Новости за 28.02.2016

Joel Weickgenant, RCW
On June 23, Britons finally will head to the polls to advise their government on whether they believe Prime Minister David Cameron's deal with Brussels to reform the country's membership in the European Union satisfies them, or whether they believe the United Kingdom should leave the EU altogether. Thus a question that emerged out of an intra-Tory squabble will culminate in a decision that could define British (and European) politics for a generation. And as Britain sails through permanent campaign mode... Читать дальше...

Jo Becker & Scott Shane, New York Times
This is the story of how a woman whose Senate vote for the Iraq war may have doomed her first presidential campaign nonetheless doubled down and pushed for military action in another Middle Eastern country. As she once again seeks the White House, campaigning in part on her experience as the nation’s chief diplomat, an examination of the intervention she championed shows her at what was arguably her moment of greatest influence as secretary of state. Читать дальше...

Paul Taylor, Reuters
It's little wonder the European Union can't find common solutions to Europe's urgent problems when its main members are having such different national conversations. Like the biblical Tower of Babel, Europe's ambitious construction is in danger of toppling because its peoples are not speaking the same political language.

Wolfgang Munchau, Financial Times
The EU is at risk of four fractures. I do not expect all of them to happen but I would be surprised if none did. The first is a north-south break-up over refugees. The so-called Schengen system of passport-free travel, in which 26 European countries take part, could be suspended indefinitely or become a miniature version comprising just Germany, France and the Benelux countries. Italy would not be part of it.

Michael Moynihan, The Daily Beast
As mayor of Burlington, Sanders praised the regimes of Nicaragua and Cuba—claiming bread lines were a sign of economic health and press censorship was necessary in wartime.

Martin Kettle, Guardian
Even if Britain leaves the European Union, there are many hurdles facing any renewed bid for Scottish independence -- as the SNP well knows.

R. Taghavi, FP
The nuclear deal was supposed to spark a new era of prosperity for Iranians. But Iranian politics — and American politics — still stand in the way.

Robert Fulford, National Post
A million editorials and numberless speeches from politicians have charged “Humanity” with saving the Syrians. It is widely believed that “Humanity,” when its moral sense is awakened, can do something. This time, it huffed and puffed, but with little effect. On Thursday morning, in the midst of controversy over the truce, the UN elected Syria (that is, Assad’s Syria) as co-chair with Venezuela of the decolonization committee that considers still-existing colonies such as Gibraltar... Читать дальше...

Jeff Simpson, G&M
As conservative-minded people gathered over the past few days for the annual Manning Centre confab in Ottawa, what must they think of their Republican friends now? Is there any inspiration they can draw from a party that increasingly seems likely to nominate Donald Trump to run for president? Much can happen between lip and cup, but the Trump phenomenon currently shows no signs of flagging, certainly not before, or any time soon after, the March 1 cluster of primaries, mostly in the Deep South.

Mary Minihan, Irish Times
A tiptoeing back to Fianna Fail by older, rural voters with the party ingrained in their DNA had been widely anticipated in this general election. But no-one was predicting a nationwide stampede.

Sultan Al Qassemi, MEI
Despite their alarm, there may be some convergence between the positions of the Gulf states and Trump on Iran. Although publicly welcoming it, the GCC, save for Oman, has serious reservations about neighboring Iran’s nuclear deal that was negotiated without seeking their counsel. For Gulf leaders, the nuclear negotiations were a missed opportunity to commit Iran to refrain from interfering in the affairs of Arab states. To that extent. Trump and GCC leaders may see eye-to-eye. Читать дальше...

Jane Arraf, Newsweek
It was not easy. More than 40 special forces troops and several hundred regular Iraqi army soldiers were killed in this latest battle for Ramadi. Special forces commanders say they killed around 130 ISIS fighters in the city and that about 180 civilians were killed in retaking the city—most by ISIS snipers and explosives laid by the group. As Iraqi troops approached the city late last year, ISIS detonated trucks packed with tons of explosives on bridges across the Euphrates River to keep the troops from advancing. Читать дальше...

Daniel Pipes, Japan Times
The succeeding 87 years saw Egypt’s population increase six times until today it numbers 90 million. Adding to the river’s 55.5 bcm, Egypt gets about 5 bcm from nonrenewable underground sources and 1.3 bcm from rain, leaving it with about 62 bcm a year, or one-third less than the country’s minimal needs. In addition, Egyptians recycle about 10 bcm of agricultural runoff water, whose highly polluted nature (fertilizer and insecticide residues) eventually kill the land through salinization. Читать дальше...

K.Y. Amoako, WQ
Even if we choose to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, we can’t be naive. Most of the Obama-era African initiatives remain more aspirational than demonstrable, but they generally contain core elements essential to Africa’s transformation process. Will they yield strongly positive results along the lines of Bush’s PEPFAR and Millennium Challenge Corporation? At this point, we can hope, but we cannot accurately judge. Power Africa, DBIA, YALI — these initiatives are built around long-term investments in Africa.

Adnan Abu Zeed, Al-Monitor
Iraq's current security chaos appears to be inspiring a bit of nostalgia for Saddam Hussein’s days, though it is unclear who, exactly, is reminiscing.