Inside Stories

MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA — Is social media giant Facebook headed for the same ignoble fate as its now-extinct predecessors, Friendster and MySpace?
The prospect of the reigning social media champ’s demise shouldn’t be exaggerated, but recent data digital market research company eMarketer suggests that the platform’s popularity is reaching a point of stagnation among younger users, as netizens aged 12 to 17 flock to mobile app competitor Snapchat.

GAZA STRIP, PALESTINE — In a frightening development, Israeli occupying forces have deployed a new unmanned aerial system in the Gaza Strip that drops tear gas canisters from above, according to video footage obtained by Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news.
The event, described by officials as an “experiment,” is the first recorded incident of weaponized crowd-control UAVs (i.e., drones) being used against unarmed Palestinian civilians in a non-combat environment.

SANA’A, YEMEN (Report) — The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war against Yemen is entering its fourth year. This war has killed over 13,000 people, injured over 21,000, devastated civilian infrastructure, triggered a famine, and created one of the worst man-made (and very preventable) humanitarian disasters on the planet.

RAMALLAH, PALESTINE — Mohammad Sabaaneh’s incisive artwork has earned him a barrage of antagonism from Israel and Palestinian political factions. In February 2013, he was issued an administrative detention order by Israel and jailed for five months for alleged association with Hamas through his artwork. Some of his cartoons were published in a book written by Sabaaneh’s brother, who is affiliated with Hamas.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — “C’mon people, what are some more nurses values?”
I was nearly four months into my stint in the communications office at the California Nurses Association, or CNA, when I found myself in a half-lit, mildewed, second-floor conference room in the union’s downtown Oakland office, seated among a clutch of maybe seven or eight other communications staffers, all white with the exception of myself and an Asian woman.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – Last Sunday, the largest joint military exercise between the United States and Israel began with little fanfare. The war game, dubbed “Operation Juniper Cobra,” has been a regular occurrence for years, though it has consistently grown in size and scope.

WASHINGTON  -– To the surprise of many, it was announced earlier this week that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) had agreed to consider ending its nuclear and ballistic missile program, while also being open to talks with the United States to resolve the inflamed tensions between the two nations.

The U.S. press is currently in an uproar over the shoddy state of affairs at the Department of State’s new propaganda department, the Global Engagement Center (GEC) — with blame being laid squarely on the shoulders of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

WASHINGTON – Since replacing embattled former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Gen. H.R. McMaster has been a key fixture of the Trump White House, helping to guide the president’s neoconservative foreign policy – particularly in Afghanistan and Syria.

LOS ANGELES — California is a state with two faces. One face wears a beaming, optimistic smile — reflecting pride in its sprawling coastline, its natural beauty. Its entertainment industry makes the state a cultural superpower, while its tech sector attracts millennial entrepreneurs and talent from across the world. With its ethnic diversity, liberal urban elites and politicians, this isn’t Trumplandia, USA; this is the Golden State, filled with industrious and creative drivers of American success.