Arab World

By Ian Sinclair | ( Open Democracy ) | – – The media keeps saying that the West isn’t involved in Syria. This isn’t true. “The sinister fact about literary censorship in England is that it is largely voluntary”, George Orwell noted in his censored preface to his 1945 book Animal Farm. “Unpopular ideas can […]

Climate Change

Refugees Sew Lips As Calais Jungle is Demolished (AJ+)

Nicholas Kolenda

Refugees sew at the Calais refugee camp in France sew their lips shut in protest of poor living conditions.

censorship

US Ally Saudi Arabia Sentences Atheist Tweep to 10 Years & 2,000 Lashes

contributors

By Amira Al Hussaini | ( Global Voices ) | – – Saudi Arabia has sentenced a Twitter user to 10 years in prison in addition to 2,000 lashes for publishing 600 tweets “which spread atheism” on the micro-blogging site. According to Saudi daily Al Watan the Twitter user, whose name was not disclosed, was […]

Featured

Russia open to “Federal” Syria, but opposition worries about Partition

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov said Monday that Russia supports whatever arrangements the Syrians in the current negotiations reach about the future, included a possible federal state. The United States has a federal system, which means that individual states retain a certain amount of autonomy, […]

Iraq

US Says Mosul Dam faces serious risk of Collapse; Could Kill 1.4 Million

contributors

TeleSur | – – The U.S. Embassy in Iraq warned its citizens to be ready to leave the country as the Mosul Dam faces a “serious and unprecedented” risk of bursting. The U.S. Embassy to Iraq on Monday told its citizens to be ready to leave Iraq, warning the risk of the Mosul Dam collapsing […]

Iran

Is US Syria Policy to back new Saudi-Turkish Moves against Iran?

contributors

By Fernando Betancor | ( OpenDemocracy)| – – The pattern of strikes by the disjointed US-led coalition of Operation Inherent Resolve remains the best and most reliable public indicator of intentions and future operations in the short-term. As I pointed out in early December, changes to the balance of forces in Syria and Iraq have been forcing […]

Saudi Arabia

US-Backed Saudi-Led Airstrikes Kill 40 People in Yemen, Mostly Civilians

contributors

TeleSur Saudi Arabia has been accused of bombing weddings and carrying out other war crimes against Yemeni militants it claims are aligned with Iran. Airstrikes carried out by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition waging war in Yemen struck a market in the capital Sanaa on Saturday, killing 40 people, according to Reuters. At least 30 people […]

Featured

Syrian Ceasefire: A Signal that Russia is winning the War?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Whether or not the cessation of hostilities in Syria holds, it is a major turning point in the revolution and civil war that began in 2011. As of Saturday morning in Syria, the major fronts between the regime and the Muslim Brotherhood factions were quiet. There […]

censorship

Egypt Jails Novelist Ahmed Naji for 2 years for His ‘Sexually Explicit’ Novel

contributors

By Mohammed Hasan | ( Global Voices | – – A Cairo appeals court sentenced Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji for two years in prison for publishing a chapter containing “sexually explicit” scenes from his novel The Guide of Using Life in a magazine. Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji has been sentenced to […]