Canadian bicycling advocacy group Cycle Toronto along with two individual cyclists, Eva Stranger-Ross and Narada Kiondo, have filed a court challenge Dec. 11 against new provincial legislation granting the Ontario government authority over the installation and removal of municipal bike lanes. The group argues that the law, Ontario Bill 212, infringes on cyclists' rights to life and security under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is being represented by the firms Paliare Roland LLP and Ecojustice.

The rebel Arakan Army announced its full control of Burma's border with Bangladesh after the seizure of the last junta base in Maungdaw township on Dec. 11. The rebel army said it had taken captive a general and dozens of other soldiers, including around 80 Rohingya fighters—raising fears of further reprisals against the Muslim minority. The Arakan Army seeks autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine people and is part of an alliance of armed groups that has also seized key towns in eastern Burma. (TNH)

Two attacks on "defenseless civilian populations" along Niger's border with Burkina Faso left some 40 dead between Dec. 12 and 14, authorities said. Niamey's defense ministry said 21 were killed in Libiri village and 18 in Kokorou, both in Tillabéri region. The statement blamed "criminals," but the borderlands are a stronghold of jihadist insurgents. An even worse attack was reported days earlier, but is being denied by Niger's ruling junta. Authorities suspended the operations of the BBC in Niger after it reported that jihadists had killed 90 soldiers and upwards of 40 civilians at Chatoumane, also in Tillabéri. According to the monitor Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), at least 1,500 soldiers and civilians have been killed in jihadist attacks in Niger in the past year—more than double the 650 killed from July 2022 to July 2023. (AFP, France24, RFI, BBC News, TRT World)

Amid jubilation following the overthrow of long-ruling dictator Bashar Assad, the only fighting in Syria is now between Arabs and Kurds—as the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) expels the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the town of Manbij. Ankara's design is clearly to expunge the Kurdish autonomous zone in the northeast region of Rojava. Yet there are also positive signs of an accommodation between the Rojava Kurds and the new revolutionary administration in Damascus. In Episode 256 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines the new political landscape in Syria and tries to identify a way forward—past the threat of ethnic war and toward a multicultural democracy.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) declared on Dec. 11 that Sudan is currently experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis ever recorded. The report states that approximately 30.4 million people—over half of Sudan's population—are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, a staggering figure that accounts for 10% of all people globally requiring aid, despite Sudan representing less than 1% of the world's population. Health services have been critically impacted, with more than 70% of healthcare facilities nonfunctional and widespread outbreaks of diseases like cholera and malaria threatening already vulnerable populations.

The US government unsealed an indictment Dec. 9 charging two former high-ranking officials of Syrian Air Force Intelligence with war crimes. The indictment accuses Jamil Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud of cruel and inhuman treatment, including the torture of detainees, some of whom were US citizens, at the Mezzeh military airbase prison in Damascus. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The charges brought against Hassan and Mahmoud in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois are based on 18 USC §§ 2441(a) and (d)(1)(B), which prohibit war crimes, including acts of torture and cruel treatment of detainees.

The Nicaraguan Human Rights Collective "Nunca Más" issued a report Dec. 10 charging that at least 229 individuals detained in the country for political reasons have endured various forms of torture and other acts that could be classified as "crimes against humanity" over the past seven years. The report documents claims of physical and psychological torture, arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, and other severe human rights violations committed by the Nicaraguan government. The victims, identified as individuals who were arrested during anti-government protests and in connection with opposition activities, have reportedly faced beatings, sexual violence, and prolonged solitary confinement.

On Dec. 8, the same day the Assad regime fell and rebel forces took Damascus, the US military carried out a series of air-strikes against Islamic State positions across central Syria. The Pentagon's Central Command announced that it "struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s." The targets included "ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps." (A&SF, LWJ)