• Listen to this segment with Rahul Mahajan

• Listen to the entire program with Sonali Kolhatkar

Uprising’s guest expert Rahul Mahajan, a sociologist and news analyst and author of Full Spectrum Dominance: US Power in Iraq, analyzes today’s news headlines:

President Obama is ready to begin bombing Syria and could announce it to Americans this evening. The New York Times reports this morning that the President, according to a “senior administration official,” is “prepared to authorize airstrikes in Syria,” in the fight against the Sunni rebel group, ISIS. Obama will address Congress and the American people this evening, laying out his strategy. Meanwhile his secretary of state John Kerry is in Iraq today meeting with that nation’s new Prime Minister to discuss the war already in effect in Northern Iraq and to offer US support to the new government. A day ago, an unexplained explosion in Northern Syria killed most of the leadership of another Syrian rebel group, Ahrar al Sham. The group is separate from both ISIS and the Al-Qaida affiliated Al Nusra Front. Click here for a New York Times article about the story.

An upcoming vote to declare Scotland independent from the United Kingdom has unexpectedly gained steam, sparking fears in the British government. Prime Minister David Cameron made an impassioned plea against a “yes” vote on the referendum, appearing nearly on the verge of tears. At stake is not just the cohesion of one of history’s most significant empires, but Scotland’s oil wealth that the UK relies on. The vote will take place in 8 days. Click here for a Guardian newspaper article about the story.

Providing fodder to Israel’s critics who label the Jewish nation racist, Human Rights Watch has just released a new report on how nearly 7,000 African migrants have been expelled. More than 6,000 Sudanese, and a few hundred Eritreans, who applied for asylum, were deported by what HRW called Israel’s, “unlawful coercion policy.” The group warned that those who were expelled are at great risk of torture and imprisonment if they return to their native countries. Israel claims that the asylum seekers are simply exiting on their own. Click here for an Al Jazeera article about the story.