United Nations

Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks Video) | – – “There’s something wrong with people’s reaction to the Iran nuclear deal. If what they’re saying is true then the deal makes no sense at all. They’re saying Iran will be more likely to get a nuclear weapon, but that simply isn’t true. Cenk Uygur delivers […]

Apartheid

ICC Prosecutor Ordered to Reconsider Israeli Flotilla Raid

contributors

By IMEMC | – – The International Criminal Court on Thursday ordered its chief prosecutor to review a decision not to probe Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, saying “errors were made.” Fatou Bensouda late last year dropped the investigation leading to potential prosecution into the incident in which 10 Turkish activists […]

Children

Wars targeting Children: 20 mn Homeless, 300K Conscripted & now Mass Abductions by ISIL

contributors

By Beatriz Ciordia | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Whether in Palestine, Ukraine or Somalia, wars result in millions of children threatened by the brutality of armed conflict. The numbers speak for themselves: more than 300,000 child soldiers are currently exploited in situations of armed conflict and six million children […]

Iran

“The World Has Changed’: Reformist Iranian Press Goes Wild for Vienna Deal

contributors

By Mahsa Alimardani | (Global Voices) | – – Almost every front page of Iran's daily newpapers covered the nuclear deal on Wednesday 15 July. Screenshot from www.jaaar.com. Iran's media landscape is typically a place to gauge what differences lie across the country's political factions. However, on Wednesday, July 15, the country's various publications seemed […]

Iran

Would Iran reformers gain upper hand with UNSC Nuclear Deal?

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL) For Iranian President Hassan Rohani, a nuclear deal with global powers would be a double-edged sword. An agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief would bolster Rohani’s reputation among Iranians who want better ties with the world and allow him to claim credit for the […]

Authoritarianism

Democracy in retreat in Half the 193 UN Member States

contributors

By Thalif Deen | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Democracy is on the retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise in more than 96 of the U.N.’s 193 member states, according to a new report released here. The two regions of “highest concern” for defenders of civic space are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle […]

Iran

If Iran Nuclear talks fail, Sanctions on Tehran Could Unravel

contributors

By Jasmin Ramsey | (Inter Press Service) | — WASHINGTON (IPS) – Internationally supported sanctions against Iran could begin to crumble if talks over Iran’s nuclear programme fail to produce a final deal, according to Germany’s envoy to the United States. “The alternatives to the diplomatic approach are not very attractive,” said Ambassador Peter Wittig […]

Displaced and Refugees

Blood Money? After Bombing Yemen, Saudis offer $274 mn. in Humanitarian Aid

contributors

By Thalif Deen | – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Saudi Arabia’s right hand does not know what its left foot is up to, belittles an Asian diplomat, mixing his metaphors to describe the political paradox in the ongoing military conflict in Yemen. The Saudis, who are leading a coalition of Arab states, have been accused […]

Featured

Iran: What did Khamenei really say about the Lausanne Agreement, and Why?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s paramount leader, spoke out on Thursday about the framework agreement for Iran’s negotiations over its nuclear enrichment program with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5 + 1). The speech is all over the place and seems to me to […]