2021

By Sarah Oven | – (Cronkite News) – (WASHINGTON – The Senate Monday confirmed New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as the next Interior secretary, a historic vote that makes her the first Native American to head a Cabinet agency. The confirmation came over the objection of Senate Republicans, particularly those representing Western states dependent on […]

Islam

What is Ramadan? Essential Information for Students and Teachers

contributors

This FAQ was distributed by Samer Ali, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan, but it is useful for any campus and any community with a Muslim minority. RAMADAN 2021 AT U-M This Winter Semester, around finals, many Muslims at U-M will abstain from food and […]

Iran

Amid Nuclear Standoff, Who’s In The Running To Take The Reins In Iran?

Golnaz Esfandiari

(RFE/ RL ) – Iran will hold a presidential election in less than three months amid speculation that a hard-liner and a “military man” could succeed Hassan Rohani, who is serving his final term and is under heavy pressure from his hard-line opponents who have consolidated power in the Islamic republic. As with all elections […]

Far Right

After the insurrection, America’s far-right groups get more extreme

The Conversation

By Matthew Valasik and Shannon Reid | – As the U.S. grapples with domestic extremism in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, warnings about more violence are coming from the FBI Director Chris Wray and others. The Conversation asked Matthew Valasik, a sociologist at Louisiana State University, and Shannon E. […]

China

Not Waiting on Biden: China breaks US Iran Blockade, moves to import nearly 1 mn b/d of Ayatolllah’s Oil

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China is dramatically ramping up its imports of petroleum from Iran this spring, going from a daily average of 300,000 barrels per day during the past year to 856,000 bpd. So reports Felicity Bradstock of Oilprice.com. The Biden administration has dragged its feet on negotiating a return to the 2015 […]

Joe Biden

Biden’s Relief Package Is a Huge Victory for Workers

OtherWords

By Rebekah Entralgo | – ( Otherwords.org ) – President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is more than just a response to the coronavirus. It’s also one of the largest anti-poverty measures in U.S. history. Provisions in the package, like expanding the Child Tax Credit alone, will bring nearly 4 million kids out […]

Democracy

Sudan’s Progressive, Secular Revolutionary Government faces Food Riots and Ethnic Violence

The Conversation

By Andrew E. Yaw Tchie | – Sudan’s political transition is in a precarious phase. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s government is facing a wide variety of challenges, including protests over the price of goods and commodities, and a resurgence of violence in the country’s Darfur region. If the situation continues to unravel, the country could […]

Employment

Making America more Equal . . . by Rebuilding the Country

Nomi Prins

(Tomdispatch.com ) – During the Trump years, the phrase “Infrastructure Week” rang out as a sort of Groundhog Day-style punchline. What began in June 2017 as a failed effort by The Donald’s White House and a Republican Senate to focus on the desperately needed rebuilding of American infrastructure morphed into a meme and a running […]

Coal

As Solar, Wind costs Plummet, Coal, Gas vastly Over-priced in Bubble that could Burst worse than 2008