Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Türkiye is facing “apocalyptic” wildfires according to one official in the northwest Bursa region. Temperatures in central Anatolia hit an unusual 108.32º F [42.4º C.]. But the record-breaking temperature was recorded in the southeastern town of Silopi — of 122.9º F. [50.5º C.] — in the largely Kurdish Şırnak province. […]
Archives for July 2025
Egypt needs more drinkable Water – how windy coastal Resorts could help
By Thokozani Majozi, University of the Witwatersrand (The Conversation) – Egypt is facing a growing water crisis due to its arid climate, limited water resources, and rapidly increasing population. The country of 114 million people depends heavily on the longest river in the world, the Nile, for fresh water. But rising demand for water in […]
Easy Money for War Profiteers in the Age of Trump
( Tomdispatch.com ) – When, in his 1961 farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the unwarranted influence wielded by a partnership between the military and a growing cohort of U.S. weapons contractors and came up with the ominous term “military-industrial complex,” he could never have imagined quite how large and […]
Pariah State: Israeli Cruise Ship, Rebuffed at Greek Island Ports over Gaza Genocide, becomes Flying Dutchman
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Extreme-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to turn Israel into a 21st century version of the Flying Dutchman. Britannica tells us that Europe produced the legend of the “Flying Dutchman,” a ghostly vessel that is fated to sail forever. When sailors descry it in the distance, they know […]
Gaza hunger deepens as 6,000 aid trucks await Entry: UN agency for Palestinian Refugees
( Middle East Monitor ) – More than 6,000 aid trucks carrying essential food and supplies are stuck in Jordan and Egypt, unable to reach Gaza due to Israeli restrictions, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned Saturday, Anadolu reports. “At UNRWA, we have the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan & […]
Global Water Supplies Threatened by Overmining of Aquifers: New Study — ProPublica
By Abrahm Lustgarten, Graphics by Lucas Waldron, Illustrations by Olivier Kugler for ProPublica ( ProPublica ) – As the planet gets hotter and its reservoirs shrink and its glaciers melt, people have increasingly drilled into a largely ungoverned, invisible cache of fresh water: the vast, hidden pools found deep underground. Now, a new study that […]
Islanders of Tuvalu Prepare first Mass Migration because of Sea Level Rise, as ICJ grants them Right to Sue
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The entire nation of Tuvalu, 11,000 people, is making preparations to relocate, reports Sophie Mak at Nikkei Asia . The nine atolls making up Tuvalu are for the most part only two feet above sea level, which is rising as our carbon dioxide emissions are causing surface ice to melt […]
Gaza is Starving – how Israel’s Allies can go beyond Words and take meaningful Action
By Simon Mabon, Lancaster University (The Conversation) – In the past two months, more than 1,000 people seeking food have been killed, according to the UN Human Rights Office. While the figure has been disputed by Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation which was set up to distribute aid, 28 nations this week condemned the […]
Protesting U of California’s Attempt to Forbid Boycotts
Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Letter to the University of California expressing concern about its prohibition of boycotts by student governments and other university entities Michael V. Drake, M.D. President, University of California president@ucop.edu . . . Dear Drs. Drake and Millikan and Ms. Reilly: We write on […]