The US on Aug. 24 carried out air-strikes against Iran-backed militias in Deir ez-Zor province of eastern Syria. The militias have been firing rockets on US positions, including the base at al-Tanf, which came under fire last week. US Central Command… Read moreUS strikes Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria
The government of India announced that it has signed a peace agreement with the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF), an insurgent group in the northeastern state of Manipur. The ZUF was established in 2011 to advance the interests of the Zeliangrong tribe, a sub-group within the Naga ethnicity. Its main goal was to establish a separate administrative unit consisting of all the areas inhabited by the tribe. The ZUF carried out numerous attacks against security forces to pressure the government to accept its demands. Insurgency continues to wrack the volatile northeastern region of India, where various separatist and left-wing groups raise demands for autonomy or independence. (Map via TFI Post)
In Episode 137 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg explores two of the many under-reported internal conflicts in India, which are rooted in unresolved issues left over from the colonial era in spite of 75 years of Indian independence. In the east-central interior, the Naxalite… Read morePodcast: India’s forgotten wars
The concluding of a peace agreement between Senegal and separatist rebels in Casamance is being hailed by the government as “an important step” toward ending the 40-year conflict in the southern region. The deal was signed Aug. 5 in neighboring Guinea-Bissau by… Read moreSenegal: peace process with Casamance rebels
Faculty at the University of São Paulo produced a “Manifesto for Democracy” in response to threats by President Jair Bolsonaro not to respect the results of Brazil’s upcoming elections if he loses. The letter was released and read aloud at an event at the… Read moreBrazil: cyberattack on ‘Democracy Manifesto’
Thousands of local residents held protests across the Turkish occupation zone in northern Syria on Aug. 12, to oppose calls by Ankara for “reconciliation” with the Bashar Assad dictatorship. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking to diplomats in Ankara the day before, said,… Read moreSyria: protests against Turkish ‘reconciliation’ call
Dozens of militants believed to be associated with the Islamic State’s “Sinai Province” (Wilayat Sinai) on Aug. 11 attempted to besiege targets including power transformers and railway facilities in the city of El Qantara Sharq, on the eastern bank of… Read moreISIS militants ‘besiege’ targets near Suez Canal
Authorities in Sierra Leone imposed a nationwide curfew on Aug. 10, amid anti-government protests, in which a still undetermined number of people have been killed, apparently including at least four police officers. In the capital Freetown, protesters barricaded the streets… Read moreEcono-protests rock Sierra Leone
Legendary transportation activist George Bliss will be presenting a slideshow and hosting a discussion of his 1991 trip to China at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) in New York City on Friday Dec. 9. What would NYC be like if we got rid of cars and everybody rode bikes? In 1991, Bliss and filmmaker Ted White visited Guangzhou, China (then pop. six million). Only one in a thousand owned cars. Bikes cost about $50. There was no theft because cheap attended bike-parking was everywhere. Riding en masse was fun, and traffic flowed safely and efficiently with almost no red lights. The term "critical mass"—first applied to this phenomenon by Bliss in White's film Return of the Scorcher—soon became a rallying cry in the global bike movement. While that China is long gone, its legacy points to the city we could yet have, even half a world away. (Photo: George Bliss)
A series of explosions tore through a Russian airbase on the Crimean Peninsula Aug. 9, leaving one dead. Russia’s Defense Ministry said ammunition had detonated at Saki airfield, near the village of Novofedorivka. The base is some 200 kilometers from the Ukrainian lines, and President… Read moreNuclear flashpoint Crimea?
In official comments on the anniversary of the Aug. 9, 1945 US atomic bombing of the Japanese city, the mayor of Nagasaki sounded a note of alarm. Mayor Tomihisa Taue stated: “In January this year, the leaders of the United States, Russia, the United… Read moreNagasaki mayor: ‘tangible and present crisis’ of nuclear warfare
Russia officially informed the US on Aug. 8 that it is “temporarily” suspending on-site inspections of its strategic nuclear weapons, a condition of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). Moscow accused Washington of seeking “to create unilateral advantages”… Read moreRussia suspends compliance with New START
