British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama have agreed to fund a special counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle the rising threat from the country.
The US-led Coalition's ongoing failure to admit to, let alone adequately investigate, the shocking scale of civilian deaths and destruction it caused in Raqqa is a "slap in the face" for survivors trying to rebuild their lives and their city, said Amnesty International a year after the offensive to oust ISIS. In October 2017, following a fierce four-month battle, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—the Coalition's Kurdish-led partners on the ground—announced victory over ISIS, which had used civilians as human shields and committed other war crimes in besieged Raqqa. Winning the battle came at a terrible price—almost 80% of the city was destroyed and many hundreds of civilians lay dead, the majority killed by Coalition bombardment. In a September 2018 letter to Amnesty, the Pentagon made clear it accepts no liability for civilian casualties. The Coalition does not plan to compensate survivors and relatives of those killed in Raqqa, and refuses to provide further information about the circumstances behind strikes that killed and maimed civilians. (Photo: SDF)
Taliban leaders confirmed that long-planned direct talks with the US took place in Doha, capital of Qatar. The Taliban said in a statement that their delegation met with US special adviser for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. The statement said the two sides discussed the prospects for an end to the presence of the foreign forces in Afghanistan, and the return of "true peace" to the country. These overtures come as the US is stepping up operations against ISIS in Afghanistan. In an August air-strike in Nangarhar province, the US claimed to have killed Abu Sayed Orakzai, top ISIS commander in Afghanistan. Earlier in August, more than 200 ISIS fighters and their two top commanders surrendered to Afghan government forces in Jowzjan province to avoid capture by Taliban insurgents, after a two-day battle that was a decisive victory for the Taliban. (Photo: Khaama Press)
Some 400 prisoners revolted at Huancas prison in the northeastern Peruvian city of Chachapoyas on New Years Eve, taking several guards hostage and seizing part of the facility.
On New Years Eve, a federal judge dismissed all criminal charges against five Blackwater guards accused in the massacre of 17 innocent Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisur Square.
The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reports that construction in West Bank settlements is “booming” despite the declared freeze, with expansion underway at more than 50 settlements and two industrial zones.
Several international activists were injured by Egyptian riot police during demonstrations with the Gaza Freedom March in Cairo. Egypt has denied the march access to the besieged Strip.
In a move heralded by human rights groups, Israel’s supreme court ordered the military to allow Palestinians to travel on part of a major highway that runs through the West Bank.
World-renowned political organizer and one of Africa’s most celebrated poets, Dennis Brutus, died early on Dec. 26 in Cape Town, in his sleep, aged 85.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai appointed a delegation to investigate 10 civilian deaths, including eight schoolchildren, believed to have occurred during a NATO raid in Kunar province.
Another indigenous Guarani leader, Osmair Martins Ximenes, was killed in Brazil last week, the latest in a string of killings related to the theft of the people’s land.
