Europe

Syria as Putin’s Afghanistan: How a Radical Fundamentalist take-over of Damascus could Change the Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The collapse of the Baathist government of Syria in the north of the country, as the al-Qaeda affiliate HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham or the Levant Liberation Council) advanced into Aleppo and Hama, could reconfigure the Middle East. The rapidity of the advance and the Muslim fundamentalist leadership of the fighters […]

Climate Crisis

In Sunny Spain, cheap Solar Power set to overtake Wind Generation, backed by Socialist Government and Co-ops

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Spain’s photovoltaic electricity production is set to surpass its wind power, according to China’s Xinhua news agency. Spain is Europe’s champion at producing solar power, because some of its regions are especially sunny — think Seville. The Global Energy Monitor puts it this way: “The country has more utility-scale solar […]

European Union

Why the EU’s Stance on Israel is starting to Change

The Conversation

Catherine Gegout, University of Nottingham (The Conversation) – The EU has stood in solidarity with Israel since the start of the war with Hamas, and has been consistent in saying the country has the right to defend itself. But the EU has always said that this has to be done in line with international law, […]

France

France says it will Arrest Israel’s Netanyahu on Int’l Criminal Court Warrant if he Comes to France

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Sunday said France would implement international law in relation to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Anadolu Agency reports. “France is committed to international justice and its independence,” Barrot said in an interview for France 3 […]

Christianity

Jordan Condemns Israeli Forces for Storming Jerusalem Church

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli occupation forces storming a church in the Sanctuary of the Eleona in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday and arresting two security guards employed by the French Consulate General in Jerusalem. The two guards were tasked with securing the area ahead of […]

Featured

Germany: For First time, Wind and Solar Power Generation exceeds Fossil Fuels

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Ember energy analysis firm reports that for the first nine months of 2024, Germany generated more electricity from wind and solar than from fossil fuels for the first time in history. Wind and solar combined accounted for 45 percent of electricity. All in all, 59% of German electricity, almost […]

Climate Crisis

Valencia Floods: Our warming Climate is making once-rare Weather more Common, and more Destructive

The Conversation

By Antonio Ruiz de Elvira Serra, Universidad de Alcalá | – (The Conversation) – In the last few days, a seasonal weather system known in Spain as the “cold drop” or DANA (an acronym of depresión aislada en niveles altos: isolated depression at high levels) has caused heavy rain and flooding across Spain’s Mediterranean coast […]

France

The Rift over Gaza between Israel and Western Allies Deepens: Macron v. Netanyahu

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Imran Khalid | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – It took nearly a year for French President Emmanuel Macron to confront the uncomfortable truth: the path to peace in Gaza cannot be paved with more weapons to Israel. His recent remarks, sharp and unapologetic, reflected the urgency of shifting away from military […]

Colonialism

Does Britain owe Reparations to the Palestinians for Engineering their loss of their Country?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ta-Nehisi Coates made the argument for US reparations for slavery in 2014 in The Atlantic. In that essay, he made an analogy with German reparations to Israel. In his new book, The Message, Coates expresses regret for the unexamined Zionist biases in that analogy, which obscured the dispossession of the […]