In Argentina swastikas were etched on a Jewish community centre, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated while swastikas were painted on Rabbi’s homes, Synagogues and Israeli Cultural buildings. In Australia swastikas were painted on a Central Synagogue. Flyers were placed in mailboxes of Jewish neighbourhoods inviting people to join Squadron 88, a white supremacist group. In Antwerp, Belgium, a rabbi walking to Synagogue was stabbed in the throat and a Belgian doctor refused to treat a Jewish woman. In Brazil swastikas were painted on a Jewish cultural centre In Bulgaria ‘death to Jews’ and a swastika were painted on Sofia’s Synagogue. In Canada obscenities and swastikas were painted on bus shelters, playgrounds, schools and synagogues. In Holland a Holocaust monument was desecrated, an apartment displaying the Jewish flag was firebombed and the country's Chief Rabbi’s home was attacked. In Ireland Mexico, Morocco Russia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela and New Zealand Jewish communities are being targeted.

In an act that is being repeated across Zimbabwe, government authorities have declared new ownership of the Maleme farm in Bulawayo, Matabeleland, threatening its Christian owners with arrest for refusing to leave the land that houses the Shalom and Ebenezer Christian ministries. Having made an official appeal for the reversal of this land acquisition, the leadership team is currently involved in difficult negotiations with district officials. Zimbabwe’s Ebenezer ministry trains apprentices in agri-business skills. Mr Cunningham, owner of the Maleme farm, was told on 18 December that the land had been allocated to a new owner, Mr Mashingaidze and that this decision had been finalised. Later the same day, the lands officer accompanied the new owner to Maleme farm so that he could take inventory of all his assets, warning the Christian owners that if anything was taken from the site, this would be considered theft.

A multi-agency international operation, led by Central Bureau of Investigation, has stumbled upon an organised racket of trafficking young Nepalese girls to Dubai for alleged prostitution, Delhi's IGI airport is the transit point for their travelling to the gulf country. The investigation has revealed that nearly 6000-8000 Nepalese girls aged between 20 to 30 years have been trafficked to Dubai via Delhi till December 2014.The agency has informed the ministry of external affairs, ministry of home affairs, bureau of immigration and Nepal authorities through Interpol about the organised syndicate, which sends the girls on tourist visas. The sources said during the inquiry which was being covertly conducted by the agency, probe officers collected information from Foreign Regional Registration Office, Air India, Qatar Airways, Bureau of Immigration and 15 travel agents based in Delhi.

At least one-third of the country’s territory is now under ISIS influence, with recent gains in rural areas that can serve as a conduit to major cities that the so-called Islamic State hopes to eventually claim as part of its caliphate. Meanwhile, the Islamic extremist group does not appear to have suffered any major ground losses since the strikes began. The result is a net ground gain for ISIS, according to information compiled by two groups with on-the-ground sources. In Syria, ISIS ‘has not any lost any key terrain,’ Jennifer Cafarella, a fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War who studies the Syrian conflict, explained to The Daily Beast. Even US military officials privately conceded to The Daily Beast that ISIS has gained ground in some areas, even as the Pentagon claims its seized territory elsewhere, largely around the northern city of Kobani.

Early on Saturday morning, masked militants kidnapped about 13 Egyptian Christians from a housing complex in Sirte, Libya, according to International Christian Concern (ICC). At 2:30 am, the militants went room to room checking ID cards and taking only Christian Egyptians while leaving Muslims unmolested. This latest abduction comes five days after seven Coptic Christians were kidnapped as they were trying to return to Egypt from the very same housing complex that was raided on Saturday. Both abductions followed the recent murder of Magdy Sobhy Tawfiq, an Egyptian doctor, Sahar, his pharmacist wife and their 13-year-old daughter, Catherine, also in Sirte. ‘Christians in Libya are in extreme danger from Islamic extremists who have shown they are actively hunting them down,’ said Todd Daniels, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East

Early on Saturday morning, masked militants kidnapped about 13 Egyptian Christians from a housing complex in Sirte, Libya, according to International Christian Concern (ICC). At 2:30 am, the militants went room to room checking ID cards and taking only Christian Egyptians while leaving Muslims unmolested. This latest abduction comes five days after seven Coptic Christians were kidnapped as they were trying to return to Egypt from the very same housing complex that was raided on Saturday. Both abductions followed the recent murder of Magdy Sobhy Tawfiq, an Egyptian doctor, Sahar, his pharmacist wife and their 13-year-old daughter, Catherine, also in Sirte. ‘Christians in Libya are in extreme danger from Islamic extremists who have shown they are actively hunting them down,’ said Todd Daniels, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East

The Catholic Archbishop of Jos, in central Nigeria, has accused the West of ignoring the threat of the militant Islamist group, Boko Haram. Ignatius Kaigama said the world had to show more determination to halt the group's advance in Nigeria. He said the international community had to show the same spirit and resolve it had done after the attacks in France. His warning came after 23 people were killed by three female suicide bombers, one reported to be 10 years old. The weekend attacks come after reports that hundreds of people were killed last week during the capture by Boko Haram of the town of Baga in Borno state. The north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa are bearing the brunt of a five-year-old insurgency by Boko Haram, which wants to revive a medieval caliphate in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and its biggest energy producer.

The Catholic Archbishop of Jos, in central Nigeria, has accused the West of ignoring the threat of the militant Islamist group, Boko Haram. Ignatius Kaigama said the world had to show more determination to halt the group's advance in Nigeria. He said the international community had to show the same spirit and resolve it had done after the attacks in France. His warning came after 23 people were killed by three female suicide bombers, one reported to be 10 years old. The weekend attacks come after reports that hundreds of people were killed last week during the capture by Boko Haram of the town of Baga in Borno state. The north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa are bearing the brunt of a five-year-old insurgency by Boko Haram, which wants to revive a medieval caliphate in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and its biggest energy producer.

Egyptian families in some Egyptian territories are not sending their children to school because of the simultaneous spread of four contagious viral diseases. - mumps, measles, chickenpox and bird flu. The Ministry of Health was faced with anger at its dealing with the diseases, especially after some patients died. A citizen even filed a complaint against the Minister of Health at the police station. Between September and December 1,823 cases of mumps, 1,115 cases of chickenpox, 1,356 cases of measles, and 15 cases of bird flu were reported. The Minister of Health said the government does not intend to carry out a mass slaughter of farm birds or domestic birds (unlike what happened earlier to deter the spread of bird flu). He said, ‘a committee has been formed to study the epidemiological evolution of measles’ and blamed parents for the spread of measles in schools accusing them of slacking in vaccinating their children.

Saudis are speculating about the royal succession after King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz’s health deterioration. Despite mechanisms to ensure a smooth succession of Crown Prince Salman after Abdullah’s death, Saudis are watching a royal drama played by several ageing contenders to the throne. The succession situation is complex, with questions of legitimacy. Abdullah has given the kingdom 20 years of stability Salman is likely to provide continuity. The House of Saud values family harmony. The two previous Saudi kingdoms were wracked by internal family squabbles that their foreign enemies exploited. The Arab world is facing its worst crisis in decades and the royals want to present a stable and strong image in the midst of undercurrents of conflict. (Saudi Arabia and Iran are rivals for Middle East influence - Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, and Iran as the leader of the Shia Muslim world)