By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Arabic press is reporting that under cover of Russian air support, the Syrian Arab Army of Bashar al-Assad has made some advances against al-Qaeda in Syria and hard line Salafi rebels fighting for imposition of sharia or their conception of Islamic law on the country. […]
Archives for October 2015
‘Putin of Arabia’ hugely popular among Iraqi Shiites
By Jean-Marc Mojon with Raji Nasser in Najaf | ( Your Middle East ) | – – The new Iraq Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bullish entry into the Syrian conflict has worked wonders for his popularity in neighbouring Iraq, where some await “Hajji Putin” like a saviour. Sitting at his easel in his central Baghdad […]
Palestine: Death of a Stone-Thrower: Intifada 3.0
VICE News | (Video Report) | – – “Tension builds in Israel and the West Bank with three new stabbing attacks on Israelis reported on Saturday, and the funeral for a young Palestinian stone-thrower killed by Israeli forces in Nablus. VICE News attends the funeral, where grief turns to rage and calls for revenge.” VICE […]
Big Win For Fair Use In Google Books Lawsuit
By Corynne McSherry | (Electronic Freedom Foundation) | – – In a long-anticipated ruling, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed Google a clear victory today, soundly rejecting the Authors Guild’s claim that the Google Books Project infringes copyright. In the process, the Court also confirmed what we’ve always known: fair use promotes “copyright’s very […]
Study: Miami, New Orleans Can’t Be Saved From Rising Sea Levels
GeoBeats News | – – “According to a recently published study, Miami, New Orleans, and a number of other US cities are already beyond the point of being saved from rising sea levels. As the world’s temperature continues to increase, the West Antarctic ice sheet is under threat, and carbon emissions are still being produced […]
Ottomans saved Hungarian PM Orban’s Ancestors; now he says Islam never part of Europe
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban not only continued to defend his anti-immigrant bigotry but went on to say that Islam has never been part of Europe. Mr. Orban not only is increasing the misery of largely Muslim refugees, but now he has erased 1300 years of […]
While Sanders Scores Small Donors, Clinton and Bush Buoyed by Wall Street
By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org | – – In terms of support from financiers, ‘no other candidates came close to Clinton and Bush’ “She’s gonna all of a sudden become Mrs. Wall Street if she’s elected,” one banker said of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. While the 2016 U.S. presidential election fundraising […]
The anger of Palestine’s ‘lost’ generation
By: Killian Redden | – Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A few weeks before an Israeli soldier shot him through the stomach, Mutaz Zawahreh discovered a love of the sea. On the coast of Brittany, Mutaz and two friends from Duheisha refugee camp, Murad Ouda and Issa al-Saifi, amazed the French […]
Putin says Afghan Situation ‘Close to Critical’: Will he intervene there, Too?
By Frud Bezhan | ( RFE / RL) | – – Russia has signaled its willingness to boost its involvement in Afghan security in a power play that could help President Vladimir Putin burnish perceptions of Moscow’s global significance while dealing a fresh blow to Western influence. The indications come with Russian military planes carrying […]