ASIA ARMENIA Armen Sarkissian, former prime minister and ambassador, is your new Armenian president. Congrats to him, even though the job has been mostly downgraded to ceremonial levels now. AFGHANISTAN At least two people were killed in Kabul on Friday when a car bomb, apparently targeting a NATO convoy, detonated in the Afghan capital. There's … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: March 2 2018

SYRIA The Syrian government and its allies are continuing their ground offensive into Eastern Ghouta. They've opened up at least two and possibly three fronts from what I can tell, and are slowly taking villages from the rebels. I'd make a joke about the ceasefire here but I think we're way past even pretending that's … Continue reading Middle East update: March 2 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA Vladimir Putin is really excited about his new nukes: Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Moscow is developing a new range of supersonic nuclear weapons that cannot be intercepted by antimissile systems.   In his annual state of the nation address on Thursday, Putin claimed that Russia has tested an intercontinental ballistic … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: March 1 2018

ASIA ARMENIA With his second and therefore final five year term as Armenian president expiring in April, Serzh Sargsyan is most likely preparing to do the Half Putin (AKA the Reverse Erdoğan) by shifting into the office of prime minister at the same time as (not coincidentally) that office is becoming more powerful than the presidency. The … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: March 1 2018

SYRIA So far Russia's plan to open a five hour ceasefire window every day in Eastern Ghouta to allow civilians to leave and humanitarian aid to come in has been a gigantic bust. I know, I was shocked too. The United Nations says the windows aren't nearly long enough to actually accomplish either of those … Continue reading Middle East update: March 1 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday dangled probably the biggest carrot he has in front of the Taliban: President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan renewed a call on Wednesday for the Taliban to join peace talks, offering to treat the insurgent group as a legitimate political party, though it has repeatedly rejected similar proposals.   In … Continue reading World update: February 28 2018

SYRIA So there's good news and bad news. The good news is that Wednesday's five hour humanitarian pause in Eastern Ghouta did actually take place, unlike Tuesday's scheduled pause. The bad news is that the overall situation in the Damascus suburb continues to deteriorate: Syrian government forces launched a ground assault on the edge of … Continue reading Middle East update: February 28 2018

I've once again shrunk things down to a single post tonight, and I'm calling it a night a little early (it's about 9:30 east coast time). If anything comes up later you can maybe check back here or stay tuned for tomorrow. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA This may come as a shock, but you know that … Continue reading World update: February 27 2018

EUROPE GREECE Somebody tossed a grenade at an Athens police station overnight, causing one minor injury. A left wing anarchist group apparently took credit for the attack in an online posting. HUNGARY The surprise outcome of Sunday's mayoral election in the city of Hódmezővásárhely has opposition parties wondering if Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party might … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: February 26 2018

ASIA PAKISTAN In a real curiosity, the BBC has apparently found three men who still speak Badeshi, an Indo-Iranian language spoken in Pakistan's Bishigram valley that was previously believed to have gone completely extinct three generations ago. Obviously it's still on its way out, but nevertheless it's an interesting story and might mean that linguists … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: February 26 2018