World roundup: December 15 2025

Stories from Afghanistan, Mozambique, Chile, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

December 15, 1256: Having already received the surrender of the last Assassin imam, Rukn al-Din Khurshah, Mongolian warlord Hulagu and his army enter and destroy the main Assassin fortress at Alamut, completing their campaign against that infamous religious order.

December 15, 1925: Reza Pahlavi is crowned Shah of Iran.

MIDDLE EAST

LEBANON

According to a new Human Rights Watch report, at least a few of those Israeli military (IDF) airstrikes that are supposedly targeting “Hezbollah infrastructure” in southern Lebanon are in fact targeting civilian reconstruction equipment:

The Israeli military’s repeated attacks on reconstruction-related equipment and other civilian facilities in southern Lebanon throughout 2025 violate the laws of war and are apparent war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.

Residents and local municipal authorities told Human Rights Watch that the attacks have hampered reconstruction efforts and the ability of tens of thousands of displaced people to return to their homes in southern Lebanon. Over 10,000 buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed there between October 2023 and January 2025.

“Amid the ceasefire, Israeli forces have carried out attacks that unlawfully target reconstruction-related equipment and facilities,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “After reducing many of Lebanon’s southern border towns to rubble, the Israeli military is now making it much more difficult for tens of thousands of residents to rebuild their destroyed homes and return to their towns.”