War Crimes

By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – When Saudi Arabia – which has been spearheading a coalition of Arab states in a devastating war against Yemen since 2015 – was accused of bombing civilians, and particularly children caught up in the conflict, the government in Riyadh threatened to […]

Displaced and Refugees

If US Wars aren’t on TV, are all those 1000s really Dying?

contributors

Rebecca Gordon | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – The headlines arrive in my inbox day after day: “U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria killed hundreds of civilians, U.N. panel says.” “Pentagon wants to declare more parts of world as temporary battlefields.” “The U.S. was supposed to leave Afghanistan by 2017. Now it might take decades.” There are […]

Chemical Weapons

Can Iran, Turkey and Egypt Cooperate to deliver Mideast from Chaos?

contributors

Farhang Jahanpour | ( Tehran Times | – – TEHRAN – Professor Farhang Jahanpour, part-time tutor on the Middle East in the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford, tells the Tehran Times that Iran, Egypt and Turkey must set aside their differences in order save the the region from “chaos and destruction”. […]

Iraq

1/2 of World’s Civilian War Deaths were in Syria, Iraq & Yemen during past Half-Decade

contributors

By IPS World Desk | (Inter Press Service) | – – ROME/GENEVA (IPS) – Between 2010 and 2015, nearly half of all civilian war deaths worldwide occurred in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, a major independent, neutral organisation ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war and armed violence informs. According to a new report […]

Displaced and Refugees

Civilian Casualties Mount in Battle to Re-take Mosul

contributors

By Mark Lattimer | (Inter Press Service} | – – LONDON (IPS) – East of Mosul, many of the lands liberated from ISIS stand empty. Driving through the Nineveh plains, traditional homelands of Iraq’s minority communities of Yezidis, Christians, Shabak and Turkmen, you pass one ghost town after another, peopled only by members of the […]

Displaced and Refugees

Why the Weaponization of Health Care in the Syrian War threatens Us All

contributors

By Xavier Symons | (The Conversation) | – – Few events in Syria have attracted as much attention as the alleged chemical weapon attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun. The callous use of biological agents to target civilians is a “crime against humanity” and a serious violation of international law, according to human rights […]

Algeria

Dear Marine Le Pen: Only a Fascist would Praise Colonialism . . . Oh Wait

contributors

Jessica Northey | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | – – Marine Le Pen’s declaration that colonialism was a positive thing is not only a denial of France’s painful history, but an example of the fascism that we now face in Europe. When we see or hear evil we have a moral imperative to call it out. Otherwise […]

Donald Trump

After the Chemical Attack, It’s Time to Get Rid of the ‘Muslim Ban’

contributors

By Peter Certo | (Otherwords.org) | – – Now that he cares about the fate of Syrian children, I hope Trump will open up our country — not bomb theirs. When I saw footage of the alleged sarin gas attack in Syria, I felt ill. The whole episode, which killed up to 100 civilians in […]

Displaced and Refugees

Risk of Mass Starvation Rising Rapidly in Africa, Yemen

contributors

TeleSur | – – “This really is an absolutely critical situation that is rapidly unfolding across a large swathe of Africa from west to east.” The risk of mass starvation in four countries — northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen — is rising rapidly due to drought and conflict, the U.N. refugee agency said […]