U.S. to allow Turkish advance into Syria in reverse of policy

It has been a year since Ethoipian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed triggered a civil war by sending in troops to the northern region of Tigray after local TPLF forces seized military bases there. The country is still mired in conflict.

The Iranian military has launched yearly exercises aimed at "responding to aggression." The war games come as Iranian negotiators are set to meet EU and US representatives at the end of the month for nuclear deal talks.

As the yearlong civil war in Ethiopia's Tigray region escalates, Kenya and South Sudan are on high alert.

The International Criminal Court said it was suspending the investigation it launched in September to look into a deferral request by Manila. Human rights groups slammed the decision, urging it to continue work.

Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki slammed Belarus' efforts to use migrants as "weapons" against the bloc ahead of talks with EU leaders. He also accused Belarus of having the "back-room support" of Russian President Putin.

France on Tuesday became the latest country to advise citizens to leave war-torn Ethiopia as Tigrayan rebels claimed to be advancing closer to the capital Addis Ababa.

Twenty years ago, Portugal was plagued with heroin addiction and HIV infections. The country decided to take a new approach to the problem, becoming the first in the world to decriminalise drug taking. Since then, drug users are no longer treated as criminals to be locked up in jail, but as people who need medical care and supervision. The gamble has paid off, as our team found out.

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said it was time to reassess Western policy vis-à-vis Syria and that the approach followed in recent years had failed. “The only end to the crisis is a political solution,” he added. The Jordanian minister also hinted that his country was favourable to bringing Syria back into the Arab League.

German jihadist Nils D. has been found guilty of torturing a man to death while serving as guard at an "Islamic State" prison.

'We don't think Syria is in any way a safe place,' says UNHCR spokesman After a Syrian journalist was arrested in Jordan this month some media freedom advocates linked the case to a recent thaw in Jordan-Syria relations, suggesting Syria had asked Jordan to silence opposition voices.

Fighting continues in Ethiopia, where rebel groups are advancing on the capital Addis Ababa. While much has been said about the northern front, where the army is at war with the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF), another armed group – allied to Tigrayans – is fighting from the south and west of the country. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) now controls a large swathe of territory. Together, the TDF and OLA plan to topple the government and take over the capital. The government accuses these rebel groups of committing crimes against civilians, including several massacres. Our regional correspondent reports.