Europe

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – The Turks seem to be weary of the alliance with the United States. Although it is still a NATO member, and has the second largest army in the organization, Turkey is strengthening military, political and economic ties with the US “major geopolitical rival” – Russia. According to a recent […]

Climate Crisis

German climate activists prepare wave of court cases in wake of Dutch Court ruling that Big Oil must slash Emissions

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – Die Welt ( Clean Energy Wire ) – German climate protection NGOs are gearing up for full-scale legal attack on what they describe as climate offenders in the wake of a court ruling in the Netherlands last month ordering Royal Dutch Shell to make greater reductions in its CO2 emissions, […]

Climate Crisis

With undersea Nordlink, Norway and Germany act as Huge Renewable Batteries for Each other, Sharing Hydro and Wind

Clean Energy Wire

By Kerstine Appunn | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Germany is taking another step towards achieving a fully renewable power system by completing the first electric cable connection with Norway, heads of government and ministers from both states have said at the official launch event of NordLink. The green transformation cannot be achieved […]

Featured

Irish Parliament first in EU to Condemn Creeping Israeli “Annexation” of Palestinian West Bank

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kerry O’Shea at the Irish Examiner reports that the Irish Dail (parliament) on Wednesday night passed a resolution accusing Israel of having committed the crime of “annexing” the Palestinian territories. Ireland is the first European Union state to make such a declaration. The motion also condemned Hamas for indiscriminately firing […]

Featured

Irish Parties and People demand Expulsion of Israeli ambassador, Fines for importing Settler-made Goods

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The recent Israeli assault on the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and the bombardment of Gaza, has stirred passions in the Irish Republic, where public opinion has swung around to be strongly in favor of Palestinian rights and critical of the Apartheid, Occupation government of Israel. Rallies have […]

Banking

Let Lebanon be Lebanon: Paris should Stop Threatening Beirut with EU Sanctions

John Hickman

John Hickman “Governing Lebanon is surely more daunting than governing France.”[1] That pearl of wisdom in an essay defending consociational democracy by University of Pennsylvania political scientist Brendan O’Leary has never been more accurate. A delicate balance of domestic interests with institutional vetoes at the best of times, Lebanese politics has been stalemated for months […]

Climate Crisis

Why Coal Must be Phased out by 2030 to Save the Planet

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Germany’s recently revamped Climate Action Law calls for the energy sector to reduce CO2 emissions from 175 to 108 metric tonnes by 2030. To reach that target, the energy sector must accelerate the phase-out of coal, according to a new study by Berlin-based energy […]

Climate Crisis

Germany’s Green Party is in the Lead, and sees Biden as climate ally on Blocking Russian Gas Pipeline

Clean Energy Wire

By Charlotte Nijhuis The co-leader of the German Greens, Annalena Baerbock, emphasised possibilities for closer cooperation between Germany and the U.S. on issues including climate action at a virtual event of the Atlantic Council. “We as Europeans and we as German Greens are not very far apart from the current U.S. administration,” Baerbock said. The […]

Joe Biden

Trump Admin was OK with Russia Expansion in Mideast, but Biden just Blocked a Putin Base in Sudan/Red Sea

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – United States and Russia are fighting for influence in the northeast African country of Sudan. Although Moscow planned to open a naval base in Port Sudan – the main Sudanese trading port on the Red Sea—there are indications that Khartoum changed its decision to host a Russian military facility […]