By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Republican House Majority leader John Boehner secretly invited Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Washington to address Congress and then once it was set up he let Barack Obama know about it. The reason for bringing Netanyahu is that Boehner wants to craft a super-majority in Congress that […]
Archives for January 2015
Surprise! German anti-Muslim Leader Resigns after Posing as Hitler
Euronews | — “The leader of the anti-Islamisation PEGIDA organization in Germany has quit after a photo of him posing as Hitler was published in the Bild newspaper, throwing the future of the movement in doubt. Lutz Bachmann resigned with an apology to all those he offended over comments he made on Facebook where he […]
Solar-powered plane to set off from Abu Dhabi for global flight
BBC News | — “The plans have been set for the solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, to take off from Abu Dhabi and then fly around the globe using only the sun’s energy. With a wingspan of 72m (236ft), Solar Impulse 2 is the width of a Boeing 747, but weighs about the same as […]
Pakistan: Fighting Extremism with Schools, Not Guns
By Zofeen Ebrahim | — KARACHI (IPS) – As a wave of outrage, crossing Pakistan’s national borders, continues a month after the Dec. 16 attack on a school in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, some citizens are turning away from collective expressions of anger, and beginning the hard work of building grassroots alternatives to terrorism […]
Israel: Palestinian man arrested after stabbing nine on Tel Aviv bus
IMEMC | — By Celine Hagbard | (IMEMC & Agencies) — A Palestinian man from the West Bank city of Tulkarem was shot, then taken into custody by Israeli police in Tel Aviv Wednesday after stabbing several people on a bus. Israeli authorities say they are considering this a terror attack. The 23-year old man […]
Obama to GOP: More Iran sanctions lead to War (& 7 other Foreign Policy points in SOTU)
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address slighted foreign policy in favor of touting domestic progress and proposing new domestic initiatives. But there were some foreign policy highlights worth underlining. 1. Obama pushed back hard against hawks like Senator John McCain, who want to ramp up a […]
Yemenis living “hour to hour” as Houthis take Presidential Palace
SANA’A (IRIN) – Muneer Asharby nearly didn’t go to work today. It wasn’t until after noon that he finally braved the walk. Even so, he kept half of his hardware shop closed in case he needed to make a fast exit. The day before a mortar shell landed just in front of his shop, in […]
Bobby Jindal Gets Called Out for Muslim “No-Go Zones”
TheLipTV | — “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to spread the myth of “no-go zones” after Fox News issued an on-air apology and correction for allowing its anchors to make the false claim about the Muslim-only areas in European countries that are not under the control of the state and are ruled according to Shariah […]
Dual Use: Solar Panels conserve Canal Water In India
By Malini Shankar | (IPS) Sunlight pours over a break in canal-top solar panels recently installed over the Vadodara branch of the Sardar Sarovar canal project in Gujarat. Credit: Malini Shankar/IPS BARODA, India (IPS) – It began with an experiment to install photovoltaic cells over an irrigation canal that forms part of the Sardar Sarovar […]