Globe Trot: Syrian and Iraqi refugees celebrate Christmas in Lebanon

LEBANON: Christmas for Refugees, a program serving Syrians and Iraqis fleeing the war, continues—and watch these children sing.

EUROPE: A Roman Catholic church turned into a skate hall in Amsterdam is one of hundreds of churches across Europe up for sale. The closing of Europe’s houses of worship “reflects the rapid weakening of the faith in Europe, a phenomenon that is painful to both worshipers and others who see religion as a unifying factor in a disparate society,” reports a front-page story in Friday’s Wall Street Journal.

NORTH KOREA: Expert Barbara Demick, author of Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, says “the atmospherics ring true” in The Interview, Sony Picture’s lampoon of Kim Jong-un judged so mendacious Sony yanked it from theaters after corporate emails were hacked. Kim’s regime is suspected behind the cyberattack, and North Korea lashed out at new U.S. sanctions over the escapade. The Interview (rated R and truly—truly—raunchy with language, sex, and coarse jokes), is now showing via the internet.

NIGERIA: Boko Haram seized an important multinational military base in the north, and at least 28 Christians are dead in militant attacks.

SUDAN: Baby Godwin has died, repeating a common saga for children born in war-zone poverty. Relief workers discovered Godwin last April in Sudan, left untended for 19 days after his mother died in childbirth. Close to death then, Godwin made a seeming recovery after being flown to Kenya—until a bout of diarrhea struck over the weekend.

PAKISTAN: Airstrikes killed 31 militants and a suspected U.S. drone strike killed another seven, destroying four hideouts and a suicide bomber training center, as Pakistan and Afghanistan step up efforts to rout Taliban posts along their porous border.

AFGHANISTAN: “Deadlines concentrate the mind, but deadlines should not be dogmas,” said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who wants U.S. President Barack Obama to reexamine his plan to have all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by 2016. About 10,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan, a contingency force following the end of formal combat operations in 2014, and half of them are expected to leave this year.

IRAQ: The Flood is the first ever album recording of ancient Babylonian and Sumerian music, based on Mesopotamian texts from as early as the 4th millennium BC and composed for voice and the Lyre of Ur. Listen here.