Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas, the de facto ruling party of the Gaza Strip, has pledged to dissolve its administrative committee that runs the besieged coastal enclave and expressed readiness to hold general elections, in a bid for reconciliation with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA). A statement from Hamas movement […]
Trump as Stephen King’s ‘It’: Lashing out at Clinton, N. Korea
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Beltway Bandits who are always opining about Trump transitioning from campaign mode to presidential stature, and pronouncing after he does something petulant, “Today Donald Trump became president,” are domed to be wrong for at least 3.5 years. Trump’s politics are those of a pulp novel […]
Iraqi PM to Secessionist Kurds: “You’re Playing with Fire!”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi prime minister Haydar al-Abadi threatened on Saturday to deploy military force against Iraqi Kurdistan if it goes through with the referendum on independence authorized Friday by its regional parliament. The Kurds, he said, are “playing with fire.” The referendum is set to be held on […]
Can Turkey’s Erdogan ride Rohingya Crisis to global Muslim Leadership?
By Simon P. Watmough | The Conversation | – – The emerging humanitarian crisis that has been rocking Myanmar – where an estimated 370,000 Rohingya have been forced out of the country – has prompted broad international condemnation. But so far it has translated into little concrete action. United Nations (UN) human rights chief Zeid […]
Floridians with Solar Inverters had Electricity after Irma & other Green energy success stories
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – After Hurricane Irma in Florida, millions have been without electricity. But those Floridians who had solar panels plus an inverter or a Tesla powerwall were able to recover electricity immediately. Likewise, cities used solar to power traffic lights and other essential services after the huge storm […]
Can Yosef Abramowitz make Solar Power Bloom in Fossil Fuels-Addicted Israel?
i24 News | (Video News Report) | – – from Wikipedia: “Abramowitz was born in 1964. He lived in Israel as a child from 1969–1972, before returning to Boston. While living in Massachusetts, he attended the Solomon Schechter School of Greater Boston, and graduated in 1980 from Hebrew College Prozdor and in 1982 from Brookline […]
Russia rebuffs Israeli demand for 40 mi. Buffer with Iran in Syria (Haaretz)
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – According to Haaretz Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked Vldadimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, to keep Iranian troops and Hizbullah militiamen in Syria about 40 miles from the Israeli border. The Russian replied that these were matters for the Syrian Arab Army, but that […]
Can Iran keep its Influence in Baghdad?
Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Iran wants to reunite the fighting Shiite Muslim political parties in Iraq that once gave it unconditional support. But that job is far from easy. Last week Mahmoud Shahroudi, the head of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, which advises that country’s theological leader, Ali Khamenei, visited Baghdad. […]
Superstorm Donald Hits GOP, aims to Ravage US
By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) | – – If Trump succeeds in ramping up military spending and gutting everything else, we’ll be left with a bunch of nukes and an underfunded state — and no one but China to keep us afloat. The storm inside the Republican Party has reached […]








