North America
Court issues stay on Trump immigration order
A Brooklyn federal judge blocked Trump's order barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, as activists occupied JFK and several other US airports.
Author: CounterVortex
Planet Watch
Doomsday Clock: 2.5 minutes of midnight
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the minute hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock from three minutes to two-and-a-half minutes to midnight.
Syria
Syria: first joint US-Russian air-strikes?
The Pentagon denied Moscow’s claims of joint US-Russian air-strikes against ISIS, but the White House signalled its willingness to cooperate with Russia in Syria.
Iran
Iran’s land-grab in Syria
Iran's government and companies close to the elite Revolutionary Guards have signed major economic contracts with Syria, gaining control of large areas of the country.
Syria
Russia signs pact for long-term Syria bases
Russia signed a long-term pact to greatly enlarge its military presence in Syria, more than doubling the space for warships at Tartus, Russia’s only Mediterranean port.
North Africa
Libya: Obama’s parting air-strikes
US B-2 Stealth bombers and drones carried out a raid against presumed ISIS camps in the Libyan desert—part of a final spate of air-strikes ordered by President Obama.
Iraq
Iraq: mass exodus from embattled Mosul
Three thousand displaced persons are fleeing the embattled city of Mosul on a daily basis as US-backed Iraqi and Kurdish forces advance on the ISIS stronghold.
Mexico: Tarahumara forest defender assassinated
Isidro Baldenegro López (left), a Tarahumara indigenous activist in Mexico's Chihuahua state who fought for the preservation of forest lands, was assassinated last week, in an attack on the home of a family member in the pueblo of Coloradas de… Read moreMexico: Tarahumara forest defender assassinated
Mexico
Mexico: Tarahumara forest defender assassinated
Isidro Baldenegro, a Tarahumara indigenous activist in Mexico's Chihuahua state who fought for the preservation of forest lands, was assassinated by unknown gunmen.
The Caribbean
Clemency for Oscar López Rivera
Oscar López Rivera, the longest-held Puerto Rican political prisoner in the US, was among 209 federal inmates granted clemency by outgoing President Barack Obama. (Photo via PM Press)
The Amazon
Brazil: 60 dead in narco-fueled prison massacre
A New Year's Day prison riot in Brazil's Amazon riverport city of Manaus left up to 60 dead—with many of the bodies decapitated, mutilated and burned.
North America
Human Rights Watch: Trump portends ‘tyranny’
In its yearly report, Human Rights Watch warns that the rise of populist leaders "poses a dangerous threat to basic rights"—particularly naming Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.