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Syrian War  Fall of the al-Assad regime
Syrian police officers reportedly killed by al-Assad loyalists

14 Syrian police officers have been killed by people loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad, the new regime's interior minister said, according to Reuters. The police officers were reportedly killed in an ambush by al-Assad's "remnants" in Tartous in the western part of the country.

It is the worst unrest since the fall of the regime in early December.

According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, six Islamists have been killed after they tried to arrest a former official in al-Assad's government, writes AP. It is not yet clear whether this is the same incident as the one Reuters refers to.

The transitional government, led by the Islamist rebel group HTS, has declared a nighttime curfew in Homs as a result of unrest linked to demonstrations led by Alawites - the Shiite ethnic group to which the Assad family belongs.

Georgia’s Political Situation
HRW: “Shocking” Police Violence in Georgia

Police and other security forces have used “brutal force” against mostly peaceful protesters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi in the weeks since the presidential election, Human Rights Watch says in a new report cited by Georgian media.

“The level of violence by the authorities is shocking, clearly intended as revenge, and violates Georgian law and international norms,” Hugh Williamson of Human Rights Watch told Georgia Today.

More than 300 of the 460 protesters arrested since November 28 have testified to police abuse. 80 of them have required hospital treatment and 30 have been charged with crimes, according to local organizations. The Ombudsman also expresses concern that an “alarming number” of those arrested have been subjected to violence, according to the public service channel Georgian Public Broadcaster.

Political situation in Mozambique
1,500 prisoners escape from prison in Mozambique

More than 1,500 prisoners have escaped from a high-security prison outside the Mozambican capital Maputo, AFP reports.

Major violence has erupted in the country in recent days, after the African country's highest court confirmed the election results in favor of the ruling Frelimo party.

Angry protesters are said to have approached the prison, which led to unrest inside the institution. According to police chief Bernardino Rafael, the prisoners managed to tear down an external wall.

Mysterious bangs were earthquakes in Helsinki

Police responded to the Kottby district of Helsinki after several people called in to say they heard loud bangs and felt vibrations inside their apartments, Yle reports.

“It was as if something had exploded in the basement,” a resident of the third floor in the area told Ilta-Sanomat.

After carefully examining the scene and consulting with the Finnish Armed Forces and the Meteorological Institute, the police received the solution to the mystery from the seismological department of the University of Helsinki: an earthquake at 6:30 p.m. with the epicenter near the station in the Pasila district.