By Juan Cole ISIL and al-Qaeda have, according to Hizbullah, launched attacks in Syria’s Qalamoun district (abutting the Lebanese border near Baalbek) on Hizbullah military outposts on the Syrian side. Hizbullah is acting in Syria as an adjunct to the Syrian Baath Army and helped reduce Qusayr and Homs last spring. The Syrian rebels were […]
Archives for October 2014
Anti-Science Congress cut $600 mn. from Agency Leading Ebola Response
News365 “WASHINGTON — The lead agency tasked with responding to the threat of Ebola both within the United States and abroad has seen its budget drop dramatically in the past four years. In breaking the news on Tuesday that the first Ebola patient had been diagnosed in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and […]
Kurdish Forces Under-equipped, Need ground troop Allies: Peshmerga General
RFE/RL In an interview with Samira Ali Mandee of RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq, General Jabbar Yawar, secretary-general of the Peshmerga Ministry of Iraq’s Kurdish region, discusses the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants, cooperation with Iraqi and outside militaries, and the mood on the front. RFE/RL: Could you tell us about the security developments along […]
Beyond Antarctica: 3-Foot Sea Level Rise from Melting Alaskan, Other Glaciers Alone
NSF: “Tighten your seat belt! This runway is made of ice. Welcome to the Ruth Glacier, deep inside Alaska’s Denali National Park. Many of the visitors are here for backcountry skiing, but this is no vacation for University of Maine paleoclimatologist Karl Kreutz and his team. For them, time on the ice is all part […]
ISIL Still Taking Towns in Iraq’s Al-Anbar as Coalition Airstrikes are Delayed
By Juan Cole The pan-Arab London daily Al-Hayat [Life] reports today that ISIL is still expanding its sway in towns in Iraq’s western al-Anbar Province, having just taken Kubaisah in the district of Hit on Friday into Saturday, two days after the district capital of Hit fell to them. Local Iraqi police ran away from […]
Defying US, Sweden to Recognize Palestine (First in Western Europe)
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The prime minister of the Kingdom of Sweden on Friday said that the country would recognize the State of Palestine, becoming the first major Western European state to do so. Prime Minister Setfan Loefven said during his inaugural address that “the conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a […]
How Stupid Can CNN Hosts Get about Muslims with Reza Aslan? THIS STUPID.
Sam Seder “Watch as Reza Aslan schools CNN anchors and Bill Maher on their Islamophobia…” Sam Seder: “How Stupid Can CNN Hosts Get? THIS STUPID”
Expansion of Morocco’s Largest Solar Complex to Provide 1.1 Million Moroccans with Clean Energy
World Bank WASHINGTON, September 30, 2014 – The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors approved today a US$519 million project to support Morocco’s ongoing efforts to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels by developing its renewable energy resources. The project will back the government’s strategy of harnessing power from the sun through the use […]
The Alamo of the Kurds: Kobane Near Falling to ISIL
By Juan Cole Ismat Sheikh, commander of the Kurdish forces at the border town of Kobane (Ain al-Arab) that is besieged by ISIL tanks and artillery, says that he expects massacres of its inhabitants if it falls to the Sunni Arab extremists. He warned that ISIL fighters are less than a mile from his front […]
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