By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Arab League is embroiled in a new cold war among its own members, largely over Iran’s role in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have so much influence in the Arab League that they got through a resolution of the foreign ministers committee […]
Sexual Predator Trump backs Sexual Predator Roy Moore (TYT Video)
The Young Turks | (Video News Clip) | – – “Does Trump support Roy Moore? Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks, breaks down Trump’s response: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday directly addressed the sexual misconduct allegations against Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, nearly two weeks after the first accounts of Moore’s alleged […]
Israeli Minister Confirms Secret Contacts with Saudi Arabia
By IMEMC News | – – Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz revealed that the country maintains secret contacts within Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim and Arab countries, especially those with shared concerns from Iran. Steinitz, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, did not characterize the contacts or give details when asked why Israel was […]
World’s Cheapest Solar Power in Mexico a Coal-Killer
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – China will have installed 54 gigawatts of new solar energy by the end of 2017, instead of the 15 gigawatts forecast last January or the 30 gigawatts forecast as late as last June. As of last June, the US installed solar capacity was only 47 gigawatts, […]
Trump’s attack on UCLA Athletes’ right to Dissent an Attack on America
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – So Trump intervened with Chinese authorities to release three UCLA basketball players guilty of shoplifting from a mall in Hangzhou while playing in China. They thanked him, he told them to change their ways. Then Levar Ball, the father of LiAngelo Ball–one of the three freed […]
The Saudi-US war on Yemen is killing 130 Children a Day & Other Bleak Statistics
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Saudi-led coalition is waging total war on Yemen in a bid to defeat the guerrilla group, the Houthis or the Helpers of God. The Houthis took power in Sanaa in fall of 2014 and consolidated it in early 2015. By March-April, Saudi Arabia’s Muhammad Bin […]
Lebanese PM Hariri arrives in or Escapes to France
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri arrived Saturday morning with his family in Paris, after a two-week stay in Saudi Arabia, where he is a dual citizen and has a mansion. Lebanese president Michel Aoun had charged that Saudi Arabia had taken Hariri hostage, but the latter […]
US-Led Bombings in Iraq Killed 31 Times More Civilians Than Reported: NYT
By Jessica Corbett, staff writer| ( Commondreams.org ) | – – New York Times reporters uncovered “consistent failure by the coalition to investigate claims properly or to keep records that make it possible to investigate” in what “may be the least transparent war in recent American history” An 18-month investigation by a pair of New […]
World, horrified at Trump, sends US Ranking Plummeting
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US is usually number 1 in the German research firm Gfk’s rankings, headed up by political consultant Simon Anholt. They ask some 22,000 people around the world to rank countries on six scales. This year it fell five full places to number 6. No such […]