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“External intervention almost always just prolongs the conflict because it increases the belief of the proxy combatants in the civil war itself that they can prevail. It increases their confidence that they can win.”
– Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, assessing the consequences of Russia’s escalating role in Syria’s civil war.

Listen to the entire program using these links, or to individual interviews via the links appearing prior to each segment description below.

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Assessing the Consequences of Russian Intervention in Syria’s Civil War
MP3 Interview with Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, conducted by Scott Harris

syria
The brutal civil war in Syria has thus far claimed the lives of an estimated 250,000 people, while creating millions of internal and external refugees seeking safe haven from the conflict in the Middle East and across Europe. After four-and-a-half-years of war, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has been condemned for its indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, has in recent months lost ground to both western-backed opposition rebel groups and ISIS. Story continues

Climate Disobedience Center Provides Support to Activists Engaged in Direct Action
MP3 Interview with Marla Marcum, co-founder at Climate Disobedience Center, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

climate
Four activists who have carried out creative acts of non-violent direct action have banded together to form a new organization called the Climate Disobedience Center. Acting from their deeply held faith perspectives, these four individuals – Tim DeChristopher, Jay O’Hara, Ken Ward and Marla Marcum – are launching the Center to inspire activists to take similar risks for climate justice and generate support for those who do. That would include pursuit of a necessity defense in court, in which activists charged with a violation of the law claim their actions were necessary to prevent a greater harm, like runaway climate chaos. Story continues

Report Links Operation Rescue and Group that Released Videos to Discredit Planned Parenthood
MP3 Interview with Miranda Blue, senior researcher for People for the American Way, conducted by Scott Harris

plannedparenthood
The latest flashpoint for a Republican-led threat to shutdown the U.S. federal government is centered around the GOP and its anti-abortion allies campaign to defund Planned Parenthood. A government shutdown was averted when a stopgap funding bill was signed by President Obama on Sept. 30, but that only postpones the threat of a shutdown until Dec. 11, when the temporary funding bill expires. Story continues

This week’s summary of under-reported news
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Compiled by Bob Nixon

The yearlong Ebola epidemic left Sierra Leone’s health system in shambles and raised major questions about the ability of the World Health Organization to prevent a new disease outbreak in the poor African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. (“Ebola is all but over, but the postmortem is just getting started,” Guardian, Sept. 30, 2015; “Ebola in Sierra Leone: after 4000 deaths, outbreak is all but over,” Guardian, Aug. 20, 2015)
One hundred percent of the power used in Vermont’s largest city, Burlington comes from renewable sources. (“A clean power powerhouse,” Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 12, 2015)
Housing advocates maintain Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, which runs the Federal Housing Administration and is tasked with creating strong communities and affordable housing, is instead facilitating a massive transfer of wealth from working families to wealthy hedge fund investors under the Distressed Assets Stabilization Program. (“Hedge funds get cheap homes, homeowners get the boot,” Center for Public Integrity, Sept. 23, 2015)

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