By Dilip Hiro | (Tomdispatch.com) – Call it an irony, if you will, but as the Obama administration struggles to slow down or halt its scheduled withdrawal from Afghanistan, newly elected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is performing a withdrawal operation of his own. He seems to be in the process of trying to sideline the country’s major […]
Lynching Farkhunda: Birth of Gender Equality and Accountability in Afghanistan?
By Solaiman M Fazel | (Informed Comment) The brutal murder of a 27 year old Afghan female student, Farkhunda, at the hands of an angry mob in front of the Shah-e Do-Shamshira Mosque near downtown Kabul was not only a heinous crime, but it also reveals the collective irresponsibility and ineffectiveness of the police officers […]
What’s at Stake in Nuclear Talks for Ordinary Iranians
By Saideh Jamshidi Iran’s new round of nuclear negotiations with the United Nations is expected to be completed by March 31, today. But one thing is clear: Leader Ali Khamenei wants to gain as much as he can from this political dilemma. He might be the only one who can end to this political comedy […]
Saudi airstrike on Yemen Refugee Camp kills 45
RT | – 45 people were killed and another 65 injured in an airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition at a refugee camp in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen on Monday, the International Organization for Migration (IMO) said. The bombardment took place in the vicinity of the Mazraq refugee camp, Joel Millman, IMO spokesman told Reuters, citing the […]
The Forgotten Iraq Front: ISIL besieges the People of Ramadi
VICE News | – “In early March, while the world was watching Iraqi government forces advance on the Islamic State (IS) in Tikrit, IS was launching a series of assaults on what little remains of the Government-held parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, which has been under siege for over a year. On the morning […]
Climate War on Planet Protested at U of Michigan 50 Yrs after 1st anti-Vietnam War Teach-in
Science for the People | – “This event marks the 50th anniversary of the nation’s first teach-in on the war in Vietnam, held at the University of Michigan on March 24-25, 1965. Our new teach-in is focused on one of the most pressing issues of our time: the escalating war against the planet represented by […]
US Air Strikes Split Iraq Coalition aiming to Take Tikrit
By Paul Rogers | (The Conversation) – So it has begun – the US is bombing Tikrit, once a stronghold of Saddam Hussein’s regime and now held by Islamic State militants. Strategically and symbolically important, Tikrit has been a fierce battleground for weeks, as Iraqi government troops and Shia militias have fought fierce street battles […]
Palestinians fear their land will be taken by rising Israeli right
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinians are increasingly anxious for the future and are hesitant on a return to negotiations with Israel in the wake of the success of right-wing parties in Israel’s recent elections, a public opinion survey released Tuesday showed. Around 47 percent of respondents across the West Bank and Gaza said that in the […]
Yemen: Saudi-Led Airstrikes Take Civilian Toll
Human Rights Watch | – (Beirut) – The Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Arab countries that conducted airstrikes in Yemen on March 26 and 27, 2015, killed at least 11 and possibly as many as 34 civilians during the first day of bombings in Sanaa, the capital, Human Rights Watch said today. The 11 dead included […]