With a growing number of defections in the Syrian army, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is taking control of territory in places like Jabal al-Zawiyah in the northwestern province of Idlid, in Zabadani just 20 kilometers from Damascus, and in Douma, one of the biggest suburbs outside the tightly-controlled capital. On Jan. 25, Dr. Abd-al-Razzaq Jbeiro, secretary general of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, was shot dead while traveling on the Halab-Damascus highway in a vehicle "clearly marked with the Red Crescent emblem," according to a statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Also that day, Rev. Basilious Nasser of the Greek Orthodox Church was killed in fighting in the city of Hama. Syria's state news agency blamed an "armed terrorist group" for the killing, while opposition activists said he was shot by a regime sniper. (AlJazeera, NYT, Jan. 25)

Two citizens of Azerbaijan have been arrested in connection with an alleged Iranian-backed plot to kill two Jewish educators and the Israeli ambassador in Baku, the capital, local media reported this week. Three men reportedly were charged with weapons smuggling as part of a plot to kill a teacher and a rabbi at the newly opened Chabad Or Avner Jewish school in Baku, as well as the Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan, Michael Lotem. Two of those charged are reported to be in custody; one is still at large. It is alleged that Iranian intelligence agencies promised to pay the three men $150,000 to carry out the murders. The National Security Ministry said the men were connected to an Iranian citizen who had links with Iran's intelligence services. Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau has issued a travel warning for Azerbaijan. The US embassy also issued a warning saying "the possibility remains for actions against US or other high-profile foreign interests in Azerbaijan."

The deputy head of Libya's National Transitional Council stepped down Jan. 22, a day after anti-government protesters stormed the ruling body's offices in the eastern city of Benghazi. The protesters denounced Ghoga's presence in the NTC, calling him and other former Qaddafi-loyalists “opportunists.” Ghoga was a belated defector to the Libyan rebels from Moammar Qaddafi's government. (VOA, Jan. 22) The following day, a flurry of media reports said that Qaddafi-loyalist fighters had taken the former Qaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, raising the late dictator's green flag after a battle that left four dead. But on Jan. 24, Col. Salem al-Ouaer, identified as a tribal leader from Bani Walid, told AFP: "The situation is under control and calm is returning." (AFP, Jan. 24; The Guardian, Jan. 23)

A military judge at Camp Pendleton, Calif., sentenced Staff Sgt. Frank G. Wuterich to a maximum of 90 days in prison and a reduction in pay and rank after he pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty, ending the final court-martial resulting from a five-year investigation into the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in 2005. But because of a plea deal with prosecutors, Wuterich won't serve any time in the brig, so his sentence amounts to a reduction in rank—to private—and a pay cut. Wuterich was charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty in court-martial proceedings that began less than two weeks ago. All of the charges except dereliction of duty were dropped in return for his guilty plea. Wuterich was accused of overreacting to the death of another marine in a roadside bombing, sending his men into nearby houses to search for insurgents—resulting in the deaths of the civilians, including 10 women and children. In the sentencing, the military judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, cited how Wuterich ordered his troops to "shoot first, ask questions later." Seven other marines were charged in the incident, but in six cases charges were dismissed, and one was acquitted. (CNN, Jurist, Jan. 24)

World War 4 Report has been keeping a dispassionate record of Barack Obama's moves in dismantling, continuing and escalating (he has done all three) the oppressive apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) established by the Bush White House. On the third anniversary of his inauguration, we offer the following annotated assessment of which moves have been on balance positive, neutral and negative, and arrive at an overall score:

At least 20,000 marched in Istanbul Jan. 19 to mark five years since the murder of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink—and to protest the lack of justice in his case. Marchers carried black signs reading "We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian," written in Turkish and Armenian. Three people have been imprisoned in the slaying of the writer, but charges of official negligence or state collusion were rejected. A 17-year-old Turkish nationalist soccer player was convicted of the killing, but earlier this week an Istanbul court acquitted 19 suspected accomplices.The journalist, shot dead outside the Istanbul offices of Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, had angered Turkish nationalists by describing the mass killing of Armenians a century ago as genocide. (CNN, BBC News, Jan. 19)

Japanese industry minister Yukio Edano on Jan. 20 promised the mayor of a city where gravel apparently contaminated in the Fukushima nuclear disaster was used for building material that he will instruct Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay compensation for related damage. Radioactive gravel is believed to be responsible for high radiation readings in a new apartment complex in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima prefecture. The contamination was first discovered when dosimeter readings of children in the city revealed that a high school student had been exposed to 1.62 millisieverts in a span of three months—well above the government's annual 1 millisievert safety limit. Investigations traced the radiation back to the student’s three-story apartment building, where officials detected radioactive cesium inside the concrete. The gravel used in the cement came from a quarry in Namie, a town within the 12-mile evacuation zone instated in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant last March. Investigators found that some 5,200 metric tons of gravel from Namie was likely shipped to over 200 companies, making its way into apartment buildings, schools, bridges, and possibly temporary homes for Fukushima evacuees. A dozen families live in the tainted Nihonmatsu apartment complex, which was built six months ago. (Kyodo, Jan. 20; ABC News, Jan. 16; Mainichi Daily News Jan. 6)

An Israeli government plan to create a greenbelt around Jerusalem is fueling opposition among Palestinians and their supporters. Mayor Nir Barkat hopes the plan, which focuses on archeological preservation, will boost tourism in Jerusalem, but critics say the parks amount to a land grab that consolidates Israel's grip on occupied East Jerusalem. "People say, 'It's just a park,' but these parks change totally the political scope of Jerusalem and have a direct impact on the lives of Palestinians," says Hagit Ofran, who monitors Jewish settlements for Peace Now. Efrat Cohen Bar, an architect with the progressive Israeli urban planning group Bimkom, which recently conducted a study of national parks in East Jerusalem and evirons, terms them "green settlements"—serving to keep Palestinians off the land while expanding Israeli control.