Asia

With about 37,007 megawatts (MW) of solar PV power installed in 2013, world solar PV power capacity increased about 35% to 136,697 MW. Whereas Europe had dominated annual growth for years up until 2013 (10 years, to be precise), solar PV growth was…

Africa

25 Maps That Will Change The Way You See The World

Juan Cole

25 Maps That Will Change The Way You See The World

Bangladesh

Save Bangladesh & you Save the World: Give Green Energy aid to Developing Nations of Global South

Juan Cole

(By Paul Rogers) Recent examples of short-term climate disruption have done much to bring the overall issue of climate change up the political agenda. In responding to what will be one of the key challenges of the next decades – well beyond the 15-year lifetime of the post-2015 global development goals currently under discussion – […]

Drones

#Notabugsplat: Artists erect a giant portrait of drone victim for pilots (+ Vice Video)

Juan Cole

(By Eric Stoner) A portrait of a drone victim in Pakistan as seen from a drone. (notabugsplat.com) In a brilliant creative action, an art collective with the help of enthusiastic locals unfurled an enormous poster in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of a young girl who lost her parents and two younger siblings to a drone […]

Afghanistan

Top 7 Surprising pieces of Good news in Afghanistan Presidential Election

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Afghanistan went to the polls on Saturday, despite threats by the Taliban to disrupt the elections and calls by the extremists for Afghans to boycott the vote. As it turns out, the elections appear to have been a success, despite many problems (including a last-minute shortage of ballots as more voters showed […]

Afghanistan

Will electoral Fraud undermine Afghanistan’s new President?

Juan Cole

(By Djeyhoun Ostowar) War-torn Afghanistan does not possess a civil registry. It therefore lacks reliable statistics. Given widespread corruption, the absence of an identification system and the high security risk of voting, is mass-election fraud a necessary and acceptable price for peace? On April 5, the Afghan people will vote in the country’s presidential elections, […]

Afghanistan

After Karzai: Afghanistan votes for a New President amid Security Threats

Juan Cole

Afghanistan poised for uncertain election as US forces exit (via AFP) Afghanistan heads to the polls Saturday to choose a new president after Hamid Karzai’s 13-year reign and a US-led military campaign which have radically changed the country but failed to defeat the Taliban. The first round of the election comes as the… —— […]

Afghanistan

US National Security hijacked, flown into Bermuda Triangle of Mysteries

Juan Cole

(By Tom Engelhardt) Isn’t there something strangely reassuring when your eyeballs are gripped by a “mystery” on the news that has no greater meaning and yet sweeps all else away? This, of course, is the essence of the ongoing tale of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Except to the relatives of those on […]

Afghanistan

Ft. Hood & the True Cost of Iraq & Afghanistan Wars: Nearly 1 mn traumatized: PTSD by the Numbers

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Ft. Hood shooter who left 3 victims dead yesterday had been being assessed for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had served for 4 months at the tail end of the Iraq War in 2011 and suffered from anxiety and depression. A staggering 1 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have […]