New York City
NYPD ‘anti-terror’ (sic) unit to get machine guns
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton announced a new Strategic Response Group with special weapons to combat terrorists—and protesters.
Author: CounterVortex
Palestine
Hezbollah attack Israeli forces in contested area
Hezbollah fighters attacked an Israeli military convoy in the Shaba'a Farms border area—contesed by Israel, Lebanon and Syria—in retaliation for an Israeli air-strike on Syria.
Greater Middle East
Kurdish forces claim victory at Kobani
Kurdish forces at Kobani announced that the town is now under their full control, with ISIS militants driven out of all neighborhoods. The claim was confirmed by the Pentagon.
The Amazon
Ecuador: Waorani warriors on trial in oil-field raid
Indigenous leaders in Ecuador are calling for the release of Waorani tribesmen accused of carrying out a raid on a jungle oil-field that left six soldiers injured.
Southeast Asia
Mindanao: fighting flares with Moro rebels
A clash between Philippine National Police troops and Moro rebels left 30 dead, jeopardizing the Mindanao peace deal. The troops were hunting down the Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf cell.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: leftist protester killed at Tahrir Square
Protests around the commemoration of Egypt's 2011 revolution may be dominated by Islamist Morsi supporters, but an early demonstration called by a socialist party saw one killed.
Mexico
Mexico: cops arrested in ‘disappearance’ of reporter
Mexican authorities detained 13 police officers in the state of Veracruz in connection with the abduction of a journalist who aggressively covered local narco-corruption.
Watching the Shadows
Obama’s sixth year: a World War 4 Report scorecard
World War 4 Report offers its annual annotated assessment of Obama's moves in dismantling, continuing or escalating the apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism.
Greater Middle East
Lebanon’s hashish valley arms against ISIS
The Bekaa Valley's cannabis farmers, who armed to resist Lebanese army eradication efforts, now say they are ready to resist any ISIS incursion into their fastness.
East Asia
China: draft counter-terror law ‘recipe for abuses’
Human Rights Watch calls China's proposed counter-terrorism legislation a "recipe for abuses" that would instate "total digital surveillance," and allow foreign military missions.
Iraq
Kurdish forces open new front against Assad
Fighting broke out between Assad regime troops and Kurdish forces in Syria's divided northern city of Hassakeh, signalling an end to a pact established to keep ISIS at bay.
Africa
Chad to fight Boko Haram in Cameroon
Advance units of a thousands-strong Chadian intervention force arrived in Cameroon to fight Boko Haram rebels. A critical oil pipeline passes through the war-torn border.