By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US embassy in Kabul has denied a visa to 6 Afghan high school students from Herat to accompany their invention in robotics to the United States for a demonstration. The girls made the 500 mile journey from the western city of Herat to the capital […]
UN: Saudi Bloc attempt to close Al Jazeera is attack on Freedom of Expression
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reuters reports that U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, is “extremely concerned by the demand that Qatar close down the Al Jazeera network, as well as other affiliated media outlets.” The statement was released by UNCHR spokesman Rupert Colville. Colville added: “Whether or […]
Top 5 things Trump is doing to us Worse than insulting Mika
by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Yes, Trump’s gratuitous Twitter insult to newswoman Mika Brzezinski was horrible. But US cable news and even a lot of print news are falling down on the job by focusing on these clashes of personality that Trump provokes. In contrast, corporate news is not doing a […]
Freeing Fayza: A Journey to War-Torn Iraq to Rescue a Yazidi ISIL Slave Girl
By: Brian Glyn Williams and Christopher Natola | (Informed Comment) | – – It began with an electrifying text message from a Yazidi member of a network dedicated to freeing Yazidis (an ancient people from Northern Iraq who adhere to a faith rooted in old Iranian religion and influenced by Sufi mysticism). The message was […]
Syria: Russians alarmed, Washington Befuddled, by White House threats
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The unusual statement from the “White House” on Monday saying that there were indications that the Syrian regime was preparing to use poison gas has provoked much head-scratching both inside the Trump administration and around the world. Why would the “White House” say this? Is it […]
Why it Matters that the World thinks US under Trump is Laughingstock
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pew Research Center has found that the confidence of the world public in the US willingness to do the right thing has plummeted in just the few months Trump has been at our helm. Last fall, 62 percent of people throughout the world said they trusted […]
Trump accuses Syria of Planning Gas attack as Haley attacks Russia, Iran
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Trump administration is making noise about striking Syria, on the grounds that Damascus is planning to use poison gas again. Trump’s Neoconservative ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, tweeted: Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but […]
Civilians Fleeing as Battle for Mosul enters last days
by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Iraqi army has created pathways for civilians trapped in Mosul to escape and at least 100 have managed to flee to safety. The chief of operations for the Elite Iraqi Counter-Terrorism forces, Ma’n al-Sa`di, said that his units are engaged in vicious battles despite the […]
Green France: Macron bans Fracking and welcomes US renewables Scientists fleeing Trump
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The French government wants to steal increasingly unemployed US green energy scientists, who are being systematically defunded by the Trump administration. After Trump pulled out of the Paris accords, Macron addressed US professionals: “To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision […]
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