By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Saudi cabinet, chaired by King Salman, on Monday evening fired army chief of staff and several prominent officers, forcing them into retirement. The government offered no explanation for the seismic upheaval in the Saudi officer corps, but it was widely believed that the palace is […]
Europe’s big Plans for Iran Trade announce Independence from Trump’s Washington
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Despite the significant economic problems Iran faces, and despite the real problems in unequal income distribution, Iran’s economy is seeing bright spots that the Western press rarely admits. In the year after international sanctions were lifted on the signing of the nuclear accord, spring 2016-spring 2017, […]
UN Security Council calls for 30-Day Ceasefire in Syria’s East Ghouta
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The United Nations Security Council finally passed a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire between the Damascus government and the al-Qaeda-dominated guerrillas in Eastern Ghouta. UN Secretary-General António Guterres reminded all sides of their absolute duty in international law to safeguard the life of innocent noncombatants. […]
In anti-Trump surge, Renewables make 18% of US electricity & impel job growth
US Carbon Emissions Fall slightly
Are Kurds, Shiite Militias and the Baath Gov’t allying against Turkey’s Afrin Op?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Fundamentalist Salafi militias, some linked to al-Qaeda, and backed by Turkey, have allegedly taken three new villages in the Afrin canton away from the leftist Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Over all, the Turks and their allies claim the conquest of 71 villages in northern […]
Marco Rubio dismisses High-School Shooting Survivors as out of Mainstream
TeleSur | – – The event, hosted by CNN, offered a rare opportunity for people directly affected by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy to confront the pro-gun lobby. Survivors of last week’s mass shooting at a high-school in Parkland, Florida, confronted Republican Senator Marco Rubio and National Rifle Association (NRA) spokeswoman Dana Loesch […]
Top Ten Signs the US is the most Corrupt nation in the World (2018 Edn.)
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Revised Those ratings that castigate Afghanistan and some other poor countries as hopelessly “corrupt” always imply that the United States is not corrupt. This year’s report from Transparency International puts the US on a par with Austria, which is ridiculous. All kinds of people from politicians […]
Thousands of US Citizens Jailed Over Debts as Small as US$28
TeleSur | – – One in three Americans has been reported to a private collection agency with the majority of cases affecting Latin American and African-American communities. The United States, where the streets are paved with gold and US$28 can send a young single mother or an 80-year-old grandmother to jail for a week or […]
Seas Rising ever Faster as Humans burn more Fossil Fuels (NASA Image)
Image via NASA NASA’s Earth Observatory writes: “Global sea level rise has been accelerating in recent decades, according to a new study based on 25 years of NASA and European satellite data. This acceleration has been driven mainly by increased ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica, and it has the potential to double the total […]
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