The United States and Iran have welcomed breakthroughs in UN-brokered peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties, who agreed on Thursday to cease fighting for the vital port city of Hodeidah and withdraw their troops.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a statement on Twitter, called the ceasefire between the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels “encouraging”.
“The work ahead will not be easy, but we have seen what many considered improbable begin to take shape,” he said hours after UN announced the outcome of the week-long talks in Sweden.
“The end of these consultations can be the beginning of a new chapter for Yemen,” Pompeo said, adding: “Peace is possible.”
The US provides military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, where more than 14 million people are on the verge of famine following nearly four-years of war. The UN describes the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
WATCH: Yemen’s warring sides meet face-to-face at Sweden peace talks (2:31)
The week-long negotiations were the first between Yemen’s warring sides since 2016, and ended shortly before the US Senate dealt President Donald Trump a symbolic rebuke by voting to recommend an end to US support for the Saudi-led coalition.
Bahrem Ghasemi, spokesman for Iran‘s foreign ministry, called Thursday’s agreement “promising” and said Tehran hoped future negotiations, scheduled for January, would bring about a final agreement.
“This shows that Yemeni groups present in the talks well understand the sorry situation of Yemen’s people, and have preferred preventing the worsening of the country’s situation and the continuation of receiving humanitarian aid to their own interests,” Ghasemi said.
Prince Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, also welcomed the ceasefire in a series of posts on Twitter, saying it would “help bring back security to the region, including the security of the Red Sea, a vital waterway for international trade”.
Expressing the Saudi-led coalition’s strong support for the agreement, Prince Khalid said he hoped the Houthis would stop “working on behalf of the Iranian regime’s interests”.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said the deal on the Hodeidah port, a key gateway for aid and food imports, was a much-needed boost for its task of feeding millions of severely hungry Yemenis.
David Beasley, WFP executive director, said “any progress toward peace is good progress, as long as it helps the Yemeni people who have suffered so much in this conflict”.
Noting that Yemen imports nearly all its food and about 70 percent of that goes through Hodeidah’s port, he added that “what all of Yemen needs the most, though, is a permanent, lasting and full peace”.
Other measures agreed in Sweden included prisoner swaps and the opening of humanitarian corridors to Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city.
A number of key issues remain unresolved, however, and Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, said a framework for political negotiations would be discussed at the next round of talks at the end of January.
Meanwhile, Margot Wallstrom, Sweden‘s foreign minister, lauded the “positive spirit” of the peace talks.
“It takes concessions, it takes compromises and it takes some courage to get these discussions going and get good results in the end,” Wallstrom said at the closing of the talks.
Ever since the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, the Chargers have been looking up at the Chiefs in the AFC West. Even after the Bolts peeled off nine wins in 10 games following a 1-2 start, Kansas City’s victories overshadowed L.A.’s success.
On Thursday night, many expected the Chiefs would put the matter to rest. That Philip Rivers would continue to struggle at Arrowhead Stadium. That the Chargers would do what the Chargers have always done: come up short when the lights are brightest.
Instead, Rivers rallied his team from a 14-point deficit for the 11th time in his career, finding Mike Williams for a two-point conversion with four seconds left to stun Kansas City and set up a two-game race to the finish for the AFC West title and potentially the conference’s No. 1 seed.
In doing so, Rivers and the Chargers sent a message. It was one the team’s been sending all season—not that anyone was listening.
They are the most dangerous team in the AFC.
Peter Aiken/Getty Images
You read that correctly.
In the early going Thursday, it appeared that the only message that’d be sent was: “Chargers gotta Charger.” Rivers’ first pass was a terrible throw to Tyrell Williams that resulted in an interception. The Chiefs scored on their first two drives. Before the cheese on your nachos had time to congeal, it was 14-0 and looked like Kansas City would cruise.
However, the Chargers hung around. Despite a second bad throw from Rivers that the Chiefs picked off deep in their territory, the Los Angeles defense kept the Chargers from falling any further off the pace. It was 14-7 after two quarters. When Kansas City took the second-half kick and scored after a seven-play drive, L.A. answered.
Then came a 13-play, 73-yard drive aided by four Chargers penalties that took seven minutes, 55 seconds off the clock. That gave the Chiefs a 14-point lead about halfway through the final quarter, and it appeared the Chargers would again lose a huge game.
Except someone forgot to tell the Chargers. Rivers led the Bolts on an 11-play drive to get back within a score. The Chargers forced a three-and-out. And with 2:37 to go, L.A. had the ball with a chance.
Rivers engineered an eight-play, 60-yard drive that included overcoming a hold on the first snap and a fourth-down conversion. When Rivers found Mike Williams for the receiver’s third touchdown of the game with four seconds left, jaws hit the ground all over Arrowhead.
When Rivers hit Williams again for the two-point conversion that sealed the deal and shocked the Chiefs, those jaws fell clean off.
NFL Update @MySportsUpdate
#Chargers get the TD and 2-point conversion to take the lead. Mike Williams was WIDE OPEN. https://t.co/CW19Wr5dcc
(As an aside, if that conversion didn’t work, Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn would’ve been roasted for days. It’s how that works: If you’re successful, you’re a gutsy genius. If it’s not, you’re a shortsighted knucklehead. Ask Mike Vrabel.)
In news that should surprise no one, Rivers was jazzed after the win while he spoke to Kristina Pink of Fox Sports.
“This team just kept fighting,” Rivers said. “I had two terrible turnovers in the first half that I thought were gonna cost us. Every other category we held our own. We had more first downs, more time of possession and kept that dangerous offense off the field some. We ran the ball well without our two starting running backs. We just turned the ball over, and I thought it was going to cost us. But we overcame it. Heck of a team win.”
The Chargers overcame quite a lot in this game. There were the turnovers. Seven penalties—many at the worst time. As Rivers said, the Chargers entered the contest without tailbacks Melvin Gordon (knee) and Austin Ekeler (neck, concussion) and lost top wideout Keenan Allen to a hip injury early.
But rookie Justin Jackson led a ground game that picked up 119 yards on 24 carries. Williams had the best outing of his career with 95 combined rushing and receiving yards, three touchdowns and that game-winning two-pointer. Even Antonio Gates dialed back the clock and made some huge catches.
David Eulitt/Getty Images
Never mind that Melvin Ingram and the Los Angeles defense held the Chiefs 133.3 yards under their season average—in Kansas City.
The Chargers got big games from a number of players on both sides of the ball—and that’s what makes them so dangerous. This team is loaded and balanced.
When he’s healthy, the Chargers boast a top-five tailback in Gordon. A top-10 receiver in Allen. And a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback who’s having an MVP-caliber season in Rivers. And the Chargers have the depth at running back (with Ekeler and Jackson) and wideout (with Mike and Tyrell Williams—no relation) to keep moving the ball even when Gordon and Allen are out.
They also have the best defense of any of the AFC’s leading contenders—by a fair margin. With Joey Bosa back on the field, his batterymate, Ingram, appears to have recaptured last year’s form. Los Angeles has one of the leading Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates in safety Derwin James, the NFL‘s most perennially underrated cornerback in Casey Hayward and a rising star in cornerback Desmond King II.
The Chargers entered Week 15 eighth in total defense and seventh in scoring defense. Sixth in total offense and fifth in scoring offense. There isn’t another AFC contender that can boast top-10 rankings in all four of those categories. Not the Patriots. Not the Steelers. And not the defensively deficient Chiefs.
Now, this win, huge though it may be, may not be enough to capture the AFC West. By virtue of L.A.’s loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 11, the Chiefs have a better division record than the Chargers. They also have an easier final two games than L.A. The Chiefs will go to Seattle and face Oakland at home, while the Chargers will take on Baltimore at the StubHub Center and travel to Denver.
However, L.A. has won at Seattle. And at Pittsburgh. And now in Kansas City. It isn’t sweating a road trip.
Peter Aiken/Getty Images
This win did two things: It punched the Chargers’ ticket to the tournament for the first time since 2013. And it ratcheted up the pressure on every other division leader in the AFC to avoid the No. 4 seed at all costs.
Like the Steelers needed another reason to freak out.
Actually, the win did two more things: It cast off the notion that the 2018 Chargers were anything like past iterations of the team that couldn’t seal the deal. And it opened the eyes of people around the country to the fact that the Chargers are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Maybe the best team in the AFC.
The IRC’s list is topped by war-torn Yemen where a Saudi-UAE-led coalition is supporting government troops loyal President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in their fight against the Houthi rebels who control the capital, Sanaa, and other parts of the country. Over 24 million people remain in need of humanitarian assistance, with the UN warning in late 2018 that the country risked facing a “massive famine”. Yemen is also home to the worst cholera outbreak in modern history, with over one million affected. [Kellie Ryan/IRC]
The risks are both human (armed conflicts or economic collapse) as well as natural (droughts, floods and other climate-related events).
Internal or external displacement is the defining trend in the IRC list. Around 40 million people have been displaced across the world, with the top 10 countries accounting for over half – or nearly 22 million – of those displacements.
The 10 countries also account for at least 13 million refugees, 65 percent of the global total, plus an additional three million people who have fled Venezuela.
According to the United Nations, nearly 132 million people in 42 countries around the world will need humanitarian assistance, including protection, in 2019.
Years of fighting have led to major instability in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over 13 million people in the vast country are experiencing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. Recent displacement figures are contested, but the UN counted 4.5 million internally displaced in 2017. The DRC is also witnessing the second largest Ebola outbreak in history. [Kellie Ryan/IRC]
Two years after independence in 2011,South Sudan was plunged into a devastating civil war that has killed tens of thousands. While the fighting has been reduced in the wake of a fragile peace agreement, violence persists, leaving 1.96 million people internally displaced, 2.47 million refugees and 6.1 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse. [C Lomodong/IRC]
Afghanistan has been conflict-ridden since the US-led 2001 invasion. Once on the brink of defeat, the Taliban has been steadily advancing since 2014. The conflict, paired with chronic drought, has led to widespread displacement and food insecurity. [Andrew Quilty/IRC]
Venezuela’s economic collapse has driven at least three million people from the country, largely because they can no longer afford to feed their families. It has also led to a rapid rise in crimes and violence and a breakdown of the healthcare system. [Iris Ebert/IRC]
The Central African Republic (CAR) has experienced persistent instability since armed groups overthrew the government in 2013, exacerbating the situation in a country that was already under-developed. Despite efforts to bring armed groups into dialogue, many civilians remain at their mercy. Over 550,000 people also face alarming levels of food insecurity. [D Belluz/IRC]
Syria is facing an armed conflict since protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad erupted in 2011. Health and education services have collapsed. Nearly 6.2 million Syrians remain internally displaced and 5.6 million more are registered as refugees in the region. [Abdullah Hammam/IRC]
During 2018, parts of Nigeria experienced repeated attacks by armed groups as well as communal violence exacerbated by competition for water and land resources. As a result, over two million Nigerians were displaced internally and nearly 230,000 sought refuge in neighbouring countries. [Juliette Delay/IRC]
Ethiopia recorded the highest number of internally displaced people in 2018, with some 1.4 million people uprooted from their homes amid violence. The situation is made worse by tension between regional political and ethnic groups since the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April and started to introduce reforms. [Mulugeta Ayene/IRC]
Somalia is plagued by a decades-old conflict. Triggered by instability and insecurity and combined with natural disasters, the crisis has left over 2.6 million Somalis internally displaced and 870,000 registered as refugees. [Will Swanson/IRC]
Tagum, Philippines – Teacher Nerhaya Talledo was on her way to a remote village in the southern Philippines bringing supplies of rice, canned fish and noodles when her van was stopped at a recently-built military checkpoint.
A group of doctors and volunteers were in another truck with much-needed medicines.
The soldiers told them they couldn’t continue their journey to Sitio Dulyan, an indigenous village just half an hour away on the southern island of Mindanao, and would have to turn back.
“If we couldn’t get the food to Sitio Dulyan more than 120 Lumad (indigenous people) families would sleep on an empty stomach,” Talledo told Al Jazeera of the incident last month. “And the sick people wouldn’t get the medical attention they badly needed.”
The increasing militarisation of Mindanao following the siege of the city of Marawi last year has created more problems for the Lumad, indigenous people who live in the remote mountains and have often been accused of supporting the Communist rebels who’ve been fighting the government for decades.
Martial law, which President Rodrigo Duterte first declared on the island in May 2017, was set to expire this month but was extended by the Philippine Congress this week until the end of 2019.
Philippines military fights to take control of Marawi
“There are human rights violations,” said veteran politician and activist Satur Ocampo, adding that indigenous people were too afraid to complain for fear of retaliation. “That is why martial law keeps getting extended so they have the power [to] prevent these complaints from being exposed in public.”
Duterte’s administration says that while martial law has made “substantial progress” in addressing the unrest on the island, “public safety” required that it be extended.
Lumad schools have come in for particular attention amid concern they are recruiting grounds for the the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the the Communist Party of the Philippines.
The government suspended efforts to resume stalled peace talks with the NPA in July last year.
Lumad students of different ages are often taught together in a single classroom by one teacher because of the problems caused by the continuing instability in Mindanao [Jose Hernani/Al Jazeera]
‘Barely move’
Lumad villagers feel increasingly hemmed in by the military presence, according to Talledo.
“They could barely move there,” she said in a temporary camp where many Lumad are now living, as her phone kept buzzing with worried messages from people in Sitio Dulyan. “Even when they pee outside, they need to be hyper vigilant. Sitio Dulyan is literally surrounded with soldiers.”
Between July 2016 to April 2018, the child-rights group Save Our Schools Network recorded almost 2,800 incidents of forcible evacuation of students and teachers, and 56 schools were forced to close, affecting more than 2,200 children.
The network of child-focused NGOs also found 30 incidents of the military camping inside schools.
The Philippine army declined to speak to Al Jazeera about the allegations.
M
“They don’t want the Lumad to know their rights,” said Save Our Schools Network’s Rius Valle. “They don’t want them to learn how to read or write because they know this will strengthen them in defending their ancestral lands.”
Those ancestral lands include the Pantaron Mountain Range, which straddles six provinces of Mindanao, covering 1.8m hectares of woodland including the region’s last remaining old-growth forest. It’s also where Mindanao’s major rivers start their journey to the sea.
“Multinational companies are invading these lands for minerals like gold and massive logs,” Valle said. “This is something the indigenous tribes have been protecting for generations. They’ve been tricked countless times, made to sign papers they couldn’t read, when what’s in the paper is an agreement that they’re giving up portion of their land to whatever company is interested in it.”
There are few government schools in the remote areas where the Lumad live, which means indigenous children are forced to get up before dawn and walk for hours to get to class.
Organisations like San Francisco-based Salugpongan International set up schools in the mountains to help Lumad children get an education. They deny supporting the Communists.
The group operates 54 of its Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Centers, all of them accredited by the Department of Education, in Mindanao.
Indigenous people held a protest in Manila on December 10 to oppose plans to extend martial law in Mindanao [Bullit Marquez/AP Photo]
Soldiers in schools
Six weeks ago, some tribal leaders visited the community learning centre where Talledo was teaching. They were accompanied by four soldiers.
The men gave the teachers a letter and instructed them to vacate the building immediately.
A few days later they were back.
The soldiers took videos of the school.
“I asked who sent them but they wouldn’t tell,” Talledo said. “I asked repeatedly why they wanted the school closed (since) we’re teaching the same things as other schools. They said we’re just causing them trouble.”
The Lumad people suspected one of the men was an Alamara, part of an indigenous paramilitary group that has aligned itself with the army. The restive region has numerous militias, some of which side with the military and some with rebel groups, with allegiances shifting over time.
“The community have been warning us that the Alamara don’t believe in law,” Talledo recalled. “They’ll do whatever they want so when the men who came told us ‘If you don’t leave immediately, don’t be shocked if one of your teachers will get killed.’ I was alarmed.”
It gets scary sometimes, especially when the soldiers are very near.
Cecilia, 12, Lumad schoolgirl
Twelve-year-old Cecilia was a student at one of the learning centres before she was forced to leave as the military closed in.
She loves school, but today is living at a temporary camp with her family, waiting for the tension to simmer down.
“I get to learn how to read and write and we’re given notebooks and pencils,” she said of the learning centre. “But it gets scary sometimes, especially when the soldiers are very near.”
In the three years Talledo has been teaching, she has lost count of the number of times her school has been threatened.
And she can recall only one week when the military were not close by.
“These Lumad children deserve the same kind of quality education as any one of us, and that’s what I’m trying to give them,” she said, trying to hold back tears.
“It is very upsetting that they’re treating us this way… as if teaching is a crime.”
The Los Angeles Chargers secured their spot in the playoffs with a 29-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.
Philip Rivers led the way for Los Angeles with 313yards and twotouchdowns, with Mike Williams hauling in sevencatches for 76yards and three total scores, highlighted by a last-second touchdown and game-winning two-point conversion.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort, andChiefs running back Damien Williams added 49 yards and two touchdowns.
Kansas City and Los Angeles are currently tied atop the AFC West at 11-3, with the Chiefs holding the tiebreaker thanks to a 4-1 record inside of the division. The Chargers are 3-2 in AFC West play.
Mike Williams’ Red-Zone Presence Adds Dangerous Element to Chargers Offense
Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
The Chargers took Williams with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft because the 6’4″, 220-pound wideout has game-changing size.
A back injury limited him to just 10 games as a rookie last season, but now that he is healthy, he is starting to show what kind of a weapon he can be.
There is no question that Pro Bowler Keenan Allen is Los Angeles’ top wideout. While Allen has proven he can be a perennial 1,000-yard receiver, he can’t be the team’s only threat on the outside, and that’s what makes Williams’ emergence such a welcomed addition to the offense.
Williams may only have 37catches on the season, but he is making the most of his opportunities. He has 592yards, good for an average of 16.0yards per reception, and a team-leading ninetouchdowns.
His three-yard touchdown against the Chiefs Thursday proved what makes him such a red-zone threat:
There’s not much else Kansas City defensive back Steven Nelson could have done to stop that. Williams’ size and hands make him a tough matchup in the end zone, giving Rivers the ability to throw up jump balls with confidence.
He’s not just a big receiver, either. This is also someone with4.49-speed:
Rivers and Allen have established a good connection through the years, and having a healthy Melvin Gordon would be huge for the sake of balance. With Williams becoming a serious red-zone threat, the Chargers offense becomes even more dangerous.
Fourth-Quarter Collapse Could Cost Patrick Mahomes MVP
Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees appeared to be in the driver’s seat for the 2018 NFL MVP award in recent weeks, with Mahomes seemingly having a chance to put the field firmly behind him with a signature performance against a rival.
Instead, a late collapse could prove costly, both for Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Early on, Mahomes looked well on his way to delivering in the spotlight as he got his team on the board early by never giving up on a play on the opening drive:
Some quarterbacks may have just thrown the ball away, but not Mahomes. The result? A wild touchdown that got Arrowhead Stadium rocking, getting Kansas City off to a fast start.
On the Chiefs’ second touchdown, Mahomes once again used his legs to buy his team some time, this time allowing a screen to develop:
Kansas City Chiefs @Chiefs
With this touchdown, we’ve now scored the most points during a single season in franchise history. https://t.co/cjn9ATW9Nu
Brees has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for a long time now, but Mahomes isn’t of the same mold. His mobility is something that opposing defenses have to plan for on top of his arm.
As NFL on Fox tweeted out earlier this week, most of the statistical numbers favor the Chiefs star:
As things stand, though, New Orleans (11-2) does have a better winning percentage than Kansas City.
That’s not even taking into account outside factors into the race. While the Saints defense ranks middle of the pack, the Chiefs defense entered Thursday night’s showdown 30th in yards allowed and 28th in points allowed. That puts an even bigger onus on Mahomes to carry the load.
Further, Kansas City has had Los Angeles on its tail all season long—and now the Chargers have pulled even.
Mahomes and Brees have both had MVP-caliber seasons. As many accolades as Brees has piled up throughout his historic career, though, he does not have a league MVP award on his resume, making him a sentimental favorite. And Thursday’s loss, which featured the Chiefs blowing a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead at home against a rival with a chance to clinch the division, could linger for Mahomes.
There’s still a lot of football left to be played, with Mahomes still having two games and Brees with three. This race is far from over after Thursday night’s collapse by the Chiefs.
Chiefs Loss Leaves AFC Wide Open
David Eulitt/Getty Images
Kansas City had a chance to virtually lock up the AFC on Thursday night, but now, it’s not even guaranteed to open the playoffs at home.
As a result, the AFC is completely up for grabs.
The winner of the AFC West is in a great position to have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, which is something that can’t be undervalued given the current state of the league.
For the better part of the last two decades, the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC has gone through Foxborough, Massachusetts. The New England Patriots have made eight Super Bowl appearances since the 2001-02 season. During that span, Gillette Stadium has hosted the AFC Championship Game seven times, with the Patriots going 6-1 in such tilts.
The 2012-13 Baltimore Ravens are the only team to go into Foxborough and beat the Patriots on their home turf with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line during the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era.
Meanwhile, New England is just 2-3 in AFC Championship Games on the road with Brady under center, both victories coming at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. The Patriots have not made it to the Super Bowl without hosting the conference title game since 2005.
Of note, Rivers is 0-2 against the Patriots in the playoffs in his career, including a loss at New England in the 2008 AFC Championship Game. Kansas City already suffered a 43-40 loss at Gillette Stadium back in October—and playing Brady in New England in January is an even tougher challenge. The Patriots have won their last eight home playoff games dating back to the 2013 AFC Championship Game.
On the other hand, they have lost their last three road playoff games, with their last win coming back in 2007. Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story given they are rarely the lower seed.
New England is not the only team Kansas City and Los Angeles have to worry about in the AFC, as the Houston Texans are among the teams looking to make some noise.
While the Chiefs missed out on a golden opportunity to have the AFC run through Arrowhead, the Chargers have now made the AFC playoff picture a must-watch down the stretch.
What’s Next
Los Angeles will be back in action Saturday, Dec. 22, when it hosts the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, Kansas City will hit the road for a Dec. 23 showdown with the Seattle Seahawks.
The Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to two Thursday with a 126-111 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Toyota Center.
James Harden and the Rockets improved to 13-14 overall after going just 3-7 in their previous 10 games, while the Lakers fell to 17-11 and 6-2 in their last eight. Houston has looked nothing like the team that took the Golden State Warriors to seven games in last season’s Western Conference Finals but took a step in the right direction with a win over a contender.
Harden was dominant with a triple-double of 50points, 11assists and 10rebounds and went into takeover mode in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory. Chris Paul added 14points and ninedimes, while Clint Capela notched a double-double (16points and 14boards).
LeBron James (29points) and Kyle Kuzma (24points) spearheaded the Lakers’ efforts but didn’t have enough to counter the defending MVP.
Rockets’ Struggles Without Ariza Further Proof Lakers Should Trade for Him
The Lakers appear on their way to a playoff spot for the first time since 2012-13, but they are reportedly exploring ways to improve.
According toAdrian Wojnarowskiof ESPN.com, the Purple and Gold “are engaged in talks” with the Phoenix Suns regarding the availability of forward Trevor Ariza. Los Angeles has to look no further than Thursday’s opponent to see the type of impact Ariza can have on a contender.
Last season’s Rockets won an NBA-best 65 games and held a 3-2 lead over the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals before Paul suffered a hamstring injury. Ariza was a critical glue guy on that team but is playing for the Suns this season.
Houston has already almost matched its 17 losses from 2017-18 without him and had a worse record than everyone in the Western Conference but the Suns entering play Thursday.
Ariza’s absence isn’t the sole reason for the steep drop-off, but the Rockets miss his presence. He was a versatile playmaker at 6’8″ who gave head coach Mike D’Antoni the option to unleash small-ball lineups or go big.
That length helped him shoot over defenders and hit 36.8 percent of his three-pointers on the way to 11.7 points per night. Ariza’s ability to close out on jump shooters and bolster Houston’s perimeter defense was also critical. Opponents shot 7.9 percent worse from deep than their normal averages when he guarded them last season, perNBA.com.
The Rockets were seventh in the league in defensiveratingwith him but are an ugly27ththis year, per NBA.com.
Ariza also thrived alongside Harden and Paul and consistently hit open looks from the outside when defenders collapsed on the two All-Stars. It’s easy to envision he’d do the same for the Lakers when James attacks the lane.
Trading for Ariza would improve Los Angeles’ perimeter approach on both ends and give a team that has a number of important young pieces in Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kuzma and Josh Hart a veteran presence. He has 102 playoff games on his resume and has plenty of experience playing under some of the brightest spotlights.
Ariza helped lead the Rockets to the doorstep of last season’s NBA Finals and could do the same for the 2018-19 Lakers.
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Paul has always been a facilitator, and he is a future Hall of Famer in large part because of his ability to find teammates with head-turning passes.
However, this iteration of the Rockets needs him to be a more consistent secondary scorer next to Harden.
Houston was 6-2 when Paul scored 20 or more points entering Thursday’s contest, which is a pace that would put it among the league’s best. It was an ugly 6-12 in all other games, though.
Paul was averaging 16.4 points per night before the Lakers matchup, which would be his second-lowest mark since he was a rookie in 2005-06 and his lowest since he was a member of the New Orleans Hornets.
There is no doubt Harden is the Rockets’ go-to scorer, and he demonstrated the many ways he can put the ball in the basket with a four-point play on a perimeter step-back and a massive dunk over JaVale McGee after he blew past Ball. He will be an MVP candidate yet again if the Rockets return to championship contention.
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They won’t do that if he’s carrying the vast majority of the scoring load by himself every night.
The record bears out how much more dangerous Houston is when Paul is attacking the basket and hitting from the perimeter. He helped build a six-point halftime advantage with 12 points and three triples as the Lakers couldn’t account for the shooting from both ball-handling guards, but Los Angeles battled back to take the lead for stretches when Paul scored just two points in the third quarter.
Marquee players who take over in crunch time win championships, and Houston will have to deal with plenty in the Western Conference between the five 2018 All-Stars on the Warriors, James on the Lakers and Russell Westbrook and Paul George on the Oklahoma City Thunder, among others.
Paul fits the bill, and Houston can have the best two players on the floor against plenty of teams if he further asserts himself as a scorer.
What’s Next?
Both teams are on the road Saturday with the Rockets at the Memphis Grizzlies and the Lakers at the Charlotte Hornets.
A seven-year-old girl from Guatemala has died of dehydration and shock hours after she was taken into US Border Patrol custody, the Washington Post has reported.
The girl and her father had been detained by immigration authorities on December 6 in the US state of New Mexico as part of a group of 163 people who approached US agents to turn themselves in, the newspaper reported on Thursday.
Early on December 7, the girl started having seizures, and emergency responders measured her body temperature at 105.7 degrees, the Post said. She was taken to a hospital, where she died, according to the report.
US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters news agency for comment.
A spokesperson at Providence Hospital in El Paso, in the US state of Texas, where the Post reported the child was taken, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The names of the girl and her father were not released. The agency, which typically provides food and water to migrants in its custody, is investigating the incident to ensure whether appropriate policies were followed, the Post said.
The reported death of the seven-year-old is expected to intensify scrutiny over the conditions endured by those detained at Border Patrol stations and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities under the administration of Donald Trump, who has made toughening immigration policies a central tenet of his presidency and has pledged to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico.
“This tragedy represents the worst possible outcome when people, including children, are held in inhumane conditions,” Cynthia Pompa, advocacy manager for the ACLU Border Rights Center, said in a statement.
“Lack of accountability, and a culture of cruelty within CBP have exacerbated policies that lead to migrant deaths,” she added. “In 2016, migrant deaths increased even as the number of border crossings dramatically decreased.”
Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, wrote on Twitter that the head of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, will appear in front of the panel next week.
“We will be demanding immediate answers to this tragedy,” Nadler said.
A 7-year-old child dies while in the custody of the U.S. government. @DHSgov Secretary is coming before @HouseJudiciary next week, and we will be demanding immediate answers to this tragedy. https://t.co/5XCAavD5wB
Trump has sought to sow fear over thousands of migrants and refugees who have recently arrived at the border as part of an exodus, initially dubbed the Central American caravan. More than 6,000 people are currently waiting in Tijuana, northwestern Mexico, to file for asylum in the US.
Rights groups estimate many will have to wait up to two months before being allowed in the US to submit their claims.
Many of the refugees and migrants have told Al Jazeera they are fleeing violence, poverty and political persecution.
Trump has sent more than 5,000 troops to the border to offer logistic support to border patrol agents. The Department of Defence approved a plan to extend the deployment of about 4,000 active-duty troops through January.
“When the Trump administration pushed for the militarisation of the border, including more border wall construction, they are driving people fleeing violence into the deadliest desert regions,” said ACLU’s Pompa, calling for a “rigorous investigation” into the girl’s death and “serious reforms to prevent future deaths”.
“The fact that it took a week for this to come to light shows the need for transparency for CBP.”
This summer, the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which resulted in separating children arriving at the border with their parents, caused a national outcry. The policy was mostly reversed.
The longtime Democratic leader outmaneuvered her critics and showed exactly why she will be speaker once again.
While the late President George H.W. Bush was lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Dec. 4, Nancy Pelosi was several hundred feet away cobbling together a deal that would return her to the speaker’s chair.
Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a leader of a group of Democratic rebels trying to push Pelosi out of House leadership, had flown back to Washington to negotiate with her face-to-face. Pelosi had already flipped several critics and shown momentum in her bid to reclaim the gavel. Perlmutter’s group was under siege from Pelosi allies both inand outside the Capitol.
Story Continued Below
But Pelosi still didn’t have the votesto become speaker. And she was ready to make a dramatic overture to lock down support. During the meeting in her office on the second floor of the Capitol, Pelosi told Perlmutter she was open to term limits on her leadership.
It was the first time Pelosi had expressed a willingness to accept an end-date on her power after 16 years atop the Democratic Caucus. It proved to be the decisive moment in Pelosi’s weeks-long slog to ensure she would be the first lawmaker since the legendary Sam Rayburn in the 1950s to win the speaker’s gavel a second time.
“The deal recognizes a limit to her speakership,” Perlmutter told reporters Thursday. “This really starts the change I’ve wanted to see.”
“We were shocked as shit,” added an aide to another rebel Democrat.
The gambit worked. After a week of intense negotiations, Pelosi picked up the support of Perlmutter and six other lawmakers who swore they’d vote against her on the House floor — delivering her at least the 218 votes she needs to be elected speaker on Jan. 3.
The six-week battle over the speaker’s chair was vintage Pelosi. Relying on a mix of pressure tactics she’d sharpened during three decades in Congress, Pelosi waited out her critics, wore them down and then threw them a bone as they looked for a way out.
The group of anti-Pelosi rebels faced an uphill battle from the start. Pelosi maintained immense support within the caucus, and she had powerful allies outside Congress whipping for her. And opposition to Pelosi from the massive incoming class of freshman wasn’t as strong as many had thought.
The rebels, meanwhile, wanted Pelosi gone — but that’s where their agreement ended. Her critics had different motivations for opposing her and different strategies for dethroning her. That discord ultimately weakened their hand during negotiations.
“People started to get cold feet and decided they didn’t want to do it. They were under a lot of pressure,” said a regretful Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), a Pelosi critic who still plans to oppose her on the House floor. “The goal all along — until a week or two — was to get a new, younger generation speaker of the House that represented the country and the future of our party. That did not happen.”
The rebels did win a victory — just not the one they sought. Pelosi will be in the speaker’s chair in January, to the chagrin of most of Perlmutter’s group. She remains the face of the party and the new House Democratic majority and will become the most important Democrat in the nation, at least until the party anoints a presidential nominee.
Still, the significance of Pelosi’s concession to exit by 2022 can’t be overstated. Pelosi for years has resisted calls from a large bloc of her caucus to step down as leader. And Pelosi repeatedly rebuffed and dismissed rebel demands that she provide a date certain to retire, until this week.
“I’m satisfied with this result — that we have somebody with knowledge, experience, skill, tenacity, leading us,” Perlmutter said. “But at the same time, this thing’s beginning to move. And the opportunities for other people to rise are apparent and are going to happen.”
Freshmen upend the rebels’ plans
From the outset, the rebels set expectations too high.
Perlmutter and a band of a dozen incumbents hoped to combine forces with roughly 10 incoming freshmen who had promised to vote against Pelosi on the campaign trail. They planned to gather the signatures of 25 opponentson a letter and publicize it as a show of force against Pelosi. It would have been more than enough votes to block her from the gavel — Pelosi can only afford to lose 17 votes on the floor.
But the incumbents ran into an unexpected problem. Most of the Democratic candidates who knocked Pelosi during the midterm campaign wouldn’t sign their document.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. One of the most high-profile rebels in the group, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), had told his colleagues that he’d win over the incoming freshmen, even referring to these individuals as “my candidates,” according to multiple Democratic sources.
As a former Marine Corps officer, Moulton had a personal connection to the anti-Pelosi candidates who had military backgrounds. He campaigned with them, raised money for them and worked alongside VoteVets, a progressive political organization supporting veterans running for office, to try to get them elected.
Moulton told these members-elect that Pelosi was going to be ousted and that it’d be good for them politically to join the movement.
But Moulton oversold his sway, rebel sources complained. Rep.-elect Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot running in New Jersey, had released an ad against Pelosi and campaigned with Moulton. But she wouldn’t go anywhere near the letter. Several other freshmen who received help from Moulton also avoided the letter.
Pelosi had neutered Moulton right under his nose. Just days after the election, she phoned VoteVets’ Chairman Jon Soltz and asked for his help wooing the incoming freshmen class.
Soltz had been working with Moulton but also had a close relationship with Pelosi. Soltz decided his group would remain neutral. But he gave the candidates advice that proved critical to helping Pelosi, sources said: Think about the long game. To be an effective legislator, you will have to work with the next speaker — which more likely than not would be Pelosi.
The advice worked. The candidates refused to sign the rebels’ document. And when Moulton lobbied harder for their signatures, he merely repelled them further. In fact, some of the female veterans told other Democrats that they were annoyed with Moulton, these lawmakers said, concluding that they were being used for Moulton’s own political gain.
Rebel defections mount
The anti-Pelosi forces also ran into some strategic roadblocks. It quickly became clear each rebel had a different motivation for signing onto the letter of opposition — and different limits for the pressure that came with opposing Pelosi.
“From the beginning, I think there was an understanding that some members really wanted to see change immediately. Others would have been satisfied with a less fixed and definite commitment,” said Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.). “That was the tension.”
Pelosi also dramatically ramped up her pressure tactics, launching an assault against the group from all sides.
Democratic governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania weighed in with their state delegations on Pelosi’s behalf. Labor union leaders including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, and United Brotherhood of Carpenters President Doug McCarron pressed the critics to back her. Soon, former Vice President Al Gore, ex-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), and former Barack Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough were lobbying lawmakers to get behind Pelosi.
“When you know something is right and needs to happen, even though it might be unpopular, you have to give voice to it. And accept the consequences of that,” said Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), one of the rebels.
Just before Congress left town for Thanksgiving, the anti-Pelosi faction saw a ray of hope. Rebel member Marcia Fudge (Ohio), a well-respected former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, floated her name as a potential challenger to Pelosi. Pelosi’s backers had rapped her opponents for failing to offer an alternative to the California Democrat. Fudge’s potential bid electrified the rebels and much of the media.
And then it was over. On Nov. 19, the same morning the rebels planned to publicly release their letter opposing Pelosi, Fudge suddenly pulled her name off the document — a sign that she was getting cold feet.
In fact, she was. Almost immediately after Fudge floated her name for speaker, outside groups attacked her as being anti-LGBT. And Congressional Black Caucus members she was close with — including black female lawmakers who’d spent years hoping to see one of their own in the speaker’s chair — said they couldn’t support her.
That’s when Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (S.C.), the highest ranking black lawmaker, stepped in to mediate between Fudge, his close friend, and Pelosi. Behind-the-scenes, Clyburn had organized a meeting between the two before the Thanksgiving recess. At the end of their discussion, Fudge left the room having doubts about challenging Pelosi.
Fudge returned home, consulted with her pastor and family, and then decided she wouldn’t run. It also helped that Pelosi dangled before Fudge a position she had long desired: a subcommittee chairmanship overseeing election issues.
“We just came to the decision that this was not the time, but more importantly, ultimately decided that as we go into this majority that I would rather try to at least make it seem like we’re on the same page and there’s some unity in the caucus,” Fudge told POLITICO in an interview.
Before Fudge conceded, however, news broke that a former colleague and political ally Fudge had defended years ago was suspected of murdering his wife.Years earlier, Fudge lobbieda judge for a lighter sentence for the man following his conviction on spousal abuse. Fudge’s letter asking for leniency went viral, a huge embarrassment for the Ohio Democrat.
Fudge bailed on any run for speaker that very night and backed Pelosi — even though she said“of course” Pelosi was behind the attacks on her, something Pelosi’s offices denies.
The brutal offensive against Fudge rattled the rebels, and Fudge’s speedy surrender triggered a “moment of panic” among some other members in the group, according to Democratic sources.
Other dominoes began falling quickly. Rep. Brian Higgins, who also signed the letter, broke from the group to endorse Pelosi the very next day. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow New Yorker, had lobbied Higgins to change his mind. So too did incoming Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), a close Pelosi ally.
After a simple promise from Pelosi to try to get his Medicare bill to the House floor, Higgins caved — and expressed remorse.
“I shouldn’t have signed the letter,” Higgins said. “I had my reasons for breaking from the leader, I expressed those reasons very clearly, but I didn’t need a group to represent that… I could have gotten that [deal with Pelosi] regardless.”
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), another letter-signer, threw his support in return for some more legislative promises from Pelosi, including on infrastructure.
The three desertions came as other rebels were also being pummeled back home.
During a townhall in his Massachusetts’s district, Moulton was grilled over his anti-Pelosi stance. Local press lit him up for orchestrating a coup against her. Days later, without so much as warning his fellow rebels, Moulton’s office told The Washington Post that the group was open to negotiating with Pelosi to find a way to resolve the standoff — a possibility they hadn’t raised yet.
Moulton’s move infuriated many group members, who accused him of turning on them to save his own skin. Indeed, most had no idea Moulton was planning to float the suggestion, which almost certainly undercut their own bargaining position.
Moulton only made the situation worse for himself a few days later. He asked for a meeting with Pelosi to start talks between the two sides — then misled his fellow rebels about who initiated the discussion, according to three sources familiar with the incident.
Moulton told Rice and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) — perhaps Pelosi’s staunchest critics in the group — that Pelosi requested the meeting. In reality, he had gone to Pelosi’s staff and said he wanted to sit down.
It created an awkward dynamic before a terrible meeting. Rice walked into Pelosi’s office and said, “Thank you for calling this meeting.”
“I didn’t ask for this meeting,” Pelosi scoffed.
An awkward silence ensued, and the meeting unraveled from there with both sides digging in.
Perlmutter steps in
It was then that Perlmutter decided to take a different, more personal tack with Pelosi.
The Colorado Democrat has a close relationship with Pelosi, far better than any of the other rebels. But while he liked Pelosi, Perlmutter thought she should step aside after 16 years as Democratic leader.
Still, the bond between the two was clear. During a recent meeting between moderate Democrats andPelosi, the two surprised everyone when they hugged. Perlmutter at the time was advocating for rules changesto make it harder for Pelosi to be speaker.
Yet Pelosireached out privately to Perlmutter over the Thanksgiving break to kickstart talks, and the two decided to see if they could work out an agreement. A series of Perlmutter-Pelosi phone callsled to the Dec. 4 meeting that Democratic members and aides said “broke the dam.”
On Dec. 5 — the morning after Pelosi offered to consider term limits on her speakership — Perlmutter told the rebels the news during a conference call.
Some in the group were already looking for an exit ramp. Pelosi’s offer “opened up a whole new world of possibilities that they didn’t think would be real,” a source close to the group said.
Others resisted. Schrader warned the group not to take the deal and tried to remind them of their original goal: taking out Pelosi.
Perlmutter reached out to Sanchez to bring her deeper into the talks with Pelosi. As vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, Sanchez knew the ins-and-outs of the caucus rules, a necessary skill if the group was going to negotiate such a monumental change. Without Sanchez’s savvy, some rebels feared they’d be outmaneuvered by Pelosi.
Foster also became a key memberof the faction negotiating with Pelosi. Pelosi had reached out to the Illinois Democrat earlier in the process to ask what he wanted, but Foster made clear he wasn’t interested in a one-off deal.
“At the very outset of my individual discussions with her, I said my focus was on the institutional change that I thought was overdue,” Foster said in an interview.
It was Foster who first came up with up with the term-limits formula that became the basis of the rebels’ deal with Pelosi.
With the support from most of the rebels, the trio — Perlmutter, Foster and Sanchez — got to work.
“When [Pelosi] started floating specific concepts involving term limits for top leadership positions, that was the first time we saw a path to success on the negotiations,” Foster said.
Perlmutter, Sanchez and Foster drafted different versions of term limits for party leaders, as well as options for limits on committee chairmen.
The various proposals were circulated among the rebels on Dec. 6. For the group, there were two outstanding issues: Would the term limits be retroactive, going back to when Democrats were in the majority nearlya decade ago? And which members of Democratic leadership would the limits apply to?
After intensive discussions, including Democrats outside the rebel group, the anti-Pelosi faction decided to focus on term limits covering just Pelosi, Clyburn and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
At this point it was clear some of the rebels, like Schrader, would never sign onto any deal with Pelosi. But the lead negotiators were confident they could secure enough support to deliver Pelosi the speakership if she would agree to their terms.
Perlmutter worked the phones over the weekend, speaking to Pelosi several times. On Monday, Dec. 10, the rebel group reconvened. The contours of a deal were coming together, but several rebels who worried they would lose their leverage over Pelosi were still insisting that the term limits be voted on by the full caucus before the speaker roll-call vote on Jan. 3.
Sanchez, Foster and Perlmutter huddled with other senior Democrats that night to see if there was any time on the schedule that would allow the full caucus — including incoming freshmen who weren’t due back in town until January — to vote on the plan.
They determined there was no time before the speaker vote to try to force through a rules change. At that point, according to several sources, Pelosi’s decision to make a public statement supporting the change — and agreeing to abide by the terms even if the caucus didn’t — became a necessary ingredient to securing the rebels’ support.
The rebel group held another call on Tuesday morning where they finalized the terms of their potential deal.
In the afternoon, after Pelosi returned from a tense televised meeting with President Donald Trump over the border wall, Perlmutter, Foster and Sanchez huddled in Pelosi’s office. They presented the terms of the accord and promised six — possibly even seven —rebel votes in return.
That was enough to clinch the deal. Pelosi would have the votes to win the speakership — and avoid a nasty floor fight in the process — and the rebels had ensured that Pelosi’s tenure would have a clear end date.
“We won a lot of seats on Nov. 6 and folks want to enjoy the majority,” Perlmutter said Thursday. “Today is the first day I’ve really gotten to think about being in the majority and enjoying it.”
The Chicago Bulls‘ 2018-19 season has careened off the rails at a breakneck pace, and that’s never more evident than with how quickly Jabari Parker‘s stock has fallen in the Windy City.
ESPN.com’s Malika Andrews reported Thursday that Parker “will no longer see regular minutes” with the Bulls for the foreseeable future.
Parker signed atwo-year, $40 millioncontract with the Bulls in the offseason. The second year is a team option, though, so the two sides can part ways in the summer.
According to Andrews, Parker may not even be in Chicago for that long. Although Parker and the Bulls haven’t formally discussed a buyout, it “could become an increasing possibility closer to the trade deadline.”
On performance alone, Parker’s demotion is warranted. He’s averaging 15.8 points but shooting 29.3 percent from three-point range and turning the ball over a career-high 2.7 times per game. He also ranks422ndin ESPN.com’s real plus-minus (minus-2.52).
His offensive struggles compound the fact he has generally never been a plus defender. If Parker can’t stretch the floor and help the flow of the offense, then his value falls precipitously. According toNBA.com, the Bulls have been minus-10.6 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
To some extent, Chicago has been down this road before. The team signed Dwyane Wade to atwo-year, $47 milliondeal in 2016, bringing the legendary guard back to his hometown. One season later, the Bullsagreed to buy outthe bulk of Wade’s contract.
As much as it might hurt to cut ties with Parker already, keeping him on the team wouldn’t serve anybody’s interest if things don’t improve. The Bulls could focus more on Lauri Markkanen and Bobby Portis at power forward, while Parker would have an opportunity to rebuild his value somewhat before hitting free agency again.
Serious question: Does Ariana Grandeever sleep? While we patiently await tonight’s arrival of “Imagine” — the umpteenth song she’s dropped this year — the Sweetener singer is keeping fans fed with yet another new release.
This time, Ari teamed up with her brother, Frankie, to cover the Rent classic “Seasons of Love.” In the accompanying video, the siblings — along with Frankie’s friends Ben, Jon-Erik, and Dominic — take to a candle-lit studio to belt the Broadway tune from behind the mic. Frankie sings a full-verse solo that showcases his shockingly impressive range, while Ariana returns to her Broadway roots by tackling the powerhouse solo sung by Joanne in the musical. To absolutely no one’s surprise, she nails those sky-grazing whistle notes with ease.
In a press release, Frankie gushed, “I am beyond honored to have worked on this incredible project with my best friends in the world including my wonderful sister. Thank you Ariana for vocal producing as well as adding your magical voice to this beautiful song. I am so happy that I got to sing with you on one of our favorite Broadway songs from one of our favorite Broadway shows, RENT!”
Following the cover’s release on Thursday (December 13), Ari returned the love by tweeting, “How beautiful does @FrankieJGrande sound? I’m so proud of him and the year he’s had. The whole thing makes my heart so full. Thankful I got to be a part of it.”
The Grande siblings’ “Seasons of Love” cover was recorded to promote Fox’s live version of Rent, which airs in January 2019 and counts Vanessa Hudgens, Tinashe, and Jordan Fisher among its stars. Kiersey Clemons is taking on the role of Joanne in that version, and Ari’s definitely given her something to live up to!
![Years of fighting have led to major instability in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over 13 million people in the vast country are experiencing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. Recent displacement figures are contested, but the UN counted 4.5 million internally displaced in 2017. The DRC is also witnessing the second largest Ebola outbreak in history. [Kellie Ryan/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/4a3effeceb9d4af2961e744d55a209a4_8.jpg)
![Two years after independence in 2011,South Sudan was plunged into a devastating civil war that has killed tens of thousands. While the fighting has been reduced in the wake of a fragile peace agreement, violence persists, leaving 1.96 million people internally displaced, 2.47 million refugees and 6.1 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse. [C Lomodong/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/033ebf7d8f284061a7e2762e65243954_8.jpg)
![Afghanistan has been conflict-ridden since the US-led 2001 invasion. Once on the brink of defeat, the Taliban has been steadily advancing since 2014. The conflict, paired with chronic drought, has led to widespread displacement and food insecurity. [Andrew Quilty/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/3c91143a3b3a49d4bf15da28bf5c259c_8.jpg)
![Venezuela's economic collapse has driven at least three million people from the country, largely because they can no longer afford to feed their families. It has also led to a rapid rise in crimes and violence and a breakdown of the healthcare system. [Iris Ebert/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/a3fedb5069b2484f8ab7217b7001773f_8.jpg)
![The Central African Republic (CAR) has experienced persistent instability since armed groups overthrew the government in 2013, exacerbating the situation in a country that was already under-developed. Despite efforts to bring armed groups into dialogue, many civilians remain at their mercy. Over 550,000 people also face alarming levels of food insecurity. [D Belluz/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/75f89926a3894c66a59312c1777d5ce7_8.jpg)
![Syria is facing an armed conflict since protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad erupted in 2011. Health and education services have collapsed. Nearly 6.2 million Syrians remain internally displaced and 5.6 million more are registered as refugees in the region. [Abdullah Hammam/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/ed86cf979b8d437782270cd7d54262e8_8.jpg)
![During 2018, parts of Nigeria experienced repeated attacks by armed groups as well as communal violence exacerbated by competition for water and land resources. As a result, over two million Nigerians were displaced internally and nearly 230,000 sought refuge in neighbouring countries. [Juliette Delay/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/00b64b1d1b2d42eb8ba8d9e4fe5add08_8.jpg)
![Ethiopia recorded the highest number of internally displaced people in 2018, with some 1.4 million people uprooted from their homes amid violence. The situation is made worse by tension between regional political and ethnic groups since the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April and started to introduce reforms. [Mulugeta Ayene/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/f2039569e6c84c96927fde93bd4c7e22_8.jpg)
![Somalia is plagued by a decades-old conflict. Triggered by instability and insecurity and combined with natural disasters, the crisis has left over 2.6 million Somalis internally displaced and 870,000 registered as refugees. [Will Swanson/IRC]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2018/12/13/dbe22535b05a41a6a2b14a2227bd1c96_8.jpg)
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