July 2017
This Past Week in Washington D.C.
By Habib Siddiqui: What a dramatic week this past one has been in the U.S. capital! After writing about the POTUS last week I had no intention of getting back toTrump politicsthis week, but given all the hullaballoo,excitement and even the nervousness with all the major news events unfolding, I simply could not ignore revisiting the subject. For years the Republicans have been trying to put the death nail to the affordable healthcare act – more popularly known as the Obamacare, named after the past president. And if anyone could have resuscitated the troubled Obamacare repeal and replace bill, it was Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader with a track record of getting tough things done within the Senate. Read More
Pakistan’s Prime Minister steps down after Supreme Court disqualified him for dishonesty
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif’s third term in power ended Friday (July 28) unceremoniously after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding public office in a landmark unanimous decision on the so-called Panama Papers case. Read More
Presidential Election 2016 - The Trump Phenomenon
By Arthur Kane Scott: As soon as Trump became the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election surfaced. Russian cyber-attack on American democracy led to the Comey firing in spring 2017, to the appointment of Robert Mueller, former FBI Director, as Special Counsel to explore the matter and the degree, if any, of Trump organization involvement in the Russian meddling. It cast a dark shadow over the White House as did Trump’s policies on immigration, Obamacare, women’s rights, environment and education. By summer’s end many in American were calling for impeachment. The great “Deal Makers” cards for transforming America were in serious peril. Read More
Trump’s messy half year tenure
By Habib Siddiqui: On Friday, Sean Spicer, President Trump’s spin master, a.k.a. the White House press secretary,resigned after telling President Trump that he vehemently disagreed with his appointment of Anthony Sacramucci, a New York financier, as his new communications director. After offering Scaramucci the job on Friday morning, Trump asked Spicer to stay on as press secretary, reporting to Scaramucci. But Spicer rejected the offer. Read More
The politics of Textbook Jihad
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The final version of Turkey’s national school curriculum has left evolution out and added the concept of jihad as part of Islamic law in books. Announcing the new school curriculum, Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz told a press conference in Ankara on Monday, “Jihad is an element in our religion; it is in our religion… The duty of the Education Ministry is to teach every concept deservedly, in a correct way. It is also our job to correct things that are wrongly perceived, seen or taught.” Read More
Not Just Black or Muslim, ALL Lives Matter!
By Dr Mansoor Durrani: United States of America has been the leader of nations for a while. From fashion and food to “war on terror” other nations simply follow the leader. But people embrace American products like McDonald, Nike, iPhone and other American lifestyle by choice. So it is unfair to say that the US gets the world to follow it under the gun. Of course US does compel and bully others, but only for big-ticket games like wars, arm sales etc. And it is not just consumers or governments who follow the US practices worldwide. Even the social movements picking up slogans from the US. So there is Black Lives Matter movement, and then the white Americans have their own Native Lives Matter movement. Read More
US refuses to take sides as China again warns India over border dispute
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The US is "closely and carefully" the month-long border standoff between China and India, the Trump administration said Friday, urging the two Asian giants to engage in direct dialogue to reduce the tension. "This is a situation that we are following closely and carefully. I'd have to refer you to the governments of India and China for more information on that," State Department spokesman Heather Nauert told reporters. Read More
An Indian leader claims: To attack India, China installs N-weapons in Pakistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: In a new twist to the current India-China border dispute, a leading Indian political leader and former Defense Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Wednesday claimed that China has installed the nuclear bomb on Pakistan soil and is fully prepared to attack India. “Today, India has immense threat from China. China is conspiring against India, taking Pakistan under its fold. I have been informed that China has installed nuclear bomb on Pakistani soil. China has prepared fully to attack India,” Yadav told the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament). Read More
Chinese army conducts live-fire drills in Tibet amid border tension with India
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: China's People's Liberation Army Sunday (July 17) said it has conducted live-fire exercises in the remote mountainous Tibet region to test its strike capability on plateaus, amid the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector.The PLA conducted the 11-hour long live-fire exercises at an altitude of 5,000 meters on the plateau in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, aimed at improving the combat capability on such locations, a PLA press release said .Read More
Turkey one year after the failed coup
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday there will be no mercy for traitors. Speaking at a rally in Istanbul to mark one year of a failed coup, Erdogan warned to "chop off the heads" of traitors. The opposition says his call for "chopping off the heads" may return the capital punishment abolished in August 2002, in a bid to join the European Union. Erdogan said that he would approve "without any hesitation" any legislation that would reinstate capital punishment in Turkey. Read More
The neo-Pharaohs and neo-fascists of our time
By Habib Siddiqui: I don’t know where to begin. In many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, the regimes in power are acting like the Pharaohs of the time of Moses (Musa alayhis salam). They feel no accountability andhave no remorse for their criminal activities. National wealth is abused and consumed as personal wealth. Their arrogance and criminality knows no bounds. They have enacted laws (often through kangarooparliaments, and if need be, via kangaroo courts) to empower them so much that they have become the absolute winners where everyone else loses. Naturally, absolute power has corrupted them absolutely. Read More
Trump administration appeals Hawaii court ruling on Muslim travel ban
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The administration late Friday appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court against the latest decision by a Hawaii District Court to limit the scope of President Trump's Muslim travel ban. A federal judge in Hawaii ruled Thursday that grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and siblings-in-lawmust be added to the list of close family members who can still get visas to travel to the United States during the 90 days while the executive order is in force. Read More
Pakistan Supreme Court to decide the fate of Prime Minister after damning corruption probe report
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The Supreme Court of Pakistan is expected to decide the fate of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when it takes up the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report on Monday, July 17. The JIT has charged the ruling family with perjury, having disproportionate income and living beyond their means. Two judges of the court have already declared the Prime Minister as not being truthful. If three judges agree on the findings of the JIT, Nawaz Sharif could face disqualification from politics. Read More
Muslim Americans mourn the death of Dr. Jack Shaheen
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million-strong American Muslim Community Sunday (July 9) mourned the death of Dr. Jack G. Shaheen, a prolific author and professor whose career centered on dismantling stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs in the US media. He was perhaps most famous for his book "Reel Bad Arabs," where he chronicled over 900 movies where Arabs were represented negatively. Read More
Amid border standoff: Chinese expert warns of troops entering Indian-controlled Kashmir
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: India has exposed itself to China’s interference in (Indian-controlled) Jammu & Kashmir by sending Indian troops to disrupt Chinese soldiers from building a road in the Donglang region, a Chinese expert said Saturday (July 9). If Pakistan requests, “a third country” can dispatch soldiers to the Valley, said an article written by Long Xingchun, director of the Centre for Indian Studies at China West Normal University. Read More
Power dynamics changing in world order
Co-Written by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers: The G-20 summit highlighted a transition in geopolitical power that has been developing for years. The process has escalated in recent months since President Trump took office, but its roots go much deeper than Trump. Europe is tired of the US spying on its leaders and creating a massive refugee crisis from its chaos creating wars. Russia and China are being pulled together as the US threatens both with missiles and bases on their borders. Now Trump seeks more money from everyone to reduce the US trade deficit and holds the world back on the climate crisis. The United States is losing power, a multi-polar world is taking shape and people power is on the rise as the world unites for people and planet before profits. The G-20 bordered on being a G-19, with the US a loner on key issues of climate change, trade and migration. These are some of the biggest issues on the planet. Read More
An analysis of the G20 Summit - 2017
By Habib Siddiqui: The two-day annual meeting of the G20—the leaders of the world’s 19 wealthiest nations plus the European Union— has wrapped up in Hamburg, Germany with a closing speech from its host. The G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, France, Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union. Also attending were the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Guinea, Senegal, Singapore and Vietnam. Read More
Modi's visit to Israel: Embrace of two deadly ideologies, Zionism and Hindutva
By Binu Mathew: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Israel. It is a historical visit. It is the first time an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. Putting aside all protocol norms Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome Modi. Modi is visiting a land where the RSS dream has come to fruition. It is not surprising that both Modi and Netanyahu are calling each other brothers and embracing each other repeatedly. Read More
On the eve of Modi's visit, Israel backs India against Pakistan
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali: On the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "historic" visit to Israel, a senior official from the Israeli foreign ministry said that his country supports India on what he called "terrorism emanating from Pakistan." Israel believes that there is no difference between Pakistan based "Lashkar-e-Taiba" and the Hamas group operating in Israel and Palestine, said Mark Sofer, deputy director general in charge of the Asia and Pacific division. Read More
China releases new map to buttress its claim over territorial dispute with India as boarder stand-off continues
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali: China has released a new map to buttress its claim that India had trespassed into Chinese territory earlier last month amid reports that both countries have deployed more troops in the area. The Chinese map shows that the Indian Army crossed the border at Doka La pass into the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector, which is a part of its territory. The map was posted on the Chinese section of the foreign ministry's website. Read More
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Abdus Sattar Ghazali
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