Vladimir Putin issued an ultimatum to the defenders of Aleppo's rebel-held east that they abandon the city, as a Russian war fleet approaches Syria's coast.
The Philippines' ultra-hardline President Duterte, in announcing his "separation" from the US, praised China for providing aid without criticizing his atrocious human rights record.
As Turkey turns its warplanes on the autonomous Kurds of northern Syria, state media release propaganda maps showing claims to former Ottoman lands in Syria and Iraq alike.
Free Syrian Army forces backed by Turkish warplanes took the town of Dabiq from ISIS—failing to spark the apocalyptic battle that the "caliphate" had prophesied.
Despite a "humanitarian pause" in the bombing of Aleppo, Russian air-strikes continue in the surrounding countryside—each day heightening risk of superpower confrontation.
The Philippines' new ultra-hardline President Rodrigo Duterte, now favorably invoking Hitler's genocide as a model for his war on drugs, has already reached a Pinochet-level kill count.
Russian counterinsurgency in Syria mirrors US-backed counterinsurgency in Yemen, betraying superpower rivalry and "cooperation" alike as inimical to the region's revolutions.
The breakdown of US-Russia cooperation over Syria comes as Moscow moves missiles to the Polish border and withdraws from an agreement on plutonium disposal.
A former death-squad hitman testified to the Philippine Senate that extrajudicial executions in Mindanao were personally ordered by now-president Rodrigo Duterte.
Bolivia broached legislation that would impose criminal penalties for illict coca cultivation—just as the government has turned to Russia for military and anti-narcotics aid.
The Pentagon will send 600 additional troops to Iraq to help in the offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS—but it is unclear if they will be backing Shi'ite, Sunni or Kurdish forces.
Protests are reported from more than 30 cities across the world as part of a global day of "Rage for Aleppo" to oppose the siege and bombardment of Syria's largest city.
