Pope Francis doubled down Sunday on his condemnation of Israel's strikes on the Gaza Strip, denouncing their "cruelty" for the second time in as many days despite Israel accusing him of "double standards". "And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and…

Lagos, Nigeria Nigerian police on Sunday raised the total death toll from two stampedes at food distribution centres to 32, as the country grappled with a spate of deadly crowd crushes at charity events. Twenty-two people were killed on Saturday as people queued outside a centre distributing rice in the southern town of Okija, police…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government on Sunday pledged to investigate whether security services could have prevented the Christmas market car-ramming attack that killed five people and injured over 200. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the heads of the domestic and foreign intelligence services will face questioning by two parliamentary committees on December 30, after opposition…

Putin vows 'destruction' on Ukraine after Kazan drone attack Moscow, Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed to bring more "destruction" to Ukraine in retaliation for a drone attack on the central Russian city of Kazan a day earlier. Russia accused Ukraine of a "massive" drone attack that hit a luxury apartment block in…

France awaited the appointment of a new government to lead the country out of its political crisis, with President Emmanuel Macron expected to hold talks with his new prime minister on Sunday. France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, appointed on December 13, is racing to name a new government by Christmas. Macron, who earlier Sunday returned…