CounterVortex

Greater Middle East

Contestation over Jordanian air-strike on Syria

Jordan’s air force bombed what it called “dens of terrorist organizations in southern Syria,” in an attack Syrian state media said killed five. Jordan said it was retaliation for a mass shootingat a Greek Orthodox Christian funeral in Hamoud, Karak governorate, that left nine dead and was claimed by the so-called Islamic State. Amman said that it had coordinated the strike with the Syrian government; Syrian officials said they had not been notified and closed a border crossing with Jordan. (Image: Pixabay)

The Caribbean

Salvadoran troops to Haiti

El Salvador has sent at least 1,000 soldiers to Haiti as part of a mission to rescue four Salvadoran members of the UN-authorized Gang Suppression Force (GSF) who went missing after being ambushed by gunmen. Days after the attack, El Salvador’s strongman President Nayib Bukele posted a message to social media in Haitian Creole, demanding their release and announcing a military operation; he also threatened the gangs with further escalation, vowing that “today’s attack is nothing compared to what is coming” if the hostages are not released alive. (Map: CIA World Factbook via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Southern front opens in Ethiopia conflict

A new conflict erupted in Ethiopia’s south, compounding a nationwide crisis that has seen federal forces capture and occupy the northern Tigrayan capital of Mekelle. Sparked by an internal border dispute, the fighting in the south has forced up to 50,000 to flee across the border into Kenya. The clashes were triggered when a Somali regional flag was raised in Moyale, a town on the Kenyan border that is jointly administered by Somali and Oromia regions. Amid fighting between Somali and Oromia security forces, more than 60 people were killed in attacks on Orthodox Christians in Oromia. These were blamed by the central government on the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). (Map: Political Geography Now)

The Andes

US troops to Colombia

More than 300 US troops arrived in Colombia to take part in a series of joint military operations known as “Southern Vanguard.” The exercises, to focus on tackling drug trafficking and illegal mining, have stirred controversy in the country given the possibility that US troops could conduct joint strikes on Colombian soil, after the new right-wing government of President Abelardo de la Espriella agreed to such an arrangement. The left opposition argues that the presence of foreign troops needs congressional approval. (Map: PCL)

The Andes

Colombia: protests greet new far-right president

Thousands of Colombians peacefully rallied across the country against the far-right policies of President Abelardo de la Espriella, little more than two months after he took office. They criticized his proposed social spending cuts, his alignment with Trump, and his hardline military approach to decades of armed-group violence. Earlier this month, de la Espriella announced a “counterterrorism statute” that many fear could restrict democratic rights. (Photo: AlexaRochi via AnalisisUrbano)

The Amazon

Brazil: Amazon deforestation plunged under Lula

In the year to July 2026, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped by nearly 42%, according the National Institute for Space Research (INPE)—the steepest decline since monitoring began in 1988—while losses in the Cerrado, Brazil’s vast tropical savanna, fell by nearly 24%. Deforestation surged to its highest level in more than a decade in 2021 under far-right then-president Jair Bolsonaro. His successor, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, pledged to reverse the trend when he took office in 2022. Lula and Bolsonaro’s son, Flávio, just faced each other in a tight presidential contest, with the left-wing incumbent achieving a surprise victory in the run-off. (Photo: Catedral Verde via Wikimedia Commons)

Palestine

Israel’s ‘elimination project’ on West Bank advances

Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem issued a comprehensive report charging that Israel is carrying out an "elimination project" on the occupied West Bank, seeking to dismantle Palestinian "collective existence" there to establish a permanent, contiguous Jewish presence and Israeli sovereignty. A campaign of "ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover" is effected through violence and intimidation, movement restrictions, economic strangulation, and criminalization of Palestinian political organizing. These steps toward annexation are taken jointly by the Israeli military and armed settlers. (Photo via New Jewish Resistance)

Afghanistan

Renewed conflict along Durand Line

In an ongoing counter-insurgency operation dubbed "Azm-e-Istehkam" (Resolve for Stability), Pakistani security forces carried out deadly raids on militants of two "terrorist" networks designated by the propaganda terms "Fitna al-Khawarij" and "Fitna al-Hindustan." The prior, roughly translating as "heretical faction," refers to jihadist formations operating along the border with Afghanistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The later, translating as "Indian faction," refers to ethnic Baloch rebels in Balochistan province—implying that they are backed by India, which Delhi denies. Islamabad also accuses the Taliban regime in Afghanistan of backing both groups of insurgents, and the fighting follows a new round of Pakistani air-strikes across their international border, known as the Durand Line. (Map: PCL)

Iran

Trump prepares new escalation in Persian Gulf

The US is preparing a major naval buildup in the Middle East, including up to three aircraft carriers and their escort ships, as President Trump weighs whether to intensify the war with Iran. The buildup may involve up to 20,000 troops, 150 fighter jets, and numerous destroyers, the Washington Post reported. US and Iranian officials held indirect talks through mediators, focused mostly on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and easing US sanctions and blockades. Trump has rejected Iran’s latest peace proposal as insufficient and raised the possibility of renewed strikes. (Image: Pixabay)

Central America

US weapons to Guatemala

Guatemala received a shipment of weapons and military equipment from the United States, the first in a series of commercial exchanges set to total $5 million. Weapons transfers to the country had been formally frozen since the administration of President Jimmy Carter restricted arms sales in 1977 due to the Guatemalan military's record of human rights abuses during the country's civil war. The ban was lifted in March, after months of deepening security ties between the two countries. (Photo: Danilojramirez via Wikimedia Commons)

Greater Middle East

Syrian Kurds protest language policy

Students and their families in Kobani and other towns in Syrian Kurdistan held gatherings to protest the recent decision of the national Education Ministry to allocate only three sessions a week to Kurdish language instruction. Protesters noted that students have been educated in Kurdish from elementary school to university for the past 14 years, since establishment of the recently-disbanded autonomous administration in the region. They emphasized that the right to mother-tongue education is enshrined in UNESCO's 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education. (Photo: KurdPress)

Greater Middle East

Econo-protests erupt in Syria

Protests erupted across Syria after the government issued a decree sharply raising fuel prices. In the oil-producing provinces of Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor, local residents blocked roads with burning tires to prevent tanker trucks from passing. Protests were also reported from Raqqa, Aleppo, Idlib and Daraa. Demonstrators are demanding the dismissal of Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir, who has been summoned to appear before parliament to discuss the crisis. The transitional government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa increased the minimum wage by 550% in March as part of a broader recovery plan for the country, but harsh privation remains widespread. (Photo: Enab Baladi)