places Thursday between the Palestinian group Hamas and the Israeli army, the Jerusalem Post reported. The truce comes after three […]
AP, CBS (USA) Worldcrunch CAIRO – Egyptian official sources say a militant suspected of involvement in the deadly U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi was killed in clashes in Cairo. An Egyptian interior ministry source told CBS News on Thursday that the suspect in Egypt, known only by his first name, Hazem, was killed after neighbors […]
HAARETZ (Israel), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch GAZA CITY – Airstrikes carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces killed four militants Tuesday night in Gaza, reports BBC News. Israel military forces said three of the militants were hit overnight as they prepared to fire rockets. A fourth militant, reported to be a gunman from the Ezzedine […]
SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (Germany) Worldcrunch BERLIN – Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis murdered 500,000 Sinti and Roma Gypsies. Now, nearly 70 years after World War II, a memorial is being inaugurated today in Berlin to honor those murdered. German President Joachim Gauck, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Berlin’s Mayor Klaus Wowereit are expected to attend the […]
BERLIN – The euro zone has granted Athens two more years to rein in its debt, Süddeutsche Zeitung has learned. Euro zone leaders have agreed to give Greece until 2016 instead of 2014 to push deficits down under to 3% of GDP. Deadlines for the implementation of employment and energy reforms and the selling of […]
CHIRANG – “Around 50 of them came and opened fire on our village.” Rebayal Ali still seems stunned, his eyes glazed over. His vest clings to his skinny torso because of the humidity, as the Muslim farmer tells Le Monde of his night of terror. It was July 23 in his village in Assam, a […]
TBILISSI – A new French prime minister will soon be installed. But not in France – in Georgia, in the former Soviet Union. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has nominated Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire leader of the opposition, as prime minister. For those who didn’t know: Ivanishvili had been French by citizenship, not Georgian. Luckily for […]