Asia

TeleSur | – – On Wednesday U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said the U.S. would withhold US$255 million in assistance to Pakistan. U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert announced Thursday it would freeze nearly all security aid to Pakistan until “the Pakistani government takes decisive action” against terrorist groups. Although Nauert did not […]

China

Dragon Ascendant: Green China, not Red China, increasingly Bestrides the World

Neil Thompson

Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | – – “Surpass Britain and catch up with America” was one of the more idealistic slogans put about by Mao Zedong after he reunited China back into one country again in 1949. Though it would ultimately fall to his successor Deng Xiaoping to plant China’s feet back on the […]

China

Heating with Coal Takes 3 Years off Your Life: China Study

contributors

Feng Hao | (ChinaDialogue) | – – Lives in northern China are shorter than in the south because of air pollution from heating, reports Feng Hao In Beijing, the switch from coal to gas heating has reduced levels of tiny particles (PM2.5 and PM10) in November by 55% and 46% on last year (Image: Nick McIntosh) Each year, the winter chill creates […]

Islamophobia

Ignoring Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing is Creating another Palestine

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – The international community must act swiftly on the Rohingya crisis or the world will create another Palestine. That was the stark warning issued by a delegation from the Middle East in a meeting with the Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament on Tuesday. The members of the delegation included representatives […]

Afghanistan

How Hawks and ambitious Generals pioneered our generational Warfare

contributors

By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – I remember the day President Obama let me down. It was December 1, 2009, and as soon as the young president took the podium at West Point and — calm and cool as ever — announced a new troop surge in Afghanistan, I knew. There wasn’t […]

Buddhism

Over 700 Rohingya Children Killed by Myanmar Military

Juan Cole

TeleSur | – – An estimate from Doctors Without Borders shows that at least 6,700 refugees have been killed during the first month of militarized persecution. At least 730 Rohingya children under the age of five have been mercilessly slaughtered by Myanmar police forces in an almost six-month crusade against the Muslim community, Doctors Without […]

Green Energy

“Solar+Batteries” = the Cheapest Energy, as S. Korea powers past Coal

contributors

By Frank Rijsberman | (Inter Press Service) | – – SEOUL, Dec 13 2017 (IPS) – Renewable energy became the cheapest form of electricity in 58 emerging economies last year. This year, the 11th Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis (LCOE 11.0) showed that solar and wind energy generation costs (at $46 to $53 per […]

Afghanistan

The Unlikely Industry Empowering Women in Afghanistan

contributors

By Ruchi Kumar | (Yes! Magazine) | = = In this deeply conservative society, these women are busting stereotypes every day. The typical depiction of an Afghan woman looks like this: Timid and fearful, she is a victim of her extremely conservative and regressive society, unable to move around or do much without a man. […]

China

Leaving US in Dust, China starts $150 Million Floating Solar Plant Project

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Three Gorges Group project commenced in July of this year and is expected to be completed and fully streamlined by May 2018. On Sunday, Xinhua reported that state-run China’s Three Gorges Group is building the world’s largest floating solar power plant. The renewable energy project, […]