"Alwaleed said bitcoin 'doesn’t make sense. This thing is not regulated, it’s not under control, [and] it’s not under the supervision' of any central bank. Of course, to bitcoin proponents, those same criticisms are features rather than bugs."
"Facebook has apologized after a Palestinian man was arrested by Israeli police for a post saying 'good morning' that its automatic-translation service erroneously translated as 'attack them' in Hebrew and 'hurt them' in English."
"Trump previously loosened CIA drone strike rules in Afghanistan that will now allow for some civilian casualties relative to the importance of the target. 'We’ll be here as long as it takes until you change your mind,' Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said recently in a message to the Taliban."
"U.S. President Donald Trump dealt a blow to the Iran nuclear deal on Friday, as he announced that he would not certify that Iran is in compliance with the agreement. While the unravelling of the deal is neither automatic nor certain, Trump’s announcement will have clear implications for the agreement – and for U.S. diplomacy. Going forward, two key things to watch will be how Congress and international businesses will react to the Trump administration’s moves."
"It originated in the early 1990s when the neocons in the George HW Bush administration realized that with the Cold War's end, the Warfare State was in grave danger of massive demobilization like the US had done after every war until 1945. So among many other invented two-bit threats, the Iranian regime was demonized in order to keep the Imperial City in thrall to its purported national security threat and in support of the vast global armada of military forces, bases and occupations needed to contain it (including the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf and US bases throughout the region)."
"President Trump has been in office for just 9 months, and he has already surpassed Obama’s murderous record with estimated numbers as high as 4,500 civilian deaths. Trump made headlines in December 2015, when he declared that if elected, he would not only kill members of ISIS—he would also 'take out their families.' He is following through on that promise, according to a report from Steven Feldstein, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State."
"Despite strong criticism from President Trump over the deal reached by Obama with Iran and the strong distrust of Iran, the country has benefitted strongly in the almost 2 years since over 90% of sanctions were lifted."
Kurdish radical democrats in Iraq and Syria have forced the US and Syrian governments to take positions at odds with their respective Western media portrayals.
"Dubai has officially launched its own cryptocurrency called emCash, according to announcements by local news media outlets. The cryptocurrency would be used for payment of governmental and nongovernmental services. According to Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General of Dubai Economy, the token will be considered legal tender 'for various government and non-government services, from their daily coffee and children’s school fee to utility charges and money transfers.'"
"Most Americans are completely unaware that a United States naval vessel was once deliberately targeted and nearly sunk by America’s 'greatest friend and ally' Israel. The attack was followed by a comprehensive cover-up that demonstrated clearly that at least one president of the United States even back nearly fifty years ago valued his relationship with the state of Israel above his loyalty to his own country."