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USA

Explainer: know your hijab from your niqab

Canada

Canada PM Trudeau condemns Quebec mosque terror attack

Six died and eight were wounded when gunmen opened fire on worshippers at a mosque in Canada's Quebec province.

Austria

How to be a hermit

Tired of Trump? Weary of war? Want to escape the trials and tribulations of modern life by becoming a hermit? A town in Austria may have the answer to your prayers.

United Kingdom

Our synagogue is a home for Syrian refugees

As well as reflecting Biblical teaching, the project has a personal resonance to our community. Jews have very recent past experience of being refugees, as some still are as they are unable to practice their religion openly in their country of birth.

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Serbia: medieval knight fight and swimming in subzero waters

Sub zero temperatures in Serbia did not deter history and heritage fans.

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Japan: force-fed fish furore

A good-luck ritual in Japan where fish are force-fed alcohol has prompted an outcry on social media.

Pakistan

Pakistan's PM reaches out to minorities during Hindu temple visit

The restoration of an ancient Hindu temple complex in Punjab has been inaugurated by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Switzerland

Mixed swimming obligatory for Muslim in Switzerland

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Muslim girls in Switzerland must attend mixed school swimming lessons.

World News

ECHR rules mixed swimming is obligatory for Swiss Muslim children

Europe's top human rights court rules that Muslim parents in Switzerland cannot refuse to send their daughters to mixed school-run swimming lessons.

Philippines

Manila mania: why millions hit the streets for the Black Nazarene in The Philippines

Huge crowds have come out on the streets of the Philippine capital Manila to honour an iconic statue known as the Black Nazarene.

World News

Iran mourns "a great man of the revolution"

Iran has begun three days of national mourning following the death of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

World News

Epiphany is celebrated with services, traditions and a joke

The Vatican Pope Francis celebrated Epiphany with a joke about camels and the more serious offer of food for some 300 homeless people.

Italy

Pope comforts survivors of Italy's earthquakes

During an audience of 800, the Pope listened attentively to survivor accounts and promised a fresh visit, as the region continues to be battered by aftershocks

Belgium

Nuns have fun on YouTube

The savvy Belgian Benedictine sisters have launched their own channel and it is already proving to be a holy hit.

Cult

A beginner's guide to the "Kalachakra" ceremonies

The Dalai Lama has officially launched 13 days of ceremonies and rituals known as the Kalachakra Initiation in Bodh Gaya in India

Turkey

Was the Reina attack due to a clash of lifestyles?

In Turkey, lifestyle differences are being touted as a motivation for Saturday's massacre in a nightclub in Istanbul.

Iraq

Opinion: a brief history of so-called Islamic State (ISIL)

For two months, the international coalition in Iraq has battled to reclaim the city of Mosul from so-called Islamic State (ISIL).

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Circus delights Pope Francis at Vatican

Pope Francis’s weekly general audience took a rather quirky turn on Wednesday December 28 when a circus was unleashed on the Vatican.

Germany

Berlin's Jewish community pays tribute to lorry attack victims

The son of an Israeli woman who was killed in last week’s deadly lorry attack in Berlin has lit a giant menorah at the city’s Brandenburg Gate during a ceremony to remember…

Indonesia

Court rejects dropping of blasphemy charges against Jakarta governor

Basuki Purnama is accused of insulting the Koran in a case that's divided opinion in Muslim-majority Indonesia