MIDDLE EAST SYRIA A United Nations official named Sajjad Malik, who has been involved with trying to get relief convoys into Eastern Ghouta this week, has apparently confirmed, at least to some extent, Russian claims that rebels are trying to prevent civilians from leaving via the "humanitarian corridor" Russia says it's opening up during the … Continue reading World update: March 9 2018

AFGHANISTAN At least 30 people were killed on Friday in a number of attacks around Afghanistan. In the largest, at least 10 people were killed and at least 20 more injured when a suicide bomber targeted a Hazara communal ceremony in Kabul. Overnight, the Taliban struck twice in Takhar province, killing 10 police officers in … Continue reading Asia (i.e., North Korea) update: March 9 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA Al-Monitor's Laura Rozen is reporting that one of the newest characters in Robert Mueller's cast of crazies helped broker a $4.2 billion arms deal between Iraq and Russia back in 2012: George Nader, 58, traveled to Moscow in 2012, telling Russian interlocutors that he represented Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the deal should … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: March 8 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN An airstrike probably from a US drone hit a Pakistani Taliban (TTP) training camp in Saresha Sultan Shah village, in Afghanistan's Kunar province, on Thursday. At least 20 TTP fighters are believed to have been killed, including two senior figures and the son of the TTP's top leader, Mullah Fazlullah. PAKISTAN Meanwhile, the US … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: March 8 2018

SYRIA Yesterday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that pro-government forces had split Eastern Ghouta in two, but today the word is they're only "poised" to split it in two, so I guess the SOHR jumped the gun a bit. On the other hand this new report is coming from the rebels, so they … Continue reading Middle East update: March 8 2018

EUROPE POLAND The Polish government's new "solution in search of a problem" Holocaust law may affect its ties with the United States. There have been reports in the Polish media that the law, which criminalizes the suggestion that Poland participated in the Holocaust, may lead to a suspension in meetings between top Polish leaders and … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: March 7 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN An ISIS suicide bomber killed Nangarhar province's director of religious affairs, Abdul Zaher Haqqani, and his bodyguard in Jalalabad on Wednesday. Late Wednesday night, the Taliban carried out an attack on a police headquarters in Kandahar province in which one police officer was killed, along with all four attackers. INDIA Things are looking up a … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: March 7 2018

SYRIA The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that the Syrian government has captured about 50 percent of Eastern Ghouta, and all it took was 850 or so dead civilians. The rebels' ability to resist may be approaching a tipping point, as the amount of territory pro-government forces have been able to take each day … Continue reading Middle East update: March 7 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN At least two people were killed in Nangarhar province on Tuesday by a sticky bomb attached to a fuel truck. At least three people were wounded, and a number of buildings seem to have been damaged. There's been no claim of responsibility. INDIA Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited India a couple of weeks ago … Continue reading World update: March 6 2018

SYRIA Implementing the last stage of the Aleppo playbook, Russia on Tuesday offered Syrian rebels still in Eastern Ghouta safe passage out of that besieged area to, well, someplace else. And here's the rub--while that deal has worked in the past, with the Russians offering safe passage to Idlib province, that offer is no longer … Continue reading Middle East update: March 6 2018