YEMEN Al Jazeera claims to have proof that the Saudi-led coalition is recruiting Yemen children as soldiers to defend the Saudi border from Houthi rebels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFk-JzI-pYw There are a couple of things to bear in mind here. One is that this is an Al Jazeera product and Al Jazeera is of course owned by the … Continue reading Middle East update: April 1 2019

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum survived an assassination attempt on Saturday that left one of his bodyguards dead. Taliban fighters attacked Dostum's convoy in Balkh province, kicking off an hourlong gun battle. Dostum has now survived two assassination attempts (the first one made by ISIS) since returning from self-imposed exile in Turkey … Continue reading World update: March 30-31 2019

SYRIA The Kurdish YPG militia attacked a Turkish military position in Afrin with mortars on Sunday, killing at least one Turkish soldier. The Turks returned fire but there's no word on any YPG casualties. Arab leaders turned up in Tunis on Sunday for the 30th Arab League summit, and unsurprisingly the Golan was one of … Continue reading Middle East update: March 30-31 2019

ASIA AFGHANISTAN The Taliban attacked a couple of police checkpoints in the city of Ghazni early Friday morning, killing at least nine police officers. Ghazni was subjected to a sustained Taliban attack last summer that nearly took the city before it was repulsed by Afghan forces backed by US air power. These attacks may signal … Continue reading World update: March 29 2019

SYRIA Al-Monitor's Amberin Zaman reports that Arab tribes aligned with the Syrian Democratic Forces have been trying to cut their own deals with the Syrian government, potentially leaving the Kurdish YPG militia--the largest faction within the SDF--holding the proverbial bag: On March 23 the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared victory after the fall of … Continue reading Middle East update: March 29 2019

CLIMATE CHANGE Great news: a new report from the World Meteorological Society says the effects of climate change are "accelerating": While some of these figures were published in a preliminary release of the study from last November, the full version has data on many key climate indicators, that the WMO says break new ground.One example … Continue reading World update: March 28 2019

Hello and welcome to our next-to-last week here at WordPress! I'm packing things up and moving to Substack starting next week, when I'll be posting in both places by way of transitioning to the new site. SYRIA According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Wednesday's Israeli airstrike (confirmed by Israel) in Aleppo killed one … Continue reading Middle East update: March 28 2019

Hello and welcome to our next-to-last week here at WordPress! I'm packing things up and moving to Substack starting next week, when I'll be posting in both places by way of transitioning to the new site. AFRICA LIBYA The Libyan and Egyptian governments have reached a preliminary agreement on a mechanism for processing Egyptian workers' … Continue reading World update, part 2: March 27 2019

Hello and welcome to our next-to-last week here at WordPress! I'm packing things up and moving to Substack starting next week, when I'll be posting in both places by way of transitioning to the new site. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA Israeli warplanes targeted an industrial area north of Aleppo on Wednesday, presumably going after facilities linked … Continue reading World update, part 1: March 27 2019

Hello and welcome to our next-to-last week here at WordPress! I'm packing things up and moving to Substack starting next week, when I'll be posting in both places by way of transitioning to the new site. ASIA AFGHANISTAN The Afghan government has recalled its ambassador to Pakistan over a comment from Pakistani Prime Minister Imran … Continue reading World update: March 26 2018