ASIA KASHMIR Two Kashmiri separatists and a civilian were killed Tuesday in a gun battle between the separatists and Indian forces in a village in southern Kashmir. MYANMAR Myanmar authorities arrested two Reuters journalists a week ago on allegations that they violated the country's Official Secrets Act somehow. Apart from the obvious implications for journalistic … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: December 19 2017

ISIS While American officials are pushing the line that most ISIS fighters have perished on the Syrian-Iraqi battlefield over the past several months, BuzzFeed reporters investigating the situation at the Syrian-Turkish border say that the story isn't quite so neat or comforting: Interviews with smugglers and human traffickers, carried out over the summer and fall, … Continue reading Middle East update: December 19 2017

EUROPE RUSSIA I missed this piece a couple of days ago because, well, because I don't read Newsweek very often, but I stumbled upon it today and I was reminded why I don't read Newsweek very often: The actual piece, to its credit, only argues that Putin is preparing in case of World War III, but that's not … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: December 18 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN ISIS attacked a training ground for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security in Kabul on Monday. Fortunately nobody apart from the attackers appears to have been killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sacked Balkh Governor Atta Muhammad Nur on Monday. Technically Ghani's people say he accepted Atta's resignation--which must come as news to Atta, who's … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: December 18 2017

IRAQ The Kurdistan Regional Government says that Baghdad is building up forces southwest of Erbil in preparation for a renewed military offensive against the Kurds. Baghdad denies this claim, but it's worth noting that the dispute over the Kurdistan independence referendum has never really been resolved, just frozen. Baghdad still wants the referendum's results "cancelled" … Continue reading Middle East update: December 18 2017

EUROPE FAR-RIGHT Leaders of Europe's various Nazi cosplayer parties gathered in Prague on Saturday to praise Donald Trump and denounce the European Union. That must have been a real fun time. They wanted to make it clear to people that they "are not xenophobes" (a real thing that Marine Le Pen said), they just hate … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: December 16-17 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Two separate Taliban attacks on Sunday left at least 12 people dead. An assault on a police checkpoint in Helmand province killed at least 11 Afghan police officers (other accounts have the figure higher than that), while a suicide attack on a NATO convoy in Kandahar killed one civilian bystander. Elsewhere, fighting in … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: December 16-17 2017

SYRIA The Syrian Salvation Government, which is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's political arm, appears to be consolidating political control in Idlib province. Last week they gave the rival Syrian Interim Government a deadline to cease operations, and a couple of days later they decreed that all widows in Idlib must move in with a "sharia-compliant" male family member. … Continue reading Middle East update: December 16-17 2017

IMPORTANT SITE UPDATE: All this time, without realizing it, I've had accelerated mobile posting turned on and as a result anybody coming to this site via a mobile link has been landing on a dull AMP page rather than the nice premium (as in I'm paying for it) theme page that I specifically chose for this … Continue reading World update: December 15 2017

IMPORTANT SITE UPDATE: All this time, without realizing it, I've had accelerated mobile posting turned on and as a result anybody coming to this site via a mobile link has been landing on a dull AMP page rather than the nice premium (as in I'm paying for it) theme page that I specifically chose for this … Continue reading Middle East update: December 15 2017