Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has reportedly today claimed that “the British government never condoned, nor was complicit, in the torture or ill-treatment of detainees, wherever they were held.”

Mr Straw’s reported claims are directly at odds with a range …

Featured image: Joseph McCarthy

The moral bankruptcy that underpins British political and cultural life today is such that if Jeremy Corbyn had attended a Start the War rather than a Stop the War fundraising dinner recently, many of his critics …

Snyder, Rhodes and Duggan repudiated for overseeing worsening conditions

A panel discussion on the first anniversary of the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history was met with protests both inside and outside the Community Arts Auditorium at Wayne State …

 We write from a workplace 350 metres up a Samos mountainside overlooking the north coast.

We have an uninterrupted view of the coast of Turkey (10 -15k away) and the Aegean Sea which separates us from the mainland.

This is …

“How our ally is using British arms runs counter to our self-proclaimed role in the world, and our aid efforts.” – Major General Tim Cross, Dec 14, 2015.

The Saudi Arabian effort in Yemen has been essentially written off by …

A petition has been filed by activist and campaigner Aruna Rodrigues against three persons of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). The GEAC is India’s apex regulatory body.

Rodrigues is seeking the initiation of contempt proceedings for wilfully and deliberately …

According to a new report from Amnesty International, many of ISIS’ arms have come from units defecting from the Free Syrian Army, as well as other rebel groups previously aligned with the United States and its plan to oust Bashar …

On Monday, General Robert Abrams, the head of US Army Forces Command, ordered that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 29, face court-martial for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for his actions leading up to his capture by the Taliban in 2009. …

With the US political establishment roiled by an increasingly acrimonious debate over how to escalate the US military intervention in Iraq and Syria, and with one Western European power after another joining in the assault, the overwhelming sentiment of broad …

Saudi Arabia and Turkey are key US allies, fostering endless Middle East wars,

They’re involved in recruiting and directly aiding ISIS and other takfiri terrorists throughout the region – mainly in Syria and Iraq, now beginning to establish a foothold …

This article was first published by Truthout

For almost a decade and a half, the people behind the Bush administration’s shameful treatment of terrorism suspects have avoided punishment for their crimes, but that may be about to change.

The courts …

 Donald Trump may be known for many things, but mincing words certainly isn’t one of them. While most of his inflammatory remarks — including an outright entry ban for all Muslims attempting to immigrate — have most of the U.S., …

America’s culture is deeply-rooted in racist Anglo-Saxon (English)-Protestant ideology. Historically, every dominant culture has appointed itself as the supreme one and the rest had to follow or be obliterated. If you develop the ability for mass killing, then you can …

Note: The long-cherished neocon dream of “regime change” in Syria is blocking a possible route out of the crisis – a ceasefire followed by elections in which President Assad could compete. The problem is there’s no guarantee that Assad would …

Israel claims that it’s in a mortal struggle with Islamic terrorists …

But as we reported last year, the Israeli military has admitted to supporting Syrian Islamic jihadis. And see this.

Last week, Daily Mail journalists embedded with Israeli …

Friday marks the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in America and contrary to popular belief, slavery is not a product of Western capitalism; Western capitalism is a product of slavery.

The expansion of slavery in the first eight …

“General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, a former commander-in-chief of NATO forces in northern Europe said…that a covert intelligence service was set up in Italy with the help of British agents and the CIA – which also partly funded it. The Italian …

Caught in the crosshairs of an ongoing New York Attorney General investigation exploring its role in studying the damage climate change could cause since the 1970’s and then proceeding to fund climate science denial campaigns, ExxonMobil has announced an interesting …

Rand falls while ANC Government shuffles finance ministers

During the second week of December the Minister of Finance Nhanhla Nene was summarily dismissed by the African National Congress (ANC) government in South Africa under President Jacob Zuma.

Nene was replaced …

The following text is a translation by Eric Zuesse of an article in deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de

The EU is in the surprising situation of needing to deal, at its upcoming summit meeting at the end of this week, with the question …

After 14 people were killed and 22 more injured in the San Bernardino massacre by a couple whom authorities claim were “radicalized” by Islamist ideology, Islamophobia among the American public has seemingly reached a fever pitch. But while …

First published in December 2013

Opportunity in America: It’s shrinking

Except for the few
[% wealth held by percentile][4]
0-50th: 1.1
50-90th: 24.3
90-99th:40
99-100th:34.5

Lowest 60% of earners are making < the wealthiest 400 Americans:
$1.22 trillion vs. …

Turkey is allegedly complicit in the smuggled use of various types of banned chemical weapons for which the Assad government was wrongfully blamed.

Turkish Republican People’s Party (CHP) opposition member Eren Erdem accused Ankara of covering up a major war …

The latest media driven shooting attack said to have taken place in San Bernardino, California over a week ago now – and still there’s a growing list of details that don’t add up.

After a week of whitewashed reports, …

According to the International News Safety Institute (INSI), over 100 journalists were killed in 2015, many of them by assassins. However shocking this number might be, it merely gives a glimpse into the savagery that has been unleashed …

Turkey’s Erdogan is a  loose cannon, a valued US imperial ally, part of NATO’s war agenda,  increasingly risking direct confrontation with Russia.

Washington likely orchestrated Turkey’s downing of Russia’s SU-24 bomber last month in Syrian airspace, a reckless act of …

This week shapes up as one which could go down in the history books! Markets last week were tumultuous from weak equities, illiquid credit markets, FOREX markets in disarray and commodities hitting the skids …yet the Federal Reserve is intent …

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has refused to disclose whether he was aware of torture techniques used against British prisoner Shaker Aamer in Guantanamo Bay or wider UK complicity in the United States torture regime.

Pressure on Blair to come …

On December 2, Montenegro received an official invitation from NATO to join the alliance. While the government praised the initiative many in the country have strongly opposed it. A surge of anti-NATO protests has been held across the country since …

“Where people are a danger to society after they have served their time for conviction, as we do with sex and as we do with violent offenders… then they should be put into preventive detention.” -Dan Tehan, Intelligence and Security …

Amid a continuing weakening of the Chinese currency, the People’s Bank of China (PoBC) has signalled new moves that could accelerate the slide in the renminbi’s value and trigger a currency war among export-dependent countries in Asia and internationally.

Last …

Image: An Israeli F-15 E fighter jet takes off during an air show as part of the graduation ceremony of Israeli pilots at the Hatzerim air force base in the southern Negev desert on June 25, 2015. (AFP)

Israeli war …

Image: Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles speaks to journalists during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 7, 2015. (Reuters)

The right-wing coalition of parties, known as the MUD, that won a supermajority in Venezuela’s National Assembly elections Dec. 6, …

This article examines the extent to which state officials are subject to prosecution in foreign domestic courts for international crimes. We consider the different types of immunity that international law accords to state officials , the reasons for the conferment …

This article was first published by Who What Why

The richest 20 Americans now own as much wealth as the country’s poorest 152 million people combined.

That is just one of the findings of noted inequality scholar and author Chuck …

The solution to the crisis in Syria could be democracy – letting the people of Syria decide who they want as their leaders – but it is the Obama administration and its regional Sunni “allies,” including U.S.-armed militants and jihadists, …

The Global Economic Crossroads

ASEAN’s solid growth in the past few decades has made it an enviable partner for many, and the economic bloc has entered into several high-profile free trade agreements (FTAs) in the past couple of years. As …

Russia knows well why Turkey shot down one of its warplanes in hot pursuit. Like Saudi Arabia, the emirate minions and Israel, Turkey of course has been losing its most prized pieces inside Syria–an assortment of the most violent jihadi …

What is Turkey doing in Iraq? Who invited them? Who incited them to shoot down the Russian SU-24? – The answer is the same. The Pentagon / NATO gang of aggressors. They found that Turkey is the perfect patsy for …

A Saudi-led plan to draw “moderate” Syrian opposition groups into a unified political front collapsed on Wednesday when a powerful Islamic militia refused to participate in the meetings after their demands were rejected.  Ahrar al-Sham, a hardcore amalgam of Wahhabi …

First published in June 2014

Netanyahu is pushing a new bill to allow the force-feeding of Palestinian hunger strikers. The prime minister is in good company.

American practices at the prison at Guantanamo Bay are giving Benjamin Netanyahu ideas.

Earlier …

In recent speeches and other public statements, Netanyahu calls Palestinian self-defense against the Israeli occupier “terrorism.”

At the same time, he claimed daily Israeli-instigated violence has nothing to do with their justifiable courageous response after nearly half a century of …

A new international survey has ranked German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Barack Obama and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as the world’s top three liars of 2015.

The recent poll conducted by German web platform, Alles Schall und …

This article was first published by the International Journal of Epidemiology in 2003 in the immediate wake of the war on Iraq

The only property of micro-organisms that enables them to be used as biological weapons is their capacity to …

The Nuclear End of the World never happened. When the Cold War finally ended, the whole world sighed in relief as the threat of total annihilation seemingly passed. And yet, 25 years later, both the US and Russia once again …

The daughter of Anbar, the Baghdadian city that rests on the banks of the Euphrates, barricaded itself every morning and learned to survive the abrasive nature of war and bombings. The Americans believed that their repeated shelling would extinguish the …

An ardent attempt is afoot on Capitol Hill to prevent states from requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods – made especially urgent by the fact that Vermont’s labeling bill is set to take effect July 1st.

Although proponents of …

Seeing the clapping and hollering enthusiasm from the likes of Al Gore and others in Paris, one would have thought the earth had been saved. “I now invite the COP to adopt the decision entitled the Paris Agreement outlined in …

My warning that the neoconservatives have resurrected the threat of nuclear Armageddon, which was removed by Reagan and Gorbachev, is also being given by Noam Chomsky, former US Secretary of Defense William Perry, and other sentient observers of the neoconservatives’ …

How could Russia in just 20 years, without wars or other perturbations, rise from a semi-colony to an acknowledged world leader, equal among the top ones?

Kitchen “strategists”, who sincerely believe that massive nuclear strike is the universal solution to …

Bagnolet, 12 December 2015

After two weeks of heads of states taking centre stage to salve their consciences, COP21 has come up with an agreement that many worried in advance would offer nothing good for the peoples of the world. …

Damascus, SANA – President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to the Spanish EFE news agency in which he stressed that the Russians’ values and interests in their policy towards Syria are not in contradiction, noting that as long as the …

The Greek tragedy of national economic collapse appeared to be turning into farce with the re-election of Syriza at the end of September. The leftist party had been first elected only seven months earlier on the promise to end the …

(Featured image: Syrian checkpoint outside Yarmouk, the Palestinian settlement in southern Damascus. The Syrian Arab Army is the main force protecting Syrian citizens.)

A new version of ‘humanitarian intervention’, known as the ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P), was developed at the …

Damascus –The Cabinet condemned the terrorist bombing that rocked Homs city earlier today and left civilian casualties.

This “cowardly” terrorist attack came in retaliation for the local reconciliations taking place in Homs province, said a statement by Prime Minister Wael …

“The targets we’ve set are bold.  And by empowering businesses, scientists, engineers, workers, and the private sector — investors — to work together, this agreement represents the best chance we’ve had to save the one planet that we’ve got.” –…

Syria will not negotiate with terrorists to end the conflict on their terms, no matter how hard the West tries to present armed gangs as grassroots political opposition, the country’s President Bashar Assad told Spanish News Agency EFE.

The problem, …

The dirty war on Syria has involved repeated scandals, often fabricated against the Syrian Government to help create pretexts for deeper intervention. Perhaps the most notorious was the East Ghouta incident of August 2013, where pictures of dead or drugged …

This article first published in October 2013 is of utmost relevance in relation to current events including the mainstream news coverage of the war on Syria.

During the public debate around the question of whether to attack Syria, Stephen Hadley, …

Over 22 people were killed in a massive blast in the Syrian city of Homs near a hospital, according to a source.

At least 22 people were killed and over 70 injured in the explosion near a charity association and …

One of the members of the notorious Turkish opposition movement has urged a criminal investigation against Russian President Putin for “insulting” and “defamation” of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A gun linked to last month’s Paris mass shootings has been traced back to a Florida arms dealer.

The serial number for a M92 semi-automatic pistol linked to the deadly Nov. 13 terrorist attacks matched one for a weapon delivered …

Washington’s undeclared war on Russia (and China) is the greatest threat to world peace, risking the unthinkable – possible nuclear war.

Both countries stand in the way of unchallenged US global dominance – allied with NATO partners (mainly Britain, France, …

A significant debate is underway in Russia since imposition of western financial sanctions on Russian banks and corporations in 2014. It’s about a proposal presented by the Moscow Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church. The proposal, which resembles Islamic interest-free banking …

The December 6, 2015 election resulted in a clear victory of the opposition over the Bolivarian alliance led by the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV). The opposition won 112 seats, obtaining votes from 67.7% of the approximately 74% of …

PARIS, FRANCE, December 12, 2015 – The climate deal to be agreed today is a sham, according to Friends of the Earth International.

“Rich countries have moved the goal posts so far that we are left with a sham of …

Since Russia began military operations in Syria against the terrorist proxy forces of NATO and the Gulf states, ubiquitous reports in the Western media have emerged which claim that Russia has killed and targeted civilians. Yet a large proportion of …

Donald Trump has had it in for the followers Allah and the Prophet from the start of his campaign. Much of this, however, is histrionics. Adopting a salesman’s pitch, Trump changes the message depending on his audience. If one is …

Syrian Arab Army (SAA), National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hezbollah are successfully advancing the in the Eastern parts of Aleppo province. The pro-government forces are now closing in on the terrorists’ positions in the town of Deir Hafer, approaching the …

After photographing the new, enormous and undoubtedly sinister building of the US embassy in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, I was driven by a local left-wing politician towards the mountains. We agreed to have lunch; simple, good local food.

In front …

It was certainly not because the SU-24 posed any threat. The plane is old and slow, and the Russians were careful not to arm it with anti-aircraft missiles. It was not because the Turks are quick on the trigger. Three …

Global developments in finance and geopolitics are prompting a rethinking of the structure of banking and of the nature of money itself. Among other interesting news items:

• In Russia, vulnerability to Western sanctions has led to proposals for a banking

New investigative reporting from McClatchy has exposed the hidden legacy—and “enormous human cost”—of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, providing “an unprecedented glimpse of the costs of war.”

The reporting, which comes as the nation prepares to upgrade its aging nuclear …

The commander-in-chief of a mercenary company in Yemen, a Mexican national was killed in clashes with Houthi Ansarullah fighters and allied forces in the Ta’izz Province on Wednesday. According to the reports, the recent fatality has brought to 15 the …