Middle East

by Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) – Iraq’s unofficial Shiite militias are an essential part of the fight against the extremist Islamic State group. But they act independently of the army, and are sometimes brutally murderous. Army officers now note that the militias have better weapons and better working conditions and that’s why their […]

censorship

As Americans are shot At: Saudi Death Sentence on Shiite Cleric inflames Sectarian Tensions

contributors

By Giorgio Cafiero | (Foreign Policy in Focus) – The fate of one Shi’ite cleric hangs over the Gulf like a sword of Damocles. [Updated: Two Americans were fired on in the Shiite Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia on Friday, and one injured; this incident is likely related to the radicalization of Shiites via oppressive […]

Yemen

U.S. Ally Yemen in Danger of Splitting into Two – Again

contributors

By Thalif Deen – UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) – When North and South Yemen merged into a single country under the banner Yemen Arab Republic back in May 1990, a British newspaper remarked with a tinge of sarcasm: “Two poor countries have now become one poor country.” Yemeni protesters in Sanaa carrying pictures of arrested men. […]

Featured

Why the Israeli-Hizbullah Tit for Tat Probably won’t turn to War

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Last week an Israeli helicopter gunship targeted Hizbullah outposts in Syria southwest of Damascus, near the front with the rebel Support Front (Syria al-Qaeda), which controls the Golan Heights on the Syrian side. These outposts were not in fact bordering Israel or likely aimed at Israel, but rather […]

Economy

Egypt bets on Suez Canal Expansion to combat Economic Crisis

contributors

CCTV America | – “Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi said he hopes the Suez Canal expansion project will increase his country’s foreign cash reserves during his meetings while on an official visit to China earlier this week. Egypt expects the expanded canal will bring in more $100 billion annually. CCTV’s Adel EL Mahrouky reported […]

art and photography

Over 80 Cartoonists And Comics Workers Boycott Israeli Occupation Firms

contributors

By IMEMC News & Agencies Report post More than 80 cartoonists and other workers in the comics industry, including colorists, writers, critics, and editors, from over 20 countries, signed an open letter this week addressed to Franck Bondoux, the head of the International Festival of Comics at Angoulême, which opened in France on January 29th. […]

Barack Obama

Netanyahu & Boehner: How Israel went from being a Democratic to a Republican Project

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — The audacity of Speaker of the House John Boehner colluding with the prime minister of a foreign country to undermine a sitting president is, I think, still not entirely appreciated. And the whole point of the plot with Binyamin Netanyahu is to stop a sitting president from successfully […]

Apartheid

As Gaza Refugee Babies die of Cold, Underfunded UN Agency Halts Rebuilding Aid to 400,000

contributors

By Charlie Hoyle | – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A massive shortfall in the $5.4 billion pledged for Gaza’s reconstruction by the international community last October is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis for Palestinians displaced by Israel’s summer offensive. On Tuesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the largest service provider in the Gaza Strip, […]

Barack Obama

New Saudi King to Obama: Lower-price Oil Policy won’t Change

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama cut short his India trip to head off to Riyadh in the wake of the death last Thursday of King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia. Some 30 members of the Washington elite came along, of both parties, including Sen. John McCain and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. This love […]