By Gustavo Capdevila | (Inter Press Service) | – GENEVA (IPS) – Without the emperor’s clothes, like in the Hans Christian Andersen story, the United States was forced to submit its human rights record to the scrutiny of the other 192 members of the United Nations on Monday. Washington attended the country’s second universal periodic […]
Archives for May 2015
BB King R.I.P.: “When the Saints go Marching In”
BB King | “When the Saints go Marching In” R.I.P.
Palestinians welcome Pope’s Recognition of their State
By Juan Cole The Arabic press widely and favorably reported the news that the Vatican has recognized Palestine as a state in a new treaty with it, despite a strong protest from Israel. The recognition was of Palestine within 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. It came as part of a treaty between the […]
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 opened fire. It is believed that there were up to 60 people on board the bus, including women and children.” Dozens killed in […]
Obama greenlights Shell’s Arctic drilling, tarnishing his climate legacy
The Tree | — President Barack Obama’s reputation as a climate leader took a hit on Monday when his administration gave its blessing for Shell to begin drilling exploratory oil wells in the Arctic. The move contradicts recent positive actions the US has made on climate, including last year’s historic emissions reductions deal it with […]
How Europe’s Post-Revolution Abandonment of Libya led to Mediterranean Crisis
By Ioannis Chapsos | (The Conversation) | – Libya has been in a state of chaos ever since the fall of its former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, and the situation scarcely seems to be improving. But it’s not just a nightmare on land – Libya is starting to poison the Mediterranean too. Since a civil war […]
Obama: Palestinians deserve end to indignity of occupation
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — President Barack Obama says the United States is “taking a hard look” at its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, telling an Arabic language news source Wednesday that Palestinians “deserve an end to occupation.” Talking to the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, President Obama said that he would never give up hope for “peace […]
Did Jeb Bush just commit a War Crime in Justifying the Iraq War?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — Jeb Bush’s people are trying to walk back his disastrous interview with Megyn Kelly in which he said that even if he knew then what we all know now, he would have launched the war on Iraq in 2003. It is true that he doesn’t seem to […]
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 and burned by a mob of young men. The world would soon come to know her name: Farkhunda. The name means “auspicious” or […]