Indonesian militants planned New Year’s assault with machetes: police
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian militants supporting Islamic State planned to attack a police post on New Year’s eve with machetes and knives, a police spokesman said on Monday.
Twelve years after Asia tsunami, 400 bodies unidentified in Thailand
BANGKOK (Reuters) – At least 400 victims of Asia’s 2004 tsunami that killed 226,000 people remain unidentified in Thailand 12 years on, police said on Monday.
Major quake jolts Chile tourist region on Christmas Day
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A major 7.6 magnitude earthquake jolted southern Chile on Sunday, prompting thousands to evacuate coastal areas, but no fatalities or major damage were reported in the tourism and salmon farming region.
China lodges protest over Taiwan content in U.S. defense bill
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has lodged “stern representations” with the United States after President Barack Obama signed into law a U.S. defense policy bill that suggests a plan to conduct high-level military exchanges with self-ruled Taiwan.
All 92 on Syria-bound Russian military jet killed in crash, including 60 from Red Army Choir
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian military plane carrying 92 people, including dozens of Red Army Choir singers, dancers and orchestra members, crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, killing everyone on board, Russian authorities said.
Thirteen killed in Mexican wave of drug violence
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Thirteen people were killed in the restive Mexican states of Michoacan and Guerrero, Mexican authorities said on Sunday, amid feuds between rival drug gangs that have racked the country.
Deja vu for U.S. troops celebrating Christmas in Iraq again
EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – This is the third Christmas that Staff Sergeant Magdiel Asencio is spending in Iraq. For Sergeant First Class Noel Alvarado, it is number four. And so it is with many U.S. troops stationed less than a hour’s drive from t…
Israeli PM, angered by anti-settlement U.N. vote, summons U.S. ambassador
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday summoned the U.S. ambassador to Israel to discuss the U.S. abstention in a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an end to settlement-building.
Egypt confirms Al Jazeera producer’s arrest for ‘provoking sedition’
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt confirmed on Sunday that it had arrested an Al Jazeera news producer, accusing him of “provoking sedition” on behalf of the Qatar-based broadcaster that it considers a mouthpiece of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Aleppo Christians celebrate holiday in hope peace has returned
AMMAN (Reuters) – Christians in Aleppo celebrated under a giant Christmas tree lit up for the first time in five years, hailing what many described as the return of peace to a city that came back under full government control last week.
