By Gustavo Capdevila | (Inter Press Service) | – GENEVA (IPS) – Without the emperor’s clothes, like in the Hans Christian Andersen story, the United States was forced to submit its human rights record to the scrutiny of the other 192 members of the United Nations on Monday. Washington attended the country’s second universal periodic […]
BB King R.I.P.: “When the Saints go Marching In”
BB King | “When the Saints go Marching In” R.I.P.
Over 40 Ismaili Shiites shot down by Sunni Extremists in Pakistan
BBC | – “Dozens of people are thought to have died after an attack by gunmen on a bus in Karachi. They surrounded the bus, which was carrying Ismaili Shia Muslims, and opened fire. It is believed that there were up to 60 people on board the bus, including women and children.” Dozens killed in […]
Obama greenlights Shell’s Arctic drilling, tarnishing his climate legacy
The Tree | — President Barack Obama’s reputation as a climate leader took a hit on Monday when his administration gave its blessing for Shell to begin drilling exploratory oil wells in the Arctic. The move contradicts recent positive actions the US has made on climate, including last year’s historic emissions reductions deal it with […]
How Europe’s Post-Revolution Abandonment of Libya led to Mediterranean Crisis
By Ioannis Chapsos | (The Conversation) | – Libya has been in a state of chaos ever since the fall of its former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, and the situation scarcely seems to be improving. But it’s not just a nightmare on land – Libya is starting to poison the Mediterranean too. Since a civil war […]
Obama: Palestinians deserve end to indignity of occupation
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — President Barack Obama says the United States is “taking a hard look” at its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, telling an Arabic language news source Wednesday that Palestinians “deserve an end to occupation.” Talking to the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, President Obama said that he would never give up hope for “peace […]
Farkhunda is Our Sister: A “Martyr” to women and the Making of a New Afghanistan?
By Ann Jones | (Tomdispatch.com) | — I went to Kabul, Afghanistan, in March to see old friends. By chance, I arrived the day after a woman had been beaten to death and burned by a mob of young men. The world would soon come to know her name: Farkhunda. The name means “auspicious” or […]
Are the Houthis in Yemen really Iranian “Proxies”? What does that even Mean?
By Ari Heistein | (Informed Comment) — A 2014 al-Monitor headline declared “Yemen’s Houthis Proxy, not Ally for Iran” but then neglected to explain the difference. It is certainly unlikely that the Iranian-Houthi relationship is as strong as the U.S.-Israel or U.S.-Saudi relationship. Why then are the Houthis Iranian proxies but Israel and Saudi Arabia […]
Now Yemen’s Houthi Rebels are forcing Children Into Battle
Human Rights Watch | – (Beirut) – The Houthi armed group in Yemen has intensified its recruitment, training, and deployment of children in violation of international law. Since September 2014, when the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, they have increasingly used children as scouts, guards, runners, and fighters, […]