The Caucasus
Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh in Russo-Turkish game

As the worst fighting since a 1994 truce breaks out inĀ Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey’s President Erdogan asserts himself as protector of Azerbaijan, pledging to back Baku “to the end.” (Map: Wikipedia)

Greater Middle East

Palmyra: not a ‘liberation’

The taking of Palmyra from ISIS by Assad regime forces backed by Russian air-strikes means the city's transfer from one genocidal entity to another, say activists on the ground.

Africa

Horn of Africa water wars leave Somalia dry

Ethiopia has completely halted the flow of water into Somalia by closing the gates on irrigation dams along the Shabelle River—leaving dry a key agricultural region.