SYRIA People are apparently still pouring out of Baghouz to try to escape the eventual Syrian Democratic Forces assault on Syria's last ISIS-held town. Hundreds reportedly evacuated on Wednesday, including both people who have been held captive by ISIS (including some Yazidis captured back in 2014 in Iraq) and ISIS supporters who either decided to … Continue reading Middle East update: February 27 2019

ASIA GEORGIAGeorgia's ruling party appears to be slowly breaking up: A series of defections from the ruling Georgian Dream party has left the party without the dominant majority it held in parliament and has exposed a growing fault line in the party ahead of elections next year. Over the last several days, four GD members … Continue reading World update: February 26 2019

SYRIA Activists in Idlib province are saying that the Syrian government conducted an airstrike on the town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday that killed at least three people. Monitor groups, like the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, are claiming that the Syrian military has stepped up the frequency of its air and artillery strikes against Khan … Continue reading Middle East update: February 26 2019

ASIA KAZAKHSTANKazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed a new prime minister on Monday--Askar Mamin, who had previously served as first deputy PM. Nazarbayev forced the resignation of his entire cabinet last week, citing its economic policy failures. KASHMIRIndia and Pakistan are both mobilizing their forces in Kashmir, and Kashmiris living along the Line of Control are … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: February 25 2019

So this post began as a world update, but then some extremely extra stuff happened around Kashmir and so I broke the Asia-Africa material out into its own post, which is now here. EUROPE CYPRUSExxonMobil is expected to announce soon that it's discovered a major gas field off of Cyprus's southern coast. This could be … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: February 25 2019

SYRIA With thousands of people, mostly civilians but with a few ISIS fighters trying to sneak out of trouble, having fled Baghouz over the past week or so, Syrian Democratic Forces officials have no idea how many people--combatants or otherwise--are left there. They're guessing around 5000, but they seem to have been underestimating the count … Continue reading Middle East update: February 25 2019

EUROPE EUROPEAN UNION The European Union is reportedly trying to expand its Libyan concentration camp model to the rest of Africa, but for some reason the African Union is resisting. The EU has an agreement with the Libyan government, such as it is, that allows it to return migrants from Libya, when picked up in … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: February 23-24 2019

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Afghan peace talks may be approaching a breakthrough, but it's come at a high cost. The United Nations says that 2018 was the deadliest year for civilians in at least the last decade, with 3804 killed: In a report released Sunday, the United Nations attributed almost two-thirds of civilian casualties — 63 percent … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: February 23-24 2019

SYRIA According to Syrian media, an ISIS-laid landmine killed at least 20 farm workers when their van ran over it in Hama province on Sunday morning. This was not a conscious ISIS attack--the mine was left over from earlier in the Syrian war when ISIS controlled part of the province. Mines and other leftover explosive … Continue reading Middle East update: February 23-24 2019

ASIA PAKISTANThe Financial Action Task Force warned Pakistan on Friday that if it doesn't clean up its links to extremist groups by May it will likely land itself on the FATF's blacklist. Pakistan is currently on the group's "gray" list, which makes it harder for Islamabad to access international funds, but getting bumped to the … Continue reading World update: February 22 2019