All Security Watch
- A Canadian murderer, and myths about countering radicalization
The Canadian man who shot dead a soldier at the country's war memorial in Ottawa yesterday is a classic 'lone wolf' – and a reason why state-led efforts to counter 'radicalization' and jihadi recruiters won't amount to much.
- Canada shooting: Friend says suspect was 'erratic,' spoke often of Satan
Canadian officials have identified Michael Zehaf-Bibeau as the gunman killed in a shooting at Parliament. He had been blocked from traveling abroad amid concerns he was attempting to join up with extremists.
- Hong Kong student protesters march to chief executive's home
A day after Umbrella Movement protest leaders and Hong Kong city officials met for talks, students try another tactic. Protest sites in the city-state remain in place despite a police crackdown and a court injunction to remove barricades.
- Iraqi PM Abadi says the US is not to be trusted. Really?
His comments are the sort of thing that can increase the danger for US, or other foreign troops, working to help save Iraq's beleaguered government.
- Signs of victories against Ebola in Africa – and the United States
Time for hysteria to be tempered with evidence that progress is being made, and that the global response to Ebola can really make a difference.
- Ukraine's army accused of using cluster munitions in urban areas
A fragile cease-fire in eastern Ukraine hasn't ended the fighting. Human Rights Watch says Ukraine's army has fired cluster bombs into populated areas and has called on Kiev to sign an international treaty banning their use.
- Turkey says Iraqi Kurds can fight in Kobane. Could they make a difference?
Turkey doesn't want to allow Turkish Kurds - most importantly members of the Marxist PKK - to go fight in Syria. But the PKK's fighters have proven most effective in resisting Islamic State advances in Iraq.
- Indonesia's new president is the world's most unlikely political story
The stunning rise of Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who took office Monday for a five-year term as Indonesia's new president.
- Kobane: Turkey to allow some Kurds to help defend city against Islamic State
The battle for the ethnic-Kurdish city of Kobane on the Turkish-Syria border could see Iraqi Kurds join the fray in greater numbers after Turkey's decision, a reversal of its previous policy.
- Bermuda braces for direct hit from Hurricane Gonzalo
The hurricane is on track to hit the island as a Category 3 storm Friday night. Forecasters expect heavy winds and significant flooding.
- What would an actual battle for Baghdad look like?
Islamic State militants and supporters are close at hand, but so too are Shiite fighters defending their homes and family.
- On Turkey's border, US airstrikes and Kurdish troops blunt Islamic State advance
The battle for Kobane, a Syrian border town, may have tipped in favor of Kurdish militia seeking to fend off militants from the self-styled Islamic State. US-led airstrikes have played a role.
- America's Saudi problem in its anti-IS coalition
Saudi Arabia sentenced dissident Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr to death today. That's trouble for a strategy that rests on ending sectarianism in Iraq.
- US military denied treatment to soldiers exposed to chemical weapons in Iraq
A detailed New York Times scoop raises troubling questions about secrecy and responsibility in the US government.
- Video of Hong Kong police beating riles protest movement
A member of Hong Kong's Civic Party was covered in bruises after being kicked and beaten Wednesday. State media in Beijing editorialized that 'Stability is bliss and turmoil brings havoc.'
- The Islamic State, gardening metaphors, and misinformation
The dangers of analysis and misrepresentation that flows from strained gardening metaphors by an influential columnist.
- The US remains focused on IS in Syria and Iraq. Local 'allies?' Not so much.
It's hard to put together a successful coalition when the partners don't agree on priorities and objectives.
- Hong Kong police try quiet pressure against student occupiers
Police remove their own steel barricades from much of central Hong Kong and open Queensway, the main thoroughfare through the downtown commercial area.
- Islamic State: Britain's top diplomat says endgame is regime change in Syria
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says training up to 50,000 Syrian rebels is crucial to fighting Islamic State militants. The US said Monday that Turkey had agreed to train rebels there.
- Obama's Iraq-Syria strategy, way back in June 2014 ... and now
Obama touted Yemen as a model for US efforts against the so-called Islamic State in a major speech this summer. While an odd statement at the time, with Yemen teetering, it looks much worse now.