Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – Saudi Arabia’s new counterterrorism law includes vague and overly broad definitions of acts of terrorism, in some cases punishable by death, Human Rights Watch said today. The law replaces a widely criticized counterterrorism law promulgated in 2014, adding definitions of specific acts of terrorism and their […]
Israel’s Bedouin as Sisyphus: Homes destroyed over & over
By Aniqa Raihan | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – Thousands of Arab Bedouins in Israel’s Negev desert are denied power, water, sewage, and roads by the state. And their villages are under constant threat of demolition. Photo: Aniqa Raihan Before the creation of modern Israel, the Negev desert, which constitutes the southern […]
Saudi Debacle as Hariri returns to Beirut, remains PM
France 24 English | (Video News Report) | – – “Lebanon: PM Saad Hariri puts off stepping down. FRANCE24”s correspondent in Beirut Adam Pletts tells us more.” France 24 English: “Lebanon: PM Saad Hariri puts resignation on hold pending talks”
Will Fleeing Puerto Ricans ever return home from the Mainland?
By Alexis R. Santos-Lozada | (The Conversation) | – – Even before this year’s devastating hurricane season, the team of demographers I work with at Penn State and the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics had predicted that the population of Puerto Rico would decline over the next few decades. Have Hurricanes Irma and María accelerated […]
Yemen: Twitter Bots and Fake Accounts ‘Blocking News’
TeleSur | – – British-Irish independent journalist Iona Craig, who focuses on Yemen and the Arabian peninsula, blocked about 9,000 bots on Twitter in the space of a few hours. Fake Twitter bots are blocking the dissemination of information from within Yemen as the crisis gripping the country deepens, according to international journalists and academics. Iona […]
Nuclear Apocalypse by Accident? Age of Trump
By John Buell | (Informed Comment) | – – Ironically, President Trump’s frequent nuclear blustering serves to hide one aspect of the nuclear risk. Focus on his instability and possible impetuous resort to the nuclear trigger may distract from equally significant dangers. Any discussion fo the threat posed by nuclear weapons should include recounting and […]
R.I.P. The Internet, 1983-2017: End of Online Liberty
By Corynne McSherry and Elliot Harmon | ( Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – – As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gets ready to abandon a decade of progress on net neutrality, some in Congress are considering how new legislation could fill the gap and protect users from unfair ISP practices. Unfortunately, too many lawmakers seem […]
Israeli Policies eroding Rights of Palestinian children in Occupied West Bank
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — On the anniversary of Universal Children’s Day, international NGO Save the Children released a statement highlighting ongoing the rights violations of Palestinian children in the occupied territory by Israel. Jennifer Moorehead, the country director of Save the Children in the occupied Palestinian territory called for greater […]
Come Back, Barack – SNL/ Chance the Rapper Video
Chance the Rapper et al. | Saturday Night Live | (Video Clip) | – – De-Von-Tré (Chance the Rapper, Kenan Thompson, Chris Redd) wishes President Barack Obama would come back. Saturday Night Live: “Come Back, Barack – SNL”