SYRIA A group of ISIS fighters attacked a Syrian military position in Deir Ezzor province overnight and, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, killed 35 pro-government troops including nine Russian soldiers--not contractors, but actually active duty soldiers. Russia's defense ministry has acknowledged four Russian deaths in the attack, which it says also left … Continue reading Middle East update: May 26-27 2018

ASIA INDIA If the possibility of an Indian-Chinese war worries and/or excites you, then you may want to pay attention to recent Chinese mining activity in areas around the highly disputed border between the two nations. The area is believed to contain tens of billions of dollars worth of precious metals, so there's definitely an … Continue reading World update: May 25 2018

SYRIA Iraqi aircraft carried out another round of airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, striking suspected ISIS targets around the city of Hajin, in Deir Ezzor province. That city, which sits on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, is surrounded by Syrian Democratic Forces ground troops and has also been the target of US-led coalition … Continue reading Middle East update: May 25 2018

ASIA PAKISTAN A mob of people stormed and destroyed a 100 year old Ahmadi mosque in the city of Sialkot overnight. The Ahmadiyah is an Islamic faith that grew out of a 19th century revivalist movement led by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (d. 1908), who claimed to be the Mahdi. They are a small-ish (anywhere from hundreds … Continue reading World update: May 24 2018

SYRIA Both Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights are saying that the US-led coalition struck two Syrian army positions in Deir Ezzor province overnight, killing at least 12 pro-government militia fighters. The Pentagon says it has "no information" about any such strikes. State media also says that the Syrian military intercepted a … Continue reading Middle East update: May 24 2018

ASIA AZERBAIJAN One reason why Nagorno-Karabakh remains a potential flashpoint is because of the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis who were displaced during the 1988-1994 Nagorno Karabakh War, many of whom still have designs on returning home: According to the UN, about 860,000 people were forced to flee either Armenia proper or Azerbaijani territory occupied by local … Continue reading World update: May 23 2018

SYRIA A media outfit with links to Hezbollah reported early on Thursday that the US-led coalition struck the Syrian army in two places near the Iraqi border. At this point the story is unconfirmed and there's no indication why the coalition bombed those targets, nor has there been any report of casualties. Researcher Aymann Jawad … Continue reading Middle East update: May 23 2018

IN MEMORIAM Over the past few days, both hardline anti-communist historian and neoconservative icon Richard Pipes, 94, and Middle East historian and neoconservative icon Bernard Lewis, 101, passed away. They say it's wrong to speak ill of the dead, so...let's move on. EUROPE RUSSIA Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman resigned on Tuesday to protest the end of mayoral … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: May 22 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN A car bomb killed at least 16 people and wounded 38 others in Kandahar on Tuesday. Afghan authorities were attempting to defuse the bomb, which they believe was going to be used for a much larger attack during the upcoming Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan, when it exploded. There's not much … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: May 22 2018

Hi. Perhaps you've noticed that I've been gone for a while. I'm not going to recap everything that happened while I was gone, but be forewarned that this is going to be a long post. And by "long," I mean I'm at 1800 words as I write this and I haven't even gotten to Iran … Continue reading Middle East update: May 22 2018