Rumi

Some 200 Syrian migrants and a Turkish captain were intercepted by Turkish Coast Guard teams as they attempted to cross to the Greek island of Rhodes from the touristic Turkish town of Marmaris late on Dec. 24.

A wooden gullet was carrying the group, mostly women and children, "for 4,000 dollars per person," according to local reports.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Dec. 25  international efforts should focus on preventing insurgents from infiltrating from Turkey and Jordan to achieve progress towards a political settlement in Syria.

Air raids by Syrian government warplanes killed 28 civilians, including 10 children, near Damascus on Dec. 24, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

One soldier was killed while two others were wounded in clashes with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of ??rnak, Turkish Armed Forces has announced. 

A huge explosion at an industrial gas plant in southeastern Nigeria razed nearby buildings and killed several people on Christmas Eve, police said Dec. 25.

A lawsuit has been opened against Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin with a demand that the journalist serve five years in prison for "insulting president" due to a report in the daily.

Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals has completed a detailed ruling in its earlier reversal decision of a 10-month jail sentence handed down to world-renowned Turkish pianist and composer Faz?l Say on blasphemy charges, highlighting the need for "a tolerant and wide view for the sake of a free society."

The Belgian authorities have charged a ninth person in connection with last month's deadly Paris attacks, the prosecutor's office said Dec. 24.

A spokesman said the suspect had telephoned Hasna Aitboulachen, the cousin of ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, several times after the Nov. 13 attacks and before a police raid five days later in which they both died.

Akbank Sanat is focusing on the purest state of the digital arts in a new exhibition titled "Monochrome." 

Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) rector Prof. Ahmet Acar has refuted claims by Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m over the recent cyberattack targeting websites with the extension ".tr," saying the university took necessary measures during the cyberattack, which he defined as "one of the most intensive" attacks of its kind ever seen.