At this rate, ebola will have been fully contained before the start of 2016. ”The last known Ebola patient in Guinea, a 21-day-old baby girl, has recovered at a treatment centre in the capital, Conakry, health officials say.A spokesman for Guinea’s Ebola co-ordination unit said two tests on the baby had been negative. Guinea will be declared officially free of Ebola if no new cases are reported in the next six weeks.” (BBC http://bbc.in/1X5Kq0z)
Many Feared Killed in in Nigeria Blast…”Heavy casualties were feared on Tuesday when a bomb blast ripped through packed crowds in Yola, northeast Nigeria, just days after President Muhammadu Buhari visited declaring that Boko Haram were close to defeat.Tuesday’s blast was the first in Nigeria this month, indicating the army’s strategy to cut off the Islamists’ supply lines and target their camps was paying off.
Buhari has set his military commanders a deadline of the end of next month to crush the rebels, who have increasingly taken to attacking border areas of neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.” (AFP http://bit.ly/1PyLJ92 )
Ban Ki Moon to DPRK? “U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit North Korea’s capital Pyongyang this week, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, though there was no confirmation from either the United Nations or the South Korean foreign ministry. The Yonhap report quoted an unnamed U.N. source, who expected Ban would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in what could mark a rare diplomatic opening by the isolated state.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/1OPEuJM)
Migrant tragedy at sea…A plastic boat carrying migrants capsized in the eastern Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Kos, killing at least nine people including four children, authorities said, as thousands of people continued to risk the short sea crossing from Turkey in unseaworthy vessels. (AP http://yhoo.it/1PyiWkU)
A Syrian Refugee Family Diverted from Indiana at 11th Hour…”A Syrian refugee family, after waiting for three years in Jordan to be approved to come to the United States, was finally set to land in Indianapolis on Wednesday. Instead, after Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana said on Monday that he would no longer accept Syrian refugees in his state, the family of three will be starting their new life in New Haven.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1OPEpWL )
There’s mounting evidence that no Syrian refugees were responsible for the Paris attacks. http://wapo.st/1PyMcYX
Latest on the Paris Attacks: http://bbc.in/1PyLZF4
Africa
Five Tanzanian gold miners have been rescued after spending 41 days trapped deep underground eating cockroaches and frogs to survive, the mining ministry and survivors said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1HTE0zW)
A severe fuel crisis has hit Nigeria with long queues of angry motorists waiting for hours outside petrol stations in major cities to fill up. (BBC http://bbc.in/1PyLYAU )
South Sudan’s rebels said that government soldiers had launched attacks against their positions in oil-rich Unity State in what they said was a violation of a peace deal signed in August. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1S1QLc9)
Rwanda’s senate unanimously approved a draft constitution to allow President Paul Kagame to seek a third term in office, the head of the senate said, clearing the path for a referendum that is not expected to face much opposition. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1QKdAmd)
A Kenyan court charged the former head of the state-run Geothermal Development Company and other senior executives with abuse of office arising from the award of a contract for transporting drilling rigs. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1QKdxGN)
African birth registration officials meeting in Cameroon say more than half of births in Africa are not registered, which can make it hard for children to enroll in school or access health care. Experts say legal reforms and education for parents and registration authorities are key. (VOA http://bit.ly/1S1PKAQ)
A Burundian civil society leader has called on the international community to help strengthen Burundian civil society groups so that they can effectively play their role as the voices of the people. (VOA http://bit.ly/1OdL8GM)
Officials of the International Criminal Court warned member states not to compromise judicial independence as Kenya began a renewed diplomatic push against charges faced by its deputy president. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1S1QKVt)
With droughts wreaking havoc in vast areas of Zimbabwe, a majority of people are fast falling in line with climate-smart agriculture as food deficits continue. (IPS http://bit.ly/1SAx8rr)
MENA
A ceasefire between Syria’s government and opposition could be just weeks away from reality, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said as he visited Paris to show solidarity with France after last week’s attacks. (AP http://yhoo.it/20ZRLn0)
France made an unprecedented demand that its European Union allies support its military action against the Islamic State group and launched new airstrikes on the militants’ stronghold in Syria. (AP http://yhoo.it/1OdL8X9)
Israel outlawed an Islamist group accused of inciting violence among Arab citizens amid a two-month wave of unrest, and in a separate development approved the construction of hundreds of homes in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem. (AP http://yhoo.it/1PyiSSi)
Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi returned to his country for the second time since advancing Houthi fighters forced him to flee to ally Saudi Arabia in March. (VOA http://bit.ly/1PyiS4T)
Asia
Tens of thousands of Burmese refugees living in Thailand are more optimistic about returning following the November 8 election wins of the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi. However, many who fled decades of conflict in Myanmar remain cautious. (VOA http://bit.ly/1HTDTV1)
India has deployed the army and air force to rescue flood-hit residents in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where at least 71 people have died in around a week of torrential rains. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1S1Qgi3)
China needs to deepen its fight against separatists, intensify “de-radicalization” efforts, and increase global cooperation to defend against terrorism, the country’s domestic security chief wrote. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1QKdBq1)
An organisation that promotes leadership in Pakistan, a network that helps girls and young women working in the sex industry in Hong Kong and a project that supports Palestinian refugees in the West Bank are among 20 groups from 19 countries awarded grants of up to $50,000 each. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1HTDXEj)
A new nationwide survey of public opinion in Afghanistan reports 58 percent of Afghans say the country is headed in the wrong direction. (VOA http://bit.ly/1HTDZfd)
The Americas
House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a pause in Syrian refugees coming to the U.S. in the wake of the Paris attacks and said the House will vote on the issue this week. (AP http://yhoo.it/1S1PnWX)
A news report is citing a lawmaker who estimates that the burst of two dams at an iron ore mine in central Brazil caused $2.6 billion to $3.7 billion in damages. (AP http://yhoo.it/1HTE2rv)
Colombia’s second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, has released two soldiers it kidnapped three weeks ago. (BBC http://bbc.in/1S1Ppy2)
The leader of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, accused the United States of kidnapping two nephews of first lady Cilia Flores. (BBC http://bbc.in/1HTDVfB)
A parliamentary investigative panel is questioning Brazil’s one-time richest man about the estimated $2.5 billion in loans the country’s national development bank made to his oil, mining, logistics and ship-making empire. (AP http://yhoo.it/1HTE1UB)
…and the rest
UN Human Rights expert says Paris attacks ‘may constitute crime against humanity.’ (AP http://yhoo.it/1j5IffV)
France invoked the European Union’s mutual assistance clause for the first time, asking its partners for military help and other aid in missions in the Middle East and Africa after the Paris attacks. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1QKdzP3)
The discovery that one of the suicide bombers involved in the attacks in Paris last Friday was carrying a Syrian passport – and apparently had arrived on the shores of Greece last month on a refugee boat — has intensified the already heated debate over the migrant influx into Europe. (VOA http://bit.ly/1j5Io35)
Hungary’s parliament authorized the government in a law passed to turn to the courts to challenge an EU decision on mandatory migrant relocation quotas for EU members. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1HTDSQO)
The United Nations urged states not to “backtrack” on pledges made to host migrants and refugees, including from Syria, in the wake of the attacks in Paris. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1HTDUYV)
Opinion/Blogs
Radicalized French citizens come and go as the door slams on refugees (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/20ZTmJu)
Lesser Known Apocalypses – the crisis of antibacterial resistance (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1NZNrPq)
Why Germany is probably doing more for Syria than the UK (Roving Bandit http://bit.ly/1QKeNK0)
Development From Below (Jacobin http://bit.ly/1OdAYWI)
Terrorism continues to rise – what do the numbers tell us? (Dev Policy http://bit.ly/1S1S62F)
Will Paris Attacks Act as Game-Changer in War Against ‘Islamic State’? (VOA http://bit.ly/1S1G9K4)
Challenges for African Agriculture (Africa can end poverty http://bit.ly/1SAxD50)
Without rule of law, conflict-affected areas will become poverty ghettoes (Guardian http://bit.ly/1QKeFKz)
The good and the bad: Urbanization’s effect on food supply chains (Devex http://bit.ly/1NZNTxa)
Could more women in power promote development? (Development that Works http://bit.ly/1QKeKhr)
What does Argentina’s election mean for South America? (BBC http://bbc.in/1j5xoCJ)
The Power of a Dollar (Jacobin http://bit.ly/1OdAYpr)