Rome

Pope Francis has been named the winner of the International Charlemagne Prize, awarded annually by the German city of Aachen for contributions to European unity.

The prize committee said Dec. 23 that the pontiff had sent "a message of hope and encouragement" at a time in which "many citizens in Europe are seeking orientation," news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) reported.

A Turkish Erasmus student in Rome has been detained for carving his name into one of the 1,800-year-old columns in the historical Imperial Fora on Dec. 20.

According to a report by the daily Corriere della Sera, Turkish student Aziz Multu wrote his name with a coin on the ancient column. He was released after paying a punitive fine of 200 euros.

In June 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) occupied the Iraqi city of Mosul, which was the home to around 3,000 Christians. Soon, these Christians discovered that the Arabic letter "Nun" (?) had been sprayed on their doors to mark them as "Nasara" - the Qur'anic term for Christians. A few days later, they also learnt the implications.

Five years after the Gaza flotilla raid, Israel and Turkey have finally reached an understanding on a reconciliation agreement.

For those who have been following Turkish-Israeli relations closely, it was not a surprise. Even before the elections, there were signals of a possible thaw between the two countries.

Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DE?K) will make an official visit to Argentina in March 2016 accompanied by famous Turkish TV stars Halit Ergenç and Bergüzar Korel, who are very popular in Latin America.

Ergenç and Korel co-starred in the popular Turkish soap opera "Binbir Gece" (1001 Nights), screened under the title "Las Mil y Una Noches" in Argentina. 

A Russian patrol ship has fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing vessel to avert a collision in the northern Aegean Sea, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Sunday.   

The European Commission has drawn up proposals to create a 1,000-strong EU borders and coastguard agency to help secure the bloc's external borders in reaction to the migrant crisis, a top official said on Dec. 11.

Nearly 2,000 migrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast in 11 separate operations, the Italian navy said on Dec. 3, after a break in bad weather sparked fresh attempts at the perilous Mediterranean crossing.

The content and details concerning a meeting of political party leaders of Parliament is expected to be decided upon on Friday. Responding to a media report on private TV channel MEGA that said that the representatives of institutions had asked for the meeting to convene, the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) ruling party released a statement:

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made telephone contact with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos while on his trip to Israel. He called for a meeting of political leaders following the return of the president from an official visit to Rome.

The political leaders may meet on the weekend as Pavlopoulos is scheduled to arrive in Athens on Friday.