Worldcrunch
ISTANBUL — The Syrian regime today presents itself to the international community as a partner in “fighting terrorism,” and Bashar al-Assad is happy to leave his enemies on the northern front (where the Nusra, Islamic Front, Free Syrian Army, and YPG fight ISIS) to wear each other out. The proposed anti-terror partnership would function just […]
The downing of Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH17 may change Putin’s hand in eastern Ukraine, but a weak and divided Europe is still no match for the well-armed Russian poker player.
AMSTERDAM — Two-thirds of the 298 passengers on downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were Dutch, and their countrymen are seeking ways to vent their anger. Some have found an outlet in the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Masha. The 29-year-old is married to Dutchman Jorit Faassen, 34, who works for Gazprombank and Stroytransgaz in […]
About two weeks before Israel started its Operation Protective Edge, the entire political leadership of Hamas in Gaza attended a funeral for five members of the movement’s military wing — among the attendees were former premier Ismail Haniyeh, Speaker of the Gaza parliament Ahmad Bahar and other senior figures from Hamas’ politburo. On its face, […]
Quit or double down? The risks for Israel rise in step with the number killed on both sides of the conflict in Gaza.
Images that made news around the world…
Both Egyptians and refugees from Gaza are living through the war that comes to them in Egypt both from across the border in Palestinian territory, and from Cairo’s showdown in the Sinai.
TEL AVIV — Don’t know where to run when you hear the sirens? Want to send a distress signal in an emergency to security forces or assure your family you’re okay with a tweet? Here is a list of the latest smartphone applications that are getting downloaded during the current military “Operation Protective Edge,” as […]
By destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, the Russian president became party to the death of the 298 passengers of the MH17 flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
SAINT PETERSBURG — It is two steps away from the Hermitage Museum, a few steps more from the Kazan Cathedral, at the corner of Nevsky Prospect, Saint Petersburg’s principal avenue. This is, in other words, a prestigious address. The spacious premises exude comfort and money and are seemingly designed for welcoming businessmen rather than students […]
It is becoming harder and harder to even imagine an end to the cycle of anger and vengeance.
The Malaysian airliner wasn’t the only one following the route over Ukraine, as detours can bring major time and fuel costs. When is it time to close air space?
Here is a sample of how Israel’s ground offensive into Gaza was playing out on Twitter in Arabic and Hebrew. Tweets in Arabic *A young Palestinian named Mustafa Abu Zir tweeted this morning from Gaza, “the electricity has been cut to our neighborhood for 18 hours.. my laptop and phone battery died and we have […]
KLAIPEDA — The entrance to this Lithuanian city’s port is a lesson in geopolitics. Klaipeda is the major transit hub for Russia on the Baltic Sea, but there’s no overlooking the huge semi-domes of the new terminals for LNG (liquefied natural gas) which Lithuania hopes will free the country from its energy-dependence on Moscow. There […]
BERLIN — How is Germany supposed to react to the U.S. spying activities that have come to light recently? The political opposition seems to think the answer is simple: Expel all U.S. intelligence agents! Allow whistle-blower Edward Snowden asylum! Immediately halt all negotiations regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)! Stop all cooperation with […]
-Analysis- CAIRO — The events unfolding in Egypt since July 1, 2013, when General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, has been by all accounts detrimental to the interests of the Palestinians in Gaza and to Hamas, an offspring of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, which has governed the tiny territory since […]
Without infrastructure and trade that arrives from Israel, the situation in Gaza would be even worse. So the lines are left open, even as bombs and missiles fly in every direction.
It is said that Russian parents start thinking of ways to get male children out of required military service before they are even born. Can Moscow change the system without weakening defense?
Words that have been making news, and news that has been prompting words…
BAGHDAD — Ten years ago, this was a park for children. The young boys of Adhamiya, a Sunni district in Baghdad, used to come here to play soccer. Now, this bare patch of land on the bank of the Tigris river is a makeshift cemetery. A forest of tombstones grew during the darkest years of […]
The news that counts…
In rural Idlib, marriage offices are fixing people up, but some say they’re exploiting the lonely during wartime by selling desperate women to overseas men.
What the growing tensions look like, up close, aboard a Vietnamese Coast Guard vessel coming face-to-face with the Chinese navy.
MOSCOW — Earlier this week, all of Russia’s ambassadors were called home from their stations abroad to attend an event with members of the Russian Parliament and, of course, President Vladimir Putin. The only ambassador missing at the event was Mikhail Zurabov, ambassador to Ukraine. Apparently, the time he spent in Moscow after being recalled […]
BEIJING — On June 27, after days of uncertainty and rumors, 1,260 Chinese workers who had been trapped in northern Iraq’s war-torn Saladin province were finally evacuated and transferred to Baghdad. Just like the 2011 emergency pullout of Chinese nationals from Libya and the recent evacuation of others in the anti-Chinese protests in Vietnam, this […]
BRASILIA — What will be the political and economic reverberations of Tuesday’s historic humiliation of Brazil’s soccer team? The government of President Dilma Rousseff is already on alert, fearing that the national bad mood left by the 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany may deepen the already rather bleak Brazilian economic forecast, and have […]
As air strikes and missile attacks intensify following the deaths of both Israeli and Palestinian teens, neither the region’s leadership nor rank and file hold much hope for a peaceful way out.
The news in images, and images making news…
The construction of Pakistan’s next tallest building in Karachi is seen by the country’s Hindu minority yet another attack in this Muslim-majority country of 180 million.
QASYAR — Ahmed is wearing a Barcelona soccer jersey with Argentine superstar Lionel Messi’s name on the back. Rasheed has Rodrigo Palacio’s from Inter Milan, while Samad is sporting the Chelsea shirt of Brazil midfielder Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior. While their heroes compete in the World Cup on the other side of the world, […]
LONDON — A conservative British politician? Stereotypes would call for him to be educated in an expensive private school, to wear tailor-made suits from Savile Row and to be able to recite Shakespeare sonnets without an accent. We would expect him to have been a lawyer, a banker or a chartered accountant — and to […]
Relatives of Amer Abu Aisheh, accused of abducting three Israeli teens, don’t expect to see him again. His mother’s definition of a martyr: “one who chooses to give their life to kill the Jews.”
Released in late May after two years in prison, Nabeel Rajab has taken his cause to foreign capitals. But will the West challenge the oil-rich nation’s human rights record.
Rebel fighters are no match for Bashar al-Assad’s superior military might. But underground, they use tunnels to travel safely and plant bombs close to the president’s seats of power.
ISTANBUL — A one-page document. That’s it. All right, let’s include the appendix — that makes a total of two and a half pages. And with a big font too. I am talking about the Draft Law for Ending Terrorism and Increasing Social Unity, which the government recently presented to Parliament. Five articles in total, […]
The new Ukrainian president’s attempt at peace has failed. What now?
BEIJING — Wang Huning is on time, standing alone. The lean man, who looks as if he might be a university professor, doesn’t stand out in the lobby of the luxury hotel. He is waiting for the sign that it’s time for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s delegation to leave. The protocol officers who’ve come to […]
A sharp critique against the government by an insider shows the ranks of the Bolivarian movement may be set to turn on President Nicolas Maduro. What’s lost without Hugo Chavez.
DAMASCUS — In Syria, it’s business as usual. Despite the desolate landscape of destruction that loyalist troops leave behind and the sanctions imposed by Western countries, a few entrepreneurs in the power’s sphere of influence are still amassing profits, say experts of the Syrian regime. They are lifting the veil on part of this occult […]
What’s been counting around the world…