Greater Middle East

US, Russia broach Syria carve-up

Obama's proposed agreement with Russia for military cooperation in Syria in exchange for protected zones for US-backed rebels actually means a division of the country.

Greater Middle East

Kurds and Assad in race for Raqqa

Russian and US warplanes are each backing rival sides as the Assad regime and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces race to take the ISIS "capital" of Raqqa.

Greater Middle East

Aleppo and Cizre: fearful symmetry

Supposed antagonists Assad and Erdogan are both in the process of reducing cities to rubble: Aleppo and Cizre, both with the connivance of the Great Powers.

Greater Middle East

Syria: world betrays Aleppo (of course)

As Assad regime and Russian air-strikes continue on the beseiged populace of Aleppo, media in the West increasingly echo regime propaganda of justified "counter-attacks."

Greater Middle East

American ‘left’ abetting genocide in Syria

In the 1930s, the American left built solidarity with those who stood up to the authors of the Guernica terror in Spain. Today it stands on the side of fascism and genocide in Syria.

Europe

Tatar autonomy suppressed in Crimea

The Supreme Court of Russia-annexed Crimea officially designated the Tatar Majlis an "extremist entity" and banned its activities—effectively ending Crimean Tatar autonomy.

Greater Middle East

Assad to The Hague? Inshallah…

An independent investigative body says it has amassed enough documentation of Bashar Assad's war crimes to bring him before the International Criminal Court.

Africa

Mining fuels renewed Darfur conflict

Russia is blocking release of an internal UN report that apparently shows how pro-government militias in Darfur are making some $54 million per year in gold mining.

The Caucasus
Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh in Russo-Turkish game

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