How Jack Abramoff’s Old Lobbying Firm Became Turkey’s Biggest Defender
President Donald Trump poses with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a dinner in Paris, France on November 10, 2018.Anadolu Agency/Getty The effects of Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria are still rippling through the Middle East, as the Kurds—who until recently were America’s staunchest allies in the fight against ISIS—face the prospect of ethnic cleansing.…
Amazon Watch: What Happens When the Forest Disappears?
A car drives along a section under construction of the Trans-Amazonian highway (BR230) near Ruropolis, Para state, Brazil.Nelson Almeida/Getty This story was originally published by Yale Environment 360. It appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The contrast is staggering. On one side of a narrow track is cool, moist rainforest, stretching northwest for hundreds of…
British Parliament Hands Boris Johnson Another Brexit Blow. Everything Is Still Chaos.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP In Parliament’s first Saturday session since the Falklands war—dubbed, questionably, “Super Saturday”—Democratic Unionists from Ireland ensured the passage of the Letwin amendment to trigger a Brexit extension request required by the Benn Act. Confused? Me too. Read on. Heading into the session, Prime Minister Boris Johnson needed the parliament to provide a “meaningful…
Congress Prepares to Unload on Trump’s Disastrous Syria Policy
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty When President Donald Trump announced his decision to permit a Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria last week, outraged lawmakers were on recess and left with little recourse to register their concerns about the fate of the Kurds outside of Twitter and the Sunday news shows. Now they are assembling back in Washington for…
“There’s Nothing”: Trump’s Global LGBTQ Campaign Is a Whole Lot of Smoke and Mirrors
Donald Trump holds up a pride flag given to him by a supporter at an October 2016 campaign rally.Chip Somodevilla/Getty When President Donald Trump spoke to the United Nations last month, he boasted about his administration’s efforts to push for the decriminalization of homosexuality in the dozens of countries where it remains illegal. “As we…
“The Americans Are Traitors”: Trump Faces a Major Backlash Over Syria Announcement
President Donald Trump greets Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in June at the G20 summit in Japan.Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Donald Trump upended US military policy in the Middle East Sunday night, announcing through a White House statement that he would permit a “long-planned” Turkish invasion of northern Syria, a region controlled mainly by Kurds who…