As always when I take a few days off we're going to skip over what happened while I was gone unless absolutely necessary. CLIMATE CHANGE Don't look now but parts of the Arctic permafrost aren't permanently frosted anymore: Every winter across the Arctic, the top few inches or feet of soil and rich plant matter … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 20 2018

As always when I take a few days off we're going to skip over what happened while I was gone unless absolutely necessary. ASIA AFGHANISTAN Over the weekend, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani extended an offer for a months-long ceasefire to the Taliban contingent on their favorable response. On Monday, they responded, but not favorably: The … Continue reading Asia/Oceania/Africa update: August 20 2018

As always when I take a few days off we're going to skip over what happened while I was gone unless absolutely necessary. HAJJ First of all, Hajj Mubarak to those who are undertaking the pilgrimage despite the apparently heavy rains. The Guardian has put together a nice photo essay on this year's Hajj. If … Continue reading Middle East update: August 20 2018

attwiw is taking a few days off, so today's condensed and early update will be the last until Monday. Thanks for reading! MIDDLE EASTYEMEN At least 18 civilians have been killed in the past 24 hours of fighting in Yemen. Along with the 13 civilians killed on Tuesday by coalition airstrikes on the town of … Continue reading World update: August 15 2018

CLIMATE CHANGE A new scientific report on climate change and feedback loops has led to more justifiable handwringing over the future of human civilization, but as The Intercept's Kate Arnoff writes, the report doesn't just blame greenhouse emissions themselves for our plight, it also blames our neoliberal economic system: Coverage of the paper tended to … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 14 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Afghan officials say that their forces have regained much of Ghazni city, which is swell except for a couple of things. One is that the Afghans said they were on the verge of driving the Taliban out of the city over the weekend, a claim that quickly proved to be bullshit, so there's … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 14 2018

SYRIA Representatives from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council held their second meeting with representatives of the Syrian government last week, this time to discuss notions of self-rule and autonomy for northeastern Syria. The government's reaction to the idea was apparently "not positive." Which may be the end of any Kurdish rapprochement with Damascus, except that … Continue reading Middle East update: August 14 2018

ASIA CENTRAL ASIA The Diplomat's Umida Hashimova explains why Central Asian countries are still all-in on the Belt and Road Initiative even as some of China's other partners are starting to balk at its onerous terms: Central Asian countries are in need of large-scale investments and the BRI intends to do just that. So far, … Continue reading World update: August 13 2018

SYRIA China, which more or less prides itself on staying above the fray (or several frays) in the Middle East, might be about to get directly involved in Syria: On August 1, Ambassador Qi Qianjin told the Syrian pro-regime news outlet Al-Watan that China’s “military is willing to participate in some way alongside the Syrian … Continue reading Middle East update: August 13 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA As expected, the five nations surrounding the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan) signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan on Sunday, creating some broad rules for governing the vast...well, it seems like a really big lake to me but what do I know? The … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 11-12 2018