2019

Germany’s Merkel: World is Heading toward Disastrous Heating unless Rich Countries Drastically Cut CO2

By Benjamin Wehrmann | – The earth’s surface temperature will rise by three degrees Celsius [5.4° F.] under current climate targets, meaning CO2 emissions targets especially of industrialised countries have to be adjusted, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said at an event hosted by the country’s development cooperation ministry (BMZ) in Berlin. “Our targets are not […]

Donald Trump

Iran: Economic Blockade and Crowd Protests were also How the US made the 1953 Coup

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The crowd protests that grew to affect 100 cities over the weekend in Iran were sparked by the government increasing the price of gasoline by as much as 3 times overnight. But the underlying discontents with the government have been caused by a sinking economy, expected to shrink by 9% […]

Iran

Outrage In Iran Over Hike In Gas Prices As Economic Woes Worsen

Golnaz Esfandiari

(RFE/RL) – Iranians are blasting their government for rationing gas and greatly increasing its price, with many concerned that the move will lead to inflation and greater hardship in a country where so many people are struggling to make ends meet. The state-run National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said in an overnight announcement on […]

Russia

Russian Troops Triumphantly take over US Bases in Syria, Show off Social Media Skills

Global Voices

By Milan Czerny | – (GlobalVoices.org ) – For Russian soldiers, posting from the battleground was strictly forbidden. Then all of a sudden, it wasn’t “Yesterday they were here, today it’s us.” On October 15, the Russian conflict journalist Oleg Blokhin published several videos on social media of himself visiting the former US military base […]

Arms Sales

America’s Arms Sales Addiction: The 50-Year History of U.S. Dominance of the Middle Eastern Arms Trade

William D. Hartung

(Tomdispatch.com) – It’s no secret that Donald Trump is one of the most aggressive arms salesmen in history. How do we know? Because he tells us so at every conceivable opportunity. It started with his much exaggerated “$110 billion arms deal” with Saudi Arabia, announced on his first foreign trip as president. It continued with […]

Featured

Mired in a Trump-Fuelled Recession, 20 Iranian Cities erupt with Gasoline Price Protests

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Deutsche Welle reports that the tripling of the price of gasoline by the Iranian government very early Friday morning provoked protests throughout Iran, in at least 20 cities. In Sirjan, a protester was killed. The government drastically slowed down or even cut off the internet. The biggest rallies were in […]

Inequality

Is it Time for a Billionaire Ban?

OtherWords

By Negin Owliaei | – The wealthiest Americans dominate our airwaves. Let’s hear from someone else for a change. Bill Gates wants you to know he pays taxes. “I’ve paid more than $10 billion in taxes. I’ve paid more than anyone in taxes,” Gates told journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. “But when you say I should […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Anti-Climate Agenda Bolsters his Ambitions for “Freedom Gas”

contributors

By John Foster | – (Monitor) – When Washington dubbed American gas exports “Freedom Gas” this year, it signalled a new salvo in U.S. competition with Russia. The target behind the branding is Europe, the largest gas market outside North America. With a bonanza of gas from fracking, the U.S. aims to become the world’s […]

Israel/ Palestine

How Western media dehumanization of Palestinians allows Israel to get away with murder in Gaza

Ramzy Baroud

(Middle East Monitor ) – An Israeli attack on Gaza was imminent, and not because of any provocations by Palestinian groups in the besieged, impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli military escalation was foreseeable because it factors neatly in Israel’s contentious political scene. The war was not a question of “if”, but “when”. The answer came […]

Archives for 2019