<p>An independence movement in southern Yemen has led growing calls for a referendum on secession in the south of the country, as conflict continues in what has been termed a modern “humanitarian disaster”.</p> <p>The call for&nbsp;Yemen&nbsp;to separate from the north and western provinces has gained popularity in the South with groups stating that they will defend their land but has not be addressed by the international community.&nbsp;</p> <p>The Southern Transitional Council (STC), a group which was established last year and has been advocating for the secession of Southern Yemen, expressed disappointment in the fact that they were excluded from the recent UN-held peace talks in Sweden. The discussion was held between Houthi rebels supported by Iran and the recognised government of&nbsp;Yemen&nbsp;supported by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and its Gulf allies. The issue of secession was not raised, added the STC.</p>

<p>The United Nations reports that 85 former FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia) rebels have been killed since the signing of the peace agreement with the Columbian government in 2016.&nbsp;</p> <p>UN Secretary General, António Guterres, notes that 14 ex-members of FARC were “murdered” within the last three months. The majority of these deaths fell in areas formerly occupied by FARC and where there is little state apparatus. This has allowed for other militant groups and reported drug gangs to exercise control in these regions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Taliban has orchestrated a series of attacks killing at least 27 security officers and wounding dozens in northern Afghanistan.</p> <p>Most of this violence was concentrated in the&nbsp;Sar-i-Pul Province where three attacks occurred killing 21 people. The Taliban have also attacked the centre of Sayad District,&nbsp;the village Qashqari, and&nbsp;security outposts along the highway linking Sar-i-Pul with Jowzjan. They were able to capture two of these outposts, wounding 25 security force members in their attack.&nbsp;</p>

The Nigerian military has responded to charges of unjustifiably killing Shiite protesters on the outskirts of the capital Abuja, with senior officials defending the military's actions. 

In their response they cite US President Donald Trump’s remarks regarding migrants heading towards the American border, stating, “they want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back”.

Footage released by the New York Times however reveals that the soldiers were unprovoked and fired indiscriminately at unarmed demonstrators, many of whom were trying to flee. This contradicts the military’s claims they had employed violence justly.

<p>A suicide bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan, has killed a separatist commander who was wanted for organising a suicide bombing attack against the Chinese Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.&nbsp;</p> <p>No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing that took his life.</p> <p>The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on the Chinese Consulate last month asserting that Beijing is an “oppressor” and that would not tolerate “China's military expansionism on Baloch soil”. Four people were killed in that attack.</p>

<p>Chinese police has detained a number of students protesting over the take over of their Marxist society by university officials and members of the student association, following the&nbsp;detention of the leader of their society on the birthday of Chairman Mao.</p> <p>Whilst the Chinese government supposedly supports the legacy of Chairman Mao, they have continued to crackdown on student organisations and recent graduates who have aligned themselves with labour activists, supporting factory workers and their right to form unions.</p>

<p>Syria’s state agencies reported that its army entered the Kurdish-held city of Manbij, on the invitation of the Kurdish YPG to protect it from a threatened Turkish offensive.</p> <p>However US military officials and some locals have refuted the claim.</p> <p>The New York Times said the move came as Kurds felt “betrayed” by the United States’ decision to withdraw from Syria and that the “request amounted to a United States ally [Kurds] calling on an enemy of the United States [Syrian government] to protect it from another American ally, Turkey.”</p>

<p>French investigators have dropped charges against nine Rwandan officials, including former defense minister James Kabarebe, who were suspected of playing a role in the 1994 plane crash which killed President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane alongside the French crew.&nbsp;</p> <p>The crash preceded the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi minority which saw an estimated 800,000 people killed.&nbsp;</p> <p>The investigation was dropped citing a lack of sufficient evidence.&nbsp;<br> Rwandan government officials have welcomed the closing of this investigation, which they assert was politically motivated.</p>

<p>Russia has sent over one dozen fighter jets to Belbek military base in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which it has occupied since its annexation in 2014.&nbsp;</p> <p>Witnesses told Reuters that they had seen Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets arrive in the air base on December 22.&nbsp;</p> <p>The United States, United Kingdom and Lithuania have offered military assistance to Ukraine against the onset of Russian advances.&nbsp;</p> <p>The US State Department offered to provide an additional US $10 million to support Ukraine’s navy, to protect against what they termed a “dangerous escalation”.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A former Serbian police chief and current official within the ruling Progressive Party, Goran Radosavljevic, has been banned from entering the United States due to allegations of human rights abuse.&nbsp;</p> <p>In a statement the US State Department announced that they were publicly designating Radosavljevic under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2018 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Act.&nbsp;</p> <p>This maintains that those found to be involved in significant corruption or gross violations of human rights will not be eligible for entry into the US nor will their immediate family members.&nbsp;</p>