ASIA AZERBAIJAN The Azerbaijani government is threatening to stop cooperating militarily with Western nations unless those Western nations cram it with respect to Azerbaijan's lousy human rights record. Unfortunately for Baku, Azerbaijan's military assistance just isn't that crucial to Western interests. Officially it's helped out with peacekeeping missions in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and its … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: September 12 2017

SYRIA Having opened up a corridor to relieve the besieged city and its similarly besieged airport, the Syrian army is now massing assets for a push to recapture all of Deir Ezzor city from ISIS. They're also massing civilian casualties, with "dozens" of people (69, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights) reportedly killed … Continue reading Middle East update: September 12 2017

Family obligations take precedence this evening, so today you're getting a very short mid-day news update. Enjoy! MIDDLE EAST WAR ON TERROR While ISIS is losing territory all over the place, in general things in the MENA region continue to be horrifying: The number of children recruited to fight in conflicts across the Middle East … Continue reading World update: September 11 2017

EUROPE CYPRUS Two boats containing 305 Syrian refugees reached Cyprus early Sunday morning, probably the largest single group to make it to the island nation since the civil war began. Cypriot police arrested one of the pilots of the two boats, and the final disposition of the refugees is yet to be decided--some may remain … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: September 9-10 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN People are still outraged over those unintentionally (?) offensive leaflets that US forces dropped over Parwan province on Tuesday. Here, by the way, is what they look like: https://twitter.com/dwdavison9318/status/905917087532683264 To reiterate, that lion is supposed to be the US, running down a dog on which has been printed the Taliban flag. The Taliban … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: September 9-10 2017

IRAQ Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told the BBC on Sunday that he wants to work with the Iraqi government to redraw the borders of Kurdistan but will do so unilaterally if Baghdad won't cooperate. It still seems the KRG is unlikely to go ahead and declare independence immediately following the … Continue reading Middle East update: September 9-10 2017

EUROPE UKRAINE Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko delivered a speech to his parliament on Thursday. Among other things, he rejected calls for early elections--no big surprise given that polls currently show him trailing potential challenger Yulia Tymoshenko--and said he's working on "defensive" weapons deals with Western nations. GREECE The city of Thessaloniki saw a major anti-austerity … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: September 7-8 2017

ASIA UZBEKISTAN The Uzbek and Kyrgyz governments appear to have reached an agreement this week to delineate their shared border and, in principle, to collaborate on a major hydroelectric project , the Kambarata-1 dam, on the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan. Former Uzbek President Islam Karimov opposed Kyrgyzstan's plans to construct dams on its rivers over fears … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: September 7-8 2017

SYRIA Early Thursday morning Israeli aircraft struck a military site near the town of Masyaf, in western Syria. The base is reportedly used by the Syrian military's unconventional weapons arm and was used to produce precision rockets and/or chemical weapons. At least two people were killed in the strike. Israel has, of course, assumed unto … Continue reading Middle East update: September 7-8 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN At least six people were wounded Wednesday evening by a suicide bomber who attacked Bagram air base, and two civilians were killed by a roadside bomb in Laghman province. The Pentagon has finally put a troop number to its mini-surge in Afghanistan. It will deploy 3500 additional soldiers, slightly under the expected 4000, … Continue reading World update: September 6 2017