Iraqi troops make advances in Ramadi; IS out of center
BAGHDAD – Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes drove Islamic State militants out of the center of Ramadi on Monday and seized the main government complex there, according to military officials, who said insurgents are still dug into pockets of the city west of Baghdad.
Ramadi, the provincial capital of the sprawling Anbar province, fell to IS in May, marking a major setback for Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led campaign. Ramadi and nearby Fallujah, which is controlled by IS, saw some of the heaviest fighting of the eight-year U.S. intervention in Iraq.
In recent months Iraqi forces launched several offensives to retake Ramadi, but all had stalled. Iraqi troops began advancing into some parts of the city, located about 80 miles west of Baghdad, earlier this month. But their progress was slowed by snipers, booby traps and the militants’ destruction of bridges leading into the city center.
The heavy fighting and limited access to frontlines made it difficult to follow the troops’ progress, and Iraqi officials issued a string of sometimes contradictory statements.
Cars, pizza ovens targeted as Italy combats pollution
ROME - Rome and Milan have imposed bans on cars starting Monday, with one small town near Naples prohibiting wood-fired pizza ovens, as Italian authorities seek to combat air-pollution that has breached alert levels in an exceptionally warm and dry winter.
In the business capital of Milan, where daisies have flowered in a public park, cars will be forbidden for six hours a day from Monday to Wednesday. On Christmas Day, air-pollution alert levels were breached for the 31st day in a row in the city, where it has not rained for the past 50 days.
In Milan, Rome and Turin, authorities sought to encourage travelers to use public transportation by making a single ticket valid for a whole day. In Milan, authorities may ban firework celebrations on New Year’s Eve, Corriere della Sera reported.
Across Italy, authorities are resorting to a variety of measures. In the town of San Vitaliano, near Naples, the mayor has decreed a three-month prohibition on cooking pizzas in wood- fired ovens after air-pollution alert levels were breached regularly over the past six months, La Stampa reported.
Giant squid makes a rare appearance on Japan coast
A giant squid made its way into Japan’s Toyama Bay on Christmas Eve, treating onlookers to a rare sighting of the magnificent creature.
Japan seems to be the place to find these staggeringly large beasts: The first-ever images of a giant squid in the wild were snapped off the coast of the Ogasawara Islands in 2004, and the first film of a living adult came from the same area in 2012.
It may seem massive, but the squid seen in the footage is probably pretty young. It’s estimated to be just over 12 feet long, and giant squid are thought to grow over three times that size.
Researchers used to think that the giant squid Architeuthis dux (which is the only species of giant squid, as far as anyone can tell) could grow over 60 feet long, but a recent study of the available literature found no evidence to support this. In fact, since most of the giant squid seen by humans have been long-dead specimens, it’s quite plausible that they might have stretched out as their tissues weakened.
Associated Press & Washington Post
