The Andes
Are the FARC narco-traffickers?
Amid peace talks in Havana, Colombia's FARC issued an angry communique insisting "We are not narco-traffickers." But major coke busts supposedly linked to the guerillas continue.
Author: CounterVortex
Greater Middle East
Egypt: atheist gets prison for Facebook posts
An Egyptian court in Baheira governorate sentenced student Karim Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna to three years in prison for announcing on Facebook that he is an atheist.
The Andes
Ecuador: Correa blinks in stand-off with CONAIE
The government of Rafael Correa postponed a decision on eviction of indigenous organization CONAIE from its Quito offices, but lines are drawn for a confrontation.
The Andes
Colombia: will government answer FARC ceasefire?
With peace talks set to resume, Colombia’s FARC rebels charge that the military is continuing “offensive operations” despite a unilateral ceasefire declared by the guerillas.
Africa
Boko Haram massacres 2,000: Amnesty
Up to 2,000 are feared dead in an ongoing massacre after Boko Haram seized Baga, a town on Nigeria's border with Chad in Borno state. The town was reportedly "razed to the ground."
Planet Watch
UN: world refugees break record
War across large swaths of the Middle East and Africa in the first six months of 2014 forcibly displaced some 5.5 million people, signalling yet another record, the UN reports.
Greater Middle East
Saudi blogger to be flogged for blasphemy
Blogger Raif Badawi, convicted of "offenses to Islamic precepts" in Saudi Arabia, is to receieve 1,000 lashes at the start of his 15-year prison term.
North Africa
Mauritania: death sentence for blasphemy
Blogger Cheikh Ould Mohamed of Mauritania was sentenced to death for apostasy after a court convicted him of "speaking lightly of the Prophet Mohammed" on websites.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: secularism and dictatorship?
A sweeping "anti-terrorism" decree and expanded crackdown on opposition come as Egypt's President al-Sisi is making overtures to the Copts and invoking pluralism.
Iraq
Kurdish forces press gains against ISIS
Kurdish forces made further gains against ISIS at Kobani in the final days of 2014, while the Peshmerga are preparing an offensive to drive the jihadis from Kurdish lands in Iraq.
North Africa
Libya: air-strikes on Misrata as fighting spreads
Warplanes under the command of renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar fired missiles at Misrata's rebel-held airport, as Libya's oil exports remain effectively paralyzed by civil war.
Mexico
Chicago link to Mexican mass abduction?
Another major bust of an accused Mexican cartel operative in Chicago this time involves the Guerreros Unidos—the gang named in the the disappearance of 43 college students.