Mali has reimposed a state of emergency for the final ten days of 2015 to head off any terrorist threats following last month's deadly attack in the capital, Bamako, AFP reports.
Mali previously imposed a state of emergency following that attack on November 20, in which two militants killed 20 people including 14 foreigners in the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako.
Saudi Arabia's bolder approach to Syria has been prompted by its rival Iran's growing influence, AFP reports.
AFP notes Saudi Arabia's recent efforts to bring Syria's armed and political opposition groups together by hosting talks in Riyadh and its announcement of a 34-national coalition against IS.
The Combined Joint Task Force has published the latest details of the U.S.-led coalition's strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq on December 21.
The Combined Joint Task Force also explained its definition of a "strike":
A strike, as defined in the CJTF releases, means one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect for that location. So having a single aircraft deliver a single weapon against a lone [IS] vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of buildings and vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making that facility (or facilities) harder or impossible to use. Accordingly, CJTF-OIR does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.
Russia's State Duma has adopted in its first reading amendments to the law on the Federal Security Service (FSB), according to which intelligence services will be granted powers to take the fingerprints of any citizen deemed to be a potential terrorist when that individual crosses the border, BBC Russian reports.
Ernest Valeyev, deputy chairman of the State Duma security and anti-corruption committee, said that these measures were linked to the emergence of threats associated with the IS group.
"The intelligence services have certain information about individuals who are cooperating with terror groups, mostly IS. When these individuals cross the border, biometric data will be taken from them," Valeyev said.
Photographs of the IS group's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa today from the activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently.
Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led military operation against IS in Syria and Iraq, is about to give a press briefing.
Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led military operation against IS in Syria and Iraq, is giving a press briefing from Baghdad.
Here are some of the main points:
Today's assault by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) on Ramadi, Iraq:
-- today ISF forces bridged the Euphrates river, the Tharthar canal using an improved ribbon bridge, moving forces north into central Ramadi.
Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led military operation against IS in Syria and Iraq, is giving a press briefing from Baghdad.
Here are some of the main points:
Today's assault by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) on Ramadi, Iraq:
-- Tough fighting ahead in Ramadi's dense urban terrain.
-- Buildings in this terrain can be booby trapped
-- Still a long way to go before we can declare Ramadi is clear
Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led military operation against IS in Syria and Iraq, is giving a press briefing from Baghdad.
Here are some of the main points:
-- Coalition strikes supported ISF north of Baiji in Iraq at the Makhoul mountains
Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led military operation against IS in Syria and Iraq, is giving a press briefing from Baghdad.
Here are some of the main points:
-- In eastern Syrian deserts, continuing with Operation Tidal Wave 2, tackling IS's illicit oil revenue network.
-- Serves as a good reminder that we are continuing to apply pressure to IS across their so-called caliphate