AL-MASRY AL-YOUM (Egypt) Worldcrunch A month after he was elected president, Mohamed Morsi has surprised many by naming Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hesham Mohamed Qandil as prime minister. More than praise or criticism, the general reaction was “Who is he?”, reports Al-Masry Al-Youm, According to the Cairo newspaper, Qandil is an unassuming, innocuous figure, […]
Category: Geopolitics
The regional governments have decided to save money on firefighting equipment, staff and prevention campaigns. In a drought year, this has dramatic consequences: 17 forest fires have already destroyed thousands of hectares across the country.
Less than a month into his rule as president, Mohamed Morsi’s 100-day plan, which covers a wide range of issues, seems more unrealistic than doable for many.
In Colombia, caught between the army and guerrillas who have been fighting each other for 60 years, the Nasa people are asking the warring parties to go fight somewhere else. It is resonating across the country.
LE MONDE, AFP (France), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), HRW (USA) On Tuesday, eight people were killed in a mutiny at a prison in Syria’s second city Aleppo, where the conflict has intensified. The opposition Syrian National Council told AFP that security forces opened fire and used tear gas on prisoners during a peaceful sit-in to protest […]
THE STANDARD, HONG KONG OBSERVATORY (Hong Kong), CHINA DAILY (China) Worldcrunch More than a hundred people were injured on Tuesday as a typhoon lashed Hong Kong, with winds over 140 kilometers per hour. “Vicious Vicente” ravaged the city, said the Standard, disrupting services on land, air and sea. Schools were closed and outpatient clinic services […]
A friend in need is a friend indeed: Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s chief, has never wavered in his support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The stakes are high: if Assad goes, chances are Hezbollah goes too.
In a culture where having a big family is a sign of wealth, it is very difficult to stem the population explosion that is threatening these countries’ development and their inhabitants’ health.
Categories
Forest Fires Rage In Northeast Spain
EL PAIS, EL MUNDO, EL PERIODICO (Spain) Worldcrunch Two forest fires have been raging in the northern region of Catalonia, in northeast Spain, since Sunday afternoon, El Pais reports. The first fire started around 1 p.m., in the region of La Jonquera, close to the French border — the second, six hours later, in the […]
REUTERS, TIMES OF INDIA (India) Worldcrunch GUWAHATI – Tens of thousands villagers have fled their homes in northeast India after clashes between indigenous tribes and Muslim settlers killed at least 17 people during the weekend. Between 25,000 and 50,000 villagers have fled their homes and taken shelter in government-run camps, after unidentified groups set ablaze […]
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, AL JAZEERA Worldcrunch At least 93 people were killed in a string of bombings and shootings across Iraq on Monday morning, in the deadliest day so far this year. According to Iraqi officials, the death toll could still rise. The Associated Press reports that the attacks came a few days after Al […]
Derided by her opponents as just the puppet of her brother, a populist former prime minister living in exile, Shinawatra is still on a mission to be taken seriously. But a year after her surprise election, still being there is already an accomplishment.
Categories
How Testosterone Drives History
A new book by a German researcher explores the role that the hormone, which is more present in males, plays not just in mindless aggression, but also the kinds of real-life revolutions that change history.
BBC, AP Syrian TV announced the death of a fourth top regime official Friday morning from the suicide bombing earlier in the week that killed members of Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle. AP reported that Syria’s national security chief Gen. Hisham Ikhtiar died at a Damascus hospital from injuries from the attack carried out Wednesday by […]
North Korea’s young new leader Kim Jong-un was believed to rely on the counsel of top general Ri Yong-ho, 69, who was suddenly removed Monday for “health” problems. Few believe that line, and see his departure as a sign of a maj
Analysis: China and Japan have little room for compromise as tensions rise over the disputed Senkaku islands. Still, it is part of a broader dance between the region’s two biggest powers that is short-wired — at least for now — to try and avoid
CLARIN, ADNMUNDO (Argentina) HAARETZ (Israel) JEWISH CHRONICLE (UK) Worldcrunch On July 18, 1994, 85 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the bombing of the main Jewish association in Buenos Aires, an attack that Israelis and Argentinian prosecutors have long suspected Iran of masterminding. Exactly 18 years later, on the same day, six Israeli tourists […]
EGYPT INDEPENDENT, FOREIGN POLICY, TWITTER Worldcrunch Omar Suleiman, former Egyptian Vice President and reviled chief of intelligence for ex-president Hosni Mubarak, died in an American hospital on Thursday. The Egypt Independent reports that 76-year-old Suleiman suffered from lung and cardiac problems, and that he’d flown to Cleveland, Ohio three weeks ago to undergo treatment. On […]
THE GUARDIAN, REUTERS, AFP Worldcrunch Heavy fighting continues between Syrian rebels and government security forces in Damascus on Thursday, as the country reels from yesterday’s bombing that killed three top regime military officials, including President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law. The attack has plunged Syria into perhaps its deepest state of uncertainty since the uprising began last […]
BBC (UK) , NEW YORK TIMES (US), YEDIOTH AHRONOTH (Israel) Worldcrunch BURGAS – The deadly terrorist attack on an Israeli tourist bus in Bulgaria was carried out by a male suicide bomber with fake US identification, the BBC reported Thursday. At least seven people have been confirmed dead following the blast on Wednesday, including six […]
LIBERO (Italy), DIE WELT (Germany), HEUTE, KLEINE ZEITUNG (Austria) The tiny Greek island of Icaria is considering a referendum to break away from debt-saddled Greece, and become part of Austria, according to several European press reports. Icaria, which has a population of 8,000, could decide to become independent after its 100-year treaty with Athens expires […]
In Congo, too often aid gets diverted from those most needy to those best connected. The devastating rains this spring were a tragic case in point.
REUTERS, BBC, AL ARABIYA, THE GUARDIAN Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – Syrian State television is reporting that Syria’s Defense Minister Gen. Dawoud Rajha and intelligence chief Assef Shawkat were killed in a bombing at the National Security Bureau in Damascus on Thursday. Other ministers and officials were hurt and were brought to the capital’s al-Shami hospital, including […]
BLOOMBERG, KCNA (North Korea) Worldcrunch Two days after the surprise departure of the army chief, North Korea’s Supreme leader Kim Jong-un is furthering his grip on the military by adding a new title to an already long list of honors. A statement by state-run news agency KCNA announced that “”A decision was made to award […]
AP, AFP Worldcrunch BUDAPEST – Hungarian prosecutors say they have taken into custody one of the world’s last living senior-level Nazi-era criminals on Wednesday and have charged him with war crimes, the Associated Press reports. Ninety-seven year-old Laszlo Csatary was located earlier this week by reporters from British newspaper The Sun through information from the […]
THE GUARDIAN, REUTERS, BBC, ZAMAT Worldcrunch DAMASCUS – Violent clashes between government forces and rebels continued in the Syrian capital for the third day on Tuesday, as U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan visits Moscow to promote a peace plan. Heavy clashes taking place in new areas right in the middle of #Damascus. The city is […]
CBC NEWS, THE TORONTO STAR (Canada), Worldcrunch TORONTO – A shooting at a barbecue street party in Toronto’s residential east end left two dead and 19 injured, in what the Canadian police called “the worst incident of gun violence” the city has ever seen. A teenage girl and a man believed to be in his […]
Manfredi Borsellino still has many questions about how his father, anti-mob magistrate Paolo Borsellino, was allowed to die just three months after his colleague, and fellow crusading hero Giovanni Falcone had been killed. Now you can see it in his eyes.
In the West African nation of Mali, the situation is rapidly disintegrating for large swaths of population as Islamist radicals intent on imposing religious law are spreading their power. On the ground in a nation in peril.
AFRISCOOP, INFOPLUS GABON, BUSINESS DAY Worldcrunch For the first time ever, the African Union has a woman president: South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will lead the continent-wide body, after defeating incumbent Jean Ping following four rounds of voting. Senegalese website AfriScoop reports that Dlamini-Zuma, 53, who had been serving South African Minister of Home Affairs and […]
THE KOREA TIMES (South Korea), THE KOREA HERALD (South Korea), NEW YORK TIMES Worldcrunch SEOUL – North Korea has relieved its army chief Ri Yong Ho of all government posts because of an “illness,” prompting speculation of a possible power struggle within the secretive regime, South Korea’s daily newspaper The Korea Herald reports. The North’s […]
AL-MASRY AL-YOUM (Egypt), HAARETZ (Israel), THE JERUSALEM POST (Israel) Worldcrunch JERUSALEM – On the tail end of a tricky Asian and Middle East tour, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel for a 24-hour visit that will include talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a thorny array of issues: the stalled […]
EURONEWS, THE WARSAW VOICE Worldcrunch Poland is launching major clean-up operations on Monday after summer tornadoes ripped through the country over the weekend, killing one man and wounding ten others. Weather forecasts point to more storms in the coming days as 1,200 rescue workers work to remove fallen trees. Euronews reports that the Baltic region […]
With crime on the rise, youth in the Congolese city of Beni have banded together to protect their neighborhoods. Though some bad guys have been busted, some worry that well-meaning crime-fighters can one day turn into dangerous militias.
Hillary Clinton’s historic visit this week to Laos highlights the reality on the ground: China’s influence grows bigger with each passing day. There are decidedly mixed opinions about what Beijing will bring.
In the conservative West Bank city of Hebron, a special, highly-trained unit of women officers is not just about gender equality, it’s about smart and effective policing.
ZIUA VECHE (Romania) JURNAL DE CHISINAU (Moldavia) Worldcrunch The Communist party of the former Soviet Republic of Moldova, which had remained in power until 2009, is going to have to kiss goodbye to their hammer and sickle. The Moldovan Parliament voted on Thursday to forbid the use of Communist symbols by political groups and parties, […]
LE TEMPS (Switzerland) Worldcrunch BERN – A study by Swiss foreign policy think-tank Foraus says that aid development policies in poor countries have no direct effect on reducing immigration flows, Le Temps reports. The study found that most migrants come from countries that are already emerging or developed, but where there aren’t enough jobs, like […]
MAIL & GUARDIAN (SOUTH AFRICA), AFP (FRANCE) Worldcrunch JOHANNESBURG – As many as 30 people were feared dead when a train collided with a farm truck in South Africa’s northeastern province of Mpumalanga. Andre Visser, a spokesperson for South African emergency services, told the Johannesburg daily Mail & Guardian that a coal train had collided […]
REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN Worldcrunch Syrian activists say pro-government forces killed between 150 and 200 people in the Hama region on Thursday as the United Nations Security Council met to try and negotiate a resolution on Syria, Reuters reports. The allegations have yet to be independently confirmed. Activists published a video of dead bodies, but there […]