Egypt A major bomb (12 kg of TNT) hit St. Mark's Cathedral (see the photo above) in Cairo this morning, killing at least 25 people, wounding at least 49, and from the photos I've seen absolutely pulverizing the interior of the church. No group has claimed responsibility yet as far as I can tell, but … Continue reading Conflict update: December 11
Month: December 2016
Conflict update: December 10
Turkey At around 11 PM tonight local time, two bombs hit downtown Istanbul, killing at least 29 people and injuring another 166. First, a car bomb exploded outside the Beşiktaş Vodafone Arena. Shortly after that, a suicide bomber detonated a smaller explosion a short distance away. Suspicion, as it always does in these cases, will … Continue reading Conflict update: December 10
Conflict update: December 9
Tonight's roundup is going to be short and to the point (and a little earlier than usual), my apologies. Iraq The Iraqi military says that it captured another neighborhood in eastern Mosul today, in the process destroying (via airstrike) three facilities where ISIS has been manufacturing car bombs. In Baghdad, meanwhile, multiple bombing attacks today … Continue reading Conflict update: December 9
Cause of death: late-stage capitalism
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2015 average life expectancy in the United States dropped, from 78.9 years to 78.8 years, the first time that's happened since 1993. We know that the drop in 1993 had a few particular causes (AIDS and high homicide and accidental death rates, for example), and while … Continue reading Cause of death: late-stage capitalism
Abbas and Fatah keep on keeping on
Shortly after the year 2016 went live, I wrote about how one of the growing fears related to the Middle East was that the Palestinian Authority might fall apart. This is not because anybody has any great love for the Palestinian Authority--seriously, does anybody?--but because of the potential for chaos that could follow the PA's … Continue reading Abbas and Fatah keep on keeping on
Worst roller coaster ever
If you're the kind of person who pays attention to oil prices, then first of all I share your pain and alienation, but second of all, you may have noticed that it's been doing a lot of rising and falling lately around a midpoint of about $48-$49/barrel. We seem to be in the middle of … Continue reading Worst roller coaster ever
Corruption Matters
Amid all the post-election "how the hell did we get here" analysis, a lot of which has focused squarely and rightly on the myriad failures of the Democratic Party, another piece of the puzzle has gotten lost a bit, and that has to do with what Donald Trump represented to a lot of voters--a vote … Continue reading Corruption Matters
Conflict update: December 5
Libya After a surprisingly long operation, it appears that Sirte is fully under the control of the militias that have been battling ISIS there: The drawn-out capture of Sirte, the last major Islamic State (Isis) stronghold in Libya, has been completed after months of fighting and a stubborn resistance by snipers. Rida Issa, a spokesman … Continue reading Conflict update: December 5
Now that you’re gone, I’m left all alone
The title, get it? Those are lyrics from the song "Donna," and this post is about "Ghana" and...oh whatever. Apologies for being away from the blog. Alhurra asked me to do a show today and there went my afternoon. I'll be back with some conflict news tonight. Meanwhile, where was I? Oh, right, Ghana. Yes, … Continue reading Now that you’re gone, I’m left all alone
Politics was a little nuts today
Lots of political news worth mentioning today. First, Austria's second attempt at a presidential runoff produced a victory for left-wing ex-Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, with somewhere around 53% of the vote, and a defeat for far right-wing populist Norbert Hofer. The margin was considerably wider than Van der Bellen's very slim initial runoff … Continue reading Politics was a little nuts today
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 