SYRIA So that report yesterday that somebody had fired missiles at a Syrian airbase near Homs? False alarm, according to the Syrian government. Perhaps even a cyber attack staged by the US and/or Israel, according to one anonymous "commander" of pro-government forces in Syria. Pro-government forces are reportedly gearing up for a move against Yarmouk, … Continue reading Middle East update: April 17 2018

ASIA ARMENIA About 10,000 protesters hit the streets of Yerevan on Monday and were greeted with tear gas and stun grenades from police. They are, of course, unhappy that former President Serzh Sargsyan isn't going into retirement despite having been term-limited out of office. Sargsyan will instead be named the country's new prime minister on Tuesday. Before … Continue reading World update: April 16 2018

SYRIA BREAKING: Somebody fired some missiles at a Syrian air base near Homs late Monday night. State media says they were all shot down by Syrian air defenses, but who knows. Most likely this was Israel though I suppose at this point you can't rule anything out. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons … Continue reading Middle East update: April 16 2018

ASIA ARMENIA The protests against it are ongoing, but former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was nominated to serve as the country's new prime minister on Saturday anyway. The protesters did manage to prevent the momentous nomination from taking place at the ruling Republican Party's headquarters in Yerevan--instead, they had to do the deed at a ski … Continue reading World update: April 14-15 2018

SYRIA I've collected most of my thoughts about Syria at LobeLog, so if you're looking for those please go there. The upshot is that I'm not a fan: If the strike wasn’t legal, was it at least justifiable? The fact that Russia would have reflexively vetoed any action against Syria regardless of the evidence is … Continue reading Middle East update: April 14-15 2018

ASIA ARMENIA Former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is expected to be named prime minister on Saturday, the culmination of a political transition meant to extend Sargsyan's time in power despite his having been term limited out of the presidency. Over the past several months, Sargsyan has engineered a constitutional change that makes Armenia's premiership more powerful … Continue reading World update: April 13 2018

SYRIA BREAKING: Donald Trump will reportedly be making a "statement" about Syria at 9 PM this evening, Washington time. World on the interwebs is that he'll be announcing strikes, but it's not clear what they'll involve. Come back here for updates. UPDATE: The US is bombing Syria along with France and the UK. Heavy explosions reported … Continue reading Middle East update: April 13 2018

Kind of a crazy day here at attwiw HQ, so this is going to be truncated and it will go out much earlier than usual. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA According to Russian sources Eastern Ghouta is now entirely in Syrian control. As to the expected US et al response to Saturday's alleged chemical weapons attack in … Continue reading World update: April 12 2018

CLIMATE CHANGE A new study finds that Greenland's ice is melting more rapidly than previously believed and has been since the 1990s. There's enough ice covering Greenland to raise ocean levels by about 20 feet, so this is kind of not great news. ASIA AZERBAIJAN In what is likely the least surprising political news of … Continue reading World update: April 11 2018

SYRIA https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984022625440747520 I'm definitely not in the business of trying to predict when the US (and whoever else decides to participate) is going to start bombing Syrian government targets, but I think it's worth noting that the Carrier Strike Group led by the USS Harry S. Truman just left Norfolk on Wednesday for "a regularly scheduled … Continue reading Middle East update: April 11 2018