Asia

Satire. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The genre of the Hollywood Romantic Comedy has fallen on hard times, in part because it became so formulaic (and unrealistic). Trump, however, is attempting to revive it with some twists. You throw a few atomic bombs in, make it part thriller and part P. T. Barnum circus act, […]

Afghanistan

When US Allies Murder US Soldiers: Blowback From U.S. Policy in the Greater Middle East

Danny Sjursen

(Tomdispatch.com) – He was shot in the back, the ultimate act of treachery. On September 3rd, a U.S Army sergeant major was killed by two Afghan police officers — the very people his unit, the new Security Force Assistance Brigade, was there to train. It was the second fatal “insider attack,” as such incidents are […]

China

US Ports Hurting from Trump’s anti-China Trade War, Warn of Severe Crisis in Six Months

AFP

by Ali BEKHTAOUI New York (AFP) – America’s ports are fearful that they will be big losers as the escalating trade fight between Washington and Beijing bites into business. The anxiety is that tit-for-tat tariffs between the two economic superpowers will crimp shipments, denting port revenues. Kurt Nagle, head of the American Association of Port […]

China

Pakistan Invites Saudi Arabia to Invest in China Economic Corridor

AFP

Islamabad (AFP) – Islamabad has invited Saudi Arabia to invest in the Beijing-funded, multi-billion dollar infrastructure corridor being constructed in Pakistan, its information minister said Thursday, as concerns grow over the country’s debt levels. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an ambitious plan to build energy and transport links connecting the western Chinese region of […]

Myanmar

Myanmar: Nobelist Suu Kyi silent as Rohingya Crisis Rolls On; let’s at Least help the Refugees

Reese Erlich

I sneaked into Myanmar on a tourist visa because the military junta running the country made it almost impossible to travel as a journalist. So I thought I was the only foreign reporter in the capital of Yangon in July of 1995. I was relaxing one morning when BBC TV ran a bulletin that famous […]

China

Dragon Waiting: After Idlib, Will Beijing Bring Syria into its One Belt Network?

Neil Thompson

As speculation grows that the Syrian army under the regime of Bashar al-Assad is preparing to strike at the Idlib de-escalation zone, the last piece of Syrian territory with a significant rebel presence left active, it seems as if the brutal civil there is at last drawing to a bloody conclusion. Like Iraq, Syria may […]

Afghanistan

Parade! How Trump Redefined Victory in Afghanistan as “Attacking our Enemies”

Nick Turse

New York (Tomdispatch.com) – 4,000,000,029,057. Remember that number. It’s going to come up again later. But let’s begin with another number entirely: 145,000 — as in, 145,000 uniformed soldiers striding down Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s the number of troops who marched down that very street in May 1865 after the United States defeated the Confederate […]

Iran

Pakistan sides with Iran, as Trump cuts $300 mn in Aid

TeleSur

(TeleSur) – Pakistan and Iran started cooperating on border security last year and during this latest meeting, the officials discussed military and security cooperation. Pakistan newly elected Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, in a conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, said that the two countries were connected by inseparable bonds of history, religion […]

China

China defies Trump on Iran, Creating new Benchmark Crude Market in Yuan

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China’s new futures market in Shanghai is trading in the Chinese currency, the Yuan, rather than dollars. One reason for dumping the dollar in this regard is that the Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control is trying to stop countries from buying Iranian petroleum. The Dept of […]