Donald Trump's Muslim US ban call roundly condemned

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has provoked condemnation from across the political spectrum, by saying Muslims should be banned from entering the US.

Republicans, Democrats, Muslim leaders, the UN and foreign leaders criticised the call as dangerous and divisive.

Mr Trump said many Muslims nursed a "hatred" towards America.

He said they should be banned "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on".

His campaign manager said that would apply to "everybody" - would-be immigrants and tourists. But Mr Trump told Fox News it would "not apply to people living in the country", adding that Muslims serving in the US military would "come home".

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Mr Trump's statement was delivered as the US comes to terms with its deadliest terror attack since 9/11.

Last week a Muslim couple, believed to have been radicalised, opened fire and killed 14 people at a health centre in San Bernardino.

Syria conflict: Raqqa air strikes 'kill 32 IS militants'

Air strikes on the Syrian city of Raqqa have killed at least 32 Islamic State (IS) militants and wounded 40 more, an activist group says.

The strikes on Sunday were believed to have been carried out by the US-led coalition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

However, other activists suggested Russian jets had bombed the city and that civilians had been killed.

Raqqa is IS's de facto Syrian headquarters.

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Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based observatory which has a network of informants on the ground, said about 15 air strikes had hit IS bases in the north, east and south-east of the city.

He said the casualty figures had come from just one hospital and the final death toll could be higher.

Other activist groups - Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently and the Sham News Network - also reported the air strikes but suggested Russian planes had been in action and that civilians had died.

The US-led coalition has been targeting IS in Syria since September 2014.

France votes in first election since Paris attacks

French people are voting in regional elections, the first electoral test since last month's Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed.

Opinion polls suggest there will be a strong showing for the far-right National Front (FN).

The centre-right led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to win in most regions at the expense of the governing Socialist Party.

Sunday's first round will be followed by a run-off on 13 December.

French regions have wide powers over local transport, education and economic development.

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The election is also being closely watched after opinion polls suggested the popularity of the anti-immigration, anti-EU National Front had increased since the attacks on 13 November.

FN leader Marine Le Pen is likely to win in the northern region of Nord-Pas-De-Calais-Picardie, while her niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen is a leading contender in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur in the south.

Syria conflict: German MPs vote for anti-IS military mission

Germany's parliament has voted to send military support to the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.

MPs approved the plan for a German non-combat role by 445 votes to 146.

Tornado reconnaissance jets, a naval frigate and 1,200 soldiers will be sent to the region.

The vote comes after a French request following last month's Paris attacks. Ministers believe Germany is now an IS target too.

On Thursday, British warplanes carried out their first air strikes on IS targets in Syria after the country's parliament authorised the military operation.

This will be Germany's biggest current military operation abroad.

The mandate will initially last a year and will cost €134m (£97m; $146m).

California attacker 'pledged allegiance to IS'

The female suspect in the California gun attack pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group on Facebook, US media reported.

Tashfeen Malik made the post under an account with a different name, US officials are quoted as saying.

Fourteen people were killed and 21 wounded in Wednesday's attack.

Malik and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, died in shootout with police after the killings at San Bernardino.

The New York Times reported that there was no evidence that IS had directed the couple in the attack.

"At this point we believe they were more self-radicalised and inspired by the group than actually told to do the shooting," the newspaper quoted an official as saying.

Syria conflict: Russia accuses Erdogan of trading oil with IS

Russia's defence ministry has accused the family of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being directly involved in the trade of petroleum with the Islamic State group.

Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said Turkey was the biggest buyer of "stolen" oil from Syria and Iraq.

Mr Erdogan said Russia had no right to "slander" Turkey with such claims.

Russia and Turkey have been locked in an angry dispute since Turkey shot down a Russian jet last month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had already accused Ankara of downing the plane on its Syrian border to protect oil supply lines.

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"According to available information, the highest level of the political leadership of the country, President Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business," Mr Antonov told journalists in Moscow.

"The Turkish leadership has demonstrated extreme cynicism. Look at what they are doing!" he said.

"They have invaded the territory of another country and are brazenly plundering it."

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War of words continues - Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow

Turkey shot down a Russian fighter-jet

Turkey shot down a Russian fighter-jet on its border with Syria, claiming the aircraft had violated its airspace. Russia is carrying out air strikes in Syria. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, called Turkey’s action a “stab in the back” and accused it of supporting Islamic State. Barack Obama said that Turkey had a right to defend its borders, but that America would also be willing to work more closely with Russia in the fight against IS. See here and here. 

François Hollande, the president of France, went on a whirlwind tour to whip up support for a “grand coalition” against IS following the recent attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people. He visited several leaders, including Mr Obama. David Cameron, the British prime minister, laid his case before Parliament for air strikes in Syria (British jets only operate in Iraq). Germany may share further aerial intelligence with France. But none has gone as far as Mr Hollande in declaring “war” on IS. See article. 

And on and onThe government in Belgium locked down Brussels, the capital, for four days over fears of an imminent terrorist attack. Schools, public transport and businesses were closed, concerts and sporting events cancelled. Police raided 22 locations in search of suspects linked to the Paris atrocity. See article. 

Gunmen attacked a luxury hotel in Bamako, the capital ofMali, killing at least 20 people. The assailants also died. It was not clear who the terrorists were, though police guessed they belonged to a jihadist group. A ten-day state of emergency was declared in the country, where around 1,000 French troops are deployed to fight against Islamic militants.

A suicide-bomber killed at least 12 troops on a presidential-guard bus in Tunisia. The attack was claimed by Islamic State. IS was also in action in Egypt’s North Sinai, where seven people were killed in a hotel bombing.

One Israeli soldier died and at least five others were injured in the West Bank as a spate of attacks by Palestinians, using knives and car-rammings, continued. John Kerry, the American secretary of state, visited both Israel and the West Bank, and admitted that he hopes only for a decrease in tension, not a resumption of peace talks that stalled in 2014. See article.