Self-proclaimed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has appointed Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as a presidential advisor, following the dissolution of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in an integration deal with Damascus earlier this week.
"President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 164 of 2026 on Thursday, appointing Mustafa Khalil Abdi, known as Mazloum Abdi, as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic," state media SANA reported on 27 August.
Abdi headed the SDF, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that was created with US support in 2015 as part of the war to topple the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
The SDF took control of large swathes of northeast Syria from ISIS, including the country's main oil fields, as part of Washington's efforts to keep Syria divided and prevent reconstruction by Assad's government.
Abdi and the SDF created an autonomous region that also included Sunni Arab majority areas taken from ISIS. However, when Sharaa – a former Al-Qaeda leader – took power in Damascus in December 2024 with the help of the US, Turkey, and Israel, the SDF's usefulness to Washington was diminished.
Sharaa's extremist-led Syrian army defeated the SDF in January 2026 after weeks of clashes, bringing Kurdish autonomy to an end. Abdi announced the dissolution of the SDF on Tuesday as part of a deal to integrate the Kurds' forces and civilian administration into the state.
“Our struggle will continue to cement our people's rights in the constitution,” Abdi stated after announcing the integration. “The integration deal was a major victory for Sharaa, but an end to long-held Kurdish hopes for autonomy,” Saudi newspaper ASharq al-Awsat wrote on Friday.
Abdi has pointed to a decree signed by Sharaa claiming to enshrine the Kurds' national rights and recognizing Kurdish as a national language as a victory for the SDF.
Abdi is a veteran of the PKK, considered a terrorist group by Sharaa's strongest backer, Turkey. The PKK waged a deadly insurgency against Ankara for decades before formally renouncing its armed struggle last year.
In recent years, Turkiye has moved to improve relations with Kurdish parties, in particular in Iraq, as part of its “growing with the Kurds” policy.
Ilham Ahmed tells The Amargi that she and Mazloum Abdi have taken on new positions within the Syrian state.
SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi has been appointed as Presidential advisor for Kurdish affairs in Syria, while former Autonomous Administration External Relations… pic.twitter.com/dRIiv7WBUx
Because Kurds have significant populations in Syria and Iraq, Turkish leaders wish to use them as a vehicle to extend their influence in neighboring countries in a way enjoyed by the Turks during the period of the Ottoman Empire.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, is a close partner with Ankara. The US, Turkey, and the KDP all covertly backed ISIS during the organization's takeover of large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, including during the genocide of Yezidis in the Sinjar region of Iraq.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/29/2026 - 08:10Summer is music festival time and while one major event, Coachella, kicks off the U.S. season in April, Burning Man – starting this Sunday in Nevada – closes it out.
The two events might seem like polar opposites in the music festival realm, but have more in common than meets the eye.
Burning Man continues to be an icon of counterculture but attending the festival that relies on visitors to be self-sufficient to a high degree is expensive.
As Statista's Katharina Buchholz reports, the personal income of the average attendee has changed in recent years as the festival has become popular among well-to-do crowds.
You will find more infographics at Statista
A survey carried out under scientific conditions among Burning Man attendees every year shows how the personal incomes of those heading to Black Rock City have evolved.
While in 2015, only close to 24 percent said they made $100,000 or more annually in personal income, this had increased to almost 48 percent by 2025.
For comparison, YouGov states that incomes like these are only brought home by around 18 percent of Americans.
Especially the infamous tech bro has been credited with changing the make-up of the desert festival which features music performances and art installations on its spread-out grounds that work on the basis of community organization instead of cash-based services.
Marc Zuckerberg's 2012 visit made headlines, but he was hardly a driving force in the burgeoning popularity the festival has experienced among young CEOs and founders. Before the now very obvious shift to luxurious camps and millionaire visitors, the likes of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page as well as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos were already partaking in Burning Man in the 1990s.
The survey also shows that the number of first-time attendees has remained stable around 25-30 percent over the years and that a reliable 80 percent of attendees say the event's stated philosophy was important or very important to them.
More than 60 percent of participants are in their 30s and 40s, with peaks around the 35-42 age range.
The event skewing 60 percent male, up to 40 percent Californian and 75 percent white also fits the tech millionaire demographic.
At around 25 percent, cost was however still the most cited barrier to visiting the festival again.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/29/2026 - 07:35The attack targeting a military patrol in the Benzú area of Ceuta last night was a pre-planned ambush rather than a spontaneous clash, according to preliminary findings from the National Police. Now, military sources are speaking of soldiers who are unable to use physical force, have no weapons, and are vulnerable to such attacks in the future.
Regarding the ambush, police investigators at the scene discovered an abnormal accumulation of heavy stones that did not match the natural geology of the terrain. Police believe the projectiles were intentionally stockpiled at the location in advance, setting a trap for a vehicle or convoy passing through the area.
Images of damaged military vehicles have gone viral across social media. Multiple vehicles suffered smashed windshields and other damage in the attack.
🔴 #URGENTE | Los inmigrantes ilegales de Ceuta han atacado esta madrugada los vehículos de los militares españoles.
Este es el estado de algunos de los coches y camiones del Ejército que les ha ayudado a instalarse en polideportivos. pic.twitter.com/KnT9RU35AM
The ambush occurred while troops from the 54th Regular Group of Ceuta were conducting routine patrol duties. Dozens of illegal immigrants ambushed the patrol vehicle with a heavy barrage of rocks. The sudden intensity of the assault severely damaged the vehicle, shattering its windows and trapping the occupants inside.
Surrounded by a high volume of projectiles, the soldiers “feared for their lives,” according to statements later provided to investigators, as reported by Spanish newspaper El Debate. Four soldiers were left injured and officials told the press that sthe all-terrain logistical vehicles were not armored and not equipped to deal with such attacks.
Marco Antonio Gómez, president of the Association of Spanish Troops and Sailors (ATME), stated that the “very serious aggression” shows “our military is helpless.”
“They go without weapons. Our colleagues had to run away to save their own lives.”
Speaking to El Debate, military sources who are directly on the ground in Ceuta say that soldiers have their “hands and feet tied.”
Although the military is working with National Police, the situation remains dangerous.
The source said “they have done what is necessary and have intervened in situations in which the illegal immigrants bothered the inhabitants of Ceuta.”
🇪🇸🔴 A young Spanish woman is fleeing Ceuta because she no longer feels safe.
"I don't want to feel anxious every time I step outside... It seems awful to me that all this is allowed to happen and nobody can close the border or do anything."
However, she also claims that the… pic.twitter.com/o6KVfhR7p8
However, these military sources complain that various legal frameworks have left soldiers without weapons, and these policies also restrict soldiers from carrying out arrests and using any type of force.
Migrants may even be aware of these restrictions, empowering them to conduct ambush strikes against soldiers with near impunity.
🇪🇸🔴 5 migrants tried to gang rape a 12-year-old girl as she screamed for help, said locals in Ceuta who stopped the attack.
"There were five against a 12-year-old girl. She was a little girl, they were taking off her pants. She was screaming, screaming, screaming. She was… pic.twitter.com/g97pj8phUR
Since the attack, 12 suspects have been taken into custody at the scene by National Police’s Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR). Some migrants reportedly tried to evade arrest by jumping into the sea. Reinforcement from the Civil Guard also helped secure the perimeter.
The Union of Military Troops (UMT) issued a statement expressing its “strong rejection and indignation,” stating they had warned about the conditions facing troops already ten days eariler.
The National Police investigation remains active as authorities work to trace all remaining individuals involved in the ambush.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/29/2026 - 07:00