7 January 2016 | Guardian
Libya
Zliten: 47 people killed and 118 injured in apparent suicide bombing at police training centre
Bomb kills dozens at Libyan police training centre (Media Report, English)
6 January 2016 | Guardian
South Sudan
1,700 child soldiers released from Cobra armed faction; information on prospects for former child soldiers
Ishmael Beah hails South Sudan's former child soldiers as future leaders (Media Report, English)
5 January 2016 | Guardian
Syrian Arab Republic
According to UN report, Syrian regime forces have used chemical weapons in at least 11 incidents
UN chemical weapons watchdog finds traces of sarin gas exposure in Syria (Media Report, English)
5 January 2016 | Guardian
China
Hong Kong: 5 book sellers, who sold books critical of leaders of Chinese Communist party, presumably abducted
'Smear campaign' against Chinese president linked to disappearance of Hong Kong booksellers (Media Report, English)
4 January 2016 | Guardian
Afghanistan, India
3 attackers killed in shootout with security forces at Indian consulate in Mazar-e Sharif; several people injured as Taliban detonate truck bomb at compound in Kabul housing foreigners; 7 Indian soldiers killed as Islamists attack Indian air force base in Pathankot in Indian Punjab state
Siege near India's Afghan consulate ends after 25 hours (Media Report, English)
4 January 2016 | Guardian
Saudi Arabia
Shia cleric Sheikh Nir al-Nimr executed on 2 January 2016; he had been in detention since 2012 and convicted of sedition, disobedience and carrying arms
Nimr's execution may compound Saudi Arabia's problems (Media Report, English)
4 January 2016 | Guardian
El Salvador
According to official figures, 6,657 people killed in 2015, as mass killings and escalations of violence between gang members rise
Violent deaths in El Salvador spiked 70% in 2015, figures reveal (Media Report, English)
4 January 2016 | Guardian
Saudi Arabia
Commentary on reverberations of execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr (protests and arson attack on Saudi embassy in Iran; information on sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia Islam)
The Saudi execution will reverberate across the Muslim world (Media Report, English)
26 December 2015 | Osman, Borhan (Author), published by Guardian
Afghanistan
Article on increasing Taliban operations in Helmand province in 2015 (province's importance for opium poppy cultivation; strategic implications; Taliban control over several adjacent districts of other provinces)
Why capturing Helmand is top of the Taliban’s strategic goals (Media Report, English)
8 December 2015 | Washington Post (Author), published by Guardian
China
Xinjiang autonomous region and Tibet: Chinese authorities launch crackdown on Communist party members considered disloyal; according to local media, 355 party members punished in Xinjiang in 2014 for violating "political discipline"
China cracks down on aggrieved party cadres in Xinjiang and Tibet (Media Report, English)