A couple were killed in southwest Niger this week after armed individuals fired into the air inside a church, locals told AFP yesterday.

Fresh clashes erupted yesterday near Uvira in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east between the M23 group and pro-government militia, local and security sources said.

Trump has warned of threat to Christians in West African country

Some 115 alleged members of the Islamic State group suspected of planning attacks during the end of year holidays have been arrested in Turkey, Istanbul’s prosecutor general said yesterday.

At least 12 people died on Wednesday after a boat filled with migrants seeking to reach Europe sank off the coast of Senegal, security sources said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday seized an oil tanker in the Gulf carrying more than a dozen foreign crew members, state media reported.

Nigeria police said yesterday that they suspected a suicide bomber was behind the blast that killed several worshippers in a mosque on Christmas eve in the country’s northeastern Borno state.

Greek coastguard were searching yesterday for a missing child off the island of Farmakonisi after rescuing 52 migrants in two separate incidents in the Aegean Sea, local media reported.

Pope Leo XIV condemned the “senselessness” of war and the “open wounds” it leaves behind, as he delivered his first Christmas message yesterday after a year marked by conflict but also hopes for peace in Gaza and Ukraine.

China yesterday accused the US of distorting its defence policy in an effort to thwart an improvement in China-India ties.

Indian security forces killed a senior Maoist rebel commander and three other fighters including two women in a raid yesterday, police said, as authorities push a major offensive against the guerrillas.

Nasry Asfura, the conservative candidate for Honduran president backed by US President Donald Trump, was declared the winner on Wednesday more than three weeks after the November 30 election, which was beset by delays, technical problems and allegations of fraud.

Lebanon said an Israeli strike near the border with Syria killed two people yesterday, as a deadline nears for Lebanon’s army to disarm Hezbollah in the country’s south.

The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau has agreed to accept up to 75 non-American migrants from the United States under a deal worth $7.5 million, the two countries have said.

The White House has ordered US military forces to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a “quarantine” of Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months, a US official told Reuters, indicating Washington is currently more interested in using economic rather than military means to pressure Caracas.

Moscow has made an offer to Paris regarding jailed French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who is facing espionage charges that could see him sentenced to 20 years in a Russian prison, the Kremlin said yesterday.

Saudi Arabia, the main backer of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said yesterday that Yemeni separatists should return territory seized recently, adding that it seeks to deescalate tensions within the government camp.

Some 115 alleged members of the Islamic State group suspected of planning attacks during the end-of-year holidays have been arrested in Turkey, Istanbul's prosecutor general said on Thursday

Said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

Bomb disposal teams have cordoned off the area