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TOP NEWS
MIDDLE EAST
Syria and regionSituation
Aleppo rocket attack ‘ kills at least 18’
A rocket attack on regime-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo has killed at least 18 people, activists have said. The attack on the Furqan and Meridian neighbourhoods also wounded at least 30 people, the SOHR said. (BBC)
Syrian war causing 'honour killings', child marriages
Syria’s civil war has caused a big increase in ‘honour killings’ and child marriages and the breakdown of the healthcare system, a British-Syrian doctor said on Wednesday. Healthcare has also become a ‘weapon of war’ for the government, which has targeted doctors and withheld vaccinations from children in opposition-held areas, said Rola Hallam, a volunteer with the medical charity Hand in Hand in Syria. She said women and girls who had been raped during the conflict then found they were being stigmatised by their relatives, adding to their misery. “If they are married they are (being) divorced. Their families do not want them. There are lots of honour killings going on,” she told an international women’s rights conference in London hosted by Thomson Reuters Foundation and the International New York Times. Women and minors in Syria are being raped by government and paramilitary forces, Hallam said. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Yemen
Suicide attack rocks Yemen's defense ministry
At least 20 people were killed on Thursday in a car bomb and gun battle at the Yemeni defense ministry compound in the capital Sanaa, sources inside the complex said, in one of the most serious attacks in the past 18 months. The defense ministry said the attack targeted the ministry's hospital and most of the gunmen had been killed or wounded. (Aljazeera)
AFRICA
CAR
‘Bozize loyalists’ attack Bangui
Heavy arms fire has been heard in the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bangui. The city has reportedly been attacked by supporters of President Francois Bozize, who was ousted by rebels in March, plunging the country in chaos. It comes hours before the UN Security Council is due to vote on French troops joining the African peacekeeping force. France's ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, said the move would make a difference "within days". The BBC's Andrew Harding in Bangui says the city is now quieter, with only the occasional burst of gunfire. The balance of forces remains unchanged, he says. General Arda Hakouma, a former rebel who now heads of Mr Djotodia's personal guard, said anti-balaka fighters had attacked three parts of the city. "There are many of them. Some of them are well armed with rifles and rocket launchers. Others are dressed in civilian clothes with machetes," he said, according to Reuters news agency. "There has been gunfire all over town," said Amy Martin, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui. The firing began at around 05:30 (04:30 GMT) on Thursday. (BBC)
Clashes in Central African Republic kill at least 23, wound 64
At least 23 people have been killed and 64 others have been wounded in armed clashes in Central African Republic's capital Bangui between former rebels controlling the city and militias, a Reuters witness said. (Reuters)
MSF: gunfire ‘leaves several dead, wounded’
Several people have died in gunfire in the capital of Central African Republic overnight, a senior aid worker told AFP on Thursday ahead of a key UN vote due to authorise international troops to restore order in the strife-torn country. "There are dead and wounded," said Sylvain Groulx, the head of Doctors Without Borders in the country. (AFP)
Mali
Investigators find mass grave in search for soldiers
A mass grave containing 21 bodies has been found in Mali by investigators looking for missing red beret soldiers. Mali's chief prosecutor, Daniel Tessougue, told the BBC that the remains were found buried at Diago, about 20km (12 miles) north of capital Bamako. The bodies were "probably" those of soldiers loyal to the former president, a justice ministry official told AFP. (BBC)
Sorting out Mali isn't our job, France says
France will not play Africa's policeman and sort out a territorial dispute in Mali, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday, a day after Mali's president and Tuareg separatist rebels both criticised Paris for doing too little. "The democratic situation has been re-established. Now it's up to Malians, and particularly President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, to act," Fabius told RMC radio. "France doesn't support any group, but it's normal that territorial integrity is restored. But France doesn't have to get involved in that. It's clear." Mali's newly elected President Keita on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on France, demanding to know why it was preventing Mali from restoring the state's authority in the northeastern town of Kidal, which is held by the MNLA. He also said the international community was forcing it to negotiate with the rebels. (BBC)
Mozambique
10 killed in unrest
Mozambique's government said Wednesday that Renamo rebels have killed 10 people during six weeks of unrest, and warned that the military may soon go on the offensive. "Ten people lost their lives and around 26 people have been injured... as a result of attacks by Renamo guerrillas," defence ministry spokesman Cristovao Chume said. (AFP)
ASIA
Myanmar/Thailand
Thailand secretly dumps Myanmar refugees into trafficking rings
As thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar to escape religious persecution, a Reuters investigation in three countries has uncovered a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand's immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea. The Rohingya are then transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in a series of camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them. Reporters located three such camps - two based on the testimony of Rohingya held there, and a third by trekking to the site, heavily guarded, near a village called Baan Klong Tor. Thousands of Rohingya have passed through this tropical gulag. An untold number have died there. Some have been murdered by camp guards or have perished from dehydration or disease, survivors said in interviews. The Thai authorities say the movement of Rohingya through their country doesn't amount to human trafficking. But in interviews for this story, the Thai Royal Police acknowledged, for the first time, a covert policy called "option two" that relies upon established human-smuggling networks to rid Thailand of Rohingya detainees. (Reuters)
OTHER
Food security
FAO warns of new risk of food insecurity in Sahel
World cereal production will reach a new high of almost 2,500 million tonnes, including rice in milled terms, according to new FAO estimates. The figure is almost 8.4 percent more than last year and some 6 percent above the previous record in 2011, according to the latest issue of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation Report. While global cereal production is expected to increase, FAO warned that food security conditions in several parts of Africa and elsewhere are deteriorating. In the Sahelian countries of West Africa - Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal - crops and pastures have been affected this year by late onset and early cessation of rains. The situation could lead to a new surge in food insecurity and malnutrition in the 2013/14 marketing year. http://www.trust.org/item/20131205084544-dyi7n/?source=hptop
Aid policy
How technology is transforming global humanitarian efforts
On Tuesday 10 December, Dr Meier will be arriving from the Philippines to the UK, where he will present a public lecture on next generation humanitarian technology at Imperial College London hosted by Qatar Foundation. We interviewed him about his vision for the future of international humanitarian aid, which includes high tech solutions to global disasters using crowd sourcing, multitasking, big data, data science and open data.
- · Syria: War causing ‘honour killings’, child marriages
· CAR: ‘Bozize loyalists’ attack Bangui
· Thailand/Myanmar: Thailand secretly dumps Myanmar refugees into trafficking rings
MIDDLE EAST
Syria and regionSituation
Aleppo rocket attack ‘ kills at least 18’
A rocket attack on regime-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo has killed at least 18 people, activists have said. The attack on the Furqan and Meridian neighbourhoods also wounded at least 30 people, the SOHR said. (BBC)
Syrian war causing 'honour killings', child marriages
Syria’s civil war has caused a big increase in ‘honour killings’ and child marriages and the breakdown of the healthcare system, a British-Syrian doctor said on Wednesday. Healthcare has also become a ‘weapon of war’ for the government, which has targeted doctors and withheld vaccinations from children in opposition-held areas, said Rola Hallam, a volunteer with the medical charity Hand in Hand in Syria. She said women and girls who had been raped during the conflict then found they were being stigmatised by their relatives, adding to their misery. “If they are married they are (being) divorced. Their families do not want them. There are lots of honour killings going on,” she told an international women’s rights conference in London hosted by Thomson Reuters Foundation and the International New York Times. Women and minors in Syria are being raped by government and paramilitary forces, Hallam said. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Yemen
Suicide attack rocks Yemen's defense ministry
At least 20 people were killed on Thursday in a car bomb and gun battle at the Yemeni defense ministry compound in the capital Sanaa, sources inside the complex said, in one of the most serious attacks in the past 18 months. The defense ministry said the attack targeted the ministry's hospital and most of the gunmen had been killed or wounded. (Aljazeera)
AFRICA
CAR
‘Bozize loyalists’ attack Bangui
Heavy arms fire has been heard in the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bangui. The city has reportedly been attacked by supporters of President Francois Bozize, who was ousted by rebels in March, plunging the country in chaos. It comes hours before the UN Security Council is due to vote on French troops joining the African peacekeeping force. France's ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, said the move would make a difference "within days". The BBC's Andrew Harding in Bangui says the city is now quieter, with only the occasional burst of gunfire. The balance of forces remains unchanged, he says. General Arda Hakouma, a former rebel who now heads of Mr Djotodia's personal guard, said anti-balaka fighters had attacked three parts of the city. "There are many of them. Some of them are well armed with rifles and rocket launchers. Others are dressed in civilian clothes with machetes," he said, according to Reuters news agency. "There has been gunfire all over town," said Amy Martin, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui. The firing began at around 05:30 (04:30 GMT) on Thursday. (BBC)
Clashes in Central African Republic kill at least 23, wound 64
At least 23 people have been killed and 64 others have been wounded in armed clashes in Central African Republic's capital Bangui between former rebels controlling the city and militias, a Reuters witness said. (Reuters)
MSF: gunfire ‘leaves several dead, wounded’
Several people have died in gunfire in the capital of Central African Republic overnight, a senior aid worker told AFP on Thursday ahead of a key UN vote due to authorise international troops to restore order in the strife-torn country. "There are dead and wounded," said Sylvain Groulx, the head of Doctors Without Borders in the country. (AFP)
Mali
Investigators find mass grave in search for soldiers
A mass grave containing 21 bodies has been found in Mali by investigators looking for missing red beret soldiers. Mali's chief prosecutor, Daniel Tessougue, told the BBC that the remains were found buried at Diago, about 20km (12 miles) north of capital Bamako. The bodies were "probably" those of soldiers loyal to the former president, a justice ministry official told AFP. (BBC)
Sorting out Mali isn't our job, France says
France will not play Africa's policeman and sort out a territorial dispute in Mali, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday, a day after Mali's president and Tuareg separatist rebels both criticised Paris for doing too little. "The democratic situation has been re-established. Now it's up to Malians, and particularly President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, to act," Fabius told RMC radio. "France doesn't support any group, but it's normal that territorial integrity is restored. But France doesn't have to get involved in that. It's clear." Mali's newly elected President Keita on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on France, demanding to know why it was preventing Mali from restoring the state's authority in the northeastern town of Kidal, which is held by the MNLA. He also said the international community was forcing it to negotiate with the rebels. (BBC)
Mozambique
10 killed in unrest
Mozambique's government said Wednesday that Renamo rebels have killed 10 people during six weeks of unrest, and warned that the military may soon go on the offensive. "Ten people lost their lives and around 26 people have been injured... as a result of attacks by Renamo guerrillas," defence ministry spokesman Cristovao Chume said. (AFP)
ASIA
Myanmar/Thailand
Thailand secretly dumps Myanmar refugees into trafficking rings
As thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar to escape religious persecution, a Reuters investigation in three countries has uncovered a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand's immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea. The Rohingya are then transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in a series of camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them. Reporters located three such camps - two based on the testimony of Rohingya held there, and a third by trekking to the site, heavily guarded, near a village called Baan Klong Tor. Thousands of Rohingya have passed through this tropical gulag. An untold number have died there. Some have been murdered by camp guards or have perished from dehydration or disease, survivors said in interviews. The Thai authorities say the movement of Rohingya through their country doesn't amount to human trafficking. But in interviews for this story, the Thai Royal Police acknowledged, for the first time, a covert policy called "option two" that relies upon established human-smuggling networks to rid Thailand of Rohingya detainees. (Reuters)
OTHER
Food security
FAO warns of new risk of food insecurity in Sahel
World cereal production will reach a new high of almost 2,500 million tonnes, including rice in milled terms, according to new FAO estimates. The figure is almost 8.4 percent more than last year and some 6 percent above the previous record in 2011, according to the latest issue of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation Report. While global cereal production is expected to increase, FAO warned that food security conditions in several parts of Africa and elsewhere are deteriorating. In the Sahelian countries of West Africa - Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal - crops and pastures have been affected this year by late onset and early cessation of rains. The situation could lead to a new surge in food insecurity and malnutrition in the 2013/14 marketing year. http://www.trust.org/item/20131205084544-dyi7n/?source=hptop
Aid policy
How technology is transforming global humanitarian efforts
On Tuesday 10 December, Dr Meier will be arriving from the Philippines to the UK, where he will present a public lecture on next generation humanitarian technology at Imperial College London hosted by Qatar Foundation. We interviewed him about his vision for the future of international humanitarian aid, which includes high tech solutions to global disasters using crowd sourcing, multitasking, big data, data science and open data.