Politico: Donald Trump and the wrath of Khan

Britons with living memories of past American presidents have been startled by Trump’s attack on the mayor of London at a time when the city was “reeling” — to quote a New York Times headline that was widely, and deservedly, pilloried. The morally upright Carter, the avuncular Reagan, the courtly George H.W. Bush, the folksy Clinton, the gregarious George W. Bush, the eloquent Obama — all of them, to be sure, would have responded to Britain’s grief with vigorous words of support and offers of assistance. They would have invoked the special relationship. [...]

Bafflement quickly gave way to anger as Trump showed no signs of remorse. It was left to Lewis Lukens, the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in London — Trump has yet to put an ambassador in place — to soothe inflamed British public opinion. “I commend the strong leadership of the mayor of London as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack,” he tweeted. The tweet was sent from @USAInUK, the embassy’s Twitter account, but Lukens bravely added his own signature to the text. [...]

Khan troubles Trump spiritually. He cannot comprehend him as a political type. Khan is a devout Muslim who has repeatedly spoken out against radical Islam. He is a bus driver’s son who is the precise example of the integrated Muslim that many in the West clamor for in this age of Islamism and religious separatists. He is the mayor of the world’s most important city (alongside New York) and his popularity has soared after his brushes with Trump, whose inability to digest the existence of a mainstream Muslim politician in Britain is a result of his instinctive dismissal of Muslims as a people of civic consequence.

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Al Jazeera: Looking beyond the siege of Doha

The Saudi camp seems to be running out of patience for the same Doha policies that triggered the 2014 diplomatic crises. In my view, the Saudis have three main demands: Ejecting Muslim Brotherhood leadership as well as other prominent figures from Doha, neutralising the Qatari media, especially Al Jazeera, towards the Gulf states and Egypt and moulding Qatar's regional policies so they do not collide with Saudi/Emirati interests. While Qatar is expected to offer concessions, it will deem some of these demands as a violation of its sovereignty. [...]

But it is also necessary to evaluate the US' position in the region. Qatar, after all, is the home of the largest US military base in the region. I think the Trump administration is implicitly pleased to see the Qataris sweat this crisis out. From Washington's point of view, this crisis may help Doha to fully understand the importance of the American presence, and to modify some of its regional policies that are not aligned with US interests. [...]

When it comes to the GCC, it is clear that the current crisis a symptom of the long-term problems between Qatar, Saudi, UAE and Bahrain and does not effect the entirety of the cooperation. Kuwait and Oman did not - and are less likely to - cut relations with Doha. Both Kuwait and Oman are the only two members who never severed diplomatic ties with any other GCC states. In fact, the Kuwaiti leadership undertook shuttle diplomacy between Doha and Riyadh to end the 2014 diplomatic crisis. [...]

Doha faces tough choices. If it does not address the concerns of the Saudi camp, it will be geographically isolated. Saudi Arabia could also push to freeze Qatar's membership in the GCC. Over time, this will place an unprecedented geopolitical pressure on the Qatari policymakers. At worst, this could slide Qatar towards Iran. This would be an unintended consequence that neither Riyadh nor Doha aspire towards. If Doha gives in to all of the demands at once, the Qatari government might not be able to survive the humiliation at home. Giving in to all Saudi demands and handing sovereignty to Riyadh would be viewed as political suicide by many in Qatar.

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CityLab: Terrorism and the De-Gentrification of Istanbul

Istanbul's central Beyoğlu district experienced sweeping gentrification throughout the 2000s, as its popularity increased among locals and a boom in tourism brought more and more visitors. But a devastating string of terror attacks and woeful city planning have driven away locals and tourists alike, prompting a swift process of decline. [...]

Long known for its intellectual and bohemian character, Cihangir of the early ‘90s was home to one of the city’s first punk venues, which occupied the top floor of a building that looked out at the iconic strait that divides Europe and Asia. The neighborhood was also a hub for the city's transgender community until a wave of new cafes and bars swept through in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, leading to higher rents. Until recently, Cihangir was among the most coveted spots in the city but “for rent” signs are increasingly common now. Rental prices have dropped 20 percent since last year, according to Yalçın Bayazıtlı, a real estate agent who has lived and worked in Cihangir his entire life. Bayazıtlı said that most homeowners won't go any lower, though some properties have managed to depreciate in value even further. “One apartment that was going for TL 5,000 ($1,400) a month is now listed at TL 3,500 ($980),” says Bayazıtlı. [...]

But on a Saturday morning in March of last year, a suicide bomber linked to ISIS blew himself up on Istiklal, killing four people—all tourists. Traffic on the street—formerly a constant, swelling stream of people that was challenging to navigate through—plummeted, and name-brand stores started leaving the neighborhood as fast as they first appeared. Before the attack, adjacent backstreets had become host to dozens of impressive new hotels that seemed to spring up overnight, but many have become plagued by extremely low occupancy rates—about 20 percent as of last August. [...]

Bayazıtlı, the Cihangir real estate agent, doesn't believe that rental prices in his neighborhood will drop any further than the 20 percent figure he shares. “Owners will prefer to keep their homes empty with the hope that things will return to how they were before.” he says. Bayazıtlı admits, however, that he cannot be certain of this. “If another bomb explodes, perhaps they will continue to fall.”

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Slate: Whatever Happened to the “Just Married” Car?

“What I found was that the words applied to the car were more creative than I initially imagined,” he wrote. “ ‘Just Married’ isn’t always the standard message on wedding cars. And as one moved into the 1960s and ’70s, the text became more sexual in nature. In an earlier time, the wedding car often emphasized that from this marriage, kids would be produced to enrich the community and create a family. There is more humor in later reiterations of the ‘Just Married’ signage on the car. In the 1930s through ’50s it was often just enough to write ‘Just Married.’ ” [...]

“The car plays a different role in our lives now, and as such there is less emphasis on the wedding car being decorated,” he wrote. “While so much of our lives are public, I think we are more private in the advertising to strangers, via the car, that we are newly married. The ‘Just Married’ vehicle in the past was a humorous way to inform the community that passengers were newly married (when there was a greater sense of belonging to a certain town or community). Now, we post wedding photos stating that fact on social media sites or on a personal wedding website.”

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Haaretz: Germany Is Repaying Its post-Holocaust Debts to Israel - but Not to the Palestinians

That is why, on the 50th anniversary of the occupation, I call on Germany specifically and Europe in general to make the resolution of this conflict a priority once again. This is not a political but rather a conflict between two nations who are both absolutely convinced that they have the right to the same, small piece of land. If today more than ever, Europe is stating with a loud voice that it must be stronger and more independent, then this new strength and independence entails the clear demand for the end of the occupation and recognition of the Palestinian state.

As a Jew living in Berlin for more than 25 years, I have a special perspective on Germany's historical responsibilities within this conflict. I am only able to live freely and happily in Germany because the Germans have faced and processed their past. Of course, even in modern-day Germany, there are worrying trends on the far left against which we all must fight. But by and large, however, German society has grown into a tolerant, free society aware of its humanitarian responsibilities. [...]

Without the Holocaust there never would have been a partition of Palestine, there would have been no al-Nakba, 1967 war, and occupation. This is not only about German responsibility for the Palestinians but rather that of all Europeans: Anti-Semitism was a pan-European phenomenon and the Palestinians continue to suffer from its direct consequences, even though they themselves are in no way responsible for it.

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The Conversation: Looking at terror attacks ‘per capita’ should make us rethink beliefs about levels of risk and Muslims

India is a good example. It ranks fourth on the list of terror-prone countries since 1970, with 408 deaths from terrorism in an average year.

But the average Indian need not be particularly worried about terrorism. The country is home to 1.27 billion people, and terrorism kills only one in 2,500,000 people – or 0.0000004% of the population – per year, once we translate total terror deaths to terror deaths per capita. The likelihood of dying from crime or in a road accident is far higher. [...]

So, although India has a relatively high number of terrorist attacks, an individual’s likelihood of dying in such an attack is minimal – because India has such a large population. [...]

A somewhat baffling conclusion from a long list of research articles states that terrorism is more likely to emerge in democracies, rather than non-democracies. This idea is difficult to reconcile with our intuition of democracy giving people political (and usually religious) freedom – so why should we see terrorism in such free countries?

It turns out that once we analyse terror per capita, democratic nations are less likely to witness terrorism. Again, take India, a large democracy that, at first glance, suffers a lot from terrorism. But, in per-capita terms, terrorism becomes less important.

Another popular belief states that countries with a sizeable Muslim population – such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh or Nigeria – are experiencing more terrorism than non-Muslim countries. This is true when looking at the total numbers of deaths. [...]

Approximately 23% of the world population identifies as Muslim. But, since September 11, Islamist groups have conducted about 20% of terrorist attacks worldwide. Thus, terrorist attacks are – historically and today – less likely to be conducted by a Muslim than by a non-Muslim group.

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Al Jazeera: Analysis: Qatar-Gulf crisis: Who are the 'terrorists'?

Most of the current accusations against Qatar date back to the years leading up to and during the Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2010. Unlike its neighbours, Qatar lent its support for the removal of authoritarian regimes in Egypt and Tunisia, and generally endorsed the possibilities offered by a new era of political openness for repressed populations around the region.

That support was quite often channelled through Islamist parties poised to take power in democratic elections such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia. Even amid questions surrounding Qatar's actual motives for pursuing such a policy, or the fact that it stopped short of supporting the uprising in neighbouring Bahrain, Qatar was placed in the anti-establishment camp.  [...]

Along with punishing Qatar for past offences, this battle appears to be more about crushing the last vestiges of hope for any independent political thought in the Middle East.

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IFLScience: Astronomers Have Found New Evidence That We Live In A Void

Our universe is not uniform. Its matter is clumped up in various places, with some regions less dense than others. And it seems like we just might be in one of those places, a vast cosmic void.

A new study was presented today at the 230th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Texas suggesting as much. It provides new evidence that our region of space has far fewer galaxies, stars, and planets than others. Two papers on the findings have been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal. [...]

According to the findings, the spherical void we reside in is seven times larger than the average void, spanning a huge 1 billion light-years. Named KBC after its discoverers (Keenan, Barger, and Cowie) in 2013, it is the largest void we’ve ever found.

That’s not to say it definitely exists, just that it seems plausible. Most of the evidence comes from discrepancies in the expansion of the universe on a local scale and on a cosmic scale. The former comes from supernova explosions in our vicinity, the latter from photons originating from the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

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IFLScience: Germany, Denmark, And Belgium Unite To Increase EU's Wind Power By 500 Percent

Germany, Denmark, and Belgium are joining forces with industry giants to install some colossal new offshore wind farm projects in the next decade, set to increase Europe’s current capacity by almost 500 percent.

Energy ministers from the three countries and numerous leaders of industry signed the joint statement on Tuesday at Offshore Wind Energy 2017 in London, pledging to deliver a 60 gigawatts (GW) of wind power between 2020 and 2030, or at least 4 GW per year of new deployment in the decade after 2020. The current capacity of offshore wind farms operating in Europe is 12.6 GW, according to the accompanying report by WindEurope. In theory, this new decision means offshore wind could power up to 25 percent of the EU by 2030. [...]

Germany, Denmark, and Belgium are already some of the world’s “poster boys” for green energy. In December last year, Denmark’s single mammoth wind turbine generated a record-smashing amount of electricity in a 24-hour period. On the last weekend of April, two-thirds of Germany's electricity came from renewable energy sources.

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