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US President Donald Trump at Christmas Eve dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Africa

US launches strike on Islamic State targets in Nigeria, Trump says

US strikes targeting militants were carried out in cooperation with the Nigerian government.

Indonesia

‘Starting anew’: Indonesians in flood-struck Sumatra hold Christmas mass

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Malaysia

Hair-raising: Malaysia arrests 2 over video of man in headscarf drinking alcohol

Pope Leo XIV

Pope calls for end to all wars in first Christmas as pontiff

‘May the clamour of weapons cease … and may the parties involved find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue’.

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A Palestinian man lifts a baby next to the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza on Christmas Eve. Photo: AFP
Israel-Gaza war

Bethlehem celebrates first festive Christmas since Gaza war

After two years of cancelled festivities, the ‘City of the Nativity’ revives its iconic parades and tree lighting as a fragile truce holds in Gaza.

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South Korea

South Korean politicians agree to Unification Church special probe in rare move

The ruling DPK has accepted the opposition’s proposal to appoint special prosecutors to look into the church’s political meddling and bribes.

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Africa

Nigeria says ‘spat’ with Trump over killing of Christians ‘largely resolved’

However, Nigeria remains on Washington’s list of countries of ‘particular concern’ regarding alleged religious freedom violations.

US President Donald Trump makes an announcement about lowering the cost of drug prices at the White House last week. Photo: Reuters
Australia

Australian PM Albanese booed as Bondi Beach attack victims honoured

Tens of thousands attended Sunday’s memorial. The Sydney event was heavily guarded by police, including snipers on rooftops and police boats.

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Israel

Jews worldwide urged to ‘come home’ to Israel after Bondi massacre

Gideon Saar says ‘Jews are being hunted across the world’ following the December 14 Isis-inspired shooting at a Hanukkah event in Australia.

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Africa

Nigeria secures release of 130 children abducted from Catholic school

Presidential spokesman confirms ‘none left in captivity’ after an operation frees students taken by gunmen in November.

Freed students at a reception in Minna on December 8. An additional 130 children were released in recent days. Photo: AFP
Malaysia

Malaysia allows halal hotels, eateries to deck halls with boughs of holly

The multiracial country’s religious affairs minister says festive decorations or images are allowed where halal food is served.

Shoppers walk around Christmas trees at a mall in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Photo: AFP
Singapore

Anwar’s coalition revives Chinese school certification debate, sparking row

The sensitive issue in the Malay-Muslim majority country has caused a row between Umno and DAP, an insider says.

Malaysia

Paws for thought: Malaysian mall reverses pet-friendly policy after uproar

The reversal comes after videos of a dog being wheeled through the mall in a trolley stirred anger in the Muslim-majority country.

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Australia

Millions raised for ‘hero of Australia’ who stopped gunman at Bondi Beach

Over 40,000 people have donated about US$1.5 million to Ahmed al Ahmed, the Syrian-Australian Muslim hero who saved Jewish lives.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) meets Ahmed al Ahmed at a hospital in Sydney on Tuesday. Photo: Australian Prime Minister Office/AP
Malaysia

Malaysian religious authorities clear woman of ‘2 husbands’ allegations

A Kelantan official said the woman divorced her first husband in 2022 before remarrying in Thailand.

Images shared online purporting to show a couple seated before religious officials, which were cited in a social media post alleging a woman had married a second man in Thailand. Malaysia’s religious authorities have confirmed that the woman was not a bigamist. Photo: Facebook/Ekin Derahim
India

Kick-off in Kolkata: how Lionel Messi was dragged into an Indian election battle

The BJP has latched on to the crowd chaos during Messi’s visit to West Bengal to demand the resignation of the state’s chief minister.

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Crime

Video | Mourners lay flowers for Bondi shooting victims

Hundreds of mourners gathered at Sydney’s Bondi Pavilion to pay tribute to the victims of Australia’s worst mass shooting in decades.

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Australia

Isis-inspired Bondi gunmen visited Philippines before shooting: police

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sajid Akram and his son Naveed had been radicalised by an ‘ideology of hate’.

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Mourners place flowers at a makeshift memorial at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Tuesday. Photo: EPA
Malaysia

Malaysian religious authorities probe viral claim of woman having ‘2 husbands’

The allegation has renewed focus on cross-border marriages between Malaysia and southern Thailand that are used to bypass domestic approvals.

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Australia

Video | Bystander tackles, disarms gunman in Australia

Shooting happened in the popular tourist area of Bondi Beach.

Australia

World leaders express horror at Bondi Beach attack as vigils held for victims

Israel’s Herzog condemned the ‘cruel attack on Jews’ by ‘terrorists’; Trump branded the shooting that killed 15 people ‘purely antisemitic’.

People hold a vigil outside the Australian High Commission in central London, Britain on Sunday following a terrorist attack on a Jewish celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Photo: PA Wire / dpa
Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu accuses Australia’s PM of inaction in tackling antisemitism

After the Bondi Beach shooting, the Israeli PM said he warned Albanese months ago that Australia’s policy was ‘encouraging antisemitism’.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Reuters
Britain

‘Make Christmas Great Again’: hundreds join far-right Robinson’s London rally

UK bishops express grave concern over the use of Christian symbols to ‘justify racism and anti-migrant rhetoric’.

Malaysia

Malaysian religious leaders urged to provide evidence of South Korean ‘cult’

Perlis state’s senior Islamic scholar alleged Muslim political elites were linked to the ‘deviant’ cult movement.

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South Korea

South Korea’s threat to dissolve corrupt religious groups risks blowback

President Lee’s move comes as a widening Unification Church bribery scandal implicates lawmakers from both major parties.

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Members of the Unification Church protest in Seoul against the media coverage of their group after the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. Photo: AFP
Japan

Can Japan find space for Muslim burials? Not if right-wing rhetoric prevails

A viral video showing a Sanseito MP telling foreign residents to cremate their dead or ship them home spotlights discomfort with diversity.

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Muslim residents of Japan gather for a Friday service at Japan’s largest mosque in Tokyo in 2015. Photo: AFP
United States

‘If Jesus were born in America now’: church’s nativity challenges ICE policy

Mother Mary in a gas mask, Baby Jesus zip-tied by ICE agents. A Chicago church’s nativity scene sparks debate by mirroring immigrant detention.

Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

Hong Kong’s religious communities unite in prayer to mourn Tai Po fire victims

Muslims and other faith groups express solidarity and sorrow for victims of deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court.

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