Open letter from Ather Farouqui in New Delhi on the Crisis of Urdu Dear Friends, I am writing this note as the General Secretary of the Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) to all allies who can help rescue Urdu from the grave quagmire it is currently confined in, branded as a ‘Muslim language’, ‘language of terrorists’, […]
Video of Russia Meteor Strike (but what if it had been bigger?)
Russia Today compiles amateur videos of the meteorite that struck Chelyabinsk, Russia, (900 miles east of Moscow) wounding hundreds, mainly because of flying glass. Here is what happens if a really big meteor hits: I think we need our space program back.
Bahrain dissidents Commemorate 2 Years of Protest, Condemn Repression
The USG Open Source Center translates a report from the Bahrain newspaper al-Wasat for Feb. 14, entitled “Bahraini Opposition Condemns Security Solution, ‘Ill-Treatment’ of Prisoners.” (They mean by ‘security solution’ the regime’s preference for dealing with dissent by violence instead of negotiation.) Bahrain is an ethnically divided society of some 550,000 citizens, mostly Arab, and […]
Another Kurdish Initiative in Turkey: Is Peace Finally Achievable? (Tezcür)
Güneş Murat Tezcür writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: The last year saw a significant escalation in the armed conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish insurgency (PKK) fighting for autonomy. 2012 was the most violent year since the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. At least 541 individuals lost their lives, a […]
Arab Television Reacts to Obama’s State of the Union Address, on Afghanistan, Iran (OSC)
The USG Open Source Center reported on the reaction to President Obama’s State of the Union speech on two major Arabic-language satellite news channels, Aljazeera Arabic and Alarabiya. Aljazeera’s commentators seemed disappointed that Obama does not plan a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. Alarabiya’s respondent concluded that Obama does not intend to do anything dramatic with […]
War of Logistics in N. Syria as Rebel Forces Close in on Aleppo Airport
The rebel strategy of taking Syrian government bases and airports in north Syria to prevent the regime from resupplying its forces in the north has made strides this week. The LAT reports that the revolutionaries are fighting for Aleppo International Airport, having taking Jarrah military airport a couple of days ago. The regime cannot easily […]
America at Peace? Obama Halving US force in Afghanistan, winds down War
President Obama announced Tuesday that he would pull some 34,000 US troops out of Afghanistan over the next year, about half of the force that is in the country now. US forces are going into a support role this spring, but one suspects they will be doing more than that till they leave, given the […]
Despite Offer of Direct Talks, U.S. Intensifies Economic War Against Iran (Democracy Now!)
Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council is interviewed on Democracy Now about US sanctions on Iran and the prospect of talks about Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.’ The blurb: “The Obama administration is ratcheting up its economic war against Iran ahead of nuclear talks slated for Kazakhstan later this month. Last week, the White […]
New Pope has Opportunity to Improve Christian-Muslim Relations
Pope Benedict XVI’s suprise announcement on Monday that he plans to resign at the end of this month marks a potential generational change in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. His successor has an opportunity to revive the breakthroughs of the Second Vatican Council in promoting inter-religious dialogue, and repairing the Church’s troubled relationship […]
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