August 31, 2018 – Astute News

August 31, 2018

Imran Khan has Won the “Cartoon Wars”

How it happened The Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders like many European politicians is opposed to mass migration but unlike most of his counterparts who see the issue in terms of European security, for Wilders, the migration issue is part of a wider battle against Islam which he claims is incompatible with European society. Even still, such views are not at...

Opinion Comments: 2

August 31, 2018

Syria and Iran Sign Defense Agreement: Defying Outside Pressure

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami visited Damascus Aug. 26-27 in order to have a new military cooperation agreement signed. The move is evidently a response to US and Israeli demands to withdraw Iranian forces from Syria. No details have been provided about the document’s content but it’s logical to surmise it contains a list of mutual obligations in the event that the...

Opinion Comments: 0

August 31, 2018

The US Wants to Flip Iraq from the Iranian Camp to the Saudi One

The US declared that it’ll remain in Iraq for “as long as needed”. This policy pronouncement was made by Colonel Sean Ryan, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, who justified it on the basis of ensuring Daesh’s defeat and training the Iraqi military. National Security Advisor John Bolton and other US officials had previously said...

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August 31, 2018

The European Union Boycotts Russia’s Syria Initiatives

The hopes of the Russian diplomats for the US, the EU countries and the UN humanitarian agencies’ participation in the reconstruction of Syria and the return of refugees to its territory were dashed. At the same time, China intends to intensify its participation in the conflict, and Damascus, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, is working on the...

Opinion Comments: 0

August 31, 2018

Why Donald Trump’s Trade War with China is Sure to Fail

The woes and risks of Donald Trump’s ill-advised trade war are fast becoming a reality, endorsed even by the corporate media. Trump wants to play hardball with China. On Monday, the US president said that now “was not the right time to talk” to China about the ongoing and escalating trade war currently taking place between the two economic powers,...

Opinion Comments: 0

August 31, 2018

When Illness is a ‘Death Sentence’: The Victimization of Gaza Women

Hanan al-Khoudari resorted to Facebook in a cry for help when Israeli authorities rejected her request to accompany her three-year-old son, Louay, to his chemotherapy treatment in East Jerusalem. The boy is suffering from an ‘aggressive soft tissue sarcoma’. Israeli authorities then justified their decision based on a vague claim that one of Hannan’s relatives is a ‘Hamas operative.” The...

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August 31, 2018

The IHRA and Anti-Semitism: A Definition Designed to Silence Israel’s Critics

“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed towards Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, towards Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” – The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. Israeli politicians and the Diaspora-based Israel lobby recognise that Israel faces a...

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August 31, 2018

Nepal’s Anti-Conversion Law Is More About National Security Than Christianity

Nepal’s anti-conversion law just came into effect. The new restrictions were originally promulgated late last year and outlaw proselytization practices that are understood as implicitly targeting the historically Hindu country’s rapidly growing community of Christian evangelicals despite ostensibly being aimed at protecting the feelings of religious believers. A key component of the legislation decrees that “No one should convert a...

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Daily Archive: August 31, 2018

Imran Khan has Won the “Cartoon Wars”

Syria and Iran Sign Defense Agreement: Defying Outside Pressure

The US Wants to Flip Iraq from the Iranian Camp to the Saudi One

The European Union Boycotts Russia’s Syria Initiatives

Why Donald Trump’s Trade War with China is Sure to Fail

When Illness is a ‘Death Sentence’: The Victimization of Gaza Women

The IHRA and Anti-Semitism: A Definition Designed to Silence Israel’s Critics

Nepal’s Anti-Conversion Law Is More About National Security Than Christianity