27 AFGHAN PEACE ACTIVISTS ABDUCTED BY THE TALIBAN Taliban militants have kidnapped 27 peace activists from a highway in Afghanistan's western Farah province, local officials and peace activists said on Wednesday. Massoud Bakhtawar, the Deputy Governor of Farah, said the activists were travelling in six cars from Herat to Farah on Tuesday evening when their convoy was stopped by the Taliban on a highway and taken to an unknown location. Bismillah Watandost, a member of the group, said the activists had planned to travel to various parts of Farah to call for peace and a ceasefire between the warring parties in Afghanistan. The group, People's Peace Movement, was formed to protest against violent attacks after a car bomb exploded at a sport stadium in Helmand province last year killing 17 civilians. The activists have travelled to various parts of the country, often marching through Taliban-controlled areas to demand a ceasefire between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The Taliban has previously accused the activists of being financed by the Kabul government, which the group has denied. WE WILL FIGHT CHINA'S POWER OF GUN WITH POWER OF TRUTH: DALAI LAMA The Dalai Lama on Wednesday vowed that Tibetan Buddhists will continue to fight with "the power of truth" the communist regime in China which, according to him, thrived on the "power of the gun". The Tibetan spiritual leader made the statement at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya near here, the place where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment more than two millennia ago. He arrived at Bodh Gaya on Tuesday night on his annual fortnight-long visit of the pilgrim town during which he offers discourses besides organizing the Kala Chakra initiation ceremony. "A survey conducted three years ago has shown a massive rise in the number of Tibetan Buddhists in China. We have the power of truth while the communist regime in China has the power of the gun," the Dalai Lama said. "As social animals, we cannot do without compassion. It is a virtue essential to achieving mental peace. The world is reeling under violence, often in the name of religion. This must not happen and humanistic values must be promoted," he added. About the spread of Buddhism in China, which has been officially atheist since the communist revolution, the Dalai Lama said, "China has traditionally been a Buddhist country. Among the adherents of various religions, Buddhists are the largest in number. "Moreover, many citizens of China are practising Tibetan Buddhism and its universities have a large number of Buddhist scholars," he added. POPE FRANCIS APPEALS FOR PEACE IN GLOBAL FLASHPOINTS Pope Francis appealed for peace in many of the world's hotspots, singling out the crises in the Middle East, Venezuela and Lebanon as well as armed conflicts ravaging many African countries. "May Christ bring his light to the many children suffering from war and conflicts in the Middle East and in various countries of the world," the 83-year-old pontiff said in his traditional Christmas message at the Vatican. "May he bring comfort to the beloved Syrian people who still see no end to the hostilities that have rent their country over the last decade," he said, urging the international community to find solutions to allow the peoples of that region to live together in peace and security." He used his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and the World) speech to call for a resolution to the crisis in Lebanon, where he hoped for a return to "harmonious coexistence". In the Middle East, notably Iraq and Yemen, the Pope lamented that "so many people - struggling but not discouraged - still await a time of peace, security and prosperity." Pope Francis denounced attacks on Christians in Africa and prayed for victims of conflict, natural disasters and disease in the world's poorest continent. He prayed for migrants undertaking a perilous and potentially deadly sea crossing to Europe to seek a better life, saying: "It is injustice that makes them cross deserts and seas that become cemeteries." "It is injustice that forces them to ensure unspeakable forms of abuse, enslavement of every kind and torture in inhumane detention camps. It is injustice that turns them away from places where they might have hope for a dignified life, but instead find themselves before walls of indifference." NO CHRISTMAS MASS AT NOTRE-DAME FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE NAPOLEON For the first time in more than 200 years, worshippers will not be able to attend Christmas mass at Notre-Dame cathedral, still being restored after a devastating fire. "There won't be a midnight mass at Notre-Dame. The last time this happened was during the French Revolution. Since 1803, there have always been Christmas masses at Notre-Dame," a Paris diocese spokeswoman told Reuters. The April 15 fire caused the roof and spire to collapse although the main bell towers and the outer walls were saved, along with religious relics and priceless works of art. "It's painful because we would have liked to celebrate Christmas at Notre-Dame but, at the same time, there is also hope: we're pressing ahead with the rebuilding, for example this huge crane which will help remove this damn scaffolding," said Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, the cathedral's senior administrative cleric. He was referring to the metal scaffolding, erected before the blaze for maintenance work, that melted in the fire and had to be disentangled from the cathedral's structure before it could be removed. "Christmas is the celebration of hope. Let's be patient, four more years", Chauvet added, inviting those who used to come to Notre-Dame for Christmas to go to nearby Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, one of the oldest churches in Paris. Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit, who would normally say Christmas mass in Notre-Dame, will this year officiate at the GrYss Circus in the Bois de Boulogne, the diocese said. Notre-Dame, which dates back to the 12th century, features in Victor Hugo's novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame". It was also there that Napoleon was crowned Emperor in 1804. 35 CIVILIANS KILLED IN TERRORIST ATTACK IN BURKINA FASO Burkina Faso was in mourning on Wednesday after jihadists killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, in double attacks in the north, in one of the deadliest assaults in nearly five years of violence in the West African country. Seven soldiers and 80 jihadists also died in Tuesday's simultaneous attacks on the town of Arbinda and its military base in Soum province, which lasted "several hours" and was of a "rare intensity", the army said. Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has seen regular jihadist attacks which have left hundreds dead since 2015 when militant violence began to spread across the Sahel region. "A large group of terrorists simultaneously attacked the military base and the civilian population in Arbinda," the army Chief of Staff said in a statement. "This barbaric attack resulted in the deaths of 35 civilian victims, most of them women," President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said on Twitter, praising the "bravery and commitment" of the defence forces. Government spokesman Remis Dandjinou later said 31 of the civilian victims were women, adding around 20 soldiers and six civilians were wounded. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but jihadist violence in Burkina Faso has been blamed on militants linked to both the Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State groups. ACTIVISTS CONTINUE HONG KONG PROTESTS DESPITE CHRISTMAS Hong Kong anti-government protesters marched through Christmas-decorated shopping centres on Wednesday, chanting pro-democracy slogans and forcing one mall to close early, as the police fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathering on nearby streets. The protests have turned more confrontational over the festive season, though earlier in December they had been largely peaceful after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections. Despite the embarrassing results, Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leaders have made no new concessions. The riot police patrolled several neighbourhoods while tourists and shoppers, many wearing Santa hats or reindeer antlers, strolled past. There were no major clashes, but with impromptu crowds forming to shout expletives at the unpopular officers, who have been accused of using excessive force, the police briefly fired tear gas in Mong Kok, a popular protest area. Police describe their reaction to the unrest as restrained. Hundreds of protesters, dressed in black and wearing face masks, descended on shopping malls around the Chinese-ruled city, shouting popular slogans such as "Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our times!" The police arrested several people in a shopping mall in the Sha Tin district after pepper-spraying them. The mall closed early. PAKISTAN TO IMPORT POLIO MARKERS FROM INDIA Pakistan has decided to import polio markers from India, months after it suspended trade ties with New Delhi following abrogation of the Article 370, according to a media report on Wednesday. "The federal Cabinet on Tuesday decided to give a one-time permission for import of polio markers from India," Dawn reported. Pakistan is one of the three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio is still endemic. The markers used to mark the fingers of children after administering them polio vaccine are approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Cabinet's decision to import markers from India comes months after the Pakistan government had on August 9 decided to suspend all kinds of trade with India following New Delhi's decision to abrogate Article 370 on August 5 to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. "However, since a large number of medicines and raw material are imported from India, the country's pharmaceutical industry started demanding that the ban be lifted on them because otherwise Pakistan could face severe crisis of medicines, especially life-saving drugs, within a few weeks. Consequently, the government had in September lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India," the paper said.