World Peace Update

Last week, we celebrated World Peace Update's ten-week birthday with The Man getting a taste of his own medicine in no less than three different countries. Unfortunately, Islamic militants, a neo-Nazi mass murderer, and trigger-happy cops have brought everything crashing back down to Earth this week, like the lame party-poopers that those guys have shown themselves to be throughout history.

Since newly-elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi took power in June, things have been relatively quiet in Egypt compared to its turbulent previous 18 months. That changed last week when a group of Muslims attacked the Coptic Christian community in Dahshur, just south of Cairo. Christian churches and homes were attacked and shops were looted in clashes that left bystanders wounded, forcing the Christian community to flee for their safety.

According to the BBC, the fighting (a frequent occurrence between the two communities) began after a Christian laundry worker burned the shirt of a Muslim client. Instigating a riot and forcing people from their homes because your shirt got a little bit burnt beats any witty simile I can think of to illustrate how ridiculously petulant this is. Congratulations, guy. Maybe just iron your own shirts next time?

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If continuing religious tensions weren't enough to give Mohamed Morsi a headache, then the ongoing violence in the Sinai peninsula surely will. Suspected Islamist gunmen attacked and killed 15 Egyptian border guards along the Israeli border on Sunday. The gunmen then fled in a stolen armoured vehicle, crashing though the border fence into Israel before Israeli fighter jets destroyed their vehicles.

This isn't the first incident of its kind, either. Israeli soldiers and Egyptian police have been the victims of numerous attacks over the past few years as security continues to deteriorate after the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Many believe the Sinai has become a haven for militants wishing to attack Israel, along with all the gun, drugs and people smugglers already using it as refuge. This attack will have backfired, however, as Egypt vows to increase security in the region, putting smugglers and militants under increased pressure and bringing an end to their sanctuary. I'd bet money on seeing the Sinai appear in the WPU again in the near future.

This year has been pretty quiet in terms of civil unrest in Greece and, believe it or not, this is the country's first appearance in the World Peace Update. Even after a new conservative government was elected, nobody caused too much trouble.

That's until a Canadian-owned mining company was given rights to start mining for gold in the northern town of Halkidiki. The mining company, Hellenic Gold, wants to cut down all the trees in the area it's been given permission to mine and, obviously, local residents are firmly opposed to the plans because of the huge damage to the environment the project could cause.

The local villagers held a protest march on Sunday, but were met with unnecessary force by police, who launched volleys of tear gas and fired rubber bullets at the crowd. The hot tear gas cannisters started fires in the dry scrubland near the village and later, according to eyewitnesses, local residents fired warning shots with rifles and shotguns into the air after police started shooting tear gas directly into the small village.

Less than a month after the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, another crazed gun nut went on the rampage, this time with a different agenda. Wade Michael Page – a former soldier and known neo-Nazi who played guitar in a predictably awful white-power band – walked up to the Oak Creek Sikh Temple in Wisconsin and shot dead six worshippers, wounding three others. Wade was knifed by one of the temple's priests, Satwat Kaleka, which slowed him down and ensured he couldn't attack any other worshippers. Kaleka was shot dead in the ensuing scuffle. Wade then attacked police when they arrived on the scene, wounding one, before being shot dead by other officers. Wade is known to have a 9/11 tribute tattoo, which led to speculation from media and police that this was another case of Sikhs being mistaken for Muslims, something that's happened a number of times since 9/11.

That this scumbag was able to acquire a handgun and use it to kill a bunch of innocent people in cold blood is awful enough. The fact he clearly doesn't possess the braincells needed to differentiate between a Sikh and a Muslim (not very many) is just sad. A damning indictment of both American gun-control policy and its education system.

The Syrian civil war lumbers on with only more good news: Kofi Annan, the joint UN/Arab League envoy to Syria, has quit his post. His objective was to ultimately bring about a ceasefire between the two sides, and although a ceasefire was officially put in place in April, it was never adhered to by either side, with violence only increasing since then. Annan's envoyship was effectively useless. The only thing he appears to have achieved was buying more time for the regime to slaughter more of its own citizens. Annan's resignation is sadly the final nail in the coffin for a political and diplomatic resolution to this conflict.

Over the weekend, another group of "pilgrims" were kidnapped by the Free Syrian Army on their way to Damascus airport. This happened before with a group of Lebanese "pilgrims", only this time the group were Iranian. Iranians aren't exactly the favourite foreigners of anti-regime Syrians, thanks to their financial backing of Syria throughout the conflict and reports of Iranian troops aiding the Syrian regime. The FSA seem to think that their Iranian captives are mercenaries and Revolutionary Guards – certainly not pilgrims. They might have a point. Firstly, all the captives are men. Secondly, who the fuck goes on a pilgrimage to the most violent and war-wracked country in the world?

The FSA have refused to release them until Iran publicly admits to helping Syria and stops backing the regime. Three of the 48 men have already died after the compound they were kept in was shelled by Syrian army forces. Iran is unlikely to give into the FSA's demands, and the FSA are just as unlikely to let them go, so their fate remains uncertain.

As the battle for Aleppo continues, things inside the city are only getting more desperate. Army fighter jets have bombarded FSA positions in preparation for a full ground assault, something residents fear is imminent. In better news, the Syrian Prime Minister defected and crossed into Jordan on Monday, making this the highest profile defection so far. In the words of his spokesman, Riad Hijab and his family crossed the border to "join the holy revolution". Although his position is mainly a symbolic one, having only been appointed two months ago, his defection is a severe blow to the regime's "everything is swell" propaganda, and will be a great boost to the FSA, who will hope to exploit his knowledge of Assad's inner circle.

Check in with us next week to see whether some angry kids in London decided to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the riots with casual fire-bombings and lootings of Tescos for bags of value Basmati rice.

Follow Henry on Twitter: @Henry_Langston