Pillar* – Lobelog The Trump administration is bending over backward to be, and to sound, hostile and confrontational toward Iran. This effort to flaunt a role for itself as a dedicated enemy of Iran has roots in the same factors that underlie the more widely…
BY BILL POWELL NEWSWEEK One million dead* (and that´s if it doesen´t go nuclear) *Minimum predicted casualties The batteries of North Korean artillery lie just on the other side of the divided peninsula’s demilitarized zone. There are thousands of them—some hidden, others out…
Burrowes* While much of the world is engulfed in violence of one sort or another (whether violence in the home or on the street, exploitation, ecological destruction or war), a global network of individuals and organizations is committed to ending this violence in all of its…
By Baher Kamal ROME, Apr 21 2017 (IPS) – A perfect storm has engulfed the Middle East, and continues to threaten international peace and security. Hardly anyone could sum up the Middle East explosive situation in so few, blunt words as just did Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special…
Nicholas Kristof – The New York Times President Trump is scary in many ways, but perhaps the most frightening nightmare is of him blundering into a new Korean war. It would begin because the present approach of leaning on China to pressure North Korea will likely fail.
by Jim Lobe – lobelog.com The apparent and surprisingly abrupt demise in Steve Bannon’s influence offers a major potential opening for neoconservatives, many of whom opposed Trump’s election precisely because of his association with Bannon and the “America Firsters,” to return…
By Baher Kamal ROME, Apr 19 2017 (IPS) – With 18.8 million people –nearly 7 in 10 inhabitants– in need of humanitarian aid, including 10.3 million requiring immediate assistance, Yemen is now the largest single-nation humanitarian crisis in the world, the United Nations informs…
James Meek follows Cadbury to Poland How to explain Poland’s swing against the European Union? How to explain the election of the Catholic fundamentalist, authoritarian, populist, Eurosceptic Law and Justice Party to rule a booming country that has benefited from more than €130…
By Josh Lowe – Newsweek Ever since Theresa May took over from David Cameron as British prime minister last July, pundits have wondered why she didn’t call an early general election. On Tuesday, May finally decided she would, announcing that she would seek a snap election on…
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD – THE NEW YORK TIMES The best thing that can be said about Turkey’s constitutional referendum is that many voters — 48.7 percent of those casting ballots — opposed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most outrageous move yet to solidify his autocratic rule…
