Mauritania condemns man to death for ‘insulting the prophet’
NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) – Mauritania on Thursday condemned a man to death for “insulting the prophet”, a human rights group said, a day after the country opened the trial of an anti-slavery activist.
UK’s Queen Elizabeth urges reconciliation in post-referendum Scotland
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth used her annual Christmas Day broadcast on Thursday to advocate reconciliation, especially in Scotland where an unsuccessful independence referendum earlier this year polarized public opinion.
Pope condemns Islamic State, decries suffering of children
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Thursday condemned the “brutal persecution” of minorities by Islamic State insurgents and said the joy of Christmas was marred by the suffering of children in the Middle East and around the world.
Father asks Islamic State to treat captured pilot son as ‘guest’
AMMAN (Reuters) – The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State fighters after his plane crashed in Syria said he did not consider his son a hostage and called on his captors to treat him as a “guest”.
Sudan expels two senior U.N. officials: sources
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan has ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave, U.N. sources said on Thursday, in what appeared to be an escalation of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s move against U.N. activities in the country.
Turkey, Iraq pledge more military cooperation in fight against Islamic State
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey and Iraq, both worried by the advance of Islamic State, pledged on Thursday to work towards greater military cooperation in their fight against the ultra radical Sunni militants.
Small passenger plane crashes in Colombia killing seven: report
BOGOTA (Reuters) – A small passenger plane crashed in northern Colombia on Wednesday, killing all six passengers and the pilot, who had warned air traffic control of a mechanical fault moments before, the website of the El Tiempo newspaper reported.
Syrian rebel groups in Aleppo enter alliance: monitoring group
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Rebel groups fighting in Syria’s northern Aleppo province have agreed to form an alliance, a group monitoring the country’s civil war said on Thursday.
Turkish police arrest teenager for insulting President Erdogan
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish police have arrested a 16-year-old high school student in the city of Konya on charges of insulting President Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Thursday.
Thousands pray at Indonesian mosque that survived, 10 years after tsunami
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) – Thousands of Indonesians gathered on Thursday to pray at a mosque that was one of the few buildings left standing in Banda Aceh, the city flattened by the Boxing Day tsunami that killed at least 226,000 people 10 years…
