LA PRESSE, CBC (Canada), BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (UK), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch MONTREAL – A gunman opened fire during a midnight victory rally for Quebec’s first female premier-elect Pauline Marois, killing one person and critically wounding another, reports CNN. The shooting cast a shadow over preliminary results indicating that the separatist Parti Quebecois was set […]
Category: Geopolitics
ASAHI SHIMBUN, KYODO, NHK (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – The Japanese government has agreed to buy three disputed islands for 2.05 billion yen ($26 million). The Asahi Shimbun reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government had struck a deal with private landowners to buy three of the Senkaku islands. The islands, which are uninhabited, […]
MOSCOW – It has been another rough few weeks for religious understanding in Russia. Last week in the North Caucasian region of Dagestan, an influential Islamic cleric was killed in a suicide bomb attack at his home. In addition to Said Afandi Al-Chirkavi, 74, the bomb killed seven others, including the suicide bomber, and the […]
NEW YORK – Turkey intends to keep up its diplomatic efforts to establish a buffer zone in Syria, despite the United Nations’ failure last week to reach a resolution at the Security Council meeting on Thursday. “How long are we going to sit and watch while an entire generation is being wiped out by random […]
AFP (France), BBC (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch A Syrian fighter-jet killed 18 people in the rebel-held town of Al-Bab on Monday. AFP reports that the airstrike on Monday was the latest in a series of attacks on towns and villages in Aleppo province. Victims of the attack on the building in Al-Bab included 10 […]
CNN (USA), BBC (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch PESHAWAR – At least four people were killed in a suicide bombing that hit a U.S. consular vehicle in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, reports Al Jazeera. The American embassy in Islamabad said that no U.S. citizens were killed in the attack, although there were conflicting accounts […]
DER SPIEGEL, DIE WELT (Germany), LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a cold, power-hungry would-be dictator overseeing the insidious collapse of democracy, according to a new book causing a political stir in Germany. Gertrud Höhler’s book, Die Patin (which means “the Godmother” in English and retains all of its mafia […]
MOSCOW – Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring the state of health in various countries for the past 60 years, it has never explicitly compared countries with one another. So Bloomberg news, using WHO data as well as other data from the World Bank and the United Nations, put together a rating […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) LIFE NEWS (Russia) KAZAN – Investigators found the bodies of a 76-year-old retired woman and her 38-year-old daughter in an apartment in Kazan. Both women appeared to have been stabbed to death. Heinous as the crime was, it wouldn’t have bound to generate national press coverage, except for what police found on one […]
GOMA – They look tired and drawn, weeks of suffering written across their faces. “We haven’t had any assistance since we arrived: nothing to eat, no toilets, no medical treatment,” says Mandevu Amani, a church minister who has fled the Kimumba camp. Since July 7, thousands of families have come to settle in the Kanyaruchinya […]
REUTERS, AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch The Syrian delegation walked out of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, after Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi called Bashar al-Assad’s government an “oppressive regime” in his speech, Al Jazeera reports. Speaking to representatives of more than 120 countries, Morsi said: “Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people […]
XINHUA (China), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch An explosion in a coal mine in southwest China has killed 19 people and left 28 trapped, reports Chinese news agency Xinhua. According to state media, rescue efforts are still underway to rescue the remaining miners, reports BBC News. The accident occurred Wednesday at around 6 p.m. at Xiojiawan […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) KREMLIN NEWS (Russia) GAZETA.RU (Russia) NEWSRU (Russia) Worldcrunch SMOLENSK – A young mother and political activist, Taisiya Osipova was lucky enough that her case caught the attention of then Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, who came to her defense in January. But so far, at least, that has counted for little. Earlier this week, […]
Worldcrunch YEDIOTH AHRONOTH (Israel), LA STAMPA (Italy), THE IRISH TIMES (Ireland) JERUSALEM – The appointment of Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto as Papal Nuncio to Israel last week has sparked controversy in Jerusalem after it emerged that he was linked to the pedophile priests scandal that hit the Irish Catholic Church in 2005.. The country’s biggest-circulation daily […]
It is hard to dispute that Iran’s geopolitical importance, both internationally and regionally, has been on the rise over the past decade. With the Arab Spring, the Islamic Republic saw a new opportunity. For Tehran, the Arab uprisings meant “the awakening of Islam,” the rise of Islamist political parties sympathetic to Iran’s plight, and a […]
ADDOUNIA TV (Syria), AL ARABIYA (UAE), LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the situation in Syria is getting “better,” although his government needs more time to “win the battle” against rebels trying to overthrow him. Al-Assad was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Syrian pro-government TV station Addounia, which will be […]
TASHKENT – Fundamental changes are afoot in the relations between the United States and Uzbekistan — and Russia isn’t happy. Until recently, the central Asian country was on the U.S.’s black list of human rights offenders to whom it was forbidden to provide any sort of military technology. But with a special decree, Secretary of […]
HURRIYET, RADIKAL (Turkey) Worldcrunch ISTANBUL -There was hope that Turkey’s top technology experts could provide some clarity in the ongoing OdaTV case that’s roiled the country’s media and government elite for the past 18 months. But the long-awaited computer files report by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, TUBITAK, has only fed more […]
JERUSALEM POST (Israel), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch An Israeli court ruled Tuesday that the state of Israel was not at fault in the 2003 death of US activist Rachel Corrie. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Haifa District Court has ruled against the Corrie family, who have been fighting for justice for the pro-Palestinian activist after […]
CNN, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER (US), REUTERS Worldcrunch Residents in New Orleans are rushing to complete last-minute preparations, bracing themselves for Tropical Storm Isaac, which will begin to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast late Tuesday, as forecasters set to upgrade it to Hurricane status. The Tropical Storm is gaining strength, poised to become a “robust” hurricane […]
CNN, NEW YORK TIMES (US) REUTERS Tropical storm Isaac raged into the Gulf of Mexico Monday, threatening to become a hurricane and make landfall in Louisiana, almost seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina decimated southeastern American cities and towns. Governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have declared states of emergency, with Alabama Governor […]
REUTERS (UK) AL JAZEERA (Qatar) BBC NEWS (UK), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch KABUL – Fifteen men and two women were found beheaded in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province on Monday. Reuters, Al Jazeera and other news outlets reported that the victims had attended a “mixed-sex” party where men and women were socializing. The bodies were found in […]
BEIRUT – Elias, a 42-year-old Syrian, is chain smoking under the silent gaze of his children. This Christian farmer abandoned his lands, near the Lebanese border, leaving behind conflicts he felt had nothing to do with him, but tormented by the future of Syria and the fate of his minority religion there. Together with 20 […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin made official his control of state-controlled corportations and information outlets, including major telecommunications companies. Although Putin has informally had the power to control the top management at these companies, the companies will now formally have to answer to him and his administration, Kommersant reported. The change […]
REUTERS (UK), DAWN (Pakistan), AFP (France) Worldcrunch A US drone aircraft killed at least 12 people in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region on Friday. Reuters reported that the attacks targeted three walled compounds, which are suspected to be militant hideouts used by insurgents crossing the nearby border with Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported the identities of […]
Worldcrunch THE NORWAY POST (Norway), CNN (USA), BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (UK) OSLO – Anders Behring Breivik, the man who killed 77 people in a bomb attack and gun rampage in July 2011, was sentenced to 21 years in prison, reports CNN. The five judges at Oslo district court were unanimous in ruling that Breivik […]
TIMES OF INDIA (India), BBC NEWS (UK), PAKISTAN METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT (Pakistan) Worldcrunch At least 50 people have been killed by heavy monsoon rains in northern India and northwestern Pakistan. In northern India, the heaviest downpours in more than 30 years flooded large parts of Jaipur, the capital of the desert state of Rajasthan, killing at […]
Categories
South Africa Mourns Its Dead Miners
MAIL & GUARDIAN (South Africa), BBC NEWS (UK), CNN (USA), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), RFI (France) Worldcrunch JOHANNESBURG – Events are taking place across South Africa today to mourn the 44 people killed in recent violence at the northwestern Marikana platinum mine, reports CNN. Politicians, religious leaders, workers and members of the local community are attending […]
VSGLYAD, KOMMERSANT FM, KOMMERSANT, NOVAYA GAZETA, ROSBALT.RU (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – As the three members of Pussy Riot face jail time, the fallout from their case is being felt around Russia, with very diverse – and unexpected – ramifications. Vzglyad reports that there is a commercial war going on over the Pussy Riot brand. The […]
REUTERS, SKY NEWS, BBC (UK), AL JAZEERA (UAE) Worldcrunch Sectarian violence in Lebanon escalated Tuesday night, claiming at least 10 lives, Reuters reports, as the Syrian crisis spills over to its neighbors. Old tensions between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Lebanon’s second city Tripoli have flared up due to the continuing Syrian conflict, which has […]
KOMMERSANT, RAPSI (Russia) Worldcrunch Moscow – Five days after the Khamovnichesky District Court handed down a guilty verdict against Russian punk band Pussy Riot, the Court’s website was hacked, RAPSI reports. The hackers struck on Tuesday morning, and used the opportunity to post a sexually suggestive music video of the flamboyantly gay Bulgarian singer Aziz […]
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Ethiopian Prime Minister Dead At 57
THE REPORTER (Ethiopia), THE GUARDIAN, BBC NEWS (UK), CNN (USA) Worldcrunch ADDIS ABEBA – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is dead, a government spokesman said Tuesday, ending weeks of speculation about his health, reports CNN. Meles, who was 57, died Monday night at 11:40 p.m. from an unspecified infection in a foreign hospital, reports CNN. […]
CNN (USA), BBC NEWS (UK), EL NACIONAL (Venezuela) Worldcrunch CARACAS – Venezuela prison minister Iris Varela has confirmed that at least 20 people were killed after violence broke out in a Venezuelan jail, reports El Nacional. The violence occurred between rival gangs, with one of the dead a relative of an inmate, in Yare prison, […]
CHINA DAILY, XINHUA (China), BBC NEWS (UK), CNN (USA), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch HEFEI – Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced Chinese Politician Bo Xilai, has been given a suspended death sentence for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, reports BBC News. Gu’s death penalty has been suspended for two years due to her […]
THE IRRAWADDY (Thailand), DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA (Burma), AFP (France) Worldcrunch The Burmese government has announced it is ending media censorship with immediate effect — a symbolic step on the road to freedom in the long repressed Asian country. The Burmese pro-democracy newsmagazine Irrawaddy, based in Thailand, reported that officials from the government’s Press Scrutiny […]
ABC ONLINE, HERALD SUN, THE AGE (Australia) Worldcrunch CANBERRA -Tony Abbott has become the first opposition leader in nearly 26 years to be thrown out of federal parliament, during a heated question time on school funding, reports ABC News. Tony Abbott today was the first opposition leader to be ejected from parliament in 26 years. […]
Early August, Syria’s rebels kidnapped 48 Iranian pilgrims in Damascus. The rebels claimed their prisoners were not pilgrims but in fact elite Iranian soldiers sent by Teheran to support the Assad government. A murderous sect known as the Assassins had a similar Iran-Syria partnership in the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the mountainous regions […]
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India’s Rapidly Shrinking Coastline
PONDICHERRY – India’s coastline is in danger, not because of extraordinary monsoons or devastating tidal waves, but because of erosion, which day upon day, centimeter by centimeter, eats away at the coast. Every year, 75,000 hectares of cultivated earth and almost 35,000 buildings are gnawed or swallowed up by the sea. If erosion is a […]
THE GUARDIAN (UK), THE MOSCOW TIMES (Russia) Worldcrunch On Friday, the three members of Russian punk-band Pussy Riot were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in prison. Judge Marina Syrova said the defendants had “crudely undermined social order” when they staged an impromptu performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of […]
EDITORIAL – You can criticize the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, but you can’t accuse her of lack of integrity. As a young revolutionary she was tortured by Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, and came out of prison unscathed. When democracy was reestablished, she started a long political career. Her tactics may have changed […]