“Do they know it's Christmas? 16 countries where people are celebrating today”, “Foreigners fighting ISIS in Syria: Who and why?”, “Paris attack exposes old colonial wounds”, “Immigrants’ abuse of benefits system must be fixed, agrees Angela Merkel”

telegraph.co.uk. “Do they know it's Christmas? 16 countries where people are celebrating today” - January 7 is Christmas Day in countries as far afield as Russia, Ethiopia and Greece. But why choose this day to celebrate? And how is the occasion marked? While in the UK, USA and much of the world Christmas Day is December 25, in a surprisingly-high number of countries celebrate Christmas on January 7. This is because some countries use a different calendar. In the West we use the Gregorian calendar, originally proposed by Pope Gregory in 1582.

alarabiya.net. “Foreigners fighting ISIS in Syria: Who and why?” - While illegally crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border, Canadian Peter Douglas was adamant that his incursion was for humanitarian reasons - to help the people of Syria. Douglas is one of a growing band of foreigners to dodge authorities and join the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants who have killed thousands and taken vast parts of Iraq and Syria, declaring a caliphate in territory under their control.

the star.com. “Paris attack exposes old colonial wounds” - Savage attack on French satirical magazine has already sparked another bitter debate: on religious sensitivity versus freedom of speech. In the dark aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris there is little light shining on the links and motivations of the killers. But in the minds of many French people the threat was propelled by Islam.

telegraph.co.uk. “Immigrants’ abuse of benefits system must be fixed, agrees Angela Merkel” -The German Chancellor backs David Cameron's bid to reform the welfare system, but says freedom of movement must stay. ANGELA MERKEL agrees with David Cameron that there is a “necessity” to address the “abuses” of Britain’s benefits system by immigrants. The German Chancellor backed the Prime Minister’s bid to reform the welfare system but refused to endorse the “full-on treaty change” he has demanded.

babel.com. “What language do you want to learn?” – Start learning a new language today. Fast, fun and fully interactive language courses available online.

reuters.com. “Mysterious Chinese Blogger Predicted AirAsia Disappearance Two Weeks Ago” -  A Mysterious Chinese blogger seemingly predicted the AirAsia QZ8501 catastrophe, providing warnings to potential travelers some two weeks before the tragic incident actually happened.