US – The Pentagon has said the number of troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) after an Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq on 8 January has risen to 50.

The new total is 16 more than previously announced.

President Donald Trump initially said no Americans were injured and cited this in his decision not to retaliate against Iran.

The attack came amid tensions over the US killing of an Iranian general.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Lt Col Thomas Campbell said that 31 of the injured were treated in Iraq and had returned to duty, including those most recently diagnosed.

Eighteen others were sent to Germany for further evaluation and treatment, the spokesman said, while another was sent to Kuwait and had returned to duty. (BBC)…[+]

LYBIA – French President Emmanuel Macron has accused his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of breaking his promise to stay out of Libya.

Mr Macron said Turkish warships accompanied by Syrian mercenaries had been spotted arriving in Libyan.

Mr Erdogan has not responded to the allegations.

Earlier this month, world leaders pledged not to interfere in Libya’s civil conflict and vowed to uphold a UN arms embargo.

Turkey supports the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli while France has nurtured ties with the government’s rival, the rebel General Khalifa Haftar.

Since April 2019, the GNA has fought back against an offensive launched by fighters loyal to Gen Haftar.

Mr Macron said the presence of Turkish warships was “a clear violation” of what President Erdogan had pledged in Berlin on 19 January during a conference on Libya with other world leaders. (BBC)…[+]

FRANCE –   France has pledged to outlaw the practice of culling unwanted male chicks by the end of 2021, as part of animal welfare reforms.

About seven billion male chicks – not wanted for meat or eggs – are killed around the world each year, usually in shredding machines or by gas.

The government said new methods were emerging that would make it possible to test the sex of embryos inside the egg.

But some campaigners said the reforms did not go far enough.

Mr Guillaume said he hoped a method would soon be developed that would allow the gender of a chick to be determined before it had hatched.

Researchers have been working on the issue for years, but are yet to come up with a solution that works on an industrial scale. (BBC)…[+]

TAIWAN – Taiwan reported its first case of domestic transmission of the new coronavirus and raised its travel warning for China, saying people should avoid going unless absolutely necessary following the outbreak of the virus there.

Taiwan and China have close economic and cultural ties, and the island has reported eight confirmed cases of the virus. All of the more than 100 deaths from the virus have been in China, centered on Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.

Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre said the latest patient, the eighth, was the first case of transmission on the island as in all the previous cases the people had been infected first in China.

The new patient, a man in his 50s from central Taiwan, was infected by his wife after she returned from working in China and before she was subsequently diagnosed, the command center said. The man is in a stable condition, it said.(Reuters)…[+]

RUSSIA – Russia expelled a Japanese journalist last month for trying to obtain secret information related to military capabilities in the Russian Far East, the RIA news agency reported.

The expelled journalist worked for Kyodo News, the Japanese agency said on Tuesday, denying the accusation of attempted espionage.

Kyodo did not identify the reporter but said he was detained on December 25 in Vladivostok and released after about five hours of questioning.

The reporter was told to leave Russia in 72 hours, Kyodo said.

“For safety reasons, he left the country the following day. It is our understanding that he was engaged in standard reporting activities,” Kyodo said in an emailed statement.

Russia’s foreign ministry summoned a Japanese embassy official to make an official diplomatic protest over the incident, RIA reported.

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it could not comment on the matter. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

LEBANON  – Lebanon’s Christian religious authorities urged anti-government protesters to give a new government breathing room to tackle a dire financial crisis, condemning what they described as mob assaults on security forces in recent marches.

Many demonstrators have rejected the government formed last week by the Iran-backed Shi’ite group Hezbollah and its allies without participation of major political parties including the second-largest Christian party, Lebanese Forces (LF).

Demonstrations that began last October against a political elite blamed for steering Lebanon into its worst crisis in decades have turned violent as some protesters clashed with security forces at barricades around parliament and government headquarters in central Beirut to demand an independent cabinet.

“The Fathers stress the right for peaceful demonstrations to demand reform, but strongly reject the mobs on the streets and squares, especially in Beirut, lest the mobilization veers away from its noble goals”. (Reuters)…[+]

SAUDI ARABIA  –  Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Israelis were not welcome to visit the kingdom after Israel decreed that Israeli citizens could visit Saudi Arabia under certain circumstances, CNN reported.

“Our policy is fixed. We do not have relations with the state of Israel and Israeli passport holders cannot visit the kingdom at the current time,” the U.S. broadcaster quoted Prince Faisal bin Farhan as saying.

A statement from Israel’s interior minister on Sunday said Israelis – if invited and permitted by Saudi authorities – would be allowed to travel there for religious reasons on pilgrimage or for up to nine days for business reasons such as investment or meetings.

Israelis, mostly Muslims going on pilgrimage, have for years been visiting the kingdom, which hosts the two holiest sites in Islam, but usually with special permission or using foreign passports. (Reuters)…[+]

FRANCE/US – France hopes “good sense” will prevail and the United States will not slash support for French military operations in West Africa, where groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are expanding their foothold.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the appeal as Defence Minister Florence Parly was due to meet U.S. counterparts on Monday to discuss the crisis in the Sahel, a band of scrubland south of the Sahara.

The Pentagon announced plans last year to withdraw hundreds of military personnel from Africa as it redirects resources to address challenges from China and Russia after two decades focused on counter-terrorism operations. Those cuts could deepen following an ongoing global troop review spearheaded by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

The possibility has alarmed France, which relies on U.S. intelligence and logistics for its 4,500-strong mission in the Sahel. (Reuters)…[+]

ZIMBABWE  –  In Zimbabwe’s second city Bulawayo, Abraham Kavalanjila and his two sons give up waiting for the water to come back on and trek out into the maize fields to draw on an open well.

They know it is risky drinking untreated water from a borehole used by so many other people. “We have no option. This water is dangerous as you can see, just check,” says Kavalanjila, pointing to a pile of human waste nearby.

City authorities say they have had to shut down water supplies for 96 hours a week – more than half the time, often in two-day blocks – to cope with a sharp fall in reservoir levels caused by the country’s worst drought in years.

The shortages have exacerbated an economic crisis marked by shortages of foreign exchange, fuel, medicines and power that has triggered protests and political unrest. (Reuters)…[+]

Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, has been accused of embezzlement and money laundering by prosecutors in Angola. Attorney General Helder Pitta Gros said the allegations related to her time as chairwoman of state oil firm Sonangol.

He called on Ms Dos Santos to return to Angola and face potential criminal charges.

Ms Dos Santos recently denied alleged corruption revealed by leaked documents.

The billionaire, who currently lives in the UK, also told the BBC she was considering running for Angola’s presidency. Her father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was Angola’s president for 38 years before he stepped down in 2017. Separately, another suspect in the case who managed Sonangol’s account at the small Portuguese bank EuroBic, was found dead at his house in Lisbon on Wednesday, Portuguese media said quoting a police source. The source said “everything” suggested that the death of Nuno Ribeiro da Cunha was suicide.(bbc)…[+]