Asit K. Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada | (The Conversation) | – – Global interest in climate change – its effects on the environment and society more broadly – is probably at an all time high. Countries around the world, with the glaring exception of the US under President Donald Trump, are increasingly acknowledging the shift […]
Israel’s new Jewish state bill ‘institutionalising the apartheid regime’
Middle East Monitor | – – The Israeli Knesset is fast tracking a “nation-state bill” which opposition groups have denounced as “institutionalising the apartheid regime”. Knesset members approved the final draft of the bill defining Israel exclusively as a nation for Jews. The “Zionism’s flagship bill”, as it’s been described by Israeli politicians, will permit […]
Europe to finance $800 mn. for Indian Solar Industry
By Frédéric Simon | EURACTIV.com | – – A handout photo made available by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) showing the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron (L) during the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi on 11 March 2018. [ISA] The European Investment […]
Pompeo’s rise at State will make Mideast war more likely
By Gregory Aftandilian | (The Conversation) | – – After U.S. president Donald Trump fired his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, many analysts have focused on how this high-level ouster took place: unceremoniously, on Twitter, not in a face-to-face meeting. As a former Middle East analyst at the State Department, though, I think the real […]
Can Democracy Survive Trump’s untransparent Forever Wars Abroad?
By William J. Astore | ( Tomdisptach.com ) | – – Overseas, the United States is engaged in real wars in which bombs are dropped, missiles are launched, and people (generally not Americans) are killed, wounded, uprooted, and displaced. Yet here at home, there’s nothing real about those wars. Here, it’s phony war all the […]
CIA Cables detail New Director’s Role in Torture at Thailand Black Site (Redacted)
Correction: Trump’s Pick to Head CIA Did Oversee torture at Thai black site but Not of Abu Zubaydah On Feb. 22, 2017, ProPublica published a story that inaccurately described Gina Haspel’s role in the treatment of Abu Zubaydah, a suspected al-Qaida leader who was imprisoned by the CIA at a secret “black site” in Thailand […]
Did United Arab Emirates lobbying instigate Tillerson’s sacking?
Middle East Monitor | – – US President Donald Trump has sacked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, one week after the BBC obtained emails revealing efforts by the UAE to have him sacked at “a politically convenient time.” Was this an unlikely coincidence? Should Americans not wake up to the power of lobby groups that […]
‘Algorithms of Oppression:’ How Corporations Reinforce Racism and Biases
TeleSur | – – “People think of algorithms as simply a mathematical formulation, but in fact, algorithms are really about automated decisions.” Through the book, “Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism,” Safiya Umoja Noble, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, USC’s, Annenberg School of Communication, broke down how algorithms work […]
Turkey says US & Kurds will Leave Manbij or Else, Prepares for Iraq Incursion
Middle East Monitor | – – Turkey and the US will oversee the withdrawal of forces allied to the YPG (People’s Protection Units) from the northern Syrian city of Manbij, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced today, according to Hurriyet Daily News. Speaking to reporters during a flight to Moscow, Cavusoglu said Turkey and the […]