Saturday, September 21, 2019
Trump Admin Threatens to Defund Colleges for Portraying Islam in Positive Light
Friday, September 20, 2019
Can the US Guarantee Gulf Security? | Inside Story
The Gulf region is on the edge. Who's responsible for last week's attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, has led to accusations from different sides. The US and Saudi Arabia say Iran is behind the Aramco strikes. But the Houthis in Yemen say they are responsible and have warned of more to come.
The US Secretary of State visited allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE to talk to their leaders. Mike Pompeo said Washington was seeking a peaceful resolution to the crisis, but blamed Iran for seeking an 'all-out war.'
Iran's foreign minister says the U.S. is preparing to use the Aramco incident as an excuse to attack his country, and that Tehran's ready to defend itself. So, will tension escalate even further? Or would diplomacy defuse it?
Presenter: Imran Khan | Guests: Nader Hashemi, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver; Mohammad Marandi, Professor of American Studies at the University of Tehran; Adolfo Franco, Republican strategist and former adviser to Senator John McCain
Verlierer Netanjahu
Ein Jahrzehnt hatte sich die Parteienlandschaft Israels von der säkularen Mitte weg nach rechts ins religiöse Lager verschoben. In der Zeit regierte als Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu, der mit seiner Demagogie und Verachtung für das Recht das politische Klima in Israel zunehmend vergiftet hat.
Diesen Trend scheint die jüngste Parlamentswahl gebrochen zu haben. Denn sie stärkte erstmals wieder das säkulare Lager. Zudem könnte sie das Ende der politischen Karriere Netanjahus eingeläutet haben. So verlor keine Partei gegenüber der Wahl im April stärker als sein Likud, und er wird sich nun Anklagen wegen Korruption stellen müssen. Niemand sollte Netanjahu aber vorzeitig abschreiben. Denn in Israel vermag es niemand mit dem Taktiker der Macht aufzunehmen. Derzeit ist eine Konstellation, mit der er noch einmal in das rettende Amt des Ministerpräsidenten einziehen könnte, von dem er bei einer Anklage nicht gleich zurücktreten müsste, aber nicht in Sicht. » | Ein Kommentar von Rainer Hermann | Freitag, 20. September 2019
Ben Ali, l’ex-autocrate tunisien renversé par le « printemps arabe », est mort
Le président déchu de Tunisie, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, est mort, jeudi 19 septembre, à l’âge de 83 ans en Arabie saoudite, où il vivait en exil depuis la révolution de 2011, a indiqué à l’Agence France-Presse le ministère tunisien des affaires étrangères. « Nous avons eu la confirmation de sa mort il y a trente minutes », a ajouté le ministère, sans plus de détails.
Après plus de deux décennies d’un pouvoir répressif, Ben Ali avait été renversé début 2011 par un mouvement populaire, point de départ d’une vague de révoltes dans la région connue sous le nom de « printemps arabe ». » | Par Florence Beaugé | jeudi 19 septembre 2019
Has Bibi Lost It? Israel Vote Fails to Deliver Majority for Netanyahu
Thursday, September 19, 2019
US Dials Back Iran Rhetoric and Seeks 'Peaceful Resolution' over Saudi Attack
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said Washington and its allies were seeking a “peaceful resolution” with Iran in the wake of the attack on Saudi oil facilities, making clear that Washington would limit its initial response to further sanctions.
Pompeo’s remarks, made on his return trip to Washington after visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, mark a significant cooling of rhetoric after Donald Trump had warned the US was “locked and loaded” and Pompeo had said the attack, which he blamed on Iran, was “an act of war”.
The Pentagon said its goal was “to deter conflict and get back on the diplomatic path” and stopped short of definitively blaming Tehran for the air strikes which knocked out half Saudi Arabia’s oil production, deferring to Riyadh to make that assessment. » | Julian Burger in Washington | Thursday, September 19, 2019
Iran Foreign Minister: US Strike Would Trigger 'All Out War'
Reflections | Sami Yusuf & Dr Umar Faruq Abd-Allah
Matters of Faith: Charles Le Gai Eaton Charles Le Gai Eaton: Life and Works (Parts 1 & 2 of 2)
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Should Trump Have the Power to Take Us to War?
Only Congress can authorize a war. It’s right there in the Constitution. It requires a majority vote of both the House and the Senate to authorize war, and any war that is not authorized by Congress is illegal. The president does not have the power to start a war; that power is exclusively given to Congress. The Founders did this because they did not want any president to ever acquire the king-like power of war-making: they believed it was too much power in the hands of one person, and thus could lead to disaster.
If Donald Trump tries to take us into war with Iran, Congress and massive public opinion must stop him. Call your member of the House and both your senators today.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Raw Politics In Full: Brexit Disconnect
Bettel's Anger Highlights a Bleak Truth: The EU27 Just Wants Britain to Go
It was, by any standards, an unusual spectacle: the leader of the European Union’s second-smallest country deciding to empty-chair the British prime minister at what was supposed to have been a joint press conference after their meeting.
Ostensibly, logistics were the problem: No 10 was concerned by the small but very noisy protest awaiting Boris Johnson outside; Luxembourg government officials said there was no room big enough to move the event inside.
Whatever the reason, the press conference that Xavier Bettel ended up giving alone – gesturing to the lectern where his counterpart should have stood – served as a striking symbol of EU leaders’ mounting frustration with the Brexit process.
The Luxembourg prime minister did not hold back. The leave campaign had been built on lies, he said. Johnson’s oft-repeated claims of progress in the talks were baseless. London had come up with nothing to replace the backstop.
Above all, the UK – not the EU – was to blame for the impasse. “I just want to repeat and remind that Theresa May accepted the withdrawal agreement,” he said. Britain’s “homemade” problems were causing “general problems” for the whole of the EU. » | Jon Henley | Monday, September 16, 2019
Xavier Bettel on Brexit, mocks Boris Johnson »
Monday, September 16, 2019
Incredible Sulk Morphs from Green to Yellow as He Is Bested by Bettel
Exit the Incredible Sulk. It was bad enough getting owned on Twitter by the actor who played the Incredible Hulk – comparing yourself to a comic book hero with anger management issues was always asking for trouble when you’ve got form with the Camberwell police. Classic Dom.
But Boris Johnson’s day just got a whole lot worse when he was completely owned by about 50 unthreatening protesters – this was Luxembourg, where crime waves are measured in the number of people not paying parking fines – and Xavier Bettel, the country’s prime minister.
Faced with a handful of people shouting: “We don’t like you very much,” Johnson imploded under the weight of his own narcissism. The Incredible Bulk morphed from green to yellow and fled sobbing indoors. He’d been in some tricky situations before where the future of the world had been at risk from super-soldiers powered by gamma radiation. But nothing as dangerous as this.
He begged Bettel to move their joint press conference somewhere less noisy. Preferably somewhere no one would ask him any difficult questions. Bettel demurred. The lecterns were set up, the journalists were in place and he’d go ahead without him. Johnson was about to be humiliated by the second smallest country in the EU. Taking back control by losing control. Classic Dom. » | Johnn Crace | Monday, September 16, 2019
Will the Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities Cripple Global Supplies? | Inside Story
Saudi Arabia is trying to reassure the world that it will quickly recover from Saturday's attacks on its oil plants. However, the reassurance failed to stop oil prices soaring 19 percent - their highest-ever increase in a day.
Prices have since eased, but concerns remain about the 50 percent cut for the world's biggest crude exporter.
Houthi fighters in Yemen are vowing more attacks to cripple the Saudi economy. President Donald Trump warned that the US is 'locked and loaded' to respond, and ready to release emergency oil reserves if needed.
Will the attack force us to rethink our reliance on oil?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Jawad Anani - Former Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan; Cornelia Meyer - Oil and gas specialist, Meyer Resources financial advisory firm; Bill Law - Journalist and Gulf affairs analyst
Johnson Humiliated by Luxembourg PM at 'Empty Chair' Press Conference
Boris Johnson has been left humiliated after being forced by anti-Brexit protesters to cancel an appearance at a press conference, leaving Luxembourg’s prime minister to lecture and gesticulate at an empty podium about the dangers of the UK prime minister playing politics with people’s lives.
Johnson was booed and jeered as he left a working lunch in Luxembourgwith the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, before being forced to abandon plans to speak alongside the country’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel.
The cancellation left Johnson scuttling past the waiting lecterns in a courtyard outside the prime minister’s office to chants by British protesters a few metres away.
Bettel did not mince his words as he took the lectern next to the one left empty by the British prime minister’s no-show, with the union flag still in position. » | Daniel Boffey in Luxembourg | Monday, September 16, 2019
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Lib Dems Pledge to Cancel Brexit If They Win General Election
Members voted for the new policy at their party conference in Bournemouth by an overwhelming majority.
Previously, the party has backed another referendum or "People's Vote", saying they would campaign to Remain.
After the vote, their leader Jo Swinson, said: "We will do all we can to fight for our place in Europe, and to stop Brexit altogether."
The commitment only comes into force if the party wins the election as a majority government. » | Sunday, September 15, 2019
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)