An Irish U.N. peacekeeper was killed and several others were wounded when unidentified attackers opened fire on a convoy in southern Lebanon, Irish and Lebanese military officials said Thursday. The Irish Defense Forces said in a statement that a pair of armored vehicles carrying eight Irish UNIFIL peacekeeping troops was fired on as they drove north, toward Beirut on Wednesday night from the town of Al-Aqbiya. The Irish military identified the killed peacekeeper as Pvt. Seán Rooney of Newtwoncunningham, Ireland. It noted that one of the three wounded soldiers was in serious condition. It did not identify the assailants. UNIFIL confirmed that one peacekeeper was killed and three were wounded but did not share further details. "Our thoughts are also with the local civilians who may have been injured or frightened during the incident," UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said, adding that "details are sparse and conflicting." Tenenti added that UNIFIL is coordinating with the Lebanese military and trying to "determine exactly what happened." (AP https://buff.ly/3HBMCyA)
Africa
Five refugees at the Dzaleka refugee camp in central Malawi were injured when a hand grenade exploded at the camp's main market Wednesday evening. Police have arrested a Rwandan refugee suspected of intentionally detonating the device. (VOA https://buff.ly/3YlhwkN)
Cameroon governors say several thousand of the 750,000 people displaced by the separatist conflict in two western regions are returning home for the first time since hostilities began in 2017. The military says no major separatist attack has been reported within the past six weeks, an indication that peace is returning to the regions where 3,500 people have been killed in five years. (AFP https://buff.ly/3V3aHBw)
President Joe Biden has announced support for the African Union joining the Group of 20 (G20), a global forum for major economies, as the United States seeks to build stronger relations with African nations. (Al Jazeera https://buff.ly/3Wpm9IP)
The head of the UN's public health body has accused Eritrean troops of killing his uncle in Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, of the World Health Organization, said he was told more than 50 other people were arbitrarily killed in the same village. (BBC https://buff.ly/3V43EZf)
A Sudanese woman charged with adultery has had her life spared and will instead spend six months behind bars after she admitted to kissing a man. The 20-year-old was initially sentenced to death by stoning, sparking an international outcry. (BBC https://buff.ly/3hw0dwA)
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said the military government of BurkinaFaso has hired Russian mercenaries to help fight an insurgency in their country and is using a mine to pay them. (Reuters https://buff.ly/3WjGvD9)
In October last year, the Borno State government in Nigeria announced it intended to close all 10 formal displacement camps in Maiduguri, the region’s capital, and would be offering cash to encourage residents to return to their rural homes. So far, eight camps have been fully shut, affecting some 140,000 people, with a further 60,000 people on notice. (The New Humanitarian https://buff.ly/3hxOFJl)
The International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed the convictions of Dominic Ongwen, a former Ugandan child soldier who rose to be a commander in the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army, and upheld his 25-year sentence for rape, murder and child abduction. (Al Jazeera https://buff.ly/3FREgk3)
A move away from public ceremonies to ‘medicalised’ cutting is one of the greatest threats to eliminating the abusive practice of FGM in Kenya, say campaigners. (Guardian https://buff.ly/3W3Oy7h)
Ebola vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co produced virus-fighting antibodies and appear to be safe in children and adults, according to data from two studies conducted in West Africa. (Al Jazeera https://buff.ly/3WiE6bQ)
MENA
Jordan has launched a $300 million, six-phase project ahead of Christmas celebrations to develop the officially recognized site of Jesus Christ's baptism located on the east bank of the Jordan River. (AFP https://buff.ly/3uSE92n)
Asia
At least 16 Pakistani civilians have been wounded as fighting broke out between Pakistani and Afghan border forces for the second time in less than a week, a Pakistani medical official says. (Al Jazeera https://buff.ly/3uRBA0D)
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) calls on the Taliban authorities to halt further evictions of internally displaced people (IDPs) from settlements across Afghanistan, until they have found sustainable alternatives. (NRC https://buff.ly/3WiOGQ4)
A smokey brown haze blankets India’s northern plains and the national capital, New Delhi, every year as winter sets in, affecting the health of millions of people, but the authorities have found few solutions to the pollution crisis and are literally unable to clear the air. (Al Jazeera https://buff.ly/3WhTKUU)
China is now facing what is likely the world's largest COVID surge of the pandemic. China's public health officials say that possibly 800 million people could be infected with the coronavirus over the next few months. And several models predict that a half million people could die, possibly more. (NPR https://buff.ly/3hxOEFh)
The ruling Fiji First party led provisional national election results, boosted by a 31.42% vote for Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, with half of polling stations counted in the Pacific Island nation on Thursday. Bainimarama, who came to power in a coup 16 years ago, is contesting his third democratic election since reforms to Fiji's constitution in 2013 scrapped a system that drew distinctions between the votes of indigenous Fijians and its large ethnic Indian population. (Reuters https://buff.ly/3WjGxuL)
Opinion/Blogs
The Gambia’s slow path to justice and reconciliation (The New Humanitarian https://buff.ly/3WoNavF)
Lessons from Sierra Leone: How to get girls back to school (Al Jazeera https://buff.ly/3PuKMRQ)
It’s Christmas time. Let’s talk about the world’s worst ever Christmas song (and the transatlantic cousin that is so much better). (From Poverty to Power https://buff.ly/3WnWuju)
