By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday paid a visit to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port, Jidda, at the invitation of the Saudi royal family. He was hosted by Crown Prince Muhmmad bin Salman, who is acting head of state while his father is on vacation. […]
Archives for July 2017
Is Electricity a Right, even for Palestinians of Gaza? Israel’s Obligations
By Julie Webb-Pullman. | (TeleSur) | – – The bowing of Israeli occupation authorities to the request of the Palestinian Authority to further reduce energy supplies does not exonerate them. Israel is the main supplier of electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip, Palestine. When the functioning of vital services such as hospitals and the […]
Losing Cities, can ISIL strike Iraq, West from Mountain Bases?
By Dashty Ali | Sulaymaniyah | (Niqash.org) | – – Having been driven out of Mosul, the extremist Islamic State group is doing what Al Qaeda did before them: setting up new bases in the rugged northern Hamrin mountain area. The extremist Islamic State group has lost its capital in Iraq, after they have been […]
Of all things Trump did to us, Vast new toxic CO2 Emissions are the Worst
By Michael T. Klare | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Who says President Trump doesn’t have a coherent foreign policy? Pundits and critics across the political spectrum have chided him for failing to articulate and implement a clear international agenda. Look closely at his overseas endeavors, though, and one all-too-consistent pattern emerges: Donald Trump […]
On one day in May, Italy got 87% of its Electricity from Renewables
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – * On one day in May, Italy met 87% of its electricity production needs from renewables. This statistic was a fluke, since ordinarily renewables supply less than a fifth of Italy’s electricity. Still, that on especially bright and windy days, the renewables can perform at this […]
Intel Community: ‘How can we work for a President who Undermines our work?’
By Mattathias Schwartz, special to ProPublica | – – Last week, Dan Coats, the former senator from Indiana and current head of the U.S. intelligence community, was interviewed by NBC’s Lester Holt in front of a live audience at the Aspen Security Forum, a gathering where diplomats, journalists and top U.S. officials mingle with business […]
Turkey’s Vast Censorship now Enlists all Citizens in Twitter Police Reports
Dağhan Irak | (The Conversation) | – – On July 4, Eren Aksoyoğlu, a member of the Turkish Joint June Movement opposition bloc, was taken into custody for a tweet criticising the government’s handling of a racially-motivated brawl in Ankara. Less than two weeks later, Turkish police issued a warrant for film director Mustafa Altıoklar […]
Israel to penalize Amnesty Int’l financially over support for Boycott
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has reportedly taken steps to strip Amnesty International of its tax benefits in Israel, barring Israeli donors from receiving tax deductions from their donations to the international human rights organization owing to its calls to boycott Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied […]
Top 5 Trump Secrets of Sadism, from Trans People to Priebus to Police
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump is a “Tyrannical Sadist”. It may not be a personality disorder in the latest diagnostic manual on its own any more (it was considered too close to Anti-Social Personality Disorder) , but it is kind of like pornography. You know it when you see it. […]