Remember that tonight's updates are the last I'll be doing until next Tuesday. Ramadan Mubarak to anyone who is observing the fast and thanks for reading. See you next week. ASIA AFGHANISTAN The Taliban say they've captured Farah city, in western Afghanistan, after a daylong battle. Afghan authorities are promising to drive them out of … Continue reading World update: May 15 2018

RAMADAN There's a little confusion about when Ramadan is going to begin this year. For a while now most outlets have been saying it will start on Wednesday (which means Tuesday night). But the final word from the people who decide these sorts of things in the Middle East now seems to be that Ramadan … Continue reading Middle East update: May 15 2018

FYI, tomorrow night's updates will be it until next Tuesday. For family reasons I'll be unavailable later this week, and I need a day or two to wrap up a few obligations beforehand. It also feels like a good time to take a little break. Not that I don't enjoy doing this but between the … Continue reading World update: May 14 2018

We have another impending thunderstorm situation and a reliably unreliable electricity situation. So I’m posting this early and hoping I’ll get to come back later and update it/do a world update. We’ll see. I’m also posting from my phone so if anything about the formatting is screwy that’s why. I’ll fix it later. ISRAEL-PALESTINE Donald … Continue reading Middle East update: May 14 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN ISIS fighters attacked a government building in Jalalabad on Sunday, killing at least 15 people in the process before Afghan police were able to kill the attackers and end the fighting. The attackers used a car bomb and then rushed the building armed with machine guns and RPGs. It was the exclamation point … Continue reading World update: May 12-13 2018

I'm posting this a little early in case the thunderstorm we're about to get knocks out our power. There should be at least one more post tonight if the electric grid permits. IRAQ So this is kind of a big deal: Moqtada al-Sadr was leading in Iraq’s parliamentary election with over half of the votes … Continue reading Middle East update: May 12-13 2018

Just one and done tonight, sorry. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA If you're terrified that Israel and Iran are about to go to war in Syria, Ha’aretz reporter Anshel Pfeffer is here to tell you it's all going to be OK: This year, the Iran-Israel war has suddenly come out in to the open, with both sides directly challenging … Continue reading World update: May 11 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN A tangential side-effect of the Saudi conflicts with Iran and Qatar is that the Saudis have of late been participating in international efforts to isolate the Taliban. Both Qatar and Iran have relationships with the Taliban, so this allows the Saudis to appear the righteous and loyal US allies. But the Saudis are … Continue reading World update: May 10 2018

SYRIA More information has come in about the apparent overnight exchange of artillery fire between the Israeli military and somebody in Syria. The Israelis say that Iran's Quds Force attacked targets in the Golan Heights, which if true--emphasis on "if," the Iranians insist it wasn't them--would be the first time Iran has ever directly attacked … Continue reading Middle East update: May 10 2018