Boko Haram Takes the Fight to Cameroon

The militant group has launched a series of attacks along the Cameroon border. “The coordinated assaults on five towns and villages showed a change in tactics by Nigerian Boko Haram fighters, who have focused on hit-and-run raids on individual settlements in the past, Information Minister Issa Tchiroma added. Boko Haram’s campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate has spread from its stronghold in northeast Nigeria to neighboring Cameroon, raising fears for an already unstable region also threatened by Islamist militants in the Sahel. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xud2cD)

Displaced Muslims Precariously Trapped in Central African Republic Village…”About 500 Muslims, mainly ethnic Peuls, have been in the town of Yaloke in western C.A.R. since fleeing there nine months ago to escape hostile Christian and animist anti-balaka militia.In Yaloke, they have had some protection from French and United Nations peacekeepers, and have been receiving some food aid. But they are trapped in a small area and unable to move outside it for fear of attacks. Health conditions have deteriorated. VOA http://bit.ly/1xucTpw)

Best commentary of the 10 year Anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami: Nancy Lindborg, Assistant USAID Administrator and incoming president of the US Institute for Peace on the six lessons the international community should draw from the tragedy. (HuffPo http://huff.to/1xd6WLE)

Africa

Dozens of new Ebola cases have erupted in Liberia, near the border with Sierra Leone, Liberian health officials warned Monday, marking a setback amid recent improvements. (AP http://yhoo.it/13F8J01)

The United Nations said on Monday it had begun delivering food aid to war-torn South Sudan via the Nile River from Sudan for the first time since it became independent in 2011, warning the country could face a “hunger catastrophe”. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1rvtfeT)

The United States launched an airstrike against a senior Shabab militia leader in southwestern Somalia on Monday, a Pentagon spokesman disclosed. (Time

Sierra Leone started a fresh push against the virus in mid-December. It is concentrating its efforts in the north and west of the country. The government prohibited public gatherings at Christmas. The northern district of Port Loko marked the holiday by declaring a lockdown as health workers went door to door. Health ministry spokesman Sidie Y Tunis said that’s ongoing. (VOA http://bit.ly/1zrF03N)

With a population that has already passed the 50 million mark and a sustained unemployment rate of more than 25%, attention is being focused on South Africa’s child grant incentives for single mothers which may be encouraging young women to bear children to get an income. (VOA http://bit.ly/1BfopTb)

Recent studies indicate Burundi is the hungriest place on earth. War, poverty and overpopulation have left up to two thirds of the residents with chronic food shortages, stunting people’s growth physically and also professionally, while rising demands for scarce resources pose serious problems for Burundi’s stability. (VOA http://bit.ly/1zrEVNE)

Birth control is a divisive issue across much of Africa – it challenges culture, religion and patriarchy. In Dakar, bringing religious leaders into the discussion has been an important step to overcoming resistance in Senegal. (VOA http://bit.ly/1BfoqXr)

In some African countries, the social and economic forces collide on workplace issues like parental leave. While some countries are moving to extend leave, others are having a hard time enforcing the laws they already have. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wY0U1H)

Roche Holding AG said U.S. health regulators have approved its Ebola test for emergency use in response to the world’s worst outbreak of the disease in West Africa. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1rvtcjn)

MENA

Arab U.N. delegations on Monday endorsed a Palestinian proposal to forge a peace deal with Israel within a year and end Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories by late 2017, despite fierce Israeli and U.S. opposition. (Reuters http://reut.rs/1xu9Pqi)

Three Al-Jazeera journalists are marking one year since they were arrested in Egypt on charges of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood, as they look toward a court date Thursday to appeal their case. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wY0mJ9)

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has condemned a series of airstrikes on targets in the city of Misrata amid an upsurge in fighting across the war-torn North African country, adding that any further escalation in hostilities could plunge the nation back into “all-out war.” (Ekklesia http://bit.ly/1xu9BQ7)

An Egyptian prosecutor referred 15 alleged members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood to a military court on Sunday on violence-related charges, the state news agency reported. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1wwuYfH)

Asia

Thousands of Afghans are pouring into makeshift camps in the capital where they face a harsh winter as the Taliban return to areas once cleared by foreign forces, who this week are marking the end of their combat mission. (AP http://yhoo.it/13F8KRI)

The suspected mastermind of the 2008 militant attacks on Mumbai that killed 166 people has won an appeal against his detention in Pakistan. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xud9F4)

South Korea on Monday proposed restarting a dialogue with North Korea on issues of mutual concern, such as reuniting families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. This outreach to the North comes at a time of growing antagonism between Pyongyang and the West over issues of cyberattacks and human rights abuses. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xudcR6)

The grip on Internet freedom in China has tightened once again, with Google’s Gmail largely inaccessible for a fourth day. An internet transparency monitor reports the e-mail service is 84 percent blocked in the country after months of disruptions. (VOA http://bit.ly/1zrF0AU)

The Americas

A non-governmental group that tracks crime in Venezuela says the country’s homicide rate rose again in 2014. (AP http://yhoo.it/13F8JNz)

A lawyer for Hipolito Mora says the Mexican vigilante leader and 26 of his followers face murder charges for a Dec. 16 confrontation with another group that killed 11. (AP http://yhoo.it/13F8It2)

The Census Bureau said the U.S. population grew a bit less than 1 percent over the last year and will hit 320,090,857 at New Year. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xudaJ3)

Opinion/Blogs

Crowdsourced Anticorruption Reporting, 2.0 (The Global Anticorruption Blog http://bit.ly/1ED9DLZ)

Peter Piot: the veteran scientist who helped to raise the alarm over Ebola |(The Guardian http://bit.ly/13FOiAb)

Exploring Border Issues through Film (Development Diaries http://bit.ly/13FOlfk)

Broken Windows: Mending the Cracks (People, Spaces, Deliberation http://bit.ly/13FOqzM)

Data exchange helps humanitarians act fast and effectively (The Guardian http://bit.ly/1ED9Q1I)