Month

Archives: August 2017

Turkey-Backed fundamentalist Militias attack US Troops in Syria

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - US troops in Syria operating north of Manbij have been fired on twice in the last couple of weeks. The attackers are fundamentalist…

Dozens of Houston Area Mosques are 24/7 Shelters without being Asked

ShiaWaves | (Video News Report) | - - "Houston’s Muslim community is at the forefront of helping those affected by Tropical Storm Harvey, which has flooded much of the fourth most populous…

China smashes 2020 solar power target, leaves US & Europe in Dust

By Sam Morgan | ( EURACTIV.com) | - - China eclipses Europe as 2020 solar power target is smashed. China has reached its 2020 solar power target three years ahead of schedule,…

Afghanistan: Pentagon Admits it Low-Balled Public on Troop Levels

TeleSur | - - The news comes prior to a boost in U.S. forces as part of Trump's “new approach” to quelling the Afghan insurgency. In a rare step toward transparency, the…

Trump’s offer to Harvey Victims (Cartoon)

Paul Jamiol | ( Jamiol's World) | - - Via Jamiol's World

The Criminals who amplified Harvey: Trump & Cabinet must Resign

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The whole Trump administration should resign in shame, since they have lied to the American people about the disaster of burning fossil fuels.…

Epic Mumbai Flooding: 21 million People told to stay Home

India Today | (Video News Report) | - - "The water levels at many places receded in Mumbai, but the situation remains far from normal. The water levels are dipping across the…

Are Houstonians 1st Wave of New Climate Change Refugees?

By Gail Ukockis | (Informed Comment) | - - As parts of eastern Texas go underwater, the scenes of people fleeing for their lives are gut-wrenching. One picture of nursing home residents…

20,000 Civilians Trapped besieged ISIL capital: “The Worst Place on Earth”

20,000 Civilians Trapped in besieged ISIL capital: “The Worst Place on Earth”

By Roshni Majumdar | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS, Aug 28 2017 (IPS) - The battle to reclaim Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State of Iraq…

US Prepares for More Airstrikes in Afghanistan

TeleSur | - - The number of U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan has already dramatically spiked since Trump took office in January. Fighter pilots at the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan are…

Is Israel’s Netanyahu preparing for War on Iranian Special Ops in Syria?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu filled the ear of visiting UN secretary general Antonio Guterres with complaints about Iran and Hizbullah on the…

Remember GOP in Texas opposing Aid for NY after Sandy? Now they want Aid

By Jake Johnson, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org) | - - Ted Cruz, who voted against a relief package for states impacted by Hurricane Sandy, urged President Trump on Friday to quickly…

White Supremacists Joked About Using Cars to Run Over Opponents Before Charlottesville

By George Joseph | ProPublica | - - Nearly a month before a car driven by an alleged neo-Nazi plowed into counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, white supremacists planning the…

The worst flooding disaster in Recorded US history?

The Watchers | - - Category 4 Hurricane "Harvey" made landfall around 03:00 UTC on Saturday, August 26, at Rockport, Texas with winds of 215 km/h (130 mph). It then stalled over…

Top 5 ways Man-made Climate Change made Hurricane Harvey much Worse

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The images from Houston and its environs are heart-breaking and we at IC wish all those affected a speedy and safe return to…

Was Hate’s Reach into US Public Extended by Internet?

James E. Hawdon | (The Conversation) | - - Extremism has always been with us, but the internet has allowed ideas that advocate hate and violence to reach more and more people.…

Barcelona: Nearly 500K march for Peace, against Islamophobia

TeleSur | - - Marchers, on Saturday, displayed signs and banners with various slogans. Some read, “No to Islamophobia,” “The best response: Peace,” and “I’m not afraid.” Almost half a million people…

Trump’s Organized Chaos: Channeling the Dictators – And Their Lieutenants

By Shalom Goldman | (Informed Comment) | - - When Donald Trump was vying for the Republic nomination, and even more so after he won the nomination and was running for office,…

Iraq: Trump slams Iran, but Iran-backed Militias are key to taking Talafar from ISIL

by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Shiite popular mobilization units (Iran-backed militias) have played a key role in taking of the northern city of Talafar from ISIL. The ninth…

Mosul Youth rescue Books and Music in wake of ISIL Defeat

Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) | - - Two projects in Mouls show a different side to the devastated northern Iraqi city, as younger people there celebrate the end of the…

Kushner tells Abbas Israeli Squatter Expansion can’t be stopped b/c Netanyahu Gov’t would Fall

IMEMC News | - - The U.S. delegation led by Kushner expressed openness to the two-state solution while refusing to commit to the 1967 borders, according to diplomatic sources who spoke to…

Muslims well-integrated in Western Europe, but still face rejection

By Zoran Radosavljevic | EURACTIV.com | - - Muslims have come a long way towards integration into Western Europe, particularly in terms of language, education and work, but remain on the margins…

Trump Exploits Harvey Victims in Stealth Pardon of Arpaio

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Eminent climate scientist Michael Mann of Penn State noticed not one but two horrible things about Friday evening. You never want to see…

Mission Accomplished: Iraq drops chapter on evolution from school textbooks

By Brian Whitaker | ( Al-Bab.com ) | - - Iraq's education ministry has quietly dropped a chapter about evolution from its biology textbooks. The ministry has so far given no explanation…

Qatar: New Law Gives Domestic Workers Labor Rights

Human Rights Watch | - - (Beirut) – Qatar’s adoption of a new law on domestic workers provides labor rights for domestic workers for the first time, Human Rights Watch said today.…

Hezbollah and Syrian Army Liberate Large ISIL Enclave: Nasrallah

By TeleSur | - - Following the joint offensive, the Islamic State group only controls 40 square kilometers on the Syrian side, and 20 on the Lebanese side. A joint offensive between…

It’s Time to Take the Nazi-Trump Comparisons Seriously

By Adil E. Shamoo and Bonnie Bricker | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) | - - The slide towards bleak historical periods can be difficult to recognize in the moment. But…

Take that, Trump! 5% of California New Car Sales now Electric

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Despite Trump having pulled the US out of the Paris Climate accord, there is reason to think that the US will nevertheless meet…

Afghanistan is now officially James Mattis’ war

By Simon Reich | (The Conversation) | - - Donald Trump’s speech on his administration’s strategy in Afghanistan – in which he announced the introduction of an unspecified number of new combat…

Shadowy US Covert Ops & Surveillance Abroad always Come Home

By Alfred W. McCoy | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - [This piece has been adapted and expanded from the introduction to Alfred W. McCoy’s new book, In the Shadows of the American Century:…

Is the Gulf Crisis bringing Iraq back into Arab World?

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | ( Niqash.org ) | - - Countries like Saudi Arabia are showing new willingness to open diplomatic channels with Iraq. Motivations include a military they now respect,…

Germany’s Merkel: A Selfish & Isolationist America isn’t “Great Again”

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - In an interview with Handelsblatt , German Chancellor Angela Merkel took on Donald Trump's philosophy directly. She said that Trump's isolationism cannot make…

Will Trump’s Arpaio Pardon encourage more civil rights violations?

Steven Mulroy | (The Conversation) | - - President Donald Trump may pardon Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff who illegally used racial profiling to enforce immigration laws. It’s true, Trump has…

A Turkish Woman in the Oedipus Complex: Orhan Pamuk’s “The Red-Haired Woman”

By Erdağ Göknar | (Los Angeles Review of Books) | - - COULD A CONTEMPORARY STORY of love and vengeance set in Turkey have its roots in ancient myths of patricide and…

Is Trump planning permanent occupation of Afghanistan?

By Reese Erlich | ( 48Hills | - - What will 4,000 more US troops do that 100,000 troops couldn't do before? On my first reporting trip to Afghanistan, I was surprised…

India joins 20 Muslim Countries in banning ‘Instant Divorce’

TeleSur | - - Women’s rights activists view the ruling as a step toward granting Muslim women greater equality and justice. India’s Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional a Muslim practice that reportedly…

Trump, the Magical WASP, Deepens Racial Divide again in Phoenix

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - After another Stockholm Syndrome performance, on Afghanistan, where he gave the speech National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster wrote for him, Trump on…

Can we dodge a N. Korean War? Trump and the Geopolitics of Crazy

By John Feffer | ( Tomdispatch.com ----- Related video added by Juan Cole: North Korea Threatens 'Merciless Retaliation' Over U.S.-South Korean Drills, Threatens Guam | TIME

Trump’s Afghanistan Surge will Fail without Diplomacy, Anti-Corruption

By Solaiman Fazel | (Informed Comment) | - - Despite the campaign promise to distance himself from Afghanistan, President Trump has now publically taken ownership of America’s Longest War, 2001-Present. Trump’s decision…

International Community must Halt Yemen Bloodbath

Hannah Porter | (Informed Comment) | - - A concerted effort by the international community to resolve Yemen’s war would see considerable benefits at a small cost, yet profits, alliances, and egos…

Israel argues confiscation of occupied land benefits Palestinians

Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Israeli government defended the legality of the outpost “Regularization law” at the Israeli Supreme Court on Monday, and said that the expropriation…

Trump flip-flops on Afghanistan, opts for Years-long Quagmire

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The 16-years-long Afghanistan War has bedeviled Washington decision-makers since the US invasion of fall, 2001, which came in response to the attacks of…

It’s Not About ‘White Culture’

By Jill Richardson | (Otherwords.org) | - - There's no way to march with KKK members and Nazi flags in a non-hateful way. “I came to this march for the message that…

Can Iraq save Tal Afar from ISIL without Destroying the City?

By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | - - [N.B. The offensive against ISIL (Daesh) in Tal Afar began on Sunday. - JC] Intensive air raids, secret political talks and military forces gathering…

ISIL in Afghanistan Resilient despite Kabul Offensive

By Frud Bezhan. | ( RFE/RL) | - - A relentless air-and-ground campaign against the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan does not appear to have radically diminished that militant…

Why no Eclipse Denialists? The Same Science predicts Global Heating

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Eminent physicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson's tweet pointing out that there are no eclipse denialists the way there are dedicated climate change denialists went…

Green Norway: Will it be the World’s First post-Carbon Society?

By Sam Morgan | EurActiv.com | - - Norway has the renewable resources and political will to become the world’s first country to use entirely clean electricity for its power demands, according…

Racist Israeli Youth attack Israeli Soldiers, shouting “You are Arabs!”

Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) --Two Israeli soldiers were attacked on Friday night in a public park in the town of Pardes Hanna-Karkur, south of Haifa in northern Israel,…

White Supremacy was already dying in the 1860s & can’t be Revived

By Gail Ukockis | (Informed Comment) | - - One statue of Robert E. Lee that will probably remain standing is at the battlefield of Gettysburg. Here is an appropriate place for…

Trump Pledged to Carpet Bomb ISIL, but Little Lebanon is Taking them On

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Lebanese Army has mobilized to clean out an ISIL enclave in a mountainous region on the border with Syria, Jurud al-Qaa and…

‘Not in Our Name!’: Barcelona Muslims Denounce Attacks

TeleSur | - - The crowd chanted slogans such as "Islam is peace!" and “They are not Muslims, they are terrorists!” In the wake of two attacks in Catalonia this week, claimed…

Are ISIL recruits more street gang members than zealots?

By James L. Gelvin | (The Conversation) | - - The recent terrorist attacks in Spain and Finland once again compel us to ask: Who joins the [so-called] Islamic State [group], and…

Trump fires Bannon: Who are the Winners & Losers Globally?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Steve Bannon by his own admission promoted the Breitbart webzine as a mouthpiece of white supremacism, in an attempt to create a new,…

Largest Wildfire on Record is raging in Greenland, as Ice Melt Speeds Up

By Kathryn Adamson | (The Conversation) | - - The largest wildfire ever recorded in Greenland was recently spotted close to the west coast town of Sisimiut, not far from Disko Island…

Arab World: Is it Still a War if Civilians are mostly the Targets?

By Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim | (Inter Press Service) | - - GENEVA, Switzerland (IPS) - The war in Syria has now entered its 6th year and is becoming the world’s…

Israel to Impose Fines for Commemoration of Nakba (Palestinian Defeat)

IMEMC | - - Israeli occupation authorities are prepared to impose massive fines on Palestinians who commemorate the Israeli occupation of Palestine, a report revealed on Tuesday. An Arab member of the…

Trump on Barcelona: Recalls US War on Spain, Brutal Occupation of Filipino Muslims

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - A vehicular terror attack in Barcelona that left over a dozen people dead and 100 injured has been claimed by ISIL. Another terrorist…

US Military in Syria to Stay, YPG Kurds Say

TeleSur | - - The United States has been funding and supporting the group for months, due to “strategic interests” in the region, a spokesperson revealed. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria —…

No Longer “Indispensable?” The World is moving on from Trump’s America

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Let me try to get this straight: from the moment the Soviet Union imploded in 1991 until recently just about every politician and…

Rethink Coal! Australia emits nerve poison Mercury at double Global Average

Robyn Schofield | (The Conversation) | - - A report released this week by advocacy group Environmental Justice Australia presents a confronting analysis of toxic emissions from Australia’s coal-fired power plants. The…

German Politicians think Trump is dangerously close to Neo-Nazis, and they Should know

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The nation of Germany gazed with helpless horror at Trump's disastrous Tuesday press conference, in which he tried to make a false equivalency…

Remembering the White Rose anti-Nazi Activists

Global Nonviolent Action Database | Swarthmore University By Aly Passanante | (Edited by Max Rennebohm) | Global Nonviolent Action Database | - - Amidst the omnipresence of violence during World War II,…

Number of Hate Groups Spiking under Trump (Video)

The Atlantic | (Video News Report) | - - "According to research by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups has been increasing rapidly since 2000. Heidi Beirich, director…

1 in 9 Deaths are from Air Pollution & Trump is making it Worse

The Tree | - - Air pollution is driving a global public health crisis. It is responsible for one in nine deaths worldwide, and touches everyone given 92% of the human race…

The Historical Falsehoods That Feed White Supremacy

Peter J. Hammer | ( Yes! Magazine) | - - Behind the racist slogans are historical tropes that the broader White America clings to, not just those who showed up for the…

Fascism in Charlottesville: Why it had a monopoly on violence & Intimidation

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - In his unhinged news conference on Tuesday, Trump equated what he called the "alt-Left" (which is not a thing) with the alt-Right. He…

Think there’s too much Trouble in the World? Now Global Heating is Kicking In

Gulrez Shah Azhar | (Project Syndicate) | - - SANTA MONICA – With India experiencing its worst drought in 140 years, Indian farmers have taken to the streets. At a protest in…

Answering Trump’s Question: Who are the “Alt-Right” Among Us?

By George Michael | (The Conversation) | - - Over the past year, far-right activists – which some have labeled the “alt-right” – have gone from being an obscure, largely online subculture…

Neo-Nazi Website forced on to ‘Dark Web’ as no ISP Wants Them

TeleSur | - - Web hosting firms, Sendgrid, SaaS and Zoho as well as tech firm Discord are the latest providers to dump The Daily Stormer. Citing terms of service violations, more…

Is it time for Trump Administration to stop Declaring War on every Problem?

By Rebecca Gordon | (Via Todmispatch.com ) | - - Since September 11, 2001, the United States has been fighting a “war on terror.” Real soldiers have been deployed to distant lands;…

Why don’t People think Trump’s Denunciation sincere? B/c he Ran on Racism

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Trump finally came out, two days late, to denounce explicitly and by name the hate groups who organized an invasion, hundreds-strong, of little…

Call it what it is: Domestic White Nationalist Terrorism on the Rise

By Arie Perliger | (The Conversation) | - - The attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a man named James Alex Fields Jr. used his Dodge Challenger as a weapon against a…

Federal Agencies Warned of White Supremacist Threat in May

By Julia Conley, staff writer. | Commondreams.org | - - A memo by the FBI and DHS said white supremacist groups pose a bigger threat to the U.S. than other extremist organizations.…

Under Saudi Bombs, Yemen hit by 500,000 Cholera Cases

TeleSur | - - Each day there are more than 5,000 new cases of the waterborne disease. More than half a million people in Yemen have been infected with cholera since the…

Bannon must go, but after that, Protesters should listen to Bernie

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Steve Bannon ran, and is still likely pulling the strings at, Breitbart, the "Stormfront" in a business suit with a skinny tie. Bannon…

A New Generation of White Supremacists Emerges in Charlottesville

By A.C. Thompson, ProPublica, and Karim Hajj, special to ProPublica | ( ProPublica) | - - The white supremacist forces arrayed in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend — the largest gathering of…

Iran’s Parliament defies new Trump/GOP Sanctions, Increases Missile Funds

TeleSur | - - The bill would allocate over US$260 million each to Iran's ballistic missile program and the Quds Force. Iran's parliament has approved the first step of a bill to…

‘Don’t Be a Sucker’ [White Supremacist/ Nazi] : War Department 1943 Video

United States War Department |. (1943 Educational Video) | - - Wikipedia: "Don't Be a Sucker! is a short film produced by the US War Department in 1943 and re-released in 1947.…

Top 5 Ways White Terrorism means never having to Say you’re Sorry

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - I've argued for some time that US media treats white terrorists differently than others. And, I noted recently that the US press seems…

Iraq after ISIL needs Security, Anti-Corruption & Jobs, not Identity Politics

By Andrea Teti, Pamela Abbott, and Munqith Dagher | ( OpenDemocracy.net ) | - - Ignoring priorities that have popular support in Iraq risks undermining post-ISIS attempts to build a stable country,…

What to do with Confederate statues?

James Glaser | (The Conversation) | - - Could Russia teach us something about how to deal with difficult aspects of our national history? Many places in the South – from New…

Trump to Guam: Nuclear Tensions Will Bring you Tourism

TeleSur | - - Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against North Korea, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as it prefers to be called, the U.S. colony of Guam has…

‘Locked & Loaded’ Trump’s 1960s Cowboyism re: N. Korea & Venezuela

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - If you were away from news on Friday, you might like to know that in addition to hot wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq…

Trump’s ‘Election Integrity’ Commission Hearkens Back to Jim Crow

By Diallo Brooks | (Otherwords.org) | - - Politicians have stolen our right to vote before. They'll do it again if they get the chance. Joseph Cox watched his friends and neighbors…

Iraq’s Next Elections will be the most Important in its History

Mustafa Habib. | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | - - In Iraq, larger political parties disagree on everything except maintaining the status quo: Parliament just passed a law that will badly affect the…

Inconvenient Sequel: 9 Ways To Make Your Home Greener (TYT Video)

Brett Erlich | (The Young Turks Video Report) | - - "Use your home to act on climate. Download our guide to learn easy changes that will lower your carbon footprint and…

If an Iranian president talked like Trump we’d think them all nut cases

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Over the years the smug Western pundits have had a good deal of fun at the expense of unhinged Middle Eastern rulers. There…

Trump bends over, thanks Putin for Expelling 755 Career US Diplomats

CNN. | (News Video Clip) | - - 1. "President Trump thanks Russian President Putin for expelling US diplomats from Russia following US imposed sanctions." 2. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.…

Why do so Many US-trained Foreign Officers Make Coups at Home?

Nick Turse | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - Winning! It’s the White House watchword when it comes to the U.S. armed forces. “We will give our military the tools you need…

Should Western Countries be Selling Masses of Arms to Saudi Arabia?

By Riccardo Labianco | (The Conversation) | - - Since the catastrophic Yemeni civil war began in 2015, the British public has woken up to a serious problem: the use of UK-manufactured…

Kissinger pushes Iranophobia, fear of ‘radical empire’ as ISIL declines

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Henry Kissinger at 94 is still misinforming Washington about Iran. Now he is warning of an "Iranian radical empire" stretching from Tehran to…

People Power is only way to Oppose Scott Pruitt’s Anti-EPA

By Adam Lynch | ( Yes! Magazine) | - - A Former EPA Adviser on How to Push for Environmental Justice Under Trump “In our country there are two things that move…

Trump’s Mulligan in Afghanistan: Mercenaries

By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - Donald Trump loves to play golf. So far, he has teed off twice as many times as Barack Obama had…

The Message on Climate must be ‘Yes We Can,’ not Apocalypse Now’

By Jon Christensen | (The Conversation) | - - There’s been no shortage of pessimistic news on climate change lately. A group of climate scientists and policy experts recently declared that we…

“Fire & Fury” or “Shock and Awe”: it is always the start of a Quagmire

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - If we weren't talking about two nuclear-armed states with unhinged leaders, the war of words between the US and North Korea would be…

America’s Passionate Intensity: What Rough Beast Slouches toward Mar-a-Lago?

By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - Like it or not, the president of the United States embodies America itself. The individual inhabiting the White House has become…

Did Saudi ‘Cheap Oil’ Policy throw Venezuela into Crisis?

Bulent Gökay | (The Conversation) | - - Venezuela is sinking ever deeper into a political and economic calamity. Inflation is above 700% and GDP is more than a third below 2013…

Are Corruption Charges brewing against Israeli PM Netanyahu?

TeleSur | - - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under growing legal pressure as investigators appear to be focusing on his role in a series of high-profile cases, which a national…

Scientists Leak Study on Global Heating Impact b4 Trump can Suppress it

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - A draft report on the current impact of global heating on the United States, produced by 13 Federal agencies, has been leaked to…

Can a General ‘Unchaos’ the White House? – Juan Cole Interview

Warren Olney | KCRW. | (To the Point Radio Show) | - - Can a general 'unchaos' the White House? "With the President away, his White House Staff will play — unless…

Is Turkey on brink of Invading Syrian Kurds, US BFF?

TeleSur | - - The Turkish Armed Forces are massing on the Syrian border days after a reshuffle of top brass in the country's military in anticipation of a potential invasion that…

Arab Journalists condemn Israel’s Plan to close Al Jazeera

Ma'an News Agency | - - RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ) condemned the Israeli government’s decision to shut down the office of Qatari news channel Al Jazeera in…

Gov.’s branding Mosque bombing ‘terrorism’ astonishes US Press

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - This Saturday, a Bloomington, Minnesota mosque was attacked with an improvised explosive device, which destroyed an office with fire and blew out windows…

Tunisia: Landmark Step to Shield Women from Violence

Human Rights Watch | - - New Law Offers Protection, but Needs Funding (Tunis) – The law on violence against women, including domestic violence, approved by the Tunisian parliament on July 26,…

The Mask Is Off: Trump Is Seeking Pretext for War with Iran

By Trita Parsi | (FPIF) | (Originally published in Lobelog) | - - "Trump is committed to finding a way to claim Iran has violated the nuclear accord, regardless of the facts…

Illegal Israeli Squatters’ Activities in Palestinian W Bank Tripled in 2017

TeleSur | - - Israeli occupation authorities have escalated the illegal plunder of land belonging to the Palestinian people, defying international opinion. Israeli illegal settlement activities in Occupied Palestine have skyrocketed in…

Leaking in the Age of Trump: Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers (VICE Video)

VICE News | (Video News Report) | - - "VICE News examines the Trump administration's war on leakers, with Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. "We're really seeing leaks that are dangerous to…

Iran’s Rouhani lashes out at Trump Over Nuclear Deal

By TeleSur | - - Hassan Rouhani calls for upholding the 2015 nuclear deal despite new U.S. sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was inaugurated for a second term on Saturday, has…

As Trump leaves Paris Accord, Wind jobs are fastest growing in US next Decade

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - CBS News reports that jobs in the wind energy field will grow 108 percent in the next 7 years. Working on wind turbines,…

UN Report: Muslim Youth going to fight in Syria mostly not Motivated by Islam

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Lizzie Dearden at The Independent reviews a new report by the United Nations Office of counter-terrorism report. Some 25,000 young men are said…

Desert solar project could power 5 million EU homes

By Sam Morgan | EURACTIV.com . | - - A consortium of clean energy developers has applied for permission to build a gigantic solar power plant on the edge of the Sahara…

GOP Jet-setters in Climate Denial: It is getting too Hot for your Plane to take Off

By Ethan Coffel | (The Conversation) | - - Hot weather has forced dozens of commercial flights to be canceled at airports in the Southwest this summer. This flight-disrupting heat is a…

1st Amendment RIP: 50 Senators want to make Boycotting Israel a Felony

By Aniqa Raihan | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - The goal is to frighten people from engaging in the completely legal act of living out their values. In 1966, the…

Trump’s Worst Nightmare: Mueller’s Grand Jury Subpoenas Russia Documents

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller has empaneled a grand jury in the investigation of Trump's ties to Russia. The Grand Jury in turn has…

The 6th Mass Extinction is beginning & there isn’t Much time

Robert J. Burrowes | ( GlobalVoices.net | - - The sixth mass extinction is already here and the window for effective action is very short. Human beings are now waging war against…

Trump in a Firing Mood; is US Commander in Afghanistan Next?

Wochit News | (Video News Clip) | - - "U.S. officials said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump's doubts about the war in Afghanistan has led to a delay in completing a…

Transcript: Trump threatened Mexican Pres. over Paying for Wall

TeleSur. | - - Trump told the Mexican leader that they were both in a bit of a political bind due to Trump's campaign pledge to build a massive wall to prevent…

Top 5 Great Power Realist Reasons Trump is Wrong on Immigration

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Many of the reactions to Stephen Miller's announcement of Trump's proposed immigration policies have pulled at the heart strings. People on social media…

Racist DOJ under Sessions targets Campus Diversity

By Jake Johnson, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org ) | - - The Justice Department's plan to "challenge efforts that colleges and universities have undertaken to expand educational opportunity is an affront…

The Most Dangerous Game in the World: Trump guns for Iran

By Jeffrey D. Sachs | (Project Syndicate) | - - NEW YORK – In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump and his advisers have joined Saudi Arabia in accusing Iran of being…

Solar now most popular form of new electricity generation worldwide

By Andrew Blaker | (The Conversation) | - - Solar has become the world’s favourite new type of electricity generation, according to global data showing that more solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is…

The Dragon Arrives: 1st Chinese overseas Military Base in Djibouti

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - China has just inaugurated its first military base abroad, in the tiny Red Sea country of Djibouti. Beijing has a long way to…

Who defeated ISIL? Obama’s Quiet Strategy, not Trump’s Bluster

Bryan G. Williams | (Informed Comment) | - - Book excerpt from the just-published Counter Jihad: America's Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria [CLICK]: At the time of the writing of…

Will reaction against Trump on Health Care lead to Medicare for All?

By Ann Jones. | (via Tomdispatch.com ) | - - You may have noticed that quite a few of the formerly united states of America have been choosing to go their own…

Resisting? 5 Lessons on Authoritarian Regimes from Latin America

By Cheryl Duckworth | (Informed Comment) | - - Daily headlines suggest we could soon be experiencing a genuine constitutional crisis. We’ve learned that White House lawyers are exploring if the President…

Top 6 Falsehoods Embraced by new WH Chief of Staff John Kelly

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - John Kelly will get a lot of good will from having fired the foul-mouthed Anthony Scaramucci. But should he? At least Scaramucci had…

Extremist Israeli Squatters literally kick Palestinians out of Home, Move In

Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Almost one week after dozens of extremist Israeli settlers raided and occupied a Palestinian home in the southern occupied West Bank city of…

Turkish Women rally re: Abuse by Conservatives over Outfits

TeleSur | - - Istanbul has been widely viewed as a fairly liberal city for women and the LGBT community. On the weekend, hundreds of Turkish women marched in Istanbul to protest…

Guess What Iraq’s Biggest Problem Really Is

By Pamela Abbott, Andrea Teti and Kevin M. DeJesus | (The Conversation) | - - With the defeat of the so-called Islamic State (IS) on the battlefield looking imminent, Iraq is confronting…