NEWS

At least two people have been killed in clashes in Aleppo between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that control the country’s northeast. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF to integrate the group into the country’s state institutions by the end of this year.

New York City, United States – Since the recent termination of the nearly decade-old trade rule called “de minimis,” United States consumers and businesses have been exposed to slower shipping, destroyed packages and steep tariff fees on international goods – foreshadowing what could make for a chaotic holiday shopping season.

For major international carrier UPS, navigating the latest regulatory changes has proved more fraught than for its competitors FedEx and DHL.

Matthew Wasserbach, brokerage manager for Express Customs Clearance in New York, a firm that assists importers with documentation, tariff classifications, valuation, and other federal requirements, has witnessed the fallout as UPS customers seek his firm’s assistance to clear packages entering the US.

“Over the last few months, we’ve been seeing a lot of UPS shipments, in particular, becoming stuck and being lost or disposed of … This all stems from the ending of the de minimis,” said Wasserbach. “Their [UPS’s] whole business model changed once the de minimis was ended. And they just didn’t have the capacity to do the clearance … a lot of people are expecting to receive international packages, and they’re just never gonna get them.”

UPS did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Suspending tariff exemptions

Since 2016, the de minimis trade exemption determined that packages worth $800 or less were not subject to taxes and tariffs. According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the number of shipments entering the US claiming the exemption increased by more than 600 percent from 139 million shipments in 2015 to more than one billion in 2023.

In August, this all changed. President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending de minimis treatment for all countries, spiralling US imports into a new landscape of paperwork and processes, subject to duties and tariffs based on their place of origin.

Just a month after de minimis ended, while shipping products with UPS, Tezumi Tea, an online Japanese tea and teaware company that sells its products online and through meetups in New York City, fell victim to the tariff backlog at US customs. Tezumi lost roughly 150kg (330lbs) of matcha, totalling about $13,000.

“We responded by increasing buffers in our supply planning across the dozen farms that we partner with,” said Ryan Snowden, a cofounder of Tezumi. “Even with those adjustments, the loss had a severe effect on a number of our cafe customers who suddenly needed to switch to another matcha blend.”

Now, UPS is no longer accepting shipments from Japan, and Tezumi has switched to shipping supplies through alternate carriers such as DHL and FedEx.

Disposing shipments

Wasserbach has witnessed similar instances of UPS losing imports.

“When a UPS package goes uncleared, it’s just basically sitting in a UPS facility, uncleared for a certain period of time,” said Wasserbach. “Then UPS indicates in their tracking that they’re disposing of the shipments without making, really, any effort, from what I’ve seen, to contact either the sender or the receiver, to get information they need to do to get the clearance.”

Wasserbach shared email chains with Al Jazeera from UPS customers who looped in his firm to their customs clearance UPS debacles.

In one exchange, UPS customer Stephan Niznik responded to a notice from the UPS Alternate Broker Team that their packages had been “destroyed”.

“The tracking says on multiple instances that UPS attempted to contact the sender (me), but this is false; aside from a request for more information on September 5 (which I responded to immediately), UPS never attempted to contact me,” wrote Niznik. “It is absolutely disgraceful that my package was mishandled – clothes and children’s toys were destroyed at the hands of UPS.”

In another email chain, UPS told customer Chenying Li that their package was released following an email from Express Customs Clearance stating that the shipment was cleared.

A week later, Li’s package was still showing as “Pending Release”, and when they asked for an update on the shipment, UPS responded, “At this time we are unable to provide an ETA,  as volume is currently backed up and awaiting delivery due to the De Minimis impact.”

‘Impose additional pressure’

In addition to the customs backlog, Virginia Tech associate professor David Bieri says cost prevention may provide one explanation for UPS choosing to dispose of packages rejected by US customs rather than return the shipments to senders.

“All these additional rules and regulations impose additional pressure on already relatively tight margins for these companies – UPS, FedEx, DHL and so forth,” said Bieri. “They need to make money, and sometimes it’s easier not to fulfil a service than to take on the additional cost of customs clearance and making sure that it gets to its final destination.”

Bieri added that UPS resorting to package disposal may indicate that they believe themselves to be in “a sufficiently strong monopolistic position that they can do such horrible practice – unilateral nonfulfillment of contract”.

Wasserbach told Al Jazeera that “with FedEx and DHL shipments, we aren’t seeing these problems”.

When asked whether FedEx has disposed of packages stuck in customs, a spokesperson wrote, “If paperwork is not complete and/or rejected by US Customs and Border Protection, FedEx actively works with senders to update paperwork to resubmit to CBP or return shipments to senders. In some cases, shippers can request that packages be disposed of if they would prefer not to pay to return to sender. In those rare cases, recipients are notified at the direction of the shipper. This is not a common practice. We remain business as usual.”

Final cost of delivery at your doorstep

But FedEx and DHL are encountering some of the same challenges as UPS. Since August, when de minimis ended and small packages were suddenly subject to taxes and tariffs, anyone who ordered from abroad was susceptible to unexpected fees on imported goods.

Without de minimis protecting packages worth $800 and less from import fees, the consumer essentially becomes the importer.

“You might order something you find a bargain abroad, and you don’t pay attention to where things are shipped from … and it might be shipped from China, and you might be in for a rude awakening once that thing arrives at your door,” said Beiri. “You paid the price and thought that this was it. But your deliverer is saying, no, actually, we’re passing that cost on to you. Because you’re acting as the importer.”

These fees could cost equal to or more than the item you ordered itself. “You’ve got to pay extra attention to small prints,” said Beiri.

With looming costs and lost packages on the horizon, Beiri says shoppers will likely make “substitution questions” – are you renovating or are you going on vacation? Are you splashing on Christmas gifts, or are you treating yourself to dining out?

“I think these are interesting times of having to make choices and asking yourself what can we do given that we have an affordability crisis, rent, insurance, making ends meet,” said Beiri. “That’s what’s currently going on.”

In order to better handle evolving trade policy, Wasserbach says that UPS will likely aim to hire a massive number of entry writers to assist with necessary documentation for legal transportation of goods across international borders. However, now that it is the busiest time of year in terms of delivering people their Christmas shopping, Wasserbach doubts an influx of hiring could make much of a difference, given the amount of training required.

The company’s revenue has already taken a hit on account of Trump’s policies. Tariffs on China and the elimination of the de minimis rule saw imports from China, UPS’s most profitable route, drop reportedly 35 percent earlier this year.

“I would assume it’s gonna get better next year,” said Wasserbach. “But as for solving this problem before Christmas, I don’t think that that’s gonna happen.”

Two Russian Su-30 Flanker multirole fighters have been damaged in an overnight arson attack on the military airfield at Lipetsk in the region of the same name in southwest Russia. According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR), the raid was launched by “a representative of the resistance movement in Russia.” If that’s the case, it underscores the varied tactics being used to strike Russian military aircraft on their bases, coming soon after two separate drone attacks on Belbek Air Base in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Уражено ворожі винищувачі Су-30 та Су-27 ― відео та деталі унікальної операції ГУР в ліпєцку

In its initial statement, the GUR said that a Russian Su-30 Flanker multirole fighter and a Su-27 Flanker interceptor were damaged in a fire at Lipetsk Air Base (also known as Lipetsk-2) on the night of December 20-21. The agency later clarified that both targeted aircraft two-seat, more advanced Su-30s.

While the GUR claims that is masterminded the operation, which required two weeks of planning, the agency also says that the sabotage was “directly implemented by a representative of the resistance movement to the criminal Russian regime.”

In a statement, the GUR explained: “Studying the patrol route and guard change schedule allowed them to infiltrate the aggressor state’s military facility unnoticed, hit the Russian jets in their protective aircraft hangar, and then leave the airfield unhindered.”

The GUR has released a video that purports to show the attack, which it describes as the result of “careful preparation, composure, and professionalism.” The airbase is located around 200 miles from the Ukrainian border.

The footage includes a view inside the cockpit of an apparent Su-30SM, as well as a fire being started at one of the main undercarriage legs of the same type of jet, which then spreads to engulf one of the engine intakes. One Su-30SM is also armed with underwing air-to-air missiles. Clearly visible is one of the canard foreplanes on the Flanker, confirming it is a Su-30SM, rather than a Su-27UB or a Su-30M2.

Also seen in the video are close-ups of the aircraft’s individual red-painted ‘Bort’ numbers, ‘12’ and ‘82.’

The GUR puts the estimated total cost of the two affected fighters as “up to $100 million,” although this is presumably based on them being totally written off, something which remains unclear. Indeed, the agency only states that the jets were “disabled.” Ukrainian media reports also state that the aircraft were “put out of action,” but once again we don’t have any concrete evidence about their current state.

Lipetsk Air Base has a very significant role within the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS).

The 4th State Air Personnel Preparation and Military Evaluation Center at the base is tasked with conducting military evaluation of initial batches of new tactical combat aircraft, training pilots in the combat application of the aircraft, and developing air force tactics, which are then used by operational units.

At Lipetsk, the 4th Center is responsible for the 968th Research Instructor Composite Aviation Regiment (968 IISAP, in Russian), which receives the first batches of new tactical aircraft. The regiment was first to receive the Su-34 Fullback, in 2010, the Yak-130 Mitten, in 2013, the Su-30SM Flanker, in 2014, and the Su-35S Flanker, in 2019. It was to also the first to receive Su-57 Felon fighters, so that pilots could undergo theoretical training on the new type.

The regiment has squadrons of Sukhoi fighters (Su-27, Su-30SM, and Su-35S), tactical bombers (Su-24 Fencer and Su-34) and attack aircraft (Su-25 Frogfoot), as well as a detachment of An-26 Curl transport aircraft.

Lipetsk Air Base has two runways; the main runway is around 9,800 feet long, while the second, shorter runway has long been unused and is used for storage of several dozen MiG-29 Fulcrums, and smaller numbers of MiG-31 Foxhounds, and Su-27s.

The video evidence available suggests that at least the Su-30SM that was targeted was very much an active aircraft, based on its armament as well as its relative modernity.

There is also a strong suggestion that the aircraft targeted were part of the VKS effort to combat Ukrainian long-range one-way attack drones, including those headed toward Moscow.

Su-30SMs ‘Red 82’ and ‘Red 12’ belong to the 14th and 31st Fighter Aviation Regiments, not normally based at Lipetsk. The presence of these jets at the base, at least one of them armed with air-to-air missiles, would be consistent with a forward deployment for quick reaction alert (QRA) duties.

This would not be the first time that a Russian airbase has been targeted by pro-Ukrainian or Ukrainian saboteurs.

In the aftermath of reported explosions at Russian airbases in occupied Crimea, in the summer of 2022 — most dramatically, the blasts at Saki Air Base that left at least 10 jets seriously damaged or destroyed — there were reports citing Ukrainian officials claiming that a team, possibly made up of Ukrainian special operations forces, local partisans, or a mixture of both, had attacked the installations.

In October 2022, we reported on an apparent sabotage raid against a Russian airbase in the Pskov region, in the far west of the country. This was filmed by the operatives before they detonated explosives placed on attack helicopters at Ostrov Air Base. The explosions destroyed two Ka-52s and one Mi-28N, according to the Ukrainian defense intelligence service.

In May 2023, meanwhile, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed a sabotage attack against a Russian strike or reconnaissance aircraft at an aircraft factory in Siberia. This was reportedly an arson attack, although it’s unclear if the aircraft in question was actually airworthy at the time.

In September 2023, there were reports that one of Russia’s most important airbases, Chkalovsky, located less than 20 miles from Moscow, was struck by saboteurs. In a statement on the raid, the GUR said that “unidentified saboteurs” were responsible for the attack on what it described as a “heavily guarded airfield,” which left three aircraft “badly damaged.”

As we have noted in the past, the ability of saboteurs to penetrate frontline Russian airbases clearly points to major security loopholes.

On the other hand, even Russian airbases housing other strategic assets have been subject to incursions in the recent past, by apparent criminal elements, while other airfields have been penetrated by drunken soldiers in command of an armored vehicle, for example.

What remains far less clear, and something we are unlikely to learn more about for the foreseeable future, is how the Ukrainian military and intelligence services work or at least coordinate with partisans in Russia. We do know that Ukraine conducts extensive activities, including sabotage efforts, in areas of the country that Russia occupies, as well as inside Russia proper. Most prominent was this summer’s Operation Spiderweb, the large-scale Ukrainian drone strike against airbases across Russia yesterday, which you can read about in our coverage here. This used more than a hundred short-range drones that were launched from trucks against at least four bomber airfields.

In recent days, there have been other notable attacks on VKS aircraft by Ukrainian using drones, too.

As we reported last week, Belbek Air Base, a key Russian facility in occupied Crimea, was targeted by a Ukrainian drone strike on December 18, according to Ukraine. Authorities in Kyiv claim that drones hit a MiG-31BM, as well as elements of an S-400 air defense system.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the government’s main internal security agency, reported that the Belbek drone strike was carried out overnight by forces from its Special Group “Alpha.”

Just two days later, “Alpha” was reportedly responsible for another drone strike on Belbek. This time, the SBU said its operatives hit two Su-27s. Like the MiG-31, these were also parked out in the open.

Whatever the results of the apparent partisan raid on Lipetsk, the operation once again highlights the fact that Russian military aircraft and other assets are not safe, even if relatively far from the Ukrainian battlefields, and that drones are by no means the only threat they face,

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

MSF official tells Al Jazeera South Darfur hospital ‘overwhelmed’ by rapid increase in measles cases.

Displaced Sudanese families in the war-torn Darfur region are grappling with a dangerous measles outbreak that is spreading rapidly, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) official warns.

Dr Ali Almohammed, an MSF emergency health manager, told Al Jazeera on Monday that the group has been “overwhelmed” by measles cases arriving each day at the Nyala Teaching Hospital in South Darfur, where MSF provides paediatric and maternal healthcare.

“We have 25 beds [in] isolation for measles, but every day the number of cases is increasing,” Almohammed said in an interview from Amsterdam.

“The capacity of MSF to respond to all the needs of the people in Darfur is really limited. We cannot cover everything. Yes, we are trying to focus on the most lifesaving medical care, but still, our capacity is also limited,” he said.

The outbreak of measles, a vaccine-preventable virus, comes as violence between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the western region of Darfur and neighbouring areas has surged in recent weeks.

More than 100,000 people have fled their homes in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, after the RSF seized control of the city in late October after an 18-month siege.

The United Nations recently warned that Darfur has become “the epicentre of human suffering in the world” and UN and other humanitarian agencies have stressed that trapped civilians lack medicines, food and other critical supplies.

More than 1,300 new cases

According to MSF, more than 1,300 new measles cases have been reported in Darfur since September.

An extremely contagious virus, measles causes high fevers, coughing and rashes.

It is particularly dangerous for children under age five because it can cause serious health complications, according to a fact sheet from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This week, MSF said that while nearly 179,000 Sudanese children had been vaccinated against the disease over six months last year, they are only a fraction of the 5 million who are at risk.

The organisation said it is not able to operate in most of North Darfur, including el-Fasher, or in East Darfur as a result of the ongoing conflict.

Almohammed also warned that other preventable diseases, such as diphtheria and whooping cough, are now appearing in Darfur with the number of vaccines arriving just a “drop in the ocean” of what’s needed.

According to MSF, shipping vaccines has been difficult due to ongoing violence as well as “significant administrative and bureaucratic hurdles”.

“We urge authorities to immediately eliminate all bureaucratic and administrative barriers to transporting vaccines throughout Darfur,” the organisation said in a statement.

“At the same time, there must be greater urgency from UNICEF to coordinate efforts to increase the transport and delivery of vaccines, syringes and the necessary supplies.”

Attacks on healthcare

Meanwhile, attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan have worsened the situation for civilians and medical personnel.

On Saturday, the Sudan Doctors Network said the RSF released nine medical workers from detention in Nyala in South Darfur out of a total of 73 health workers who had been detained by the paramilitary group.

The network welcomed the move as a “positive” step but called for the release of all detained medical workers and civilians without exception.

On Friday, the World Health Organization said attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan have killed 1,858 people and wounded 490 since the conflict began in mid-April 2023.

At least 70 health workers and about 5,000 civilians have been detained in Nyala in recent months, it added.

A day earlier, the Sudan Doctors Network said 234 medical workers have been killed, 507 injured and 59 reported missing since the war began.

The Israeli security cabinet has approved 19 new settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank as the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves to prevent the formation of a viable Palestinian state.

As Netanyahu’s government has made the annexation of occupied Palestinian territory a priority, the United Nations has said Israeli settlement expansions in 2025 have reached their highest level since 2017.

“These figures represent a sharp increase compared to previous years,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, noting an average of 12,815 housing units were added annually from 2017 to 2022.

Under the current far-right government, the number of settlement and outposts in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent – from 141 in 2022 to 210 now. An outpost is built without government authorisation while a settlement is authorised by the Israeli government.

Nearly 10 percent of Israel’s Jewish population of 7.7 million people lives in these settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.

Here’s everything you need to know about the newly approved settlements and what they mean for the future of Palestinian statehood.

Where are the new settlements?

The new settlements are spread across the West Bank – home to more than three million Palestinians – from Jenin in the north to Hebron in the south.

Most of them are close to the densely populated Palestinian villages of Duma, Jalud, Qusra and al-Lubban Asharqiya in the Nablus governorate and Sinjil in the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate, according to Peace Now, an antisettlement watchdog group based in Israel. Other locations identified by the watchdog for the new settlement areas are in the northwestern West Bank, in the Salfit governorate, near the Palestinian towns of Sa’ir and Beit Sahour, and other areas near Bethlehem and in the Jericho governorate.

Israel’s construction spree is entrenching the occupation and squeezing Palestinians out of their homeland. Settlements dot the West Bank and are often connected by Israeli-only highways while Palestinians face roadblocks and security checks, making their daily commutes harrowing experiences.

Israel has also built Separation Barrier that stretches for more than 700km (435 miles) through the West Bank restricting movement of Palestinians. Israel says the wall is for security purposes.

Under a dual legal system, Palestinians are tried in Israel’s military courts while crimes committed by settlers are referred to a civilian court.

Israel’s latest approval also includes settlements in Ganim and Kadim, two of the four West Bank settlements east of Jenin that were dismantled as part of Israel’s 2005 disengagement plan, a unilateral withdrawal ordered by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Five of the 19 settlements already existed but had not previously been granted legal status under Israeli law, according to a statement from the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Israel controls most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory Palestinians want to be part of a future state along with Gaza. Israel captured East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in a 1967 war. It later annexed East Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as their future capital.

Israeli settlements and outposts are Jewish-only communities built on Palestinian land and they can range in size from a single dwelling to a collection of high-rises. About 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Peace Now.

The latest approval comes at a time when the United States has been working with Israel and Arab allies to move the Gaza ceasefire into a second phase. After a meeting on Friday of top officials from the US, Egypt, Turkiye and Qatar in the US city of Miami, Florida, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of committing repeated violations of the ceasefire that began in October.

Israel still controls nearly half of Gaza’s territory since a ceasefire was announced on October 10 after more than two years of a genocidal war killed more than 70,000 Palestinians.

Has settlement construction spiked in recent years?

The new settlements bring the total number approved over the past three years to 69, according to a statement from the office of Smotrich, who is a vocal proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself.

In May, Israel approved 22 new settlements in the West Bank, the biggest expansion in decades.

The UN chief has condemned what he described as Israel’s “relentless” expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. It “continues to fuel tensions, impede access by Palestinians to their land and threaten the viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian state”, Guterres said this month.

Palestinians have also been facing increasing settler violence since Israel’s war on Gaza began.

According to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), settlers have attacked Palestinians nearly 3,000 times over the past two years.

Settler attacks often escalate during the olive harvest from September to November, a vital time of year that provides a key source of income for many Palestinian families.

Settlers are often armed and frequently accompanied or protected by Israeli soldiers. In addition to destroying Palestinian property, they have carried out arson attacks and killed Palestinian residents.

Every West Bank governorate has faced settler attacks over the past two years, data from OCHA shows.

Are the settlements legal under international law?

No. The UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Committee of the Red Cross all consider Israeli settlements as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which outlaws settler activity.

In a landmark judgement in July 2024, the ICJ, the UN’s top court, found that Israel’s occupation, settlement activity and annexation measures are illegal. In its nonbinding advisory opinion, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s continued presence in occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.

The judges pointed to a wide list of policies – including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, use of the area’s natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinians – all of which it said violated international law.

Two months later, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territory within a year.

But Israel has defied the resolution by the global body backed by its ally – the United States. Washington has extended diplomatic cover to Israel against numerous UN resolutions.

Since returning to power in January, US President Donald Trump has adopted a permissive stance towards Israeli settlement activity, breaking with longstanding US policy.

In 2019, he said Israeli settlements in the West Bank were not inherently illegal under international law. Trump also revoked his predecessor President Joe Biden’s sanctions on several settlers and groups accused of perpetrating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

US sanctions on settlers under Biden came under Washington’s long-held policy that settlements are the biggest impediments to the two-state solution to the conflict.

However, Trump and his officials have repeatedly said Israel cannot annex the West Bank. “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” Trump told Time magazine in October. “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”

What will the new settlements mean for the future of a Palestinian state?

The growing settlements – together with other projects undertaken by Netanyahu’s government like the E1 settlement plan that will split the West Bank – are further squeezing Palestinians in occupied territory.

Settlement expansions have drawn criticism from the international community, including Israel’s European allies, who said the steps undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

But Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet, including Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have doubled down on their rhetoric against a Palestinian state.

“On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” Smotrich said in his statement on Sunday.

In June, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway slapped sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir for inciting violence.

Several European nations, including the UK and France, as well as Australia recognised Palestinian statehood in September in a push for the two-state solution.

Israel condemned the move, and Netanyahu said he won’t allow a Palestinian state. He has previously boasted how he scuttled the 1993 and 1995 Oslo peace accords by boosting settlement expansion in occupied territory.

“It’s not going to happen. There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said in an address in September. “For years, I have prevented the creation of that terror state against tremendous pressure, both domestic and from abroad.”

Deadly Israeli air strike is latest in Israel’s near-daily violations of 2024 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

At least three people have been killed in an Israeli attack near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, the country’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting, in the latest Israeli breach of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said on Monday that the three people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a vehicle on Quneitra Road in the southern Sidon district, according to NNA.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it had targeted Hezbollah members in the Sidon area, without providing further details.

The deadly strikes come a day after another Israeli attack on southern Lebanon on Sunday killed one person and wounded two others. The Israeli army said it killed a Hezbollah member in that attack.

Israel has repeatedly violated the November 2024 ceasefire agreement with the Lebanese group, carrying out near-daily attacks across Lebanon, particularly in the south, that have drawn widespread condemnation.

Between January and late November, Israeli forces carried out nearly 1,600 strikes across Lebanon, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

Late last month, the United Nations said at least 127 civilians had been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect, prompting a call from the United Nations human rights office for a “prompt and impartial” investigation.

Delegations meet in southern Lebanon

Israel’s attacks have continued despite the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, which includes provisions for Hezbollah’s disarmament in parts of southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Lebanon was close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah in the area south of the Litani River.

That is a key provision of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which designates the zone between the Litani River and the Israeli border as an area where only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are permitted to operate.

Hezbollah has long rejected calls for full disarmament, saying its weapons are necessary to defend Lebanon against Israeli attacks and occupation.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has consistently said the group will end its military presence south of the Litani River in line with the ceasefire, but insists it will retain its weapons elsewhere in Lebanon.

Under the 2024 ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces were also required to withdraw fully from southern Lebanon, south of the Litani River, by January. But Israeli troops have only partially pulled back and continue to maintain a military presence at five border outposts inside Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah officials have previously said the group would not fully implement its commitments under the ceasefire while Israeli forces remain deployed in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, a committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement continues to hold talks in southern Lebanon as Israel and the United States increase pressure on Hezbollah to disarm.

Civilian and military delegations from Israel and Lebanon met in the southern town of Naqoura on Friday in closed-door discussions.

Following the talks, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with diplomat Simon Karam, who has been appointed as Lebanon’s chief civilian negotiator.

Hezbollah has been critical of the appointment of Karam, who has previously served as the ambassador of Lebanon to the US.

In a statement, the Lebanese presidency said Aoun stressed that enabling tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese civilians to return to their villages and homes was “an entry point for addressing all other details” of the agreement.

Aoun said the committee’s next meeting is scheduled for January 7.

He also welcomed a separate diplomatic agreement reached in Paris between the US, France and Saudi Arabia to organise an international conference in early 2026 to support the Lebanese army and internal security forces.

Prosecutors accuse the official, named as Fahad A, of torturing dozens of prisoners in jail run by Syrian intelligence.

German prosecutors have charged a former Syrian security official with crimes against humanity, accusing him of torturing dozens of prisoners at a Damascus jail while ex-President Bashar al-Assad was in power.

Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General’s office announced the indictment on Monday, alleging the ex-prison guard, named only as Fahad A, took part in more than 100 interrogations between 2011 and 2012 in which prisoners were “subjected to severe physical abuse”.

The abuse included electric shocks, cable beatings, forced stress positions and suspensions from the ceiling, according to a statement by the prosecutor’s office.

“As ‌a result of such mistreatment and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least ‌70 prisoners died,” said the statement, noting the former guard is also charged with murder.

The official was arrested on May 27 and formally indicted on December 10.

He is being held in pre-trial detention, the German prosecutor’s office added.

Syrians have demanded justice for crimes committed under the decades-long rule of al-Assad, who was removed from power in December 2024 after a rapid rebel offensive.

The Assad regime, which was accused of mass human rights abuses, including the torture of detainees and enforced disappearances, fell after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Universal jurisdiction

In Germany, prosecutors have ⁠used universal jurisdiction laws to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

Based on ‌these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last ‍few years in Germany, which is home to about one million Syrians.

In June, a court in Frankfurt handed a life sentence to a Syrian doctor convicted of carrying out acts of torture as part of al-Assad’s crackdown on dissent.

The doctor, Alaa Mousa, was accused of torturing patients at military hospitals in Damascus and Homs, where political prisoners were regularly brought for supposed treatment.

Witnesses described Mousa pouring flammable liquid on a prisoner’s wounds before setting them alight and kicking the man in the face, shattering his teeth. In another incident, the doctor was accused of injecting a detainee with a fatal substance for refusing to be beaten.

One former prisoner described the Damascus hospital where he was held as a “slaughterhouse”.

Presiding judge, Christoph Koller, said the verdict underscored the “brutality of Assad’s dictatorial, unjust regime”.

Authorities have shuttered drug factories that were cash pipeline for former ruler Bashar al-Assad, UN report.

Syria’s government has cracked down on the Captagon industry, which boomed under former longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, according to a United Nations report.

Since al-Assad’s ouster a year ago, Syria’s new authorities have dismantled a network of factories and storage sites, a research brief published on Monday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

For more than a decade, Syria produced most of the world’s Captagon, a highly addictive, amphetamine-like pill, bringing in billions of dollars for al-Assad’s government.

However, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has carried out a clampdown as he tries to legitimise his government and strengthen diplomatic ties globally.

Overall, 15 industrial-level laboratories and 13 storage sites have been shuttered, according to the UNODC report. The agency said the action has “drastically changed” the Captagon market across the region.

Syria’s role in the drug trade had previously drawn scrutiny from numerous Gulf states, where the pill is popular, including Saudi Arabia. It also helped to prompt Western sanctions.

‘Political will and international cooperation’

For years, the Captagon trade provided billions of dollars in profit for networks and individuals aligned with the former government “either within the leadership of the regime’s security apparatus, Syria’s commercial sector and business elite, and/or family members of Bashar al-Assad”, according to Caroline Rose, an expert on Syrian drug trafficking at the New Lines Institute think tank.

Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s brother and former commander of the army’s elite Fourth Division, was identified as a key player, profiting from protecting shipments through Latakia, a former al-Assad stronghold.

Despite the current Syrian government’s targeting of the industry, large seizures of the drug across the region suggest that significant stockpiles of the pills originating from Syria remain in circulation, the report noted.

Smaller-scale production is also likely continuing inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, the UNODC added, with Gulf countries still the top buyers of the drug.

The UN agency said the disruption of the Middle East’s Captagon industry shows that with “political will and international cooperation … even highly complex drug markets can be destabilised within a relatively short period of time”.

However, it warned that the shift risks pushing regional consumers towards new synthetic substances, like methamphetamine, which has recently grown in popularity.

“Without addressing the underlying demand for ‘Captagon,’ trafficking and use are likely to shift toward other substances, such as methamphetamine, with new routes and actors emerging to fill the gap,” it said.

Palestinian officials condemn the actions as part of a ‘systematic policy of displacement’ in the occupied territory.

Israeli forces have stormed towns in the occupied West Bank and demolished a residential building.

Soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas on Monday as they carried out the demolition in East Jerusalem. Palestinian officials accused Israel of a campaign of displacement in the city, saying the operation was part of a systematic attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land.

Scores of Palestinians were displaced as Israeli bulldozers tore through a four-storey residential building. Activists called it the largest such demolition in the area this year.

Three bulldozers destroyed the building with 13 apartments in the Wadi Qaddum neighbourhood of the Silwan district, south of Jerusalem’s Old City, Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents reported.

Israeli forces cordoned off surrounding roads, deployed heavily across the area and positioned security personnel on the rooftops of neighbouring houses. During the operation, a young man and a teenage boy were arrested.

Residents were told the demolition order was issued because the building had been constructed without a permit.

Palestinians face severe obstacles in obtaining building permits due to Israel’s restrictive planning policies, activists say, a policy that they assert is part of a systematic attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land.

Israel’s security cabinet has recently approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the West Bank, expanding the total number approved this year to 69 as the government continues its settlement push.

‘Systematic policy of displacement’

The Jerusalem governorate, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, condemned the demolition.

“The building’s destruction is part of a systematic policy aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinian residents and emptying the city of its original inhabitants,” the governorate said in a statement.

“Any demolition that expels residents from their homes constitutes a clear occupation plan to replace the land’s owners with settlers.”

The Jerusalem municipality, an Israeli authority whose jurisdiction over East Jerusalem is not recognised under international law, said the demolition was based on a 2014 court order.

Israeli human rights groups Ir Amim and Bimkom said the demolition was carried out without warning despite a scheduled meeting on Monday to discuss steps to legalise the building.

“This is part of an ongoing policy. This year alone, around 100 East Jerusalem families have lost their homes,” the groups said, calling Monday’s demolition the largest of 2025.

Escalated attacks

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli forces damaged agricultural land and uprooted trees in the northern town of Silat al-Harithiya.

In the city of Halhul, north of Hebron, Israeli forces stormed several neighbourhoods with large numbers of military vehicles, deployed sniper teams and took up positions across the city.

Al Jazeera Arabic journalists reported that Israeli vehicles entered Halhul through multiple checkpoints, including Nabi Yunis, while closing the Halhul Bridge checkpoint linking the city to Hebron.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have also sharply escalated attacks across the West Bank.

More than 1,102 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, about 11,000 wounded and more than 21,000 arrested, according to Palestinian figures.

PA Media

South Wales Police

‘Huge spike’ in calls for support

1. The Making and Unmaking of Abubakar Shekau

Abubakar Shekau, a founding leader of the Boko Haram terror group, killed himself with a suicide vest four years ago at his base in Sambisa, during an attack by ISWAP, an offshoot of his group. Through archived materials and interviews with over ten individuals, including former associates, friends, bodyguards, and captives of Shekau, HumAngle’s Editor-in-Chief, Ahmad Salkida, penned what is arguably the most in-depth exposé into the life of the terror leader. 

Following its publication in November, our website suffered a cyber attack that took us offline for a while, but it didn’t hinder a widespread reception of the story, which sparked a national discourse on the history of the insurgency that has gripped Nigeria for over a decade, and how the terror that Shekau ignited has outlived him. 

2. Maitatsine: The Preacher of Fire (1927 – 1980) 

Maitatsine is a Cameroonian and Kano-based Islamic preacher whose teachings and activities turned violent, birthing several cult-like movements in Nigeria’s North that radicalised and also influenced young people. In December 1980, his ideology culminated in one of the deadliest urban uprisings in Nigerian history. This ideology, the rejection of modernity, would later influence terror leaders like Muhammad Yusuf and Abubakar Shekau. 

The exposé carefully examined the unhealed wound that Maitatsine created. It is yet another archival documentation that seeks to contribute to the understanding of Nigeria’s contemporary security challenges and how they emerged from unassuming places. 

3. The Boys Lured into Boko Haram’s Enclave with Food Rations

When terror groups are referred to in the media, the description is often ‘armed men’, but that’s not always the case, as we’ve reported on women terrorists and this time, young boys. For this investigation, we spent time with Hassan Audu, a 16-year-old who, alongside his brother, was captured by Boko Haram terrorists, who in turn used food to keep him within their ranks. 

The story offers insight into the terror group’s recruitment strategy for child soldiers and what the governance structure is like in their enclaves in North Central Nigeria, including in the group’s logistics department, where Audu worked.

4. A Robbery Incident Killed His Wife and Unravelled His Whole Life 

We spent eight months tracking the effects of one tragedy on the life of one man and then represented the story in an interactive story that blends photos, videos, illustrations, and animations. Modu Bakura, a 30-year-old resident of Bama, northeastern Nigeria, was robbed three years ago. He lost his wife in the attack and also suffered several injuries that took months to recover from. 

We penned a tender narrative of this incident, and the years that have followed, and how he continues to survive amidst debt and emotional hurt. 

5. What Life Could Have Been for Leah Sharibu at 22  

In May, Leah Sharibu turned 22. It was also her seventh year in captivity after Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) abducted her alongside 104 other schoolgirls from their dormitory in Dapchi, northeastern Nigeria. She’s the only one among the girls who remains in captivity, and has since become a global face of schoolchildren abducted in Nigeria during the reign of the insurgency in the country. 

To commemorate her birthday, we sat with her only sibling to understand who she was before captivity and what she imagined her life would be like in seven years. That conversation gave birth to a speculative non-fiction narrative where we constructed what would have been, while also reflecting on her current reality, and how his family has continued to grieve her absence. 

6. The Disappearing ₦aira

Two years ago, we interviewed everyday Nigerians to highlight the cost-of-living crisis that is faced in the country and how it has impacted their lives. This time around, we looked at the root of the crisis, not just the fruits. Through a data-driven interactive storytelling approach, we showed how the smaller denominations of the Nigerian Naira are disappearing

7. From Elephants to Warthogs: The Shadow Wildlife Trade Financing Boko Haram in Nigeria

Terrorism financing is one issue that comes up every time there’s a discussion about insurgency in Nigeria, and even across the world. 

In this investigation, we uncovered how terror groups like Boko Haram are using wildlife to fund their activities in the country. Not only is this causing harm to communities, but animals like Elephants have also vanished in conflict-affected areas in the North East, prompting poachers and terrorists to turn to Warthogs, an overlooked species with tusks just as valuable.

8. Boko Haram is Tracking and Assassinating Defectors in Nigeria’s North East. Here’s How 

Since the Nigerian government started the deradicalisation of terrorist deserters, we have extensively covered the struggle of reintegration that they face. But this report is different, it explores a challenge that is not often spoken about: the assassination of terrorists deserters by the groups they were once loyal to. Boko Haram, for instance, has created a spy network that tracks its defectors and assassinates them or forces them to return to their enclaves. 

Through interviews with some deserters, we revealed how this approach has increased issues of recidivism and its impact on the Operation Safe Corridor programme. 

9. The Intersection Between Healthcare and Loyalty to Terror Groups in Nigeria  

In last year’s Atypical List, we featured the story of Mariam, who we used to represent women as willing participants in terror. We spoke to her again recently, and she is on the brink of recidivism. The recent USAID funding cut is making it difficult for her to access the anti-retroviral medications that were the very reason why she defected.

10. To Those We Miss

When we report on missing persons, we often tell you how they went missing and how their families are faring. So, we thought, how about we give the families of these missing persons the mic and allow them to bare their minds unfiltered? This gave birth to this heartwarming video, where families sent words to their loved ones who have gone missing, some for decades. 

On December 16, Sudanese political parties, armed movements, civil society organisations, and prominent political figures signed a nine-point political roadmap in Nairobi, presenting it as a civilian-led initiative aimed at ending Sudan’s war and restoring a democratic transition.

Framed as an antiwar, pro-peace platform, it seeks to position civilians as a “third pole” against the two military actors in Sudan’s conflict: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Its authors say it represents an attempt to reclaim political agency for civilians after months of marginalisation by armed actors and foreign mediators, even though the declaration does not outline any concrete steps towards military reform.

The roadmap reignited longstanding debates within Sudanese political and civic circles about representation, legitimacy, and the persistent dominance of elite-driven civilian politics.

The roadmap

The Nairobi declaration emerged after a statement released by the Quad – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States – in September.

The Quad statement called for an immediate three-month truce to lead to a permanent ceasefire, humanitarian access to help civilians, and the creation of a political process for a civilian transition.

It also emphasised excluding remnants of former President Omar al-Bashir’s regime and reforming Sudan’s security forces under civilian oversight, all points that the Nairobi declaration echoed.

The Nairobi signatories included the National Umma Party, the Sudanese Congress Party, civil society organisations – including the Darfur Lawyers Association and the Coordination of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees – and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abdelwahid al-Nur.

Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who led Sudan’s transitional civilian government from al-Bashir’s overthrow in 2019 until the October 2021 military coup by the SAF and the RSF working in concert, also signed the declaration.

It was likewise endorsed by al-Nur, longtime leader of the SLM-AW armed group that controls Jebel Marra in Darfur and has historically rejected what he describes as “elite-driven” political settlements.

Falling short

Sudanese researcher Hamid Khalafallah told Al Jazeera that despite the intent to present a civilian leadership, the declaration falls short of reflecting Sudan’s broader civic movement.

The Nairobi coalition, he argued, mirrors earlier civilian formations that failed to connect with Sudanese citizens, particularly those most affected by the war.

“It’s in many ways a reproduction of former groups that have … struggled to represent the Sudanese people,” he said. “It’s still very much an elite group that does politics in the same way they always have.”

Although resistance committees – neighbourhood groups that emerged from Sudan’s protest movement and helped topple al-Bashir in 2019 – were referenced in the declaration, no committees formally endorsed or signed it.

Drafts were reportedly shared with some grassroots groups, but the process advanced without waiting for collective deliberation – reinforcing concerns that civilians on the ground remain politically instrumentalised rather than empowered.

While al-Nur’s participation was hailed by some as a breakthrough, Khalafallah questioned the underlying motivation, arguing that his inclusion was intended to counterbalance rival military-aligned forces rather than transform civilian politics.

Before the Nairobi declaration, there were three main civilian coalitions in Sudan, each aligned with a warring party or accused of such an alliance.

Tasis is the coalition of political parties and armed movements that was founded in February 2025, before forming the RSF’s parallel government in July 2025, while the Democratic Bloc is a grouping of parties and armed groups aligned with the SAF.

Finally comes Hamdok’s Sumoud, comprising political parties and civil society organisations and accused by SAF of supporting the RSF.

Europe’s one-track civilian strategy

European officials have distanced themselves from the Nairobi initiative.

A senior European Union diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that Brussels does not see the Nairobi roadmap as the foundation for a unified civilian process.

“We would like to see only one civilian process, that’s why we are helping the African Union [AU],” the source said. “Everything else is a distraction, like this Nairobi one.”

According to the EU official, the priority is not multiplying civilian platforms but consolidating them under a single credible framework, led by the AU and broadly accepted by Sudanese society.

“Our aim is to create a credible third pole – versus RSF and SAF,” the source said. “An inclusive one, supported by most Sudanese citizens.”

The EU plans to build a broad coalition that can take the lead after the Quad’s humanitarian truce and ceasefire proposals are accepted by the SAF and the RSF, including reforms placing security forces under civilian-led oversight.

The EU’s language reflects growing frustration among international actors with Sudan’s fragmented civilian landscape, while insisting that abandoning it would legitimise military rule by default.

“Of course, we are not naive that civilians will take over tomorrow,” the source said. “But we have to stand for our values.”

The EU official was blunt in assessing the conduct of Sudan’s warring parties, rejecting narratives that frame either side as a governing authority.

“I would not call what RSF does in Darfur ‘governing’, SAF is a bit better – but not much,” the source said.

“Look at the oil deal they did,” the official added. “Money is important; people are not.”

They referred to the latest agreement between the SAF and the RSF – under South Sudanese mediation – that both would withdraw from the Heglig oil facility, with South Sudanese troops deployed to secure the refinery following SAF’s pullout and the RSF’s capture of the site.

Warring parties as spoilers?

US-Africa policy expert Cameron Hudson told Al Jazeera that the Nairobi declaration appears to mimic the Quad’s recent statement, effectively presenting to the international community a roadmap that aligns with pre-existing objectives to gain Quad support.

“My sense is that the Nairobi declaration reverse engineers what the Quad has said,” Hudson said, suggesting that the initiative is designed more to attract international endorsement than to build genuine domestic consensus.

Hudson warned that this approach mishandles the sequencing of Sudan’s political transition, “prematurely” linking ceasefire efforts with reforms of the army or other political changes, arguing that these should remain on separate tracks until violence subsides.

“If what the Quad wants is an unconditional ceasefire, then it needs to pursue that, not create opportunities to trade a ceasefire for political assurances during a transition,” he said.

“For that reason, it is premature to be talking about reforming the army or other political reforms. These should remain in separate tracks for now.”

The tension is stark. The Quad and the European Union increasingly state that neither the SAF nor the RSF should have a political future and that remnants of the Bashir regime must be excluded entirely.

Yet both armed forces remain indispensable to any cessation of hostilities, creating an unresolved contradiction at the heart of international strategy.

Fighting has resumed hours before the countries’ foreign ministers meet in Malaysia to discuss steps to de-escalate hostilities.

London, United Kingdom – Two Palestine Action-affiliated remand prisoners on hunger strike have been taken to hospital, according to a family member and a friend, adding to fears that the young Britons refusing food in protest could die at any moment.

Twenty-eight-year-old Kamran Ahmed, who is being held at Pentonville prison in London, was hospitalised on Saturday, his sister, Shahmina Alam, told Al Jazeera.

Amu Gib, 30, who has not eaten food for 50 days at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, was taken to hospital on Friday, said the Prisoners for Palestine group and friend Nida Jafri, who is in regular contact with them. Gib uses the pronoun they.

Ahmed and Gib are among six detainees protesting across five prisons over their alleged involvement in break-ins at the United Kingdom’s subsidiary of the Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in Bristol and a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire.

They deny the charges against them, such as burglary and violent disorder.

“It’s day 42 [of Ahmed’s hunger strike], and at this point, there’s significant risk of organ damage,” said his sister, Alam. “We know that he’s rapidly been losing weight in the last few days, losing up to half a kilogram [1.1lbs] a day.”

Ahmed’s last recorded weight was 60kg (132lbs).

When Al Jazeera first interviewed Alam on December 12, Ahmed, who is 180cm (5′ 11”), weighed 64kg (141lbs), having entered prison at a healthy 74kg (163lbs). On Thursday, Alam told journalists at a news conference in London that he weighed 61.5kg (136lbs).

Ahmed’s speech was slurred in a call with the family on Friday, said Alam. He is said to be suffering from high ketone levels and chest pains.

“Honestly, I don’t know how he’s going to come out of this one,” said Alam.

It is the third time Ahmed has been hospitalised since he joined the hunger strike.

‘Critical stage’

The hunger strikers’ demands include immediate bail, the right to a fair trial and the de-proscription of Palestine Action, which accuses the UK government of complicity in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. The UK government banned Palestine Action in July, branding it a “terror” group, a label that applies to groups such as ISIL (ISIS).

The protesters have called for an end to their alleged censorship in prison, accusing authorities of withholding mail, calls and books. They are also urging that all Elbit sites be closed.

The six are expected to be held for more than a year until their trial dates, well beyond the UK’s six-month pre-trial detention limit.

Qesser Zuhrah, a 20-year-old who has refused food for 50 days, is also in hospital, having lost 13 percent of her body weight, according to her lawyers. The other protesters are Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha and Lewie Chiaramello, who is diabetic and refuses food every other day.

There was no immediate comment from either Pentonville or HMP Bronzefield.

‘I’m scared’

Gib called their friend, Jafri, on Thursday from prison, telling her they needed a wheelchair to attend a doctor’s appointment where their vital signs would be checked.

Prison staff at first “refused” to provide a wheelchair, and later, after offering one, “refused to push” it, Jafri said. “So they laid there with … no check of their vitals on day 47 of their hunger strike,” Jafri said.

When they are hospitalised, the prisoners are unable to call their loved ones, as they can from jail.

Jafri told Al Jazeera, “I’m scared they’re there alone with no phones and no calls allowed.”

Gib, who has lost more than 10kg (22lbs), is below the normal range for most health indicators, which is “highly concerning” for their immune system, their lawyers have said.

Prison officials have “failed to provide [Gib] with thiamine [a vitamin] consistently, and Amu is feeling the effects on their cognitive function”, the lawyers said.

Gib’s eyes are also “sore with the bright [prison] lights”, Jafri said.

The lawyers have demanded a meeting with Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy, hoping his intervention could be life-saving. Thousands of everyday Britons, hundreds of doctors and dozens of MPs have urged Lammy to heed their call. But so far, he has refused, leading critics to accuse the UK government of wilfully ignoring the issue.

The UK media have also been accused of downplaying the protest and its dangers.

The protest is said to be the largest coordinated hunger strike in UK prisons since 1981, when Irish Republican inmates led by Bobby Sands refused food.

“In contrast to the robust media coverage of the Irish hunger strikes in the 1980s, the Palestine Action hunger strikes have been largely met with media silence,” wrote Bart Cammaerts, a professor of politics and communication at the London School of Economics.

“What will it take for the British media to pay attention to the plight of jailed pro-Palestinian activists? The death of an activist? Or the awakening of a moral conscience?”

US and Ukrainian envoys say “productive and constructive” talks have taken place in Miami, but there still appears to be no major breakthrough in efforts to end Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, issued a joint statement with the top Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov, after three days of meetings with European allies.

The pair said the meeting focused on aligning positions on a 20-point plan, a “multilateral security guarantee framework”, a “US Security guarantee framework for Ukraine” and an “economic & prosperity plan”.

Separate talks have been taking place in Miami between the US and the Russian envoy, Kirill Dmitriev.

“Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity,” Witkoff and Umerov said in a statement.

The meetings are the latest step in weeks of diplomatic activity, sparked by the leaking of a 28-point US peace plan which shocked Ukraine and its European allies for appearing to favour Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago.

Witkoff said representatives from Russia had met himself and other US officials in southern Florida, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Witkoff said the meetings with Russian envoy Dmitriev were also “productive and constructive” and that “Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine”.

Trump has been pushing Ukraine and Russia to come to an agreement on ending the war, but so far the two countries have been unable to agree on major issues, including Moscow’s demand to keep land it has already seized.

US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to capture all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire, six sources familiar with US intelligence told the Reuters news agency.

This comes says after Putin told the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg that there will be no more wars after Ukraine, if Russia is treated with respect.

“There won’t be any operations if you treat us with respect, if you respect our interests just as we’ve always tried to respect yours,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack damaged two vessels and two piers in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, Russian officials said on Monday.

The damage led to a big fire, but Russian authorities say all crew were safely evacuated. Some reports say oil infrastructure was targeted.

These are the key developments from day 1,397 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Monday, December 22:

Fighting

• A Russian attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed a 49-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. The killings took place in the village of Izyum.
• Russian attacks also killed one person in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, and one person in the southeastern Zaporizhia region, local officials reported.
• Russian forces have shelled the Zaporizhia region nearly 5,000 times over the past week, wounding 60 people and damaging hundreds of buildings, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov.
• Overall, Russian forces have launched about 1,300 drones, nearly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and nine missiles towards Ukraine over the past week, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• Ukraine’s ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, accused Russian forces of “illegally” detaining about 50 residents of the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region and “forcibly deporting” them to Russian territory.
• The Kyiv Independent, citing Ukrainian authorities, reported that wreckage from a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia damaged a pipeline in the Krasnodar Krai region.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces shot down 29 Ukrainian drones in the past 24-hour period.
• The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that Russian forces shot down 252 drones over the Russian-occupied Donbas region, using the “Donbas Dome electronic warfare system” over the past week, the TASS news agency reported.

Politics and diplomacy

• US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with a Ukrainian delegation, led by senior official Rustem Umerov and European officials, as the US continued to host talks in Miami, Florida, on a prospective peace deal for Russia’s war on Ukraine for a third day on Sunday.
• Witkoff said in a post on X late on Sunday that the talks with the Ukrainians and Europeans had been “productive and constructive” and focused on a “shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States and Europe”.
• In a second post about two hours later, Witkoff said that the US had also had “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev over the past two days.
• “Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine [and] highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security,” Witkoff said.
• Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, said that changes made by European countries and Ukraine to the US’s proposals for an end to Russia’s war did not improve prospects for peace.
• “I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and Ukrainians have made or are trying to make definitely do not improve the document and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace,” Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president was ready to talk with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, after the latter said Europe should reach out to Moscow to end the war.
• Macron’s office welcomed the Russian statement, saying: “It is welcome that the Kremlin has publicly agreed to this approach. We will decide in the coming days on the best way to proceed.”
• India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that “202 Indian nationals are believed to have been recruited into the Russian armed forces” during Russia’s war on Ukraine. It said Russian authorities had reported that 26 had been killed and seven were missing.
• Sweden’s customs service said on Sunday that Swedish authorities boarded a Russian freighter that anchored in Swedish waters on Friday after developing engine problems, to inspect the cargo. The owners of the vessel, the Adler, are on the European Union’s sanctions list, Martin Hoglund, spokesman at the customs authority, said.
• “Shortly after 0100 last night [00:00 GMT] we boarded the ship with support from the Swedish Coast Guard and the police service in order to make a customs inspection,” Hoglund said. “The inspection is still ongoing.”

Barca punish 10-man hosts Villarreal to win eighth consecutive La Liga game and move four points clear at the summit.

Barcelona wingers Raphinha and Lamine Yamal guided the Catalan giants four points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win at 10-man Villarreal.

Brazil international Raphinha won and converted an early penalty on Sunday before Villarreal’s Renato Veiga was sent off before half-time for a late lunge on teenager Yamal.

The 18-year-old slotted home Barca’s second midway through the second half, as Hansi Flick’s side restored their advantage on Real Madrid, who are second, and won an eighth consecutive league game.

Villarreal are fourth after Atletico Madrid moved ahead of them with a 3-0 win at Girona earlier on.

Flick launched into an impassioned defence of Raphinha on Saturday after he was not included in FIFA’s ‘The Best’ team of the year earlier in the week, and the winger quickly repaid his coach.

Raphinha produced an all-action display at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica, where the match was played instead of in Miami, after La Liga’s plans to take this game to the United States were scrapped in October.

Barca were poor defensively and struggled in their build-up play, but the quality of wingers Raphinha and Yamal and their goalkeeper Joan Garcia’s outstanding performance decided an entertaining encounter.

Jules Kounde blocked Villarreal striker Ayoze Perez’s shot before Raphinha drew a foul from Santi Comesana to win a penalty at the other end.

The winger dispatched it confidently and nearly added the second with a superb effort from distance, which crashed back off the bar.

Kounde deflected a cross into his own net as Villarreal fought back, but the goal was disallowed for offside in the build-up.

Barca stopper Joan Garcia saved from Tajon Buchanan after an Alejandro Balde mistake as Villarreal almost levelled.

The visitors’ job was made easier by Veiga’s needless red card for an ugly, late lunge on Yamal before the interval.

The champions got their second goal after a scramble in the box, with Frenkie de Jong teeing up Yamal to fire home after 63 minutes.

Joan Garcia made stunning saves to deny Rafa Marin and Georges Mikautadze to help Barca end 2026 with three points and a third clean sheet in their last three games across all competitions.

Kounde went off hurt before the end, potentially adding to Flick’s problems at the back following Andreas Christensen’s diagnosis with a partially torn knee ligament.

Barca finish the year in better shape than rivals Real Madrid, who beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday, but still have plenty of their own concerns to worry about.

Barcelona captain de Jong said his side had achieved their objective of finishing the year on top of the league and will rest before the league resumes in early January.

“Villarreal are very quick on the counter; they’ve got talented players up front. We could’ve managed to be a bit better… We have to organise ourselves a bit better,” he said.

“But I felt out there on the pitch that we were superior. Not necessarily comfortable, but I think we deserved to win.”

Villarreal captain Dani Parejo said he was pleased with how his team performed, apart from conceding the penalty.

“We had loads of really good chances; we could have been more than one goal up at halftime,” he said.

“It feels like everything is going against us at the moment; teams are scoring against us with not much, but we are pleased with the image we have shown, how we played with 10 men against a great team. We showed great attitude.”

Tensions are growing in Bangladesh after the killing of a student leader of last year’s uprising that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Elections for a new government are due in February.

So, how volatile is the political situation?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Taqbir Huda – human rights lawyer and Clarendon Scholar at Oxford University

Asif Shahan – professor of development studies at the University of Dhaka

Fahmida Khatun – executive director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Bangladesh

The US Coast Guard is in “active pursuit” of another vessel in international waters near Venezuela as tensions in the region continue to escalate.

US authorities have already seized two oil tankers this month – one of them on Saturday.

Sunday’s pursuit related to a “sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion”, a US official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”

Washington has accused Venezuela of using oil money to fund drug-related crime, while Venezuela has described the tanker seizures as “theft and kidnapping”.

US President Donald Trump last week ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the country.

Venezuela – home to the world largest proven oil reserves – has accused the Trump administration of trying to steal its resources.

US authorities have not yet officially confirmed Sunday’s pursuit, and the exact location and name of the tanker involved is not yet known.

As of last week, more than 30 of the 80 ships in Venezuelan waters or approaching the country were under US sanctions, according to data compiled by TankerTrackers.com.

Saturday’s seizure saw a Panamanian-flagged tanker boarded by a specialised tactical team in international waters.

That ship is not on the US Treasury’s list of sanctioned vessels, but the US has said it was carrying “sanctioned PDVSA oil”. In the past five years the ship also sailed under the flags of Greece and Liberia, according to records seen by BBC Verify.

“These acts will not go unpunished,” the Venezuelan government said in response to Saturday’s incident. It added that it intended to file a complaint with the United Nations Security Council and “other multilateral agencies and the governments of the world”.

Venezuela is highly dependent on revenues from its oil exports to finance its government spending.

In recent weeks, the US has built up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea and has carried out deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats, killing around 100 people.

Sanctions also were placed on some of President Maduro’s relatives and on businesses associated with what the US calls his illegitimate regime.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday: “It is clear that the current status quo with the Venezuelan regime is intolerable for the United States.”

He added that the goal of the Trump administration is to change that dynamic.

His comments were criticised by Venezuela’s foreign minister who accused Rubio dragging the US down the path of “regime changes”.

It has provided no public evidence that these vessels were carrying drugs, and the military has come under increasing scrutiny from Congress over the strikes.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a designated-terrorist organisation called Cartel de los Soles, which he denies.