OK, the power is back on, but since it's late and I fear it may go out again this is going to be a bit of a rush job. I've updated tonight's Middle East post a bit as well so you may want to go check that out again. CLIMATE CHANGE We don't usually talk … Continue reading World update: July 24 2018

SYRIA Syrian forces on Tuesday made headway in the Yarmouk Basin, a region in the southwestern part of the country controlled by an affiliate of ISIS. But that's a relatively minor development compared to the day's main event: Israel said Tuesday it shot down a Syrian warplane that entered airspace above the Golan Heights as … Continue reading Middle East update: July 24 2018

EUROPE EUROPEAN UNION Engorged tick Steve Bannon has founded a new organization to help Europeans better embrace their racism: Trump’s former White House chief advisor told The Daily Beast that he is setting up a foundation in Europe called The Movement which he hopes will lead a right-wing populist revolt across the continent starting with … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: July 23 2018

ASIA ARMENIA Russian media has started portraying Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as a "carbon copy" of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, which is obviously fighting words in Russia. Pashinyan has been trying to reassure Moscow that his accession as PM isn't going to change the Russia-Armenia relationship, but he also went to the NATO summit two … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: July 23 2018

SYRIA Though there's fighting ongoing in southwestern Syria and periodically in eastern Syria, and though the complicated issues of Idlib province/the Turkish-occupied northwest and the Kurdish-controlled northeast still have to be sorted out, the AP reports that people in Damascus are beginning to feel like the Syrian civil war is already over: In the capital … Continue reading Middle East update: July 23 2018

EUROPEUKRAINE The Pentagon announced on Saturday that it will send $200 million in aid to Ukraine for non-lethal military spending. The money will be earmarked for things like logistics, training, and medical needs. GERMANY I know we don't usually talk about sports around here, but German footballer Mesut Özil's decision to quit the country's national team, … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: July 21-22 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum returned home on Sunday after spending the past 14 months in exile in Turkey dodging legal charges that he and his men kidnapped and tortured one of his political rivals in late 2016. He was welcomed home by a suicide bombing, later claimed by ISIS, at the … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: July 21-22 2018

SYRIA Syrian state media is reporting that Israel on Sunday struck a military facility outside of Misyaf, a city in Hama province. Reuters has a source that claims there is "a major military research centre for chemical arms production" outside of Misyaf, so that may have been the target. Russia, meanwhile, claims that its forces shot … Continue reading Middle East update: July 21-22 2018