Iraq, Turkey pledge to join hands to fight IS jihadists
Ankara (AFP) Dec 25, 2014 -
Iraq and Turkey on Thursday pledged to join forces to fight Islamic State insurgents who are holding swathes of Iraq and Syria.
"ISIS threatens not only Iraq's and Turkey's security but the entire region," Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi told a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, using an alternative name for IS jihadists.
Turkey, a vocal critic of S ...
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For Iraqi Christian family, a grim Christmas far from home
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 25, 2014 -
For 40-year-old Ghassan, who shares a small, damp Baghdad classroom with nine relatives, Christmas this year is offering little to celebrate.
"There is no Christmas here," he says, his eyes full of tears as he sits at a school desk, embracing his seven-year-old son.
Ghassan and his family are Chaldean Christians, but there are no signs of the holiday season in the grim room they share in ...
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Jordan vows 'all efforts' to save pilot seized by IS
Amman (AFP) Dec 25, 2014 -
Jordan vowed Thursday to make every effort to save a pilot captured by the Islamic State group in Syria as Washington denied claims the jihadists had shot down his warplane.
Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a 26-year-old first lieutenant in the Jordanian air force, was captured by IS on Wednesday after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the jihadists over northern Syria.
It was the first ...
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Pope likely to address year of conflicts in Christmas message
Vatican City (AFP) Dec 25, 2014 -
Pope Francis will celebrate Christmas on Thursday by sending the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and millions of others his traditional "urbi et orbi" message at the close of a year plagued by war and religious fundamntalism.
In his second Christmas blessing, the popular Argentine pontiff is expected to call for remedies to the world's woes, in particular the brutal persecution of religious mi ...
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Pakistan announces anti-terrorism action plan after school attack
Islamabad (AFP) Dec 24, 2014 -
Pakistan on Thursday said it will set up military courts for terror-related cases, as part of an ambitious anti-terrorism plan following a deadly Taliban school attack that killed 150 people.
In a midnight address to the nation after almost 11 hours of deliberations with leaders of political parties, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said strong action was needed to root out extremism and warned n ...
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Shinzo Abe returns as Japanese prime minister after snap election
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 24, 2014 -
Japan's parliament on Wednesday confirmed Shinzo Abe for another term as prime minister after his election triumph, but the return to power stirred warnings from China over a bid to change the pacifist constitution.
The lower house voted overwhelmingly for the 60-year-old Abe with 328 votes against 73 for acting opposition leader Katsuya Okada. That was followed by an upper house poll which ...
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IS captures Jordanian pilot after plane crashes over Syria
Beirut (AFP) Dec 24, 2014 -
The Islamic State group captured a Jordanian pilot Wednesday after his warplane from the US-led coalition crashed while on a mission against the jihadists over Syria.
A senior Jordanian military official said the pilot was taken hostage by the "IS terrorist organisation" in its northern stronghold region of Raqa.
Both the jihadists and activists reporting to the Britain-based Syrian Obse ...
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