SYRIA The Russian military says it has intelligence that ISIS is planning a chemical weapons attack against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Ezzor province. Yeah, OK. I mean if ISIS has been sitting on chemical weapons that kind of makes you wonder why it hasn't used them yet, but I get it, things … Continue reading Middle East update: November 28 2018

CLIMATE CHANGE A new United Nations report finds that, despite all the talk and fancy international agreements, governments still aren't doing enough to tackle climate change: Countries are failing to take the action needed to stave off the worst effects of climate change, a UN report has found, and the commitments made in the 2015 … Continue reading World update: November 27 2018

SYRIA Washington is warning the Russian government not to "tamper" with the site of Saturday's alleged rebel chlorine gas attack in Aleppo before the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has a chance to examine it. It's also suggesting that the Syrian government may have staged the attack in order to undermine the deescalation … Continue reading Middle East update: November 27 2018

As usual when I return from an extended break, we'll be sticking to things that happened today or are particularly relevant rather than trying to recap everything that's happened while I was gone. ASIA TAJIKISTAN ISIS has claimed responsibility for causing a riot earlier this month at a Tajik prison in Khujand in which potentially … Continue reading World update: November 26 2018

As usual when I return from an extended break, we'll be sticking to things that happened today or are particularly relevant rather than trying to recap everything that's happened while I was gone. THE WAR ON TERROR While I was away, the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a new report concluding that, 17 … Continue reading Middle East update: November 26 2018

Our technical problems have been resolved so I'm going to give this a shot, but it'll be a rush job so apologies for that. As I said in that earlier post the Thanksgiving holiday means that this will be our last set of updates until next week, though the site isn't going completely dark. We'll … Continue reading World update: November 17-18 2018

Our technical problems have been resolved so I'm going to give this a shot, but it'll be a rush job so apologies for that. As I said in that earlier post the Thanksgiving holiday means that this will be our last set of updates until next week, though the site isn't going completely dark. We'll … Continue reading Middle East update: November 17-18 2018

ASIA CENTRAL ASIA At The Diplomat, Ario Bimo Utomo explains why it's frustrating that the Central Asian republics can't shake the simplistic "post-Sovet" label: Despite such characteristics, the repeated use of “former Soviet” is both blinding and misleading as it diverts us from realizing that Central Asia is not a static region. Albeit slowly, the region … Continue reading World update: November 16 2018

SYRIA Jihadist fighters reportedly killed at least 22 pro-government fighters in a battle in Hama province near the Idlib demilitarized zone on Friday. The main jihadist group involved appears to have been Hurras al-Din, which is a group founded by a former senior Jabhat al-Nusra figure, Abu Humam al-Shami, who quit that organization when it cut ties … Continue reading Middle East update: November 16 2018

ASIAAFGHANISTAN At least 30 Afghan security personnel were killed in several Taliban attacks in Farah province on Wednesday and Thursday. The Taliban has been very active in Farah for the past several months, which Afghan officials have attributed to aid from both Iran and Pakistan. More than 50 Afghans were killed in the province by … Continue reading World update: November 15 2018