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2 days ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Sean Mathews |John Rees
US President Donald Trump is setting up shop in the oil-rich Gulf. His wares are high-tech weaponry, AI chips and nuclear technology. Because Trump's focus will be on business deals when he arrives in the Gulf on Tuesday, his visit is being framed as economic, above geopolitical. But Trump's transactional approach to foreign policy also underscores a deeper truth about the current world order. His visit will start on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
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2 days ago | 
middleeasteye.net | John Rees |Hamid Dabashi
Liberal imperialists, who would have been delighted with either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris as president in the last US election, are now up in arms, mourning the global embarrassment Donald Trump has caused them on the pages of The New York Times and beyond. Trump is too obvious, too crass, too vulgar an imperialist. Their first instinct is to disown him as an anomaly. He looks like a Latin American dictator, an African despot, an Oriental tyrant, or a Russian czar.
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5 days ago | 
triangleblogblog.com | John Rees
The Town of Chapel Hill is working on a new Parks and Rec Master Plan. Engagement is happening now. Part of their engagement is an interactive map where residents can pick spots that need improvement, things you already like about a spot and also to make suggestions for something new or different.
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1 week ago | 
triangleblogblog.com | John Rees
We’ve been waiting, we’ve been waiting for a long time. Ever since the NC State Board of Elections certified most of the races in the state on November 26, we’ve been waiting. It turns out we have been waiting 161 days. Finally, just today, Allison Riggs challenger, Jefferson Griffin conceded the election for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Continuously pivoting on the challenged votes, Griffin.
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1 week ago | 
middleeasteye.net | John Rees
US President Donald Trump's keystone tariff policy increasingly resembles Schrodinger's cat: it may or may not exist, depending on the day. First, there were tariffs at eye-watering rates of 40 or 50 percent or even higher. Then they were mostly cut back to 10 percent, but only for 90 days. Next came talk of individual deals with favoured nations, but none have actually been announced.
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2 weeks ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Peter Oborne |John Rees |Marco Carnelos
“Make the West great again”: This was the headline slogan uttered by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during her recent meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington. Meloni’s trip to the US was highly anticipated at a tense moment in transatlantic relations, fuelled by Trump’s unorthodox stance on the war in Ukraine and his decision to target the world - allies included - with hefty tariffs.
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3 weeks ago | 
triangleblogblog.com | John Rees
If you work in RTP, next Tuesday is an opportunity to clean out your closet of old electronic devices. The RTP Sustainability Committee, in conjunction with Kramden Institute, will be holding an electronics recycling drive from 8:30 until 1:00PMI have been a volunteer on this committee since 2016 or so. Our goal has been to improve the wildlife habitats, drive more sustainable practices with RTP tenants and to sustain RTP’s trails, which are lined with bluebird boxes.
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3 weeks ago | 
middleeasteye.net | John Rees |Peter Oborne
In theory, the role of the media is to tell the truth and hold power to account. British newspapers and broadcasters have not fulfilled this function when it comes to Israel and the Gaza war. On the contrary, British journalists have repeated the lies promoted by Israeli and British politicians. Some have produced fresh lies of their own, effectively acting as the propaganda arm of the Israeli state.
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4 weeks ago | 
triangleblogblog.com | John Rees
Coming up NEXT Friday, April 25, 2025, EMPOWERment Inc. will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Pine Knoll EMPOWERment Affordable Community Housing (AKA P.E.A.C.H.) Apartments, a 10-unit affordable housing project. When: Friday, April 25 , 11:00AMWhere: 107 Johnson Street, Chapel HillRSVP by April 20 hereThis groundbreaking project stands as a model for community-driven solutions to the housing crisis and was inspired by the vision of Dr. Ted Parris, Pine Knoll Community Board President.
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1 month ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Christopher Phillips |John Rees
It is commonly and correctly understood that the populist right are not traditional fascists. US President Donald Trump, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and their ilk might be ideologically adjacent to fascist ideology, and their prominence is certainly an encouragement to outright fascists. But there are also some crucial differences between the populist right and traditional fascist organisations, whether the 1930s originals or later inheritors, such as the British National Party.
