Dispatches

Jan. 11

Aid convoys finally gained access to three besieged Syrian towns including the rebel-held Madaya, where 40,000 residents have been trapped for months. UN officials reported seeing extremely sick and malnourished residents, including children skeletal in appearance. The United Nations said it would launch a war crimes investigation. “We saw people that are desperate, people that are cold, people that [are] angry, people that have almost lost hope that the world cares about their plight,” said Yacoub El Hillo, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria. “Many more will die if the world does not move faster.”

Alpine avalanches

Jan. 13

Search and rescue teams sifted through snow looking for victims after an avalanche in the French Alps swept away a group of skiers in an area that had been closed off due to the increased threat of a collapse. Among the three fatalities were two French high-school students on a school trip. A teacher who had accompanied the students now faces involuntary homicide charges for crossing a netted barrier that warned skiers not to proceed onto the slope. A lawyer for the teacher says he recognizes his responsibility, but “he did not realize the danger because many people had taken this piste over the previous two days.” Five days after the tragedy, a second avalanche in the Alps killed five soldiers from the French Foreign Legion.

Hostile detention

Jan. 12

Iran released 10 U.S. sailors after detaining them when their boats drifted into Iranian territorial waters. U.S. officials first indicated the riverine boats had mechanical problems while traveling between Kuwait and Bahrain, near Iran’s Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. But later Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the crew made a navigational error. Iranian footage showing the captured sailors on their knees with their hands behind their heads prompted criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the situation.

Jakarta attack

Jan. 14

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terror attack near a busy shopping area in Jakarta, Indonesia, that left at least four civilians dead and 20 persons injured. The militants targeted a police traffic post and a nearby Starbucks, setting off bomb blasts and shooting at people as they fled in panic. All four terrorists, including two with previous convictions, died in the attack. It was the first known time that the Islamic terror group had carried out an attack in Southeast Asia. Analysts feared the incident signaled an expansion of the group’s reach.Relatives of Canadian victims of the hotel attack mourn during a vigil in Quebec.

Hotel massacre

Jan. 15

Militants affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb stormed a café and luxury hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital city, Ouagadougou, setting off explosives, spraying gunfire, and seizing hostages. The attack left at least 29 persons from nine countries dead and injured nearly 60 more. Among the dead was American missionary Michael Riddering, 45, and six Canadians on a short-term mission trip. On that same day, terrorists kidnapped missionaries Ken and Jocelyn Elliott, both in their 80s. Foreign leaders said the hotel attack, in an area frequented by Westerners and international diplomats, was an attack on democracy. Afterward, Burkina Faso announced a joint effort with Mali to fight terrorism in West Africa.