SYRIA BuzzFeed has a decent roundup of what's been happening in Afrin. No "news" as such, but if you haven't been following the story and want to get caught up you could do worse. The Trump administration says it may Do Something if it continues to receive reports of the Syrian military using chemical weapons. … Continue reading Middle East update: February 1-2 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA Russian journalist Kamil Galeev reports on Moscow's efforts to stifle separatist impulses in one of its own troublesome ethnic regions--Tatarstan: In September 2017, Russia’s central government started to enforce Putin’s instructions and push local governments into abolishing local language courses in the ethnic republics. Such measures, introduced at the beginning of an academic … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: January 31 2018

ASIA UZBEKISTAN Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev canned Rustam Inoyatov from his position as head of the country's National Security Service--or, rather, he "promoted" Inoyatov to a presidential advisory position, which is practically the same thing. Inoyatov, along with Mirziyoyev and former Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov, was part of a triumvirate that was expected to … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: January 31 2018

SYRIA The YPG is beginning to wonder who its friends are: "How can they stand by and watch?" Aldar Khalil, a senior Kurdish politician said of the U.S.-led coalition against IS. "They should meet their obligations toward this force that participated with them (in the fight against terrorism.) We consider their unclear and indecisive positions … Continue reading Middle East update: January 31 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Everybody is talking tough about the Afghan war today, after that massive Taliban bombing in Kabul on Saturday. Donald Trump already seemed to spit on the idea of peace talks on Monday, but on Tuesday the Afghan government followed suit: “Believe me, I will take revenge,” President Ashraf Ghani said after an evening … Continue reading World update: January 30 2018

SYRIA Russia's big Syrian congress in Sochi concluded on Tuesday--having accomplished, as expected, nothing--and it appears things went really, really well: Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, helped open the conference on Tuesday by reading out a statement from Vladimir Putin saying the conditions were ripe for Syria to turn “a tragic page” in its history. … Continue reading Middle East update: January 30 2018

EUROPE EUROPEAN UNION Donald Trump seems to be itching for a trade war with the European Union, and the EU says it will give him one if it comes to that: Brussels has warned that it stands ready to retaliate and potentially open up a transatlantic trade war if the US delivers on apparent threats … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: January 29 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Monday morning's attack on the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul left 11 Afghan soldiers dead. ISIS later claimed credit for the attack, which may have been carried out to try to mitigate some of the boost the Taliban gained after its devastating attack in Kabul on Saturday. The Taliban have described … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: January 29 2018

SYRIA Airwars has produced its first civilian casualty count of the Afrin conflict: A new rolling assessment published by Airwars has so far tracked 24 claimed civilian casualty events within Afrin blamed on Turkey – and a further nine events attributed to Kurdish forces.   From the start of operations on January 20th to January … Continue reading Middle East update: January 29 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN A Taliban attack in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 103 people at last count. The attackers packed a bomb into an ambulance and were able to get past at least one security checkpoint before detonating their device in a crowded area of the city. It's the deadliest single attack in Kabul since … Continue reading World update: January 27-28 2018