international affairs, politics, history
Hello and welcome to our next-to-last week here at WordPress! I'm packing things up and moving to Substack starting next week, when I'll be posting in both places by way of transitioning to the new site. AFRICA LIBYA The Libyan and Egyptian governments have reached a preliminary agreement on a mechanism for processing Egyptian workers' … Continue reading World update, part 2: March 27 2019
ASIA TAJIKISTANViolence between a crowd of Tajiks and a crowd of Kyrgyz in Vorukh on Wednesday left at least two Tajiks dead. Vorukh is a Tajik exclave, completely surrounded by Kyrgyzstan and connected to the rest of Tajikistan by one road running through Kyrgyz territory. The clash apparently was over a road that Kyrgyz authorities … Continue reading Asia/Oceania/Africa update: March 14-15 2019
ASIA AFGHANISTAN Contrary to what the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday, the Chinese government insisted on Wednesday that it is not preparing to build a new military facility in Afghanistan, let alone planning to send its own soldiers to man that facility. Of course there's no particular reason to believe anything Beijing says, so … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 29 2018
EUROPE RUSSIA Moscow is planning to test its new intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-28 Sarmat, twice before the end of the year. The Sarmat was supposed to be tested in March but that's been delayed. Actually, if you want to be all nitpicky about it, the Sarmat was really supposed to be tested in 2015, but … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: October 25 2017
Happy Diwali to those who are celebrating! I confess to knowing little about Hinduism and even less about Diwali, so if somebody wants to educate the rest of the class in the comments please feel free. (As an aside, though there's usually not much activity in the comments around here, be aware that I have … Continue reading World update: October 19 2017
ASIA AFGHANISTAN A car bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul on Sunday, wounding several people but killing nobody (at least as yet). Increasing Taliban activity in Afghanistan's southern Oruzgan province has forced the closure of all or nearly all of the province's medical facilities. The provincial government says the Taliban threatened the facilities unless … Continue reading Asia/Oceania/Africa update: September 23-25 2017
ASIA UZBEKISTAN Uzbekistan may be liberalizing just a little bit: Uzbek authorities are removing large numbers of people from its blacklist of potential militants and political dissidents, state officials and media said, in a move likely to raise hopes for a more liberal climate in the ultra-secretive ex-Soviet republic. Western countries and rights activists have … Continue reading Asia/Australia/Africa update: August 14-15 2017
