South Asia

By Andreas Johansson | – More than 300 people have now been confirmed killed in the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka. Several sources had suggested a domestic Muslim Islamist group may have been linked to the atrocity – but Islamic State (IS) has now also claimed responsibility. Sri Lanka’s Muslim community is spread across the […]

Featured

“The Nearest in Love:” On how the Sri Lankan Death Cult Betrayed the Islamic Values of the Qur’an

Juan Cole

A tiny death cult in Sri Lanka calling itself “Sri Lanka Tawheed Jamaat” (not to be confused with a big mainstream organization of the same name in India) appears to be responsible for the eight coordinated bombings at luxury hotels and Christian churches on Sunday. By now the tactic is familiar, if monstrous. These small, […]

astronomy and outer space

The Coming Great Satellite Space War between Nuclear-Armed India and Pakistan

Dilip Hiro

It’s still the most dangerous border on Earth. Yet compared to the recent tweets of President Donald Trump, it remains a marginal news story. That doesn’t for a moment diminish the chance that the globe’s first (and possibly ultimate) nuclear conflagration could break out along that 480-mile border known as the Line of Control (and, […]

Bangladesh

Bangladesh to Exile 100K Rohingya Refugees to an Island “Prison”

Human Rights Watch

By Brad Adams, Asia Director | – (Human Rights Watch) – Relocating Refugees to Unsafe Island Would Risk Lives, Livelihoods Bangladesh authorities say they will soon start relocating over 100,000 Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char, a tiny island in the Bay of Bengal. Officials said this is necessary to reduce pressure on the world’s largest […]

Climate Change

Climate Crisis: Glacier Melt, Droughts, Floods require Indo-Pak Cooperation to Avoid Disaster

contributors

By Omair Ahmad | – (The Third Pole) – With glacier retreat, permafrost melt, and extreme rainfall events, ICIMOD’s HIMAP report suggests that the countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas have to start cooperating far more closely, or pay a huge price Water in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is going through large and […]

Afghanistan

Trump says ‘it’s time’ to end Afghan war – can he?

AFP

By Thomas WATKINS | – Washington, DC (AFP) – After 17 years, countless thousands of civilian and military deaths, and more than $1 trillion in US cash, President Donald Trump has declared that “it’s time” to end the Afghanistan war. Touting talks with the Taliban, Trump in his State of the Union address on Tuesday […]

Afghanistan

Trump & Taliban Close to Deal on US Withdrawal, but Risk of Free For All

AFP

By Shaun TANDON | – Washington, DC (AFP) – The United States and the Taliban appear closer than ever to a peace deal, but fears are mounting that President Donald Trump could accept a quick accord that pours fuel on — rather than douses — Afghanistan’s war. Negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad, a key player in George […]

Afghanistan

When America loses the Forgotten Afghanistan War, will it Leave the US Broken?

Tom Engelhardt

New York (Tomdispatch.com) – As I approach 75, I’m having a commonplace experience for my age. I live with a brain that’s beginning to dump previously secure memories — names, the contents of books I read long ago (or all too recently), events, whatever. If you’re of a certain age yourself, you know the story. […]

Afghanistan

Trump Spews Incomprehensible Nonsense on Kurds, Syria, Afghanistan

Juan Cole

“A Commentary on the words that spewed from Trump’s mouth at his news conference during a cabinet meeting on January 2, 2019,” or, “A Ph.D. who has been teaching at a public Ivy since 1984 is forced to spend his time chasing the rabid ferrets running around in the head of a decrepit reality t.v. […]