Day: August 23, 2014

THE NEW PKK

BOEMA federal judge in Washington DC invalidated an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, finding that the Biden administration failed to properly account for the auction's environmental impact. In 2017, Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program issued a five-year plan which proposed 10 region-wide lease sales. One of those was Lease Sale 257, for 80.8 million acres of Gulf waters, the largest offshore lease sale in United States history. President Biden had initially blocked the sale by executive order, but this was overturned by the courts in a case brought by Louisiana and other states. (Photo: Pixabay)

Continue ReadingTHE NEW PKK 
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One Year of Breathing Death

GiwaHuman Rights Watch reports that the Nigerian military has been arbitrarily detaining thousands of children, some as young as five years old, for suspected involvement with the armed group Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, commonly known as Boko Haram. According to HRW, the military often detains children based on little or no evidence. Many children were arrested after fleeing Boko Haram attacks on their villages, or while seeking refuge. Some of the detained girls had been abducted or forced to become Boko Haram "wives."  Based on interviews with former child detainees, HRW reports that the conditions at the Giwa military barracks, the main detention facility, are inhumane, with detainees subject to severe overcrowding and extreme heat. (Photo: Nigeria Today)

Greater Middle East

One year later, Syrians recall chemical massacre

Opposition activists say they have confirmed 27 cases of chemical gas use in Syria since the UN passed UNSCR 2118, calling for destruction of all chemical weapons in the country.

Greater Middle East

Turkey: clashes over monument to PKK leader

Tens of thousands joined the funeral for a youth killed by Turkish troops who attacked local Kurds trying to protect a statue of PKK guerrilla leader Mahsum Korkmaz near Diyarbakır.

North Africa

Libya: who bombed Tripoli?

Unidentified warplanes carried out air-strikes on targets controlled by Islamist militias in Tripoli. Libya said the planes were foreign, but the US, Italy and France denied involvement.