| US-Iran standoff: Mutual provocations, and moves to de-escalate Posted: 24 Jun 2019 01:53 PM PDT ![US-Iran standoff: Mutual provocations, and moves to de-escalate]( "US-Iran standoff: Mutual provocations, and moves to de-escalate") "If they make any [wrong] move, we can hit them in the head with our missiles," declared Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aerospace forces. Until now, Iran has rejected any new talks unless Washington rejoins the nuclear deal.
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| Why an opposition win in Istanbul weakens Erdoğan’s grip Posted: 24 Jun 2019 01:49 PM PDT ![Why an opposition win in Istanbul weakens Erdoğan's grip]( "Why an opposition win in Istanbul weakens Erdoğan's grip") For the true believers of Turkey's ruling party, the opposition's victory Sunday in Istanbul mayor's race was inconceivable. "It's impossible, absolutely impossible," that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) could lose, predicted Ertuğrul, a volunteer at a party kiosk on the eve of the vote. Istanbul's new mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu – who ruled for 18 days in April, before his victory was annulled – declared that authoritarian rule has been dented in Turkey.
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| ‘Fly less’ movement: Can forgoing flights help save the planet? Posted: 24 Jun 2019 01:19 PM PDT !['Fly less' movement: Can forgoing flights help save the planet?]( "'Fly less' movement: Can forgoing flights help save the planet?") Cheap airfare and package deals make the possibilities of summer travel boundless, but Ana Simeon has an easier time narrowing down her options. Ms. Simeon is interested in other cultures and languages, having been born in Croatia and having traveled all across Europe by train as a youth. From her vantage on Vancouver Island, the most disconcerting is the increasing intensity of mainland wildfires which bring a blanket of smoke to her backyard each summer.
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| A candle of civility lit in Turkey’s election Posted: 24 Jun 2019 12:57 PM PDT ![A candle of civility lit in Turkey's election]( "A candle of civility lit in Turkey's election") In normal times, the election of a mayor in Istanbul would not be a point of inspiration. Sunday's election of a new mayor in Turkey's largest city did indeed prove to be a light unto the world. The winner, Ekrem İmamoğlu, not only defeated the candidate of the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but he also did so by countering the kind of incivility that can mark a democracy's decline.
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