A New Arab Cold War: Saudi Arabia Pressures Qatar on Muslim Brotherhood, American Think Tanks

Juan Cole / Truthdig Mar 10, 2014 Saudi Arabia’s listing of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and the withdrawal of the Saudi, Kuwaiti and Bahrain ambassadors from Qatar signal a big geopolitical realignment in the Middle East. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Iceland Sends Four Bank Bosses to the Slammer

Staff / Truthdig Dec 13, 2013 The onetime CEO of Iceland’s Kaupthing Bank, one Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, is going to jail for five and a half years for his part in his firm's downfall -- which also helped his country’s economy bottom out in 2008. He’ll be in good company. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Qatar an ‘Open Jail’ for Nepalese Laborers Working in Slave-Like Conditions

BLANK Sep 26, 2013 The Gulf state of Qatar is building sites for the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament on the backs of thousands of Nepalese migrants working in appalling conditions. Dozens died this summer alone, many of them young men felled by heart failure.The Gulf state is building sites for the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament on the backs of thousands of Nepalese migrants. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Classic Military Runaround

By Nick Turse, TomDispatch Jul 9, 2013 For my trouble, on my return to the United States, I was detained at Kennedy Airport in New York by agents of the Department of Homeland Security. Their question for me: Was I planning to fight against U.S. forces in Afghanistan? Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

U.S.-Taliban Peace Talks Suspended

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 20, 2013 Peace talks scheduled to begin Thursday between the United States and the Taliban faltered after the Afghan government complained that the Islamist political group's newly opened Qatar office would be treated as a government-in-exile. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Who Benefits If the Killing in Syria Continues?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 5, 2013 "The best hope for an end to the killing in Syria is for the United States and Russia to push both sides in the conflict to agree to a ceasefire in which each holds the territory it currently controls," Patrick Cockburn writes in The Independent. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Doha Climate Talks Roundup

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 7, 2012 An activist observer of the negotiations in Doha, Qatar, this week dismissed offers by developed countries as "an empty shell, an insult to our futures. There is literally no point in countries signing up to this sham of a deal, which will lock the planet in to many more years of inaction." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Carbon Tsunami in Doha

Amy Goodman / Truthdig Dec 6, 2012 The 18th U.N. climate-change summit is taking place in the small but immensely wealthy Gulf emirate of Qatar, the largest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

How Can Cities Save Themselves? (Video)

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 5, 2012 A new report by a trio of British research and development groups surveys some of the world’s fastest-growing cities with an eye to the vulnerabilities they will face as global warming raises the sea level and temperatures. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

GOP’s ‘Doomsday Plan,’ Cory Booker’s Food Stamp Challenge, and More

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Dec 4, 2012 A look at the day's political happenings, including the climate change deal President Obama is quietly putting together behind the scenes and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's latest confrontation. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

An Open Letter to America’s Climate Envoy

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 2, 2012 For activists, negotiators and journalists interested in a prosperous human future, the U.N. climate negotiations held each year are grueling, emotionally draining events. In a letter to Todd Stern, Obama’s representative at talks going on now in Doha, Qatar, Nikki Hodgson of the Adopt a Negotiator Project captures the mood well. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

U.S. Climate Curbing Pledges Inadequate, Study Says

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Nov 30, 2012 Despite climate negotiator Jonathan Pershing’s insistence that the U.S. deserves credit for its "enormous" efforts to stall global warming and help poor countries prepare for it, a scientific scorecard showed that the opposite is true. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )