Iraq
US using white phosphorus in Raqqa: reports
Several civilians were killed when US air-strikes reportedly targeted ISIS-held Raqqa with white phosphorus—banned by the Geneva Convention as a weapon of war.
Tag: paramilitaries
The Andes
Colombia: Pacific coast strike ends in victory
After all-night negotiations with protest leaders in Colombia's Pacific port of Buenaventura, government representatives pledged to invest $517 million in local infrastructure.
The Andes
Colombia: race to salvage peace process
Under pressure from a citizen mobilization for peace, Colombia's government is scrambling to revive the FARC disarmament and demobilization process after it nearly broke down.
Iraq
Iraq to investigate Mosul atrocity reports
Iraq's Interior Ministry has launched an investigation following claims of grave human rights violations carried out against civilians by special forces while fighting ISIS in Mosul.
Iran
Right-wing populist slammed in Iran
Hardliner Ebrahim Raeesi reluctantly accepted Hassan Rouhani's victory after a bitter campaign, with cultural rights for Kurds and other ethnic minorities a critical dividing line.
Syria
Syria: US targets pro-Assad forces for second time
US jets attacked a convoy of Iran-backed militia forces loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad—ironically within one of the new “deconfliction zones” established by the US and Russia.
North Africa
Massacre reported in battle for Libyan airbase
Up to 130 soldiers are reported to have been summarily executed after a force loyal to Libya's Tripoli-based government took an airbase controlled by eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar.
Southeast Asia
Philippines: legal challenge to deadly drug war
Manila's Center for International Law is going to bat for citizens targeted by President Rodrigo Duterte's lawless and murderous "war on drugs"—despite the threat of reprisals.
The Andes
Colombia: popular power defeats mega-mining
Mining multinational AngloGold Ashanti announced it will abandon its planned mega-project at La Colosa, Colombia, following a popular vote by local residents to reject the project.
The Andes
Venezuelan oil goad in US-Russia game
Amid growing crisis in Venezuela, it emerges that the country's state oil company, heavily indebted to Russian giant Rosneft, made a big donation to Trump's inauguration festivities.
Syria
Syria: ‘population transfer’ or sectarian cleansing?
Western media refer to “evacuation” and “population transfer” of besieged Syrian towns, euphemisms that mask the sectarian and genocidal element of the regime strategy.
Iraq
Iran-led Iraqi Shi’ite militia in battle for Damascus
As rebels infiltrated Damascus in a surprise attack, defense of the city was joined by Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shi'ite militia under command of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.