‘Deeply insecure’: Why Bangladeshi minorities are scared ahead of elections
A spate of recent attacks has amplified fears among the country’s religious minorities ahead of the February 12 vote.
![A soldier walks next to Prasat Ta Khwai, a site of clashes between Thailand and Cambodia in December 2025, in Surin province, Thailand. [Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1769027178.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
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Ultra-Orthodox fury over military enlistment turns deadly in Israel
The issue of ultra-Orthdox Jewish enlistment in the military may collapse Israel’s coalition.
EXPLAINER
Why do 250 million Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7?
Orthodox and Coptic Christians don’t believe Jesus was born on a different day; they just use a different calendar.
Worshippers gather on the eve of Orthodox Christmas at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[Amanuel Sileshi/AP Photo]
Clergy prepare for the arrival of Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III to the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, to celebrate Christmas according to the Eastern Orthodox calendar, in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]
Palestinian scout bands parade through Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]
People attend an Orthodox Christmas service outside the Kashveti Church of St George in Tbilisi, Georgia. [Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP Photo]
A Coptic Orthodox bishop leads Christmas prayers at Archangel Michael Church in Cairo, Egypt. [Amr Nabil/AP Photo]
Iranian Christians attend a service celebrating Orthodox Christmas at St Sarkis Armenian Cathedral in Tehran. [Atta Kenare/AFP]
People burn dried oak branches, symbolising the Yule log, on Orthodox Christmas Eve in front of the Church of St Sava in Belgrade, Serbia. [Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo]
A woman lights a candle during a Christmas service at the Kronstadt Naval Cathedral in St Petersburg, Russia. [Olga Maltseva/AFP]
Worshippers receive communion during a Christmas service at the Syriac Orthodox Church in Sulaimaniyah, a neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria. [Kasim Yusuf/Anadolu]
Orthodox Christians attend a Christmas Eve service at the Church of St Clement of Ohrid in Skopje, North Macedonia. [Umeys Sulejman/Anadolu]
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From: Al Jazeera Untangles
Spanish Empire: Sword and Cross
How Spain conquered with armies and missionaries, fusing faith, force and gold into global dominance.
Published On 4 Jan 2026
Firework accidents kill two in Netherlands as fire ravages Amsterdam church
The Neo-Gothic Vondelkerk, a 19th-century Roman Catholic church, has been used for other purposes since the 1970s.
From: Inside Story
Do Donald Trump’s strikes in Nigeria serve any purpose?
The US president says air strikes are against ISIL, claiming the group targets Christians.
Published On 27 Dec 2025
From: NewsFeed
Video: Nigerians in village bombed by US describe what happened
‘Debris was burning’. Nigerians have described what they witnessed in US strikes on the town of Jabo.
Published On 27 Dec 2025
From: NewsFeed
Syria’s Christians mark Christmas under heavy security
Christians in Syria spent Christmas surrounded by armed soldiers, with security deployed outside churches in Aleppo.
Published On 26 Dec 2025
From: NewsFeed
Indonesians hold Christmas mass at flood-devastated area
Residents of Aek Ngadol village, in Indonesia’s North Sumatra, gathered for Christmas mass amid the wreckage.
Published On 25 Dec 2025
Pope Leo laments suffering of Gaza Palestinians in first Christmas sermon
Global wars are ‘leaving behind rubble and open wounds’, pontiff says.
