Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The campaign to retake parts of Idlib province in northwest Syria by the Russian Aeronspace Forces and the Damascus government of Bashar al-Assad picked back up on Saturday. Two days of cloudy, foggy weather had grounded the Russian Su-24 jet bombers, but yesterday saw clear skies. The Syrian Arab Army […]
Archives for December 2019
Is 2020 the Year Gaza under Israeli Occupation Becomes Unlivable?
By Motasem A Dalloul | @abujomaaGaza | – Middle East Monitor | – It was a very happy moment when the Palestinians knew that they would cast their votes in order to choose their representatives, after waiting a long time. They voted and unexpectedly, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, won the overwhelming majority of […]
Polluter’s Paradise: How Oil Companies Avoided Environmental Accountability After 10.8 Million Gallons Spilled
By Joan Meiners, The Times-Picayune and The Advocate This article was produced by ProPublica in partnership with The Times-Picayune and The Advocate, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. ( ProPublica ) – Louisiana still hasn’t finished investigating 540 oil spills after Hurricane Katrina. The state is likely leaving millions of dollars […]
Climate Crisis and Carbon: Six Positive Developments in 2019
By Heather Alberro, Dénes Csala, Hannah Cloke, Marc Hudson, Mark Maslin, and Richard Hodgkins | – The climate breakdown continues. Over the past year, The Conversation has covered fires in the Amazon, melting glaciers in the Andes and Greenland, record CO₂ emissions, and temperatures so hot they’re pushing the human body to its thermal limits. […]
Massive new 1.5 Gigawatt Solar Farm in Upper Egypt is Visible from Space
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Aidan Lewis at Reuters reports that Egypt has just opened the 1.5 gigawatt Benban solar plant near the Upper Egyptian city of Aswan (pop. 339,000). It is part of a $2.1 billion development project. The plant, one of the largest in the world, was inauguarated on December 12. It may […]
After the Horrible Past Year, will 2020 be a Game Changer in Palestine?
( Middle East Monitor) – This has been a defining year for Palestine and Israel. Despite the usual political stagnation of the Palestinian leadership, two factors contributed to making 2019 particularly eventful and, looking ahead, consequential as well: The unprecedented political power struggle in Israel, and the total US retreat from its own self-proclaimed role […]
‘Art-ivist’ Omaid Sharifi: “There is so much more the world should know about Afghanistan”
By Lin Xin and Luzie Mayer | Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung: The Green Political Foundation | – Interview: Omaid Sharifi is a pioneer Afghan activist and one of the co-founders of ArtLords, an artist association which has been attracting widespread international attention in recent years. How did you start your career as a painter and artist? I am […]
Did Undersea Volcanoes Hasten Fall of Eastern Rome and Pave way for Rise of Islam?
By Julie Celestial ( The Watchers) – Researchers presented underwater volcanism as a new interpretation of why the sky mysteriously went dark for over a year beginning 536 A.D., with some parts of Europe and Asia seeing the Sun for only about four hours a day and accounts saying the Sun gave no more light […]
Is Trump playing Impeachment Politics by Slamming Putin for Offensive in Syria’s Idlib?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kevin Liptak at CNN reports that Trump on Thursday tweeted on the Idlib campaign of the current Syrian government and its Russian backer. Trump said, “Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province,” he tweeted. “Don’t do it! Turkey […]
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