ASIA AFGHANISTAN Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday dangled probably the biggest carrot he has in front of the Taliban: President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan renewed a call on Wednesday for the Taliban to join peace talks, offering to treat the insurgent group as a legitimate political party, though it has repeatedly rejected similar proposals.   In … Continue reading World update: February 28 2018

SYRIA So there's good news and bad news. The good news is that Wednesday's five hour humanitarian pause in Eastern Ghouta did actually take place, unlike Tuesday's scheduled pause. The bad news is that the overall situation in the Damascus suburb continues to deteriorate: Syrian government forces launched a ground assault on the edge of … Continue reading Middle East update: February 28 2018

I've once again shrunk things down to a single post tonight, and I'm calling it a night a little early (it's about 9:30 east coast time). If anything comes up later you can maybe check back here or stay tuned for tomorrow. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA This may come as a shock, but you know that … Continue reading World update: February 27 2018

EUROPE GREECE Somebody tossed a grenade at an Athens police station overnight, causing one minor injury. A left wing anarchist group apparently took credit for the attack in an online posting. HUNGARY The surprise outcome of Sunday's mayoral election in the city of Hódmezővásárhely has opposition parties wondering if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party might … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: February 26 2018

ASIA PAKISTAN In a real curiosity, the BBC has apparently found three men who still speak Badeshi, an Indo-Iranian language spoken in Pakistan's Bishigram valley that was previously believed to have gone completely extinct three generations ago. Obviously it's still on its way out, but nevertheless it's an interesting story and might mean that linguists … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: February 26 2018

SYRIA United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres may want the UN Security Council's new Syrian ceasefire to begin "immediately," but it looks like he'll have to content himself with a Russian plan for a partial humanitarian ceasefire instead. Guterres is also throwing his weight behind a French idea for the five veto-holding members of the Security … Continue reading Middle East update: February 26 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Three Taliban attacks overnight between Friday and Saturday left at least 20 Afghan soldiers dead across southern Afghanistan. Of those, at least 18 were killed in one attack on a checkpoint in Farah province early Saturday morning. Two suicide attacks in Helmand province resulted in the other casualties. Another three people were killed … Continue reading World update: February 24-25 2018

SYRIA On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council finally managed to get everybody on the same page and unanimously voted to establish a 30 day humanitarian ceasefire in Damascus's battered Eastern Ghouta suburb. The fighting there started again on Sunday: A new United Nations resolution demanding a cease-fire across Syria appeared to have little effect … Continue reading Middle East update: February 24-25 2018

We're going to go with a single update again today, mostly because your bloghost is not feeling so hot today but also because I think we can get away with it. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA Turkish forces shelled a convoy heading into Afrin on Friday (killing at least one person) that was carrying...well, take your pick. … Continue reading World update: February 23 2018

Lots going on here today so I'm going to try to get through everything in one post. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA The Turkish government expects to start facilitating the return of Syrian refugees to Afrin just as soon as it takes that enclave from the YPG. Which should happen, uh, any day now, I'm sure. I … Continue reading World update: February 22 2018