Tens of thousands of people have been removed from eastern Aleppo since Dec. 15. Before the last buses left on Thursday, the Red Cross said that 34,000 people had left the city, including 4,000 fighters who had left in their own vehicles the previous night. A separate convoy was waiting to carry residents out of two pro-government villages in neighboring Idlib Province that have been surrounded by rebels for years. It was unclear late Thursday whether the convoy had completed its trip.The seizure of all of Aleppo by Mr. Assad and his allies signals a turning point in the nearly six-year conflict. (NYT http://nyti.ms/2hN2OBb)
Bad water…Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos faces an acute water crisis that is creating unacceptable conditions for millions of people, according to an independent expert appointed by the United Nations. (Reuters https://yhoo.it/2igtL0Y)
Silver lining…India’s rupee recall appears to have had “a massive impact” on the country’s human trafficking industry, according to advocacy and rescue groups, with some reporting reductions of up to 90% in the number of women and girls being admitted to their shelters. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2h6pY1q)
Top Stories
Four Iraqi aid workers and at least seven civilians were killed by mortar fire this week during aid distribution in Mosul, the United Nations said, as the campaign to retake the city from Islamic State continued to make slow and punishing progress. (VOA http://bit.ly/2iklLIp)
At least six people were killed and 150 wounded in clashes between Pygmies and Bantus this week in southeastern Congo, a local activist said on Thursday, the latest flare-up in a three-year ethnic conflict that has killed dozens. (Reuters https://yhoo.it/2ikdNPD)
Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte called a top U.N. official an “idiot” and “joker” on Thursday for urging that murder investigations be launched against the president after he admitted personally killing people. (Reuters https://yhoo.it/2ikeKrf)
Egypt asked the United Nations to “indefinitely” postpone a vote Thursday on a resolution demanding an end Israeli settlement building in Palestinian territories. (VOA http://bit.ly/2hMfHeM)
A humanitarian organization that treats deadly multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in North Korea is being impeded by delays because of heightened inter-Korean tensions and sanctions imposed on the Kim Jong Un government for its ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile development programs. (VOA http://bit.ly/2igiSfQ)
Ghana’s President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo said on Wednesday he would focus on restoring stability, cutting taxes and interest rates and spurring double-digit growth, in his first comments on the economy since winning a Dec. 7 vote. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2ikhpks)
The Obama administration said Thursday it is officially scrapping a post-9/11 requirement for immigrant men from predominantly Muslim countries to register with the federal government. The U.S. hasn’t been using the program since 2011, but a top immigration adviser to President-elect Donald Trump has spoken of renewing it. (AP http://bit.ly/2hMkpJA)
Chinese roads saw 58,000 deaths in more than 180,000 traffic accidents in 2015, authorities said, adding that poor enforcement of traffic laws still posed a threat to road safety in the country. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2hM8tqZ)
Some 4,000 jailed Colombian guerrillas are waiting anxiously on an amnesty bill that would allow them to leave behind long prison sentences and rejoin their comrades as part of a peace deal. (AP https://yhoo.it/2ikbuvY)
Temperatures around the North Pole surged close to melting point on Thursday as a freak blast of warm air blanketed an Arctic region usually deep frozen in mid-winter darkness, scientists said. (Reuters https://yhoo.it/2ik6TcW)
Opinion/Blogs
Podcast: What Russia Wants (Global Dispatches http://bit.ly/2hN33Ms )
How to save forests? Run them like a business, says this former Wall Street man. (PRI http://bit.ly/2ig1o31)
Climate Change Needn’t Spell Doom for Uganda’s Coffee Farmers (IPS http://bit.ly/2igafSx)
Africa: Development Is On Firm Footing – Here’s How to Take It Into Overdrive (The Conversation http://bit.ly/2ik99kE)
Ten Predictions for 2017 (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2hM3oza)
Will the International Community Squander its Resources in Burkina Faso? (The Global Anticorruption Blog http://bit.ly/2igmH4A)
Global development’s winners and losers of 2016 (Devex http://bit.ly/2h6ijjy)
Program in Bolivia lowers malnutrition but increases prevalence of overweight children. Where did it go wrong? (Development that Works http://bit.ly/2h6xxoH)
