By RFE/RL’s Radio Farda | – ( RFE/ RL ) – Relatives of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman whose death nearly a year ago sparked mass protests in Iran, have confirmed reports that one of her uncles has been arrested ahead of the anniversary of her death. A brother of Amini’s, Ashkan Amini, told […]
Archives for September 2023
How Recycling could solve the Shortage of Minerals essential to Clean Energy
By Serasu Duran, University of Calgary; Atalay Atasu, INSEAD; and Clara Carrera, INSEAD | – (The Conversation) – What do silver, silicon and gallium have in common? These expensive raw materials are essential components of our various solar energy technologies. What about neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium? These rare earth metals are used to build the […]
China’s Coup: Saudi and Iranian Ambassadors arrive at Reopened Embassies, Stress Bilateral Relations, Regional Development
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Aljazeera reports that on Tuesday, the Saudi ambassador to Iran and the Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia both took up their duties at the two countries’ embassies. The restoration of full diplomatic relations, which had been disrupted in 2016, was brokered earlier this year by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Saudi […]
Saudi Reforms are softening Wahhabi Islam’s Role, but Critics warn the Kingdom will Still Quash Dissent
By Nathan French, Miami University | – (The Conversation) – The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, or “MBS,” is bringing a new vision of a “moderate, balanced” Saudi Islam by minimizing the role of Saudi religious institutions once seen as critical to the monarchy. For decades, Saudi kings provided support to religious […]
The Rules of Engagement of Violent Islamophobia: 22 Years of Drone Warfare and No End in Sight
By Maha Hilal | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – “I no longer love blue skies. In fact, I now prefer gray skies. The drones do not fly when the skies are gray.” That’s what a young Pakistani boy named Zubair told members of Congress at a hearing on drones in October 2013. That hearing was during […]
New Mexico Wind Farms: Largest Renewable Energy Infrastructure Project in US History, as High Density Line is Approved
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – About a year and a half ago, I wrote a piece on how New Mexico is set to become the Saudi Arabia of wind, which went viral. It described how four wind farms will have a capacity to generate 3.5 gigawatts of power, as much as four nuclear power plants. […]
The US tried to Negotiate Libya-Israel Ties with Elites, but then the Libyan People said ‘No!’
by Muhammad Hussein alhussein1001 ( Middle East Monitor) – As protests erupted throughout the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and other cities in the country in response to the Foreign Minister’s secret meeting with her Israeli counterpart last week, it served as a stark reminder of the rampant disconnect between the country’s political leaderships and the general […]
Cities like Homs and Kharkiv show how Homes, Streets and Neighbourhoods have become the Frontline in modern Warfare
By Ammar Azzouz, University of Oxford | – (The Conversation) – It has been almost 12 years since I left my city. And I have never been able to return. Homs, the place I was born and grew up, has been destroyed and I, like many others, have been left in exile: left to remember […]
Labor Day: Is Biden’s Green Energy IRA the most Pro-Worker Legislation in Decades?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s signature piece of legislation that was passed with no Republican support, contains $369 billion for the green energy transition. Since much of this funding leverages corporate and individual investments, its impact will be in the trillions of dollars. Given the dire climate crisis we […]
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