Obituary: Maryam Mirzakhani, math professor and Fields Medal trailblazer, dies at 40

Source: http://www.stanforddaily.com/2017/07/17/obituary-maryam-mirzakhani-math-professor-and-fields-medal-trailblazer-dies-at-40/

Maryam Mirzakhani, Stanford mathematics professor and the only woman to earn the Fields Medal, died Saturday at age 40 after a four-year battle with breast cancer.

Iranian-born Mirzakhani won her Fields Medal, mathematics’ most prestigious honor, in 2014. The award is often equated to the Nobel Prize. Mirzakhani’s colleagues have honored both her academic achievements and her character.

(Courtesy of Stanford News)

“Maryam is gone far too soon, but her impact will live on for the thousands of women she inspired to pursue math and science,” said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne to Stanford News. “Maryam was a brilliant mathematical theorist, and also a humble person who accepted honors only with the hope that it might encourage others to follow her path. Her contributions as both a scholar and a role model are significant and enduring, and she will be dearly missed here at Stanford and around the world.”

The New Silk Road Will Go Through Syria

By Pepe Escobar

July 14, 2017

Amid the proverbial doom and gloom pervading all things Syria, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune sometimes yield, well, good fortune.

Take what happened this past Sunday in Beijing. The China-Arab Exchange Association and the Syrian Embassy organized a Syria Day Expo crammed with hundreds of Chinese specialists in infrastructure investment. It was a sort of mini-gathering of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), billed as “The First Project Matchmaking Fair for Syria Reconstruction”.

The U.S. State of War: July 2017

July 10, 2017
by Nicolas J S Davies

This is the state of war in the United States in July 2017.

The US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria is now the heaviest since the bombing of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the 1960s-70s, with 84,000 bombs and missiles dropped between 2014 and the end of May 2017  That is nearly triple the 29,200 bombs and missiles dropped on Iraq in the “Shock and Awe” campaign of 2003.

The Obama administration escalated the bombing campaign last October, as the U.S.-Iraqi assault on Mosul began, dropping 12,290 bombs and missiles between October and the end of January when President Obama left office.  The Trump administration has further escalated the campaign, dropping another 14,965 bombs and missiles since February 1st.  May saw the heaviest bombing yet, with 4,374 bombs and missiles dropped.

Trump Putin Up Against US Deep State

July 09, 2017

By Finian Cunningham

Source: https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201707091055380659-trump-putin-up-against-us-deep-state/

It was pleasing to see Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin greet each other cordially at the G20 summit. After their breakthrough first meeting, one hopes the two leaders have a personal foundation for future cooperation.

For the US and Its Allies, the Road to Tehran Runs Through Damascus and Southern Lebanon

by John Wight

July 5, 2017

When Trump’s UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, asserts  – as she did recently – that the US is sending “not only Assad” but also “Russia and Iran a message”, and that Washington is putting them “on notice,” she does so as the tribune of a rogue state.

Haley issued her ‘warning’ on the back of the dubious claim that Washington had intelligence confirming Syrian forces were preparing a chemical weapons attack. The claim and resulting threat revealed that the US continues to arrogate to itself the status of the world’s policeman, with the right to act as judge, jury, and – as the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya have learned to their disastrous cost in recent years – executioner. It describes arrogance beyond measure, conforming to the worldview of an empire whose guiding mantra is “Rome has spoken; the matter is finished”.

The “matter” so far as Syria is concerned is regime change, which it becomes increasingly clear is Washington’s main objective going forward, using its military campaign against ISIS as a stalking horse to justify the build up of its military presence in the country with this in mind. Seen in this light, the recent spate of US attacks on Syrian forces on the ground and in the air take on an entirely different connotation – i.e. less to do with protecting US-backed ground forces, as claimed, and more to do with testing Russia’s response and resolve when it comes to supporting its Syrian ally.