Europe

Renewables provide 50% of German electricity in 1st quarter ’22 as Berlin Seeks Escape from Russian Gas

By Edgar Meza | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Renewable energy sources accounted for 50 percent of electricity consumption in Germany in the first quarter of 2022 – around nine percentage points more than in the same period last year, according to a report by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research […]

Bashar al-Assad

Was the Visit to Iran of Syria’s al-Assad impelled by Fear of Russian Failure in Ukraine?

Gilbert Achcar

By Gilbert Achkar | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The President of the Syrian regime, Bashar Al-Assad, paid a surprise visit to Tehran last Sunday and, adding to its surprising nature, is the fact that he had rarely dared to leave his country since the popular uprising against his regime began in 2011. […]

Russia

Did the Ukraine War lead to Turkish-Saudi Rapprochement?

Middle East Monitor

Motasem A Dalloul | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Turkish President Recep Erdogan visited Jeddah in July 2017 and met Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to mediate for an end to the blockade imposed on Qatar by the Saudis, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. “No […]

Featured

US Double Standard: Russia Sanctioned for Ukraine Occupation, but 4,000 new Israeli invaders of Palestinian West Bank merely “Opposed”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Deputy Spokesperson for the State Department, Jalina Porter, on Friday condemned the Israeli government’s announcement that it would build 4,000 further housing units in the Palestinian West Bank, i.e., it would steal land owned by Palestinian families and bring in squatters from Israel to squat on that land. The […]

Displaced and Refugees

Ukraine: Migrants Locked Up Near Front Lines: Free Migration Detainees; Allow Them to Leave Country for Safety

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Berlin) – Migrants and asylum seekers locked up in a migrant detention center in Mykolaiv on the edge of the front lines in southern Ukraine are in danger and should be released, Human Rights Watch said today. Ukraine should urgently release the dozens of migrants and asylum seekers arbitrarily detained in […]

Climate Crisis

Could Europe Install a Terawatt of new “Freedom Solar” by 2030 to Escape Russian Gas?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – John Ainger at Bloomsberg reports that a coalition within the European Union is pressing Brussels to set a goal of 1,000 gigawatts of new solar capacity by 2030 as a way of escaping dependence on Russian methane gas for electricity generation. The European Union is seeking to boycott Russian goods […]

Climate Crisis

Denmark makes Bid for “Putin-Free” Energy by Accelerating Mammoth Artificial Wind Island Plan

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Europe has faced a dilemma in standing up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, since most European countries have tied themselves to Russian methane gas and petroleum imports. These countries are thus funding the very war they rail against. Denmark, for its part, is accelerating the building of two mammoth wind […]

International Criminal Court

If we want the International Criminal Court to investigate Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, we need to stop undermining it Ourselves

OtherWords

By Farrah Hassen | – ( Otherwords.org ) – As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, human rights groups have gathered evidence of Russian atrocities against civilians — including executions, rapes, and mass murder. These are war crimes, President Biden asserted recently, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin “should be held accountable.” Biden is right. Russia’s […]

Africa

The Economic Consequences of the War: Why the Conflict in Ukraine Is a Disaster for the Poor of This Planet

Rajan Menon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In 1919, the renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes wrote The Economic Consequences of the Peace, a book that would prove controversial indeed. In it, he warned that the draconian terms imposed on defeated Germany after what was then known as the Great War — which we now call World War […]