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Category: Politics

How war has changed Syrian society

How war has changed Syrian society

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An essay penned collectively by Synaps’ Syria team says: Syria’s war has transformed the country in both shattering and subtle ways. While many evolutions are for the worse, others inspire cautious optimism: Syrians have shown relentless ingenuity in adapting to every stage of a horrendous conflict, salvaging remnants of dignity, solidarity and vitality amid nightmarish circumstances. They have generally done so on their own terms, grappling with changes ignored by virtually everyone who claims to help or represent them. These…

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Let’s call Islamophobia what it is – mainstream, anti-Muslim racism

Let’s call Islamophobia what it is – mainstream, anti-Muslim racism

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Zubaida Haque writes: Tommy Robinson, lately the cause célèbre of the so-called “alt-right”, isn’t the only person to rally a small band of fundamental libertarians, fruitcakes and closet racists behind him while the public looks on in despair. Who’s the other one? Step forward Boris Johnson. Who else? This week, even the Prime Minister was moved to call on the ex-foreign secretary to apologise for claiming Muslim women in burqas “look like letter boxes” and comparing them to “bank robbers.”…

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Rashida Tlaib, with primary win, is poised to become first Muslim woman in Congress

Rashida Tlaib, with primary win, is poised to become first Muslim woman in Congress

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The New York Times reports: By the time Rashida Tlaib was finished, not a dry eye remained in the room. “I want people across the country to know that you don’t need to sell out,” Ms. Tlaib said early Wednesday morning. “You don’t have to change who you are to run for office — and that is what this country is about.” Ms. Tlaib is poised to become the first Muslim woman ever elected to Congress, after she narrowly defeated…

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Carmakers speed toward electric future despite Trump rollback

Carmakers speed toward electric future despite Trump rollback

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Bloomberg reports: The Trump administration wants to try to limit California’s special ability to require increasing purchase of electric vehicles in the state—but major automakers say they have no intention of reversing course on their electric vehicle plans. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department are targeting California’s authority under the Clean Air Act to set stricter tailpipe emissions limits and zero emission vehicle requirements than the federal government. The agencies, as part of a larger Aug. 2 proposal…

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The world abetted Assad’s victory in Syria

The world abetted Assad’s victory in Syria

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Christopher Phillips writes: After more than seven years of a civil war that has left half of Syria’s population displaced, cities reduced to rubble, and over 500,000 killed, President Bashar al-Assad appears to be on the brink of victory. In July, units loyal to Assad recaptured Deraa, where the peaceful protests that turned into a violent rebellion against him first began in 2011. The recapture came as Assad conquered the south, one of the last rebel holdouts. The war is…

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New details about Wilbur Ross’ business point to pattern of grifting

New details about Wilbur Ross’ business point to pattern of grifting

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Forbes reports: A multimillion-dollar lawsuit has been quietly making its way through the New York State court system over the last three years, pitting a private equity manager named David Storper against his former boss: Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The pair worked side by side for more than a decade, eventually at the firm, WL Ross & Co.—where, Storper later alleged, Ross stole his interests in a private equity fund, transferred them to himself, then tried to cover it…

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Kim Jong-un nukes the U.S. in a terrifyingly plausible near-future novel by Jeffrey Lewis

Kim Jong-un nukes the U.S. in a terrifyingly plausible near-future novel by Jeffrey Lewis

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Juian Borger writes: Reflecting on US nostalgia for music from past wars, the musician and satirist Tom Lehrer once joked: “I feel that if any songs are going to come out of World War III, we’d better start writing them now.” Those whose job it is to contemplate the likelihood and impact of nuclear war feel the same way about postmortems. Trying to explain what went wrong after a thermo-nuclear conflict kills millions is the ultimate in futility – a…

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U.S. to restore sanctions on Iran after withdrawal from nuclear deal

U.S. to restore sanctions on Iran after withdrawal from nuclear deal

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The New York Times reports: The United States will reimpose sanctions against Iran at midnight on Monday, restoring economic penalties that were lifted under the 2015 nuclear accord and ratcheting up pressure on Tehran while worsening divides with European allies and other world powers. The sanctions are a consequence of President Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from an international deal that sought to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing pressure on the country’s shaky economy. Mr. Trump…

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UK would run out of food a year from now with no-deal Brexit, farmers’ union warns

UK would run out of food a year from now with no-deal Brexit, farmers’ union warns

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The Guardian reports: Britain would run out of food on this date next year if it cannot continue to easily import from the EU and elsewhere after Brexit, the National Farmers’ Union has warned. Minette Batters, the NFU president, urged the government to put food security at the top of the political agenda after the prospect of a no-deal Brexit was talked up this week. “The UK farming sector has the potential to be one of the most impacted sectors…

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China stands up to threat posed by Winnie the Pooh

China stands up to threat posed by Winnie the Pooh

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BBC News reports: China’s film authorities have denied a release to Disney’s new Winnie the Pooh film, Christopher Robin, it’s reported. No reason has been given for the decision, but it’s believed to be part of a nationwide clampdown on references to the beloved children’s character. Chinese authorities have been blocking images of Pooh on social media since last year, after the AA Milne bear became a symbol of political dissent. It’s after the Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been…

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Trump and allies seek end to refugee status for millions of Palestinians

Trump and allies seek end to refugee status for millions of Palestinians

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Foreign Policy reports: Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, has quietly been trying to do away with the U.N. relief agency that has provided food and essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees for decades, according to internal emails obtained by Foreign Policy. His initiative is part of a broader push by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress to strip these Palestinians of their refugee status in the region and take their issue off…

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Despite tensions, Russia seeks U.S. help to rebuild Syria

Despite tensions, Russia seeks U.S. help to rebuild Syria

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Reuters reports: Russia has used a closely guarded communications channel with America’s top general to propose the two former Cold War foes cooperate to rebuild Syria and repatriate refugees to the war-torn country, according to a U.S. government memo. A boy walks along a damaged street at the city of Douma in Damascus, Syria, April 16, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki The proposal was sent in a July 19 letter by Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, to…

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How deep is the decline of the West?

How deep is the decline of the West?

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John Gray writes: In the last chapter of his autobiography The World of Yesterday: Memories of a European (1942), Stefan Zweig lamented a lost world of freedom: Before 1914, the earth had belonged to all. People went where they wished and stayed as long as they pleased. There were no permits, no visas, and it always gives me pleasure to astonish the young by telling them that before 1914 I travelled to India and to America without passport and without…

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Osama bin Laden’s mother speaks for the first time

Osama bin Laden’s mother speaks for the first time

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Martin Chulov reports: In the corner couch of a spacious room, a woman wearing a brightly patterned robe sits expectantly. The red hijab that covers her hair is reflected in a glass-fronted cabinet; inside, a framed photograph of her firstborn son takes pride of place between family heirlooms and valuables. A smiling, bearded figure wearing a military jacket, he features in photographs around the room: propped against the wall at her feet, resting on a mantlepiece. A supper of Saudi…

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What Russia understands about Trump

What Russia understands about Trump

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Michael Weiss writes: In March 1986, Yuri Dubinin arrived in New York to assume his post as the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations. Dubinin’s daughter, Natalia, was already a diplomat serving at the Soviet mission, and she picked her father up at the airport and drove him into a city to which he’d never before been. (He wouldn’t stay long—within weeks of his arrival, Dubinin was reposted as Soviet ambassador to the United States and relocated to Washington, D.C.)…

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Trump administration unveils its plan to relax car pollution rules

Trump administration unveils its plan to relax car pollution rules

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The New York Times reports: The Trump administration on Thursday put forth its long-awaited proposal to freeze antipollution and fuel-efficiency standards for cars, significantly weakening one of President Barack Obama’s signature policies to combat global warming. The proposed new rules would also challenge the right of states, California in particular, to set their own, more stringent tailpipe pollution standards. That would set the stage for a legal clash that could ultimately split the nation’s auto market in two. The administration’s…

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