Europe

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The government of Angela Merkel in Germany has rejected participation in the the Trump administration’s naval mission, “Operation Sentinel,” aimed at securing the Straits of Hormuz from Iranian interference in shipping. German foreign minister Heiko Maas of the Social Democratic Party said that Berlin opposes the Trump policy of “maximum […]

Islamophobia

Russian Twitter trolls stoke anti-Immigrant & anti-Muslim lies, and not Just in US

The Conversation

By Ahmed Al-Rawi and Yasmin Jiwani | – Russian troll activity on Twitter aimed at influencing public opinion has attracted a lot of attention in the United States and other western democracies. Canadians may feel it’s not an issue here. But a recent examination of Twitter data suggests there are reasons to be concerned as […]

Climate Change

Europe, are you Crazy? As a Continent Melts, New Coal Plants Planned and Permitting Blocks Wind Farms

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The heat wave that has swept Europe and given Paris the weather of Madras is certainly embroiled in human-caused climate change. The severity and frequency of such extreme weather is exacerbated by the 2.4 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide human beings have spewed into the atmosphere since about 1750, […]

United Kingdom

Boris Johnson and the New Battle of Britain: Can Labour Keep UK in Europe?

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus ) – As hard Brexiteer Boris Johnson takes over, Labour is finally coming down on the side of Remain. Will it be too late? UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Photo: nottheviewsofmyemployer / Flickr / creative commons). All eyes are focused these days on Boris Johnson, the new prime minister of the […]

United Kingdom

Perfidious Albion? Is UK PM Boris Johnson an Islamophobic, anti-Immigrant, anti-Gay Bigot?

The Conversation

By Luke Reader | – After the election of Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister, does Britain have a populist, nativist politician as its head of government? It’s hard to say. Johnson has been a little of everything during his career. Over three decades in public life, Johnson has shifted between social […]

Iran

Crickets from European Union over Questionable UK Seizure of Iran tanker: With Brexit, London should Get Used to It

The Conversation

By Barry Ryan | – It’s rare to experience silence in this age of political anger and loudness, of bombastic tweets, insulting truths and incredible lies. It’s so unfashionable for a politician to not immediately respond to an event with lightening praise or withering cynicism, that when we hear nothing, it seems as though something […]

Climate Change

In Just the Past Year, German CO2 Emissions fell by 33%, as Gas Replaced Coal

Clean Energy Wire

The end for German Coal could come Sooner than anyone Expects

European Union

180 Gigs of Offshore Wind: Europe May Build 10 Artificial North Sea “Energy Islands”

Clean Energy Wire

By Kennedy Nyavaya | – Several European grid operators have proposed to build at least ten artificial “energy islands” as wind power hubs in the North Sea to make use of large-scale offshore wind energy in meeting the continent’s climate targets. According to the North Sea Wind Power Hub (NSWPH) consortium – which includes TenneT, […]

Donald Trump

The ‘inept’ Mr Trump – and the Lost Art of the Diplomatic Cable

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com) – The point of diplomatic cables, and the cause of excitement when they are leaked, is that they are meant to be private – from which we might assume they contain information that is not generally known and is perhaps too interesting to be shared with the public. Sadly, that wasn’t the case with […]