Persecution of Christians

Canada on Dec. 8 joined Britain in closing its embassy in Cairo to the public for security reasons, with neither country providing details about any specific threat.
      
The move comes amid increasing attacks by Islamist militants in Egypt and calls from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for attacks on Western targets.
      

A 20-year-old German man was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison on Dec. 5 after he admitted joining Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria, in the first trial in Germany of a home-grown jihadi accused of membership of the insurgent group.

BRUSSELS - Serbia has listed its citizens who joined the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and it is ready to contribute to the global fight against terrorism, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic stated in Brussels on Wednesday.

Balkan security services intensify co-operation against ISIL recruits

Militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) battling for the capture of the Syrian town of Kobane suffered some of their heaviest losses yet in 24 hours of clashes and U.S.-led air strikes, monitors said Nov. 30.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed to hunt down those behind "heinous" attacks that killed at least 120 at the mosque of an Islamic leader who issued a call to arms against Boko Haram.
      

NATO is not considering establishing a no-fly zone in northern Syria, something Turkey has been calling for to alleviate security and humanitarian pressure on its southern border, one of the alliance’s top generals has told Reuters.

At least 95 people were killed in Syrian regime air strikes on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)'s self-proclaimed capital Raqa on Nov. 26, a monitoring group said in a new toll.
      
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 52 of the dead were civilians, but it had no word Wednesday on whether the others were jihadists or also civilians.

Washington is pleased with talks held during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Turkey, despite their failure to yield any solid outcomes sought by either of the sides, a high-ranking White House official said, briefing the press during the trip.

At least 45 people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack in northeast Nigeria, officials and witnesses said on Nov. 20, in the latest violence to hit the restive region.