Europe

By Meysam Tayebipour | (The Conversation) | – – Nine years ago, when sanctions were imposed on Iran by the international community, Total was the last Western energy company to suspend its activity there. Now, following the lifting of nuclear sanctions on Iran in January 2016, Total is the first Western company to return to […]

Environment

Record: Germany at 35% Renewables in Electricity Production

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – So far this year, over a third of German electricity has come from wind, solar, biomass and hydro, at 35%. That is 2 percentage points higher than in 2016. The percentage for the US is only 15%. Germany still has a long way to go to […]

France

Gunmen Shoot at Mosque-goers in France, Injure 8, including Child

contributors

TeleSur | – – Avignon police are now searching for the suspects who fled the scene. In the southeastern city of Avignon in France’s Provence region, two hooded men pulled up to the Arrahma mosque and opened fire on the crowd. The incident left eight people injured, including a 7-year-old girl, La Provence newspaper reported. […]

France

Another “Unbalanced” White Terrorist targets Muslims at Mosque Near Paris

contributors

TeleSur | – – Although the official investigation clearly said the attack was “deliberate,” the mainstream French media failed to report it. A man in a 4×4 car intentionally tried to run over worshippers coming out of a mosque in a southeastern suburb of Paris earlier this week according to police in the French capital, […]

Children

Demand-Side Slavery, Libyan Instability and European Crime Networks

Neil Thompson

Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | – – After several years in which refugees and migration have featured heavily in the Western media narrative, a disturbing correlation between human trafficking and conflict zones is well established. But new studies indicate that conflicts do not just cause human trafficking as refugees seek to flee warzones; wars […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syria: Russians alarmed, Washington Befuddled, by White House threats

Juan Cole

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 […]

Donald Trump

Is Putin’s Russia the critical threat Americans believe it to be?

contributors

Ronald Suny | (The Conversation) | – – U.S. intelligence agencies – 17 of them – agree that evidence shows the Russian government hacked the Democratic National Committee and waged a campaign to influence voters in 2016. Although no evidence of collusion between U.S. citizens and Russia has been proven yet, President Donald Trump and […]

Bashar al-Assad

Trump’s Escalations of War in Syria—Sleepwalking into a Global Confrontation

contributors

By Reese Erlich | (The Progressive) | – – Syrian President Bashar al Assad claims to have won the war and that he is merely mopping up remaining rebel groups. With its escalation of the undeclared war in Syria, the Trump Administration risks a direct military confrontation with Russia. On June 20, the United States […]

Donald Trump

Green France: Macron bans Fracking and welcomes US renewables Scientists fleeing Trump

Juan Cole

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 […]