The Other Russia-West War: Why Some African Countries are Abandoning Paris, Joining Moscow

Ramzy Baroud

October 19, 2022

The moment that Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba was ousted by his own former military colleague, Captain Ibrahim Traore, pro-coup crowds filled the streets. Some burned French flags, and others carried Russian flags. This scene alone represents the current tussle underway throughout the African continent.

A few years ago, the discussion regarding the geopolitical shifts in Africa was not exactly concerned with France and Russia per se. It focused mostly on China’s growing economic role and political partnerships on the African continent. For example, Beijing’s decision to establish its first overseas military base in Djibouti in 2017 signaled China’s major geopolitical move, by translating its economic influence in the region to political influence, backed by military presence.

The Profoundly Stupid Narrative That Nuclear Brinkmanship Is Safety And De-Escalation Is Danger

 Caitlin Johnstone

Octobr 18, 2022

Of all the face-meltingly stupid narratives that have been circulated about the US proxy war in Ukraine, the dumbest so far has got to be the increasingly common claim that aggressively escalating nuclear brinkmanship is safety and de-escalation is danger.

We see a prime example of this self-evidently idiotic narrative in a new Business Insider article titled “Putin’s nuclear threats are pushing people like Trump and Elon Musk to press for a Ukraine peace deal. A nuclear expert warns that’s ‘dangerous.’”

How much longer can the U.S. continue to wage economic war on Europe, and much of the World, without a major blowback effect?

JeremyKuzmarov

October 16, 2022

On September 26, the world was put on edge when “blasts equivalent to the power of several kilograms of explosives,” according to a UN report, severely damaged Russia’s undersea Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, an engineering marvel which had been scheduled to begin transporting natural gas from Russia to Germany before the Ukraine war broke out in February.

Iranian police deploy as protests persist four weeks after Mahsa Amini death

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

14 October, 2022

After activists called for protests in the predominantly Arab, oil-rich province of Khuzestan at the Iraqi border on Friday, police deployed heavily in the city of Dezful, a witness said.

Iranian police deployed heavily on Friday in a predominantly ethnic Arab city after activists called for protests, a witness said, as unrest showed no sign of abating four weeks since Mahsa Amini's death in custody ignited nationwide demonstrations.

Opinion: The Iranian protests are a battle between generations

 Bahman Baktiari

October 13, 2022

 

The death of a young Iranian woman in police custody has ignited a wave of extraordinary protests among young Iranians, including university students and schoolchildren. World leaders watch in awe as brave Iranian women publicly remove their hijabs and even burned them, knowing full well the possible consequences. Iranian youth, raised under the Islamic Republic, have shown remarkable resilience in opposing a brutal regime. Do they have the potential to spark another revolution in Iran?

Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Kurdish Areas as Protests Rage

 Rueters

October 13, 2022

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranian security forces stepped up their crackdown on Kurdish regions of the country overnight, deploying militia troops, as authorities pursued their deadly suppression of nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death in police custody.

Nearly four weeks after Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained in Tehran for "inappropriate attire", the protests show no sign of abating in a bold challenge to Iran's clerical rulers, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling them.

No hope for the future: Economic struggles add fuel to Iran's protests

Lee Ying Shan

10/11/2022

 Anti-government uprisings are to remain a sticking point and increase in frequency in Iran's political landscape as dissatisfaction with other factors like the country's economic conditions surface, according to analysts.

OPEC’s Body Blow to Biden

M.K. Bhadrakumar

October 11, 2022

The Biden administration is swiftly establishing a narrative that the recent OPEC decision to cut oil production by 2 million tonnes is a geopolitical “aligning” by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

It taps into the Russophobia in the Beltway and deflects attention from the humiliating defeat of President Joe Biden’s personal diplomacy with Saudi Arabia. But it is not without basis, either.

Iran Protests Keep Pressure on Raisi as Death Reports Mount

Golnar Motevalli

October 10, 2022

Protests against Iran’s leadership entered their fourth week with further reports on social media of violent crackdowns by police, with rights groups reporting the deaths of at least four people by security forces over the weekend.

The civilians were killed in Kurdish cities in western Iran, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Several unverified photos and videos from the center of Sanandaj, the capital of western Kurdistan province, showed a young man bloodied and slumped behind the wheel of his car after having been shot in the head. The footage couldn’t be verified by Bloomberg News.

Britain’s Covert War in Yemen

Mark Curtis

October 6, 2022

The brutal war in Yemen, which has raged since 2015, is the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. A delicate truce since April has reduced some of the horror, but that deal seems to be breaking down.

Hope for a New Day in Iran?

Nassrine Azimi

Octomber 8, 2022 

In 1975, when I was 16, my father’s work took our family to Turkey. It was hard parting. I was then in my junior year at Tehran’s famed Jewish high-school where, despite being a Muslim, I had thrived and made lasting friendships. Turkey in those days was struggling through severe economic woes, and riots were frequent. I recall my parents’ Turkish friends talking with envy of Iran’s good fortunes and oil bonanza. Little did we know that in a few short years that bonanza would prove itself to have been more of a curse.

Canada barring entry to IRGC members in new Iran sanctions push

 Source: Al Jazeera

 October 7, 2022

Canadian sanctions come amid growing international condemnation over crackdown on anti-government protests across Iran

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced plans to bar about 10,000 members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from entering Canada, as international pressure on Tehran builds amid ongoing anti-government protests.

During a news conference on Friday, Trudeau said the top 50 percent of the IRGC’s leadership would get lifetime entry bans under new penalties imposed through Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Who is Winning the War in Ukraine?

Peter Van Buren

September 26, 2022

War is a constant feature among the fictional superstates of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia in George Orwell’s 1984. The government in the dystopian novel uses its near-perfect control of the media to rewrite history whenever an old ally becomes the new enemy, making it seem like "Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.”

Something similar is happening in Ukraine, where it has become impossible to know who is advancing and who is retreating. The American media has become so entangled with the doublespeak of war that readers get the impression that Ukraine has defeated Russia several times over.

We Survived The Last Nuclear Standoff Through Compromise And De-Escalation

Caitlin Johnstone

October 5, 2022

Vladimir Putin has signed documents finalizing the Russian annexation of four regions in eastern Ukraine, meaning there’s now a western-backed Ukrainian counteroffensive underway to recapture what Russia officially considers parts of its homeland.

Moscow has made it clear that it will use all weapons systems at its disposal to defend against attacks on territories it claims as its own, which could include nuclear weapons. Depending on if and how that happens and what kind of day all the relevant decision makers are having when it does, there is a distinct possibility that a chain of events could follow which leads to the end of the world.