TeleSur | – – The French president said Russia and Turkey could engage in war over Turkish involvement in Syria as Russia called for an urgent U.N. Security Council. There is risk of a Turkish-Russian war as a result of Ankara’s involvement in Syria, French President Francois Hollande warned Friday, as Russia called for a […]
Archives for February 2016
Why Trump’s tiff with the Pope endangers his Political Future
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Billionaire bigot Donald Trump’s tiff with Pope Francis continued on Thursday, though Trump appears to have gotten cold feet about taking on the Pontiff toward the end of yesterday. The reason this dispute is important is that Trump cannot win the presidency with only the backing […]
No, it isn’t all one Thing: The Variety of Religious Experience in Islam
By Aaron W. Hughes | (The Conversation) | – – The rise of Islamic State has led to much speculation about the group’s origins: how do we account for forces and events that paved the way for the emergence of the jihadist group? In the fourth article of our series on the historical roots of […]
Civility? Professor Proposes Israel “flatten” a City of 1 million
By Belén Fernández | ( TeleSur ) | – – No, Israel Should Not Flatten Beirut: A debate over whether Israel should commit war crimes and wipe out a city of at least 1 million people is somehow acceptable. This week, the prominent Israeli newspaper Haaretz ran an opinion piece by Amitai Etzioni, titled “Should […]
Exxon-Mobil’s past Crimes against the Earth are nothing Compared to its Present Ones
By Bill McKibben | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Here’s the story so far. We have the chief legal representatives of the eighth and 16th largest economies on Earth (California and New York) probing the biggest fossil fuel company on Earth (ExxonMobil), while both Democratic presidential candidates are demanding that the federal Department of […]
UN: Over 400 Palestinians displaced by Israel in 6 weeks
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Over 400 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been displaced due to Israeli demolitions during the first six weeks of this year, a senior UN official said Wednesday. Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN Development Activities for the occupied Palestinian territory Robert Piper in a statement […]
Syria: 500 Turkey-backed Sunni Arab Fighters Cross to defend Azaz from Kurds
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – This morning, according to the Syria Observatory and the Arabic press some 500 Sunni Arab rebels based in Turkey crossed back into Syria to help defend the town of Azaz from the YPG miitia of Syrian Kurds, which is advancing on the city. They were allowed […]
Turkey’s New Normal?: Bombing in Ankara kills Dozens
By Winston Obertan | ( GlobalVoices.org ) | – – Ankara. Wikimedia image. A bomb blast, believed to have originated from a car bomb, has killed at least 28 people and injured scores in what appears to be a targeted attack on vehicles carrying Turkish military personnel. The explosion comes amid an intensification of fighting […]
Are Outside Interventions in Syria undermining Int’l Law & our own Security?
By Ingvild Bode | (The Conversation) | – – Since 2012, the war in Syria has lurched from one escalation to another. Syrians have been subjected to large-scale military force not only by their own government, but also by an array of rebel groups, Islamic State (IS), a US-led coalition and other states. The results […]