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A new study by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), entitled “Violent Incidents Affecting Health Care,” reveals that at least 921 violent incidents against health-care personnel, infrastructure and wounded or sick people took place in 2012. The study conducted in 22 unnamed countries affected by armed violence underlines a worrying trend: assaults on health-care personnel, facilities and vehicles in conflicts and other emergencies leave millions around the world without care just when they need it most.

President Obama affirmed Tuesday that there’s evidence Syrians have been attacked with chemical weapons—in particular, nerve gas. But that's not the same as proof positive. “We don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them,” Obama said. “We don't have a chain of custody that establishes what exactly happened.”

Health workers in northern Syria have reported a dramatic rise in cases of Leishmaniasis--locally dubbed “Aleppo Button Disease” for the sores it produces--and are calling on the World Health Organization and other international agencies for help. Leishmaniasis, transmitted through the bite of the common sandfly, is a complex of diseases affecting different parts of the body. The kind most commonly found in Syria is called cutaneous Leishmaniasis, which is characterized by welts or sores on the skin.

Roadside bombs and insurgent attacks killed at least 24 people in five separate attacks across Afghanistan as violence steadily rises during this year's spring fighting season, officials said Wednesday. So far, April has been the deadliest month this year for Afghan and foreign civilians and security forces. According to an Associated Press tally, 182 people have been killed in violence around the nation this month. […] In northern Jowzjan province, police chief Aziz Ghayrat said insurgents opened fire on elders in a village and two health workers were killed in the crossfire.

French and Malian flags are flying throughout the capital city of Bamako today after French troops helped to liberate northern Mali from the radical Islamists who have occupied the region for almost a year. On Sunday, January 27, French and African troops took back the city of Gao, where jihadists used the Gao School of Nursing—once a thriving educational institution—as a base of operations. The next day, the troops liberated the ancient desert city of Timbuktu.