Africa

Nigeria: pogroms target Shi’ites

Shops and homes belonging to Shi'ite Muslims in Nigeria's Kaduna state were destroyed by rampaging Sunni mobs in a wave of attacks that spread across several towns.

Greater Middle East

Yemen and Syria: fearful symmetry

Russian counterinsurgency in Syria mirrors US-backed counterinsurgency in Yemen, betraying superpower rivalry and "cooperation" alike as inimical to the region's revolutions.

Greater Middle East

Growing internationalization of Yemen war

The US fired missiles at Houthi-controlled radar installations in Yemen after the rebels fired rockets at a US destroyer in retaliation for a deadly Saudi air-strike on a funeral.

Greater Middle East

Syria: nuclear flashpoint

The breakdown of US-Russia cooperation over Syria comes as Moscow moves missiles to the Polish border and withdraws from an agreement on plutonium disposal.

Iraq

More US troops to Iraq —on whose side?

The Pentagon will send 600 additional troops to Iraq to help in the offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS—but it is unclear if they will be backing Shi'ite, Sunni or Kurdish forces.

Iraq

Iraq hangs 36 for Camp Speicher massacre

Iraqi authorities carried out the hanging of 36 accused ISIS militants convicted in the 2014 Camp Speicher massacre—but rights groups said the trials failed to meet judicial standards.

Greater Middle East

Yemen: Saudis bomb anti-bombing demonstration

Saudi fighter jets carried out air-strikes on a peaceful rally in Yemen's capital Sanaa that had been called to protest Saudi air-strikes, leaving several dead.

Greater Middle East

Escalating internationalization of Syria war

The US  for the first time scrambled jets in response to Assad regime aggression when its Kurdish anti-ISIS partners came under bombardment—foreboding direct conflict with Russia.