Britain’s Prince Andrew skips Christmas Day walk, attends earlier service
Britain’s Prince Andrew avoided the limelight on Christmas Day by skipping the royal family’s traditional mid-morning walk to church and attending an earlier service with other relatives.
Anti-Kremlin activist forcibly conscripted to Arctic was kidnapped, say allies
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said on Wednesday that the forcible military conscription of one of his allies to a remote air base in the Arctic amounted to kidnapping and illegal imprisonment.
Iran starts internet shutdown ahead of possible new protests: report
Iranian authorities have shut down mobile internet access to overseas sites in several provinces, an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday, a day before new protests called for on social media.
‘It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas’: Hong Kong pro-democracy activists keep up protests
Hong Kong anti-government protesters marched through Christmas-decorated shopping centers on Wednesday, chanting pro-democracy slogans and forcing one mall to close early, as police fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathering on nearby streets.
Pope defends migrants, calls for peace in Christmas message
Pope Francis urged the world to let the light of Christmas pierce the “darkness in human hearts” that leads to religious persecution, social injustice, armed conflicts and fear of migrants.
27 local peace activists abducted in western Afghanistan
Taliban militants have kidnapped 27 peace activists from a highway in Afghanistan’s western Farah province, local officials and peace activists said on Wednesday.
Turkey’s Erdogan in Tunisia for surprise talks with president
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Tunisia on Wednesday in a surprise visit for talks with his Tunisian counterpart, his office said, in the first visit by a head of state since Tunisian presidential elections in the autumn.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists keep up protests on Christmas Day
Hong Kong anti-government protesters marched through several shopping malls chanting pro-democracy slogans on Wednesday, a day after violent clashes with the police left a prime tourist district decorated for Christmas shrouded in tear gas.
Thai court to decide on dissolution of opposition party in January
Thailand’s Constitutional Court said on Wednesday that it would rule on the dissolution of the opposition Future Forward Party on Jan. 21 following a complaint that its actions were seditious and that it plans to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
Prosecutors search office of Japan MP in connection with bribery probe
Japanese prosecutors on Wednesday searched the office of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Takaki Shirasuka as part of a bribery investigation that saw another politician arrested earlier in the day, media said.
