When the quest for freedom goes horribly wrong
Updated 0140 GMT (0940 HKT) December 25, 2019
Dr. Sayed Mirwais Rohani wanted to heal people, but he died a broken man.
Trained in China, the young Afghan doctor fled the Taliban in Kabul only to become trapped in Australia's offshore immigration detention system.
He ended his own life in a Brisbane city hotel on October 15. He was 32.
A coroner's investigation into Rohani's death is in its very early stages.Philippines typhoon brings Christmas Day misery
People stranded in evacuation centres and at ports as Typhoon Phanfone passes over string of islands
Typhoon Phanfone has pummelled the central Philippines on Christmas Day, bringing a wet and miserable holiday season to millions. Thousands were stranded at shuttered ports or evacuation centres while others sheltered in rain-soaked homes as Phanfone crossed from one island to another for the second day.
The typhoon toppled houses and trees and blacked out cities in the Philippines’ most storm-prone region. More than 10,000 people spent the night in schools, gyms and government buildings hastily converted into evacuation centres as the typhoon made landfall on Tuesday, civil defence officials said.
“It was frightening. The glass windows shattered and we took cover by the stairs,” said Ailyn Metran after she and her four-year-old child spent the night at the local state weather service office where her husband worked. The family returned to their home in Tacloban city on Wednesday to find their two dogs safe but the floor was covered in mud and a fallen tree on their house.
The nightmare before Christmas: Gaza’s Christians await permits to see loved ones at mercy of Israeli authorities
Christians in Gaza steel themselves for a holiday separated from children and relatives in the West Bank
Bel TrewGaza, Bethlehem
Sitting in the shadow of the Christmas tree by Gaza’s only Catholic church, Diana, a mother-of-three, waits for news of whether or not Israel will allow her to see her children.
She has been separated from her son Jawdat for four years. He moved to the occupied West Bank to find work, as youth unemployment in Gaza soared to 70 per cent.
Diana has not seen her youngest daughter Sara since she began studying in Jordan two years ago.
Pope Francis defends migrants, calls for peace in ‘Urbi et Orbi’ Christmas address
Pope Francis urged the world to let the light of Christmas pierce the "darkness in human hearts" that leads to religious persecution, social injustice, armed conflicts and fear of migrants.
In his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) Christmas Day message, the 83-year-old pope called for peace in the Holy Land, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Venezuela, Ukraine and several African countries caught up in conflicts.
The common thread of his address to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square and millions watching or listening around the world was that change starts in the hearts of individuals.
Burkina Faso mourns dozens of victims after double attack
At least 35 civilians, mostly women, killed alongside seven soldiers and at least 80 armed fighters in Soum province.
An attack in Burkina Faso has killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, in one of the deadliest assaults to hit the West African country in nearly five years of violence.
Seven soldiers and 80 armed fighters were also killed in Tuesday's double attack on a military base and Arbinda town in Soum province, in the country's north, according to the military.
Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has seen regular attacks - hundreds have been killed since the start of 2015 when violence began to spread across the Sahel region.
Japan MP arrested on suspicion of taking casino bribe
A lawmaker from Japan's governing party has been arrested on suspicion of receiving 3.7m yen ($34,000) in bribes from a gambling operator.
As a member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet until October, Tsukasa Akimoto oversaw the government's plan to introduce casinos.
The 48-year-old denies wrongdoing and says he never extended any favours.
But correspondents say his arrest could complicate Mr Abe's controversial policy on casinos.
Mr Akimoto is accused of receiving money from three employees of an unnamed gambling operator seeking help for a casino bid, prosecutors say.
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