In today’s digest:
British judge Robert Owen said in court that Alexander Litvinenko was “probably murdered on personal orders of Putin.” Former KGB agent Litvinenko was 43 when he died in London in 2006, days after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210. In response to the findings of the UK’s public inquiry, Litvinenko’s widow Marina called for the expulsion of all Russian spies in the country, while UK Home Secretary Theresa May announced asset freezes and international arrest warrants on two suspects Russia refuses to extradite.
Macedoniaclosed the border to refugees again, stranding hundreds in sub-freezing temperatures in Eidomeni, Greece, where the camp was reopened after a month. A five-year-old girl and a woman also diedof hypothermiaon reaching the Greek island of Lesvos. Serbia and Croatia are only allowing passage to those seeking asylum in Germany or Austria, while Austrialimitedthe number of asylum requests it will accept. AmnestyurgedDenmark’s parliament to reject measures to seize asylum seekers’ assets and delay family reunions.
Democrats in the US Senate blocked legislation to individually screen Syrian and Iraqi asylum seekers by a vote of 5-43. The controversial bill would have added more steps and scrutiny to the process for refugees. President Barack Obama had vowed to veto the bill had it reached his desk.
Russian airstrikes in Syria have killed over 1,000 civilians, including over 200 children,accordingto the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. International media wereinvitedto visit the Hmeymim airbase near Lattakia, where the airstrikes are launched from, to witness the airlift of humanitarian aid to Deir ez-Zor. Meanwhile, people are stilldying of starvationin Madaya, days after the arrival of two aid convoys.
A suicide bombing in Kabul on Wednesday targeted a van carrying Tolo TV employees,killing seven people and injuring 27. The Taliban had threatened Afghan media in October, singling out the Tolo TV and 1 TV channels. Monday was the second round of international talks to promote a peace agreement between the government and the Taliban. The attack happened near the Russian embassy, though Interfax agency said early on that the diplomatic building was not the direct target.
Protests over two concerns converged in Michigan during US President Barack Obama’s visit.Rallies over the ongoing contaminated water crisis in Flint converged with teachers who are trying to draw attention to the poor state of schools in Detroit met in front of an auto show where Obama was set to visit. More than 60 Detroit schoolswere closedbecause of mass sickouts by teachers.
The runup to the fifth anniversary of #Jan25, the start of the Egyptian revolution, is marked by detentions, disappearances and house by house raids. Activists are responding with a social media campaign using hashtags like “I participated” or “back to Tahrir.”
Gunmen killed five policemen in Egypt’s North Sinai, in a firefight at the province’s capital. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of this writing, but ISIS’ Sinai affiliate had claimed a number of attacks in the peninsula in 2015, including the downing of a Russian airliner. Visuals of attacks in Sinai are scarce, the following photo was published by Egyptian daily Youm7.
The trial of a New York police officer accused of shooting a man in a Brooklyn housing project begins.The case of Akai Gurley,who was shot in 2014, went through jury selection Wednesday, and several potential jurors were rejected because of their stance on police brutality. Gurley was shot in Nov. 2014, and lawyers for accused officer Peter Liang say he was too distraught to help the wounded Gurley.
The US State Department issued a travel warning for travelers going to Guerrero, Mexico.On Wednesday, an armed group of men set fire to a mini bus in the state capital of Chilpancingo and kidnapped the driver, witnesses said. A man was also executed in the street.Asviolence and disappearancescontinue, a local group, “Los Otros Desaparecidos” (The Other Disappeared) found two additional mass graves. Since late 2014, 321 bodies have been found and only 15 have been identified.
Quick bites…
The year 2015 was Earth’s warmest on record by a wide margin, NOAA and NASA announced on Wed. Moreover, it was the latest in a series of warmest years since 1997. December’s average surface temperature was also the highest on record in 136 years.
Grammy award winning artists John Legend and Juanes performed outside the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona on Wednesday morning.The performance aimed to bring awareness to the mass incarceration of undocumented immigrants and is part of Legend’s larger prison reform campaign, “Free America.”
Several anti-deportation rallies using#Not1Moretook place in the US.Minneapolis,Los AngelesandSan Franciscosaw students and activists, includingBlack Lives Mattersupporters take over streets and college campuses to advocate for immigration reform.
Upset over the vote for a pro-European government, a horde of angry protesters in Moldova stormed the parliament building.The vote to installa new governmentin the poor Eastern European country had just finished when the protesters came in.
Haiti’s Senate voted to call for a halt to the upcoming presidential runoff.There have beendaily protestsagainst the Jan. 24 runoff, citing election fraud. The resolution is only a recommendation, and the runoff may still happen.
It’s been 300 days since the beginning of the airstrikes in Yemen.Yemenis told their stories of living through the continuous Saudi-led airstrikes in the country by tweeting#300DaysOfWar.