Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant

Contents: Massive earth fissure suddenly opens up in mid-Kenya, signaling an eventual split in all of Africa; How China would lose a war with the United States; ISIS-linked terrorists in Afghanistan kill 32 in bombing of Shia Shrine in Kabul

Contents: US-backed Kurds stop fighting ISIS in order to fight Turkey in Afrin; Reports of Free Syrian Army atrocities on Kurds in Afrin; Mahmoud Abbas may step down as Palestinian Authority president

Contents: The Ghouta ‘ceasefire’ turns into a Syrian army scam to steal humanitarian aid; Syria says close to defeating Jaysh al-Islam in Eastern Ghouta

Contents: Burkina Faso terror attack targets France’s anti-terror Operation Barkhane; China pushes to invest heavily in Iraq’s energy infrastructure; African Cédric Bakambu joins China’s Sinobo Guoan Football Club

Contents: Russia’s ‘humanitarian pause’ in Syria turns into farce on first day; Report: North Korea is selling chemical weapons supplies to Syria; Areas of control in Syria and Iraq

Contents: Turkey gets bogged down with military ‘Operation Olive Branch’ in Afrin, Syria; Syria says it will send its ‘popular forces’ to support the YPG against Turkey in Afrin

Contents: Israel’s F-16 warplane shot down in aftermath of downing Iranian drone; Turkish helicopter shot down in Afrin, days after Russian warplane downed in Idlib; With defeat of ISIS, war escalates, and Syria becomes more fragmented and chaotic

Contents: Russia’s Syria peace talks in Sochi dissolve into farce as Lavrov gets heckled; Russia sidelines the failed United Nations Syria peace process; War continues in full force, with Syria and Turkey killing ‘terrorists’

Contents: Multiple Afghanistan Taliban terror attacks leave ‘victory’ plans in tatters; Sunday’s attacks throw new doubts into claims of ‘victory’ in Afghanistan

Contents: Turkey begins its air and ground invasion of Syria’s Afrin; China lies about ‘indisputable sovereignty’ in new confrontation in South China Sea; Summary of major Generational Dynamics predictions

Contents: Turkey’s troops mass on border, preparing to invade northern Syria; Collapse of the Russian ‘peace process’; The growing conflagration in northwest Syria

Contents: US in Syria announces a Border Security Force to prevent repeat of Iraq withdrawal blunder; Turkey, Russia and Syria infuriated by the Border Security Force announcement

Contents: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad targets civilians and hospitals in never-ending war of extermination; Russia’s ‘de-escalation zones’ turn into total farce

Contents: With ISIS collapsing, US forces will remain in Syria to restore ‘normalcy’; US warns Assad regime to stay west of Euphrates river

Contents: Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev promises to end atrocities of previous leader Islam Karimov; Rise of Islamic radicalism and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU); Who’s going to pick the cotton in Uzbekistan?

Contents: Thousands of Kurds in violent protests against Kurdistan government in northern Iraq; Iraq’s Baghdad government splits over role of Iran-backed Shia militias

The Iraqi-born refugee living in Houston, who was convicted for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State and swore his allegiance to the designated foreign terrorist organization, was sentenced to serve 16 years in federal prison.

Contents: China alarmed by consequences of its CPEC investment in Pakistan — terrorism and corruption; China halts CPEC funds over concerns about corruption in Pakistan; Pakistan alarmed about a Chinese ‘debt trap’

Contents: More on the evacuation of ISIS militants from Raqqa, Syria; Zimbabwe coup splits ruling Zanu-pf party along generational lines; Zimbabwe Commander Chiwenga gives a totally delusional explanation for the coup

Contents: BBC reports hoax by US-led coalition about ISIS evacuation from Raqqa Syria; Syria war violence surges as Bashar al-Assad repeats Aleppo genocide in Ghouta; Apparent coup is in progress in Zimbabwe against 93-year-old Robert Mugabe

Contents: Saad Hariri shocks Lebanon by resigning as PM while in Saudi Arabia; Lebanon enters the Sunni/Shia front line between Iran and Saudi Arabia

Contents: Dozens killed in Mogadishu, Somalia, bombings, two weeks after hundreds killed; Somalia attack comes as Niger ambush leads to review of US military aims in Africa

Contents: North Korea renews threat of massive hydrogen bomb test over Pacific; US sends three aircraft carrier strike groups to waters around North Korea

Contents: Kurds flee Kirkuk after Iraq army defeats them in complete rout; Devastating defeat to Iraq in Kirkuk exposes major splits between Kurdish factions

Contents: Mattis and Tillerson work to prevent Iraq vs Kurd military confrontation in Kirkuk; ISIS fighters permitted to leave Raqqa, Syria, with human shields; Syria demands ‘immediately’ pullout of Turkey’s forces from Idlib province

Contents: Hundreds of ISIS fighters surrender as Iraqi town of Hawija falls; Tensions grow between Turkmens and Kurds in Kirkuk

Contents: Turkey announces major military operation in Syria’s Idlib province; Turkey’s success in Idlib is far from certain

Contents: International Red Cross: Fighting in Syria worst since Aleppo; Analyst gives a chilling analysis of where the Syrian war is going

Contents: Kirkuk becomes the flash point after the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum; Significant differences in the three recent independence movements

Contents: Iraqi Kurds’ independence referendum appears headed for big approval; Israel may be the only country recognizing the Iraq Kurdistan referendum

Contents: Russia’s ‘telephone terror’ forces evacuation of over 200,000 people; Kenya’s government in chaos as it faces a new election delay

Contents: Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi under fire for allowing Rohingya ethnic cleansing; BBC reporter Jonathan Head returns from Burma’s government-controlled visit; Generational explanation for Burma’s genocide and ethnic cleansing; The future of Burma and the Rohingyas

Contents: UN report confirms al-Assad’s massive Sarin gas attack on April 4; Israeli warplanes strike Syrian chemical weapons site in Masyaf

Contents: Done with Mosul, Iraqi forces begin operation to eject ISIS from Tal Afar; Turkey warns of sectarian war following battle of Tal Afar; President Trump to announce US strategy in Afghanistan

Contents: Barcelona attackers apparently had multiple coordinated attacks planned; ISIS takes credit for the Barcelona attack; White House officials appear to differ on North Korea military option

Contents: Turkey reshuffles top military leaders in preparation for action in Syria; Turkey announces plans for military action against Kurds in northern Syria