By Jasmin Ramsey | — WASHINGTON (IPS) – A final deal on Iran’s nuclear programme wouldn’t only make non-proliferation history. It would also be the beginning of a better life for the Iranian people—or at least that’s what they’re hoping. Iranians, who are keeping a close eye on the talks which will resume Saturday in […]
Why Boycotting Israel will Backfire, just as Netanyahu’s Blockade of Gaza Has
By Guy Laron | (Informed Comment) | – – Many people who support a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict believe that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has a good argument. With the recent elections in Israel renewing Binyamin Netanyahu’s mandate to pursue hardline policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians and the lack of will […]
As Kobane comes under ISIL attack, Kurds Encircle, cut off “caliphate”
By Amy Austin Holmes | (Informed Comment) | – – (Kobane, Syria) The liberation of Kobane in late January led to jubilant celebrations almost everywhere. It was both a turning point in the war against Islamic State militants and the beginning of an emancipatory grassroots democratic experiment known as the Rojava Revolution. Now, IS militants […]
Journalists Pay the Price in Egypt’s Crackdown on Dissent
By Kitty Stapp | – – NEW YORK (IPS) – The Egyptian government is holding a record number of journalists in jail, a press freedom group said Thursday, despite promises to improve media freedoms in the country. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets then Egyptian Minister of Defence General Abdul Fatah Khalil al-Sisi in […]
Top Five ways for Washington to Fail in Iraq
By Peter Van Buren | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – In one form or another, the U.S. has been at war with Iraq since 1990, including a sort-of invasion in 1991 and a full-scale one in 2003. During that quarter-century, Washington imposed several changes of government, spent trillions of dollars, and was involved in the deaths […]
America’s Homegrown Extremists Twice as Deadly as Muslim Radicals
AJ+ | (Video report) | – “Homegrown groups with no connection to Islam have killed almost twice as many people as Muslim groups, according to a study by New America . The study looked at “terror” attacks that took place after 9/11 – but what else does the data tell us?” AJ+: “Non-Muslims More Deadly […]
Humans Causing the Sixth Great Extinction of other Life Forms, on which we Depend
By Gerardo Ceballos | (The Conversation) | – – Vitus Bering, the famous explorer, led perhaps the most ambitious scientific expedition ever in the 1730s. Commanding 10,000 people, he was in charge of exploring the vast lands of Siberia and the unknown sea between Siberia and Alaska. In 1741, he was forced to land on […]
Will Iraq Be Libya? Can the Shiite Militiamen Avoid Turning on Each Other?
Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) – – Iraq’s Shiite militias have been celebrated and criticised. Now, as differences in everything from weapons to leadership to loyalties become evident, tensions between the militias are rising. Last Saturday was the anniversary of senior Iraqi spiritual leader, Ali al-Sistani’s call to arms. The cleric, who is seen […]
Palestinian Member of Israeli Parliament will join Gaza Aid Flotilla, Risks loss of Immunity
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Arab MK [Member of Knesset or Parliament] Basel Ghattas said this week that threats by fellow Israeli lawmakers to remove his parliamentary immunity will not affect his decision to take part in the Freedom Flotilla III. The Israeli Knesset Committee reportedly voted in favor Tuesday of […]