Greater Middle East
Russia betrays Kurds as Syria alliance shifts
After initiating talks that exclude Washington, Turkey and Russia each accused the US of backing “terrorist groups” in Syria—obviously meaning the Kurds.
Tag: arms traffic
North Africa
Algeria to build security wall on Libyan border
Algeria announced that it will join Tunisia in building a separation barrier along its border with Libya, in an effort to bar infiltration by ISIS militants and arms traffickers.
Greater Middle East
Russia accused of using cluster munitions in Syria
Human rights organizations claim mounting evidence that Russia is behind the increasing use of cluster bombs in Syria, despite Moscow's denial that it has deployed the banned weapon.
Iraq
UN: ISIS genocide continues in northern Iraq
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that ongoing human rights violations against the Yazidi minority in Iraq at the hands of ISIS may amount to genocide.
Africa
Somalia: US air-strikes on Shabaab camp
US drones and warplanes killed more than 150 al-Shabab militants in Somalia, with the Pentagon citing an "imminent threat" to US and African Union forces.
Greater Middle East
Yemen: use of cluster bombs may be war crime
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the use of cluster bombs by the Saudi-led coalition against residential neighborhoods in Yemen may amount to a war crime.
Greater Middle East
Rights groups criticize arms sale to Saudi Arabia
Human Rights Watch called on the US to cancel a pending arms sale to Saudi Arabia in the absence of serious investigations into alleged laws-of-war violations in Yemen.
Greater Middle East
US sells Turkey ‘smart bombs’ (to use against Kurds)
The Pentagon announces the sale of 900 "smart bombs" to Turkey just as Ankara is preparing to move against US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria.
Europe
Obama’s nuclear upgrade: Euro-missiles redux?
Revelation of Washington's plan to station missile-capable nuclear warheads in Germany was met with a Russian threat to deploy ballistic missiles in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
Greater Middle East
Yemen: Amnesty demands halt to arms transfers
Citing "damning evidence" of war crimes, Amnesty International is calling for the suspension of transfers of certain arms to the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.
North America
Another day, another massacre…
In the wake of the latest campus shoot-up, calls are raised for pre-emptive restraint on the "mentally ill," but it is verboten to ask why so many people are driven to this pathology.
Africa
Boko Haram war spills into Chad
Authorities in Chad announced the arrest of key Boko Haram leaders amid a wave of deadly suicide bombngs in the capital, N'Djamena.