By Ibrahim Saleh | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) It’s hard to get an accurate figure on how much Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State group has cost. Local experts believe it’s in the hundreds of billions and that the country may never recover without foreign aid. The security crisis caused by the extremist group known as […]
Yemen: Saudi Airstrikes kill 58, including dozens of Women and Children
RT | (Video report) — “Saudi-led coalition warplanes are continuing to pound Houthi targets in Yemen despite the rebels agreeing to UN-backed peace talks. The strikes have killed 58 people across the country over the past two days, according to the Houthis. And the humanitarian situation is getting worse by the day, according to the […]
Will Turkey’s Election end hopes for Turkish-Kurdish Rapprochement?
By Mustafa Gurbuz | (Informed Comment) | – – Whatever the election outcome on Sunday, prospects for Kurdish Peace Process are grim. Yet, regardless whether largely Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) passes the 10 percent threshold that will allow it to be seated in parliament, it has already acquired a charismatic authority with the pro-Kurdish […]
The True Cost of America’s Ongoing Wars: Sebastian Junger, Spencer Ackerman et al.
Michael Moynihan, “The Business of Life” | VICE News Video | — “The AUMF (The “Authorization of the Use of Military Force”) was a bill passed in the immediate wake of 9/11 and authorized the President of the United States to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against those who had aided the terrorists responsible […]
The “Bomb Iran!” Lobby Gears Up for 2016
By Sina Toossi | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – “A tight-knit group of neocon dead-enders is pushing Iran to the forefront of the GOP's foreign policy agenda.” In a recent TV ad, a van snakes its way through an American city. As the driver fiddles with the radio dial, dire warnings about the […]
Caught in ISIL crossfire, 8.2 Million Iraqis In Need of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance
By Kanya D’Almeida | – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – As fighting drags on between Iraqi armed forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), millions of refugees caught between the warring groups are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Speaking at an appeal launch at the European Parliament in Brussels Thursday, Lise […]
It’s Getting hot in Here: There never was a Pause in Global Warming: Scientists
By Jay Lawrimore | (The Conversation) | – National and international studies have shown that the Earth is warming, and with this warming, other changes are occurring, such as an increasing incidence of heat waves, heavy downpours and rising sea levels. In its Fifth Assessment Report in 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found […]
Boston Terrorism suspect Rahim switched from Hate Speech Activist Geller to Police as Target
WCVB Channel 5 Boston | (Video) | – – “Boston terror suspect Usaamah Rahim originally plotted to behead conservative activist Pamela Geller but changed his mind and decided to target Massachusetts police officers because it would have been easier, according to an affidavit.” WCVB Channel 5 Boston: “FBI: Boston terror suspect wanted to go after […]
Coal comeback in Europe threatens Climate, Environment (already kills 18,000 a year)
Euractiv | – – Forcible displacements, thousands of deaths and harmful CO2 emissions – the “2015 Coal Atlas”, published by Germany’s Heinrich Böll Foundation, shows some of the devastating effects of coal power, calling on the EU to stand up to energy corporations. EurActiv Germany reports. Every year, coal-fired power plants pump 15.5 billion tonnes […]