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Archives: Asia

Is al-Zawahiri’s oath to Taliba a sign al-Qaeda is finished? Will ISIL step In?

Is al-Zawahiri’s oath to Taliban a sign al-Qaeda is finished? Will ISIL step In?

By Joanna Paraszczuk | ( RFE/ RL ) - - After almost a year of silence, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has released an audio message swearing bay'ah -- an oath of allegiance…

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: the single greatest acts of terrorism in human history?

by Akil Awan | (The New Statesman) - - Surely 70 years is long enough for us to put to rest the tired canard of the atomic bombings on Japan being "the…

How Dropping the A-Bomb on Japan initiated the Military-Industrial Complex

By Michael Hiltzik | (Author, Big Science) | - - This summer -- August 6 and 9, to be precise -- marks the 70th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and…

As GOP fumes re: Iran, Russia & China are outflanking West with New Eurasia Silk Road

By Pepe Escobar | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Let’s start with the geopolitical Big Bang you know nothing about, the one that occurred just two weeks ago. Here are its results:…

US Right needs to get over Self: Iran Deal is International

By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The single biggest misunderstanding about the nuclear agreement with Iran is that it is a bilateral deal with…

Afghanistan: The First Rule of Counter-Insurgency is that it Doesn’t Ever Work

By William R. Polk | (Informed Comment) | - - The people of Afghanistan at least since the time of Alexander the Great had repeatedly and violently demonstrated their determination not to…

Pushtun Female Commandos Ready to Take on the Taliban

By Ashfaq Yusufzai | (Inter Press Service) | - - PESHAWAR, Pakistan (IPS) - For years, Robina Shah has dreamed of joining the police force. Ever since her father, a police constable,…

Climate Change-Driven Drought in Karachi hits Poor Hardest

By Zofeen Ebrahim | {Inter Press Service) | - - KARACHI (IPS) - Over 950 people have perished in just five days. The morgues, already filled to capacity, are piling up with…

As 700 Die in Pakistan from Extreme Heat, Pakistanis Deny Climate Change

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Pakistan is in the midst of an extreme heat wave with highs around 110 degrees F., which has killed 700 persons in the…

By the Time Washington wakes up to China’s Eurasian Strategy will it be too Late?

By Alfred W. McCoy | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - For even the greatest of empires, geography is often destiny. You wouldn’t know it in Washington, though. America’s political, national security, and foreign…

Floatting Graveyard: 6000 Migrants, incl. Rohingya Muslims, Marooned in SE Asia Seas

Floating Graveyard: 6000 Migrants, incl. Rohingya Muslims, Marooned in SE Asia Seas

By Kanya D'Almeida | -- UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - On Thursday, May 14, a group of journalists rented a boat from Ko Lipe, a small island in Thailand’s southwest Satun Province, and…

Why Obama is bucking Saudis, Israel on Iran: Deal would much Strengthen US Security

By Brian M Downing | (Informed Comment) | - The dialog between the US and Iran moves ahead, albeit haltingly. Opposition comes from important groups in both Tehran and Washington – as…

Over 40 Ismaili Shiites shot down by Sunni Extremists in Pakistan

BBC | - "Dozens of people are thought to have died after an attack by gunmen on a bus in Karachi. They surrounded the bus, which was carrying Ismaili Shia Muslims, and…

Farkhunda is Our Sister: A “Martyr” to women and the Making of a New Afghanistan?

By Ann Jones | (Tomdispatch.com) | -- I went to Kabul, Afghanistan, in March to see old friends. By chance, I arrived the day after a woman had been beaten to death…

Afghanistan’s Endless War: Between the US, Taliban and ISIL

By Brian M. Downing | (Informed Comment) | - War is largely a seasonal activity in Afghanistan. Winters are harsh and fighters need to work fields and tend herds. With spring, another…

Rohingya Muslim Minority Migrants targeted by Buddhists found in Mass Grave

Wochit News / IRIN | - "Dozens of police and volunteers exhumed six more bodies on Saturday in the second day of digging out a mass grave near a suspected human trafficking…

Pakistan – Court jails 10 for life over attack on Malala and on Women’s Education

France24 English | - An anti-terror court in Pakistan has sentenced 10 men for their roles in the 2012 attack on Malala Yousafzai. France24 English: "PAKISTAN - Court jails 10 for life…

The China-Pakistan trade corridor and its implications for regional security

By Brian M. Downing | (Informed Comment) | - China and Pakistan announced, with considerable fanfare in Islamabad, a $46 billion dollar investment program to build a transportation corridor from the western…

Global Connections: World History as Social History – a New Synthesis

I and colleagues have just brought out a world history. Because of the fine and exciting writing of my co-authors, it is more than just a textbook. My readers often ask me…

The Middle East Policy of President Bernie Sanders

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - Bernie Sanders opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation of that country. Sanders wanted to get out of Afghanistan from 2011 much…