The man recognized by the Palestine government based in Ramallah as prime minister, Salam Fayyad, has tendered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas. The most immediate cause of the dispute between the two was that, under pressure from crowds and from the Fateh party, the minister of finance, Nabil Qassis, tendered his resignation. Fayyad rejected […]
Jonathan Winters, RIP (Video: of Classic Standup Routine)
Comedian Jonathan Winters has died at 87. Winters was a pioneer in improvisational standup and the use of impressions in mini-skits within the monologue. He deeply influenced Robin Williams. Dana Carvey’s mix of impressions and irony seems to me also to stand in the Winters tradition. In many ways, our contemporary comedic sensibility owes a […]
Arctic Summer Ice Cap will be gone in 20 Years: NOAA (Time-Lapse Video)
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predict that the arctic will be iceless during summers in as little as ten to twenty years, as a result of global warming caused by humans dumping billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Here is NASA’s time-lapse video of the […]
Egypt: As Mubarak retrial begins, Judge Recuses Self
Former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak was brought to a courtroom on Saturday for the beginning of his retrial on charges of ordering hundreds of peaceful demonstrators killed in January and February 2011 during the revolution against him. The trial was abruptly postponed, however, when Judge Mustafa Hasan Abdullah recused himself. He had been involved in […]
Amazing Green Energy News: World’s Largest Wind Farm opens in UK, as Libya prepares to go Solar
1. World’s Largest Wind Farm The London Array offshore wind farm has just gone live, generating 630 MW of electricity in the first phase. An expansion will allow it, two years hence to add another 200 megawatts. Here is a video report. 2. Libya Solar Libya has announced that it plans to get a fifth […]
“Losing my Religion” in Tehran (Music Video)
Iranian mashup of R.E.M’s 1991 hit, “Losing my Religion”, set in Tehran. REM LOSING MY RELIGION at Tehran from Hamed Zarepoor on Vimeo. h/t reddit.com
Jordan, Overwhelmed by Syrian Refugees, Opens a New Camp
Jordan has received about 600,000 Syrian refugees from the civil war raging in the latter country. It has now been constrained to open a second refugee camp at Marajid al-Fuhud, paid for by the United Arab Emirates and run by the Red Crescent (the Middle Eastern version of Red Cross). Aljazeera English reports on Jordan’s […]
Iran’s Presidential Election Heats up as Reformist Rowhani Enters Race (Jahanpour)
Farhang Jahanpour writes in a guest column for Informed Comment The next crucial round of Iranian presidential elections will be held on 14 June 2013. It has just been officially reported that Hassan Rowhani has declared his candidacy for the election. Rowhani is an influential reformist politician and cleric. He was the chief Iranian nuclear […]
Israel’s ‘Water-Apartheid’ in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank (McCauley)
Lauren McCauley writes at Common Dreams A new report on Israel’s water grab in the occupied West Bank links the widespread deprivation of Palestinian water rights to Israel’s settlement expansion strategy, saying both demonstrate “a clear testament to its colonial and apartheid motives.” Published Monday by the Ramallah-based human rights organization Al-Haq, “Water for One […]
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