HAVANA - Colombia's FARC rebels announced a two-month unilateral ceasefire, the first truce in more than a decade, as peace negotiators met in Cuba in the latest attempt to end the five-decade war. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos' government, however, has said it would not cease military operations until a final peace deal was signed with the country's largest rebel group, and even vowed to step up the offensive. The FARC said it would halt all offensive military operations and acts of sabotage against infrastructure from today to January 20. Reuters
GOMA - The Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels, who have closed in on the main eastern city of Goma, warned they would continue their fight against the government unless it opened direct talks within 24 hours. The rebels would "pursue the resistance against the government of Kinshasa until it falls" unless it started "direct political negotiations" and demilitarised Goma and its airport. The rebels were massed at the city gates despite efforts by government troops and UN helicopters to stop them. AFP
Violent dolphin deaths worry scientists
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI – Dolphins are washing ashore along the northern Gulf Coast in the United States with bullet wounds, missing jaws and hacked off fins and federal officials are looking into the mysterious deaths. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said on Monday that they were asking fish and wildlife agents and dolphin monitors in several states to be on the lookout for other troubling cases. A marine mammal biologist for NOAA said two dolphins were found shot in Louisiana last year. This year, three dolphins were found shot – two in Mississippi and one in Louisiana. On Friday, experts from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi, said they found a dead dolphin with part of its jaw missing. AP