TeleSur | – – Rex Tillerson praised the agreement as indicative of future cooperation in Syria, but also said that the United States still sees no “long-term role” for the Assad government. The United States and Russia have cooperated to negotiate a ceasefire in the southwest region of Syria, an agreement which will involve a […]
Archives for July 2017
When will gasoline cars be illegal? France throws its Beret into the Ring
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The answer to the question in the title depends very much on the precise question being asked and on the country. If we are talking new vehicle manufactures and sales, the Netherlands and Norway say 2025. Germany and India say 2030. And now France says 2040. […]
G-20: Germany aims to isolate Trump on Paris Climate Plan
By Dave Keating | Euractiv.com | – – Angela Merkel wants all countries in the group except the US to sign up to a strong statement supporting the Paris Agreement but Saudi Arabia and others may resist. Germany’s hopes to get unequivocal backing for the Paris climate agreement from the G20 in Hamburg are running […]
New Neocon Mantra: Hit Iran, b/c like Soviet Union, it is Collapsing
By Jim Lobe | (Inter Press Service) | – – WASHINGTON, (IPS) – Iran hawks suddenly have a new mantra: the Islamic Republic is the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, and the Trump administration should work to hasten the regime’s impending collapse. It’s not clear why this comparison has surfaced so abruptly. Its proponents […]
Trump’s Fascist Weakness Mars Poland Diatribe
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump’s speech in Poland may have attempted to camouflage its Fascist undertones with some Nazi-bashing, but no one will be fooled. The speech was probably shaped by alt-Neo-Nazi Steve Bannon, White House strategist and enabler of the white supremacist roll of toilet paper known as […]
Can Total’s Gas deal in Iran vindicate the Nuclear Deal?
By Meysam Tayebipour | (The Conversation) | – – Nine years ago, when sanctions were imposed on Iran by the international community, Total was the last Western energy company to suspend its activity there. Now, following the lifting of nuclear sanctions on Iran in January 2016, Total is the first Western company to return to […]
Do an Unstable President and a Reckless Prince threaten the World?
By Dilip Hiro | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – The Middle East. Could there be a more perilous place on Earth, including North Korea? Not likely. The planet’s two leading nuclear armed powers backing battling proxies amply supplied with conventional weapons; terror groups splitting and spreading; religious-sectarian wars threatening amid a plethora of ongoing armed […]
Poor in the U.S. South Will Bear the Brunt of Climate Change: Research
TeleSur | – – “There will be winners and losers from climate change within the United States,” said Amir Jina, a University of Chicago economist. A new study shows that climate change will produce much harsher effects in the poorest regions of the United States. Published in Science magazine, the landmark study, which analyzed the […]
RIP Internal Combustion gasoline Engine: Volvo Goes Electric
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Swedish auto manufacturer Volvo, owned by the Chinese automotive corporation Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd, has abruptly decided to produce only electric, plug-in hybrid and “mild hybrid” vehicles by 2019, only two years from now, AP reports. Le Monde called the announcement “a coup […]