ASIA AFGHANISTAN The AP is reporting on a letter its reporters have seen that seems to suggest there's some kind of power struggle going on within ISIS-Khorasan, between the group's Uzbek contingent and its Pakistani contingent. The dispute basically seems to revolve around the degree of collaboration between Pakistani ISIS members and, you guessed it, … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: June 7 2017

IRAN Hey, I've got an idea. What if everybody took a day off? I mean everybody, all human beings, just quit doing whatever for a day. Skip school, take a day off of work, don't tweet (always good advice), and, just for a day mind you, maybe don't kill anybody. Sound good? Apparently not: At … Continue reading Middle East update: June 7 2017

FRANCE What appears to have been an attempted terrorist attack was thwarted by French police on Tuesday outside Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral. A man carrying knives and a hammer approached officers and began striking one with the hammer, while reportedly shouting "this is for Syria," before at least one of the officers shot and wounded … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: June 6 2017

ASIA UZBEKISTAN Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov is now ex-deputy prime minister. He's been given a different government post, undoubtedly further removed from the levers of power, as President Shavkat Mirziyoyev works to sideline him and consolidate power. Azimov was once one of the three most powerful political figures in Uzbekistan but his fortunes have … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: June 6 2017

QATAR This evening CNN broke the story that the FBI believes that not only was the Qatar News Agency really hacked a couple of weeks ago with a fake news report about an incendiary anti-Saudi, pro-Iran speech by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim b. Hamad Al Thani, but that Russians were behind the hack. It's not … Continue reading Middle East update: June 6 2017

Hey, so this is going to be very short and mostly excerpts. I've written a whole lot today and I very much would like to go to sleep. EUROPE UNITED KINGDOM British security services are once again facing questions about whether they should have prevented a terrorist attack. Apparently at least one of the three … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: June 5 2017

AUSTRALIA An overnight shooting and hostage situation in Melbourne appears to have been a terrorist attack: Australian police are treating as a "terrorist incident" a Melbourne siege in which a gunman was killed. Officers went to an address in a suburb of the city on Monday after reports of an explosion and found one man … Continue reading Asia/Africa/Australia update: June 5 2017

QATAR OK, so undoubtedly the biggest news of the day is that Qatar has basically been declared an uncountry by half the Middle East (OK, six countries and one pretend government, but whatever). I have tried to explain what's going on here for LobeLog, and if it's all the same to you I'm going to … Continue reading Middle East update: June 5 2017