Ebola case confirmed in Glasgow hospital

A healthcare worker who has just returned from West Africa has been diagnosed with Ebola and is being treated in hospital in Glasgow.

The woman, who arrived from Sierra Leone on Sunday night, is in isolation at Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital.
All possible contacts with the case are being investigated, including on flights to Scotland via Heathrow.
UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that the woman would be taken to a specialist unit in London.
She will be flown from Glasgow and taken to the Royal Free Hospital in north London "as soon as we possibly can," Mr Hunt said.
The hospital has a specialist isolation unit and treated William Pooley, the British nurse who contracted and recovered from Ebola.
Low risk Mr Hunt said the government was doing "absolutely everything it needs to be" to keep the UK safe.
He insisted NHS processes "worked well" after the woman starting exhibiting symptoms.
The health secretary added: "We are also reviewing our procedures and protocols for all the other NHS workers who are working at the moment in Sierra Leone."
Charity Save the Children confirmed the woman was an NHS health worker who was working with them at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone.
The organisation's humanitarian director, Michael von Bertele, said: "Save the Children is working closely with the UK government, Scottish government and Public Health England to look into the circumstances surrounding the case."
At a news conference in Glasgow, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stressed that the risk to the general public was very low.
She added that the patient was thought to have had contact with only one other person since arriving in the city, but that all passengers on the flights the woman took will be traced.
Ms Sturgeon said: "Apart from other passengers on the flights and obviously the hospital staff since this patient's admittance to hospital, she, the patient is thought to have had contact with only one other person in Scotland since returning to Scotland last night and that person will also be contacted and given appropriate reassurance."

Glasgow Ebola case

Patient flight details - 28 December

• Flight AT596 from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Casablanca
  
• Flight AT0800 from Casablanca to London Heathrow
  
• Flight BA1478 from London Heathrow to Glasgow, arriving 23:30
  

Reuters

Alisdair MacConachie, of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: "She's being managed in an isolation facility by staff who are comfortable managing patients in such a situation. She herself is quite stable and is not showing any great clinical concern at the minute."

NHS Scotland said infectious diseases procedures had been put into effect at the Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases at Gartnavel.
Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the bodily fluids - such as blood, vomit or faeces - of an infected person.
The patient returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late on Sunday via Casablanca and London Heathrow, arriving into Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight at about 23:30.
While public health experts have emphasised that the risks are negligible, a telephone helpline has been set up for anyone who was on the BA 1478 Heathrow to Glasgow flight. The number is: 08000 858531
The woman had been admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 07.50.

 
What are the symptoms?
 

The Ebola virus causes a range of painful and debilitating symptoms

The early symptoms are a sudden fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat.
This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and bleeding - both internal and external - which can be seen in the gums, eyes, nose and in the stools.
Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure.

A British Airways spokesman said: "We are working closely with the health authorities in England and Scotland and will offer assistance with any information they require.
"The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and the risk to people on board that individual flight is extremely low."
Ms Sturgeon has chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee (SGoRR) and has also spoken to Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr Hunt is to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on Monday evening.

The patient had travelled from Freetown in Sierra Leone via Casablanca

Ms Sturgeon said: "Our first thoughts at this time must be with the patient diagnosed with Ebola and their friends and family. I wish them a speedy recovery.
"Scotland has been preparing for this possibility from the beginning of the outbreak in West Africa and I am confident that we are well prepared."
Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, said: "It is important to be reassured that although a case has been identified, the overall the risk to the public continues to be low.
"We have robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases when they arise, supported by a wide range of experts. The UK system was prepared, and reacted as planned, when this case of Ebola was identified."

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Taliban declares 'defeat' of Nato

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have declared the "defeat" of the US and its allies, a day after the coalition officially ended its combat mission.

A Taliban statement said the US-led force had "rolled up its flag" without having achieved "anything substantial".
Nato formally ended its 13-year mission on Sunday, but about 13,000 troops will stay to train the Afghan army.
Meanwhile, officials said four Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack in Helmand province on Monday.
Three other soldiers were injured during the attack on an army checkpoint in Sangin district. Eight insurgents were said to have been killed.
The US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) marked the end of its mission by lowering its flag at a ceremony in Kabul on Sunday.
Mission commander Gen John Campbell said the Nato force had "lifted the Afghan people out of the darkness of despair and given them hope for the future".
'Demoralised' But in a statement on Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Nato ceremony was "a clear indication of their defeat and disappointment".
He said the Taliban would establish "a pure Islamic system by expelling the remaining invading forces," adding that Western troops were "demoralised".
Nato's Afghan deployment began after the 9/11 attacks against the US.
At its peak, the US-led Isaf deployment involved more than 130,000 personnel from 50 countries.
But from 1 January, the force will consist of about 13,000 mostly-American troops and will shift to a training and support mission for the Afghan army.
The US will also have an additional force of a few thousand troops whose focus will be counter-terrorism operations.
While the US and its allies say the Afghan security forces have been able to prevent a Taliban offensive, violence has increased in recent months.
This year has been the bloodiest in Afghanistan since 2001, with at least 4,600 members of the Afghan security forces having been killed.
Nearly 3,500 foreign troops have been killed since the beginning of the Nato mission in 2001, including about 2,200 American troops.

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Nato marks Afghan mission change

Nato has formally ended its 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan - heralding the start of a new phase of support for local Afghan troops.

Commanders lowered the flag during a ceremony in Kabul - raising the flag of the new mission named Resolute Support.
"We have lifted the Afghan people out of the darkness of despair and given them hope for the future," mission commander Gen John Campbell said.
Nato's Afghan deployment began after the 9/11 attacks against the US.
From 1 January the alliance's role will shift to a mainly training and support mission for the Afghan army.
Sunday's ceremony was low-key - held inside a gymnasium at the alliance headquarters away from the public.
A military band played as the flag of the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) was lowered in the presence of senior military personnel from both sides.
Unfurling the new flag, Gen Campbell said the mission "will serve as the bedrock of an enduring partnership" between Nato and Afghanistan.
"We honour coalition and Afghan fallen in this mighty struggle, those who paid the price for Afghanistan's freedom," he said, adding: "The road before us remains challenging but we will triumph."
At its peak, the US-led Isaf deployment involved more than 130,000 personnel from 50 countries.
But from 1 January, it will bring together around 12,000 men and women from Nato allies and 14 partner nations.
"The security of Afghanistan will be fully in the hands of the country's 350,000 Afghan soldiers and police. But Nato allies, together with many partner nations, will remain to train, advise and assist them," said Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a statement.
More than a decade after this long and expensive mission began, the Taliban are still active and gaining in strength, launching a number of attacks in recent months, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Kabul.
This year has been the bloodiest in Afghanistan since 2001, with at least 4,600 members of the Afghan security forces dying in the fight against the Taliban.
It underscores the challenges that lie ahead of the Afghan security forces, our correspondent says.
Nearly 3,500 foreign troops have been killed since the beginning of the Nato mission.

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Cameroon air strikes on Boko Haram

Cameroon has carried out its first air strikes against militant Islamist group Boko Haram after it over-ran a military base and attacked five villages, an army spokesman has said.

The military repelled the attacks and regained control of the base, he added.
The spokesman did not confirm local media reports that the militants had killed at least 30 people.
The Nigeria-based group is increasingly carrying out cross-border raids, threatening Cameroon's security.
'Training camp dismantled' The latest fighting was the most intense, lasting for three days along several fronts, reports the BBC's Jean-David Mihamle from Cameroon's capital Yaounde.
About 1,000 militants attacked five villages, including Amchide, and seized the nearby Achigachia military base.
"After that, the head of state ordered the air force to carry out strikes. With the bombardment, the fighters were forced to decamp from Achigachia," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Didier Badjeck is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
Last week, Cameroon said it had dismantled a Boko Haram training camp on its territory, and had seized 84 children who were being trained there.
More than 40 of its soldiers have been killed in fighting with Boko Haram this year, according to Reuters.
Boko Hara

m launched its insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria in 2009, saying it wanted to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
It recruits mainly unemployed youth and has seized large swathes of territory in Borno state, raising fears that it could launch an assault on its main city, Maiduguri.
At least 2,000 civilians have been killed by the group in Nigeria this year.
The kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in April from the town of Chibok in Borno state sparked international outrage.

• Founded in 2002
• Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state
• Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
• Some three million people affected
• Declared terrorist group by US in 2013

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Greece parliament holds crucial presidency vote

Greece's parliament is holding a third and final vote on whether to approve a president nominated by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, in a move that could trigger a snap election.

The candidate, Stavros Dimas, has so far failed to get the constitutionally required majority.
Failure to elect him would force a fresh general election.
Opinion polls give a lead to the left-wing Syriza party, which has pledged to renegotiate the country's bailout deal.
This would put Greece on a collision course with its EU and IMF creditors, who have loaned the country billions of euros in exchange for deep cuts in government spending.
Syriza has vowed to keep Greece within the eurozone but wants to roll back some of the reforms imposed as part of the bailout deal.
"Syriza's victory in elections will jumpstart a massive national effort to save society and restore Greece," Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras said in an article in Avgi newspaper.
Samaras warning In the second round of voting last week, Mr Dimas obtained 168 votes, 32 short of the 200 he required.
Greece's two-party governing coalition has 155 seats and needs support from opposition or independent lawmakers to ensure a win for former EU Environment Commissioner Mr Dimas.
In the final round, he needs the support of only 180 MPs to be appointed president - a largely ceremonial role.
But few believe he has it, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Athens.
If he does not get the votes required, parliament will be dissolved within 10 days and general elections will be called within a month, either in late January or early February.
"The Greek people don't want early elections. The Greek people understand where this adventure could lead," Prime Minister Samaras told Greek television.
Although polls suggest Syriza would win early elections, it is not clear they would win a majority.
The Greek economy has begun to show signs of recovery after years of contraction.
But unemployment remains over 25%, and many people have had wages and benefits cut.

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Italy ferry fire: Scores awaiting rescue

More than 120 people are still awaiting rescue on the deck of a blazing Italian ferry amid freezing temperatures off the Greek island of Corfu.

Helicopter crews have been winching small groups of people to safety despite gale-force winds.
The Italian coast guard said 356 of the 478 people on board had been evacuated by early Monday after a fire broke out on a car deck on Sunday.
One person is confirmed dead but a passenger has said he saw more bodies.
The Italian navy said that the body of a Greek man and his injured wife had been removed from the ship, Norman Atlantic which had been travelling from Patras in Greece to Ancona in Italy.
It is unclear how the man died but the Greek coastguard told AP that both passengers had been found trapped in a lifeboat escape chute.
The first rescue ship carrying 49 people arrived at the Italian port of Bari early on Monday morning.
A Turkish man who was on board told local reporters that he was sure that he had seen more bodies.
"I saw four people dead, with my own eyes," he said.
Hypothermia Helicopters crews fitted with night vision equipment worked through the night to rescue passengers despite difficult conditions. One hundred people were taken off the ferry during the night, the Italian coast guard said.
Italian Air Force helicopter pilot, Maj Antonio Laneve told Italian state TV that "acrid smoke" had filled his helicopter cabin, making the rescue even more challenging.
Most of the rescued passengers have been transferred to nearby ships, although some have been taken directly to hospital.
Three children and a pregnant woman are among those being treated in hospital for hypothermia, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Passengers described panicking as the heat rose, then freezing as they stood on decks awaiting rescue.
The wife of one of the cooks told journalists she had had a call from her husband saying: "I cannot breathe, we are all going to burn like rats - God save us."
Another passenger told Greek TV station Mega: "We are outside, we are very cold, the ship is full of smoke, the boat is still burning, the floors are boiling, underneath the cabins it must be burning since 5 o'clock, the boats that came (to rescue us) are gone, and we are here. They cannot take us."
The BBC's James Reynolds says that emergency workers in the port of Brindisi had waited late into the night for rescued passengers to arrive but strong winds had forced rescue vessels to try to dock elsewhere on the Italian coast.
Coast Guard Adm Giovanni Pettorino said that a member of the Italian military had been injured during the rescue.
Nearby merchant vessels aligned themselves in formation to protect the ship from waves and facilitate the rescue.
"This is a complicated rescue mission. The visibility is poor and the weather conditions are difficult, but we are confident because there are a good number of ships in the area," Greece Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said.
Mr Varvitsiotis later told reporters the fire had been brought partly under control.
Most of those on board were Greek. Greek maritime official Nikos Lagadianos told AP that 234 passengers and 34 crew members were from Greece.
Others came from Italy, Turkey, Albania, Germany and several other countries. Four British nationals have been rescued from the stricken ferry, according to the UK Foreign Office.
It is not yet clear what caused the fire.
The chief executive of the Visentini group that owns the vessel, Carlo Visentini, said the ferry had passed a recent technical inspection despite a "slight malfunction" in one of the fire doors, Italy's Ansa news agency reports.
"The tests confirmed that the boat was in full working order," he said, adding that the fire door had been repaired "to the satisfaction of the inspectors".
Ferries are an important mode of transport between Greece's hundreds of islands as well as neighbouring countries.

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Italy ferry fire: Evacuation hampered by winds

 Ships and helicopters are taking part in a major rescue operation after an Italian ferry carrying 478 people caught fire around 40 nautical miles north-west of Corfu.

The Norman Atlantic was travelling from Patras in Greece to Ancona in Italy.
Choppy seas and strong winds are hampering the rescue. Early reports that it was tilting have been denied.
One person has died and another injured, Greek and Italian officials say. 161 people have been rescued.
Most of those on board were Greek. Others came from Italy, Turkey, Albania, Germany and many other countries, officials said.
The British ambassador to Greece said officials were investigating reports that two Britons were on board.
Italian media say the fire broke out on the ferry's car deck early on Sunday morning.
"This is a complicated rescue mission... The visibility is poor and the weather conditions are difficult, but we are confident because there are a good number of ships in the area," Greece Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said.
Italian and Albanian teams are also taking part in the rescue operation.
One of the passengers told Greek TV station Mega: "On the lower deck, where the lifeboats are, our shoes were starting to melt from the heat."
The wife of one of the cooks told journalists she had had a call from her husband saying: "I cannot breathe, we are all going to burn like rats - God save us."
Ferries are an important mode of transport between Greece's hundreds of islands as well as neighbouring countries.

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Ice warnings as temperatures fall below zero across UK

Temperatures have plunged below freezing in parts of the UK amid warnings that drivers could face treacherous conditions on icy roads.
The lowest recorded temperature was almost -5C in Perthshire overnight with "widespread" frost hitting large areas of the UK, the BBC Weather centre said.
The Met Office issued yellow warnings to "be aware" of ice in all areas.
Widespread icy patches could form on untreated surfaces, especially where snow has fallen, the Met Office said.
Forecasters predict the temperature could drop below freezing even in southern cities on Sunday night and could fall as low as -10C in rural areas.
It follows wintry showers across northern Ireland, Wales and eastern England on Saturday, with the town of Leek in Staffordshire recording the day's heaviest snowfall of 12cm (4.7in).
The Met Office has warned drivers to take extra care on the roads.
A section of the M62 near Huyton was closed after an accident. In Derbyshire, part of the A6024 near High Peak was closed and in south Yorkshire the A631 near Beckingham was closed - both because of ice.
BBC Weather's Philip Avery said some of the lowest recorded temperatures overnight had been in areas where snow had already fallen.
He said temperatures had fallen to below freezing in parts of northern Scotland, while in much of England, Wales and Northern Ireland it was either close to or below zero.
Meanwhile, a cold weather alert for parts of England has been issued, with the Met Office saying there is a 90% chance that severe weather until 12:00 GMT on Wednesday could "increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services".
The amber - level three - alert is one below a national emergency and indicates social and healthcare services should target "high-risk" groups, such as the very young or old, or those with chronic diseases.

How to drive in snow and ice

 

• Balance your speed - too fast and you risk losing control, but if you go too slow you risk losing momentum
• Start gently in second gear, avoiding high revs. Stay in a higher gear for better control
• Only use the brake if you cannot steer out of trouble
• Increase the distance at which you follow other vehicles
• Plan your journey around busier roads, which are more likely to have been gritted
• On a downhill slope, get your speed low before you start the descent, and do not let it build up
• In falling snow, use dipped headlights or fog lights, but switch off if conditions improve

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Croatians vote for new president

Croatians are electing a new president, with the poll seen as a test for the main political parties.

The incumbent, Ivo Josipovic, is one of four candidates. He was nominated by the governing coalition.
The other three are Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, from the main opposition party, right-winger Milan Kujundzic and activist Ivan Vilibor Sincic.
The president has a largely ceremonial role, but has a say in foreign policy and is head of the army.
Croatia is the newest member of the European Union, joining in July last year.
But its economy has struggled, and is now entering its sixth year of recession. Parliamentary elections are expected to be held towards the end of next year.
If none of the four candidates wins more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff in two weeks time.

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Al-Shabab militant Zakariya Ahmed Ismail Hersi 'surrenders'

A top al-Shabab militant, Zakariya Ahmed Ismail Hersi, has given himself up, Somali officials say.

Mr Hersi, a leading figure in the militant group's intelligence wing, surrendered to police in the Gedo region, they add.
In June 2012, the US state department offered $3m (£1.9m, 2.5m euros) for information leading to his capture.
It comes three months after al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in a US air strike.
A Somali intelligence officer, quoted by the Associated Press news agency, suggested Mr Hersi may have surrendered because of a dispute with al-Shabab members loyal to the former leader.
Mr Hersi fell out with Godane last year and has been on the run ever since but he is still a powerful figure, says BBC Africa editor Mary Harper.
'No fight' Police stormed a house Mr Hersi had been hiding in for six days, close to the border with Kenya, after receiving a tip off, the district commissioner of the town of El Wag told the BBC.
He said that although Mr Hersi had a pistol, he did not put up a fight.
"Al-Shabab leader Zakariya Ismail surrendered to government forces in El Wag, Gedo region. He is expected to be flown to Mogadishu tomorrow," an unnamed official told Reuters news agency.
There has been no immediate comment from al-Shabab.
Ahmad Umar was named the new leader of al-Shabab, days after Godane's killing last September.
The US has supported the African Union (AU) force that has driven al-Shabab out of the capital Mogadishu and other towns since 2011.
The al-Qaeda-linked fighters want to overthrow the UN-backed Somali government and frequently attack government targets as well as neighbouring countries that provide troops to the AU force.
Three members of the AU force and a civilian contractor were killed in an al-Shabab attack on its headquarters in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday.

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Cybill Shepherd

She's been a beauty queen and model, but Cybill Shepherd is probably best known for her outstanding acting career.
 
She her film debut in the 1971 film, The Last Picture Show - but most of us probably know her from the TV detective series Moonlighting.
In a wise-cracking script, she sizzled with co-star Bruce Willis - a chemistry which was apparently not mirrored in real life.
After the series finished in 1989, she went on to star in the long-running sitcom, Cybil, about a hard-working forty-something actress.
The series has now been released as a boxed set of DVDs
Cybill Shephard came into the Breakfast studio on Wednesday - and found Dermot was a fan of her first ever film performance

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France Alps: Snow strands motorists in Savoy

Snow and ice in the French Alps have stranded 15,000 vehicles, snarling up holiday traffic to and from ski resorts, French media report.

The country declared an orange weather alert, its second-highest, as local authorities scrambled to put up motorists for the night.
One man died when his vehicle slid into a ravine in the Isere region.
The government asked drivers to "exercise the utmost caution" and avoid travel if possible.
Three people died in other snow-related incidents across France earlier this week, according to French daily Le Monde.
Snowy conditions in the French Alps are expected to persist into Sunday, followed by freezing weather next week when Paris should see its first frosts in more than a year, French weather forecasters say.
Local gyms and community halls were opened up as shelters in the Savoy region on Saturday.
Motorists seeking accommodation "stormed" the Chambery exhibition centre, according to a live page (in French) on the website of Le Dauphine Libere newspaper.
British driver Gavin Rigby told BBC News he had taken 11 hours to drive between Val d'Isere and Bourg Saint Maurice - a journey which would normally take 30 minutes.
Mr Rigby, who is returning to the UK with his family from a skiing holiday, said they had received no help from the French authorities, and had had to rely on other motorists for information.
He felt most sorry for the drivers who had, unlike himself, set out without snow chains.
"The police should have got people to fit chains this morning after half a metre [20 in] of snow fell last night," he said, as he prepared to travel on through the night.
Strong winds caused damage elsewhere in France, shutting the port of Calais, where an anti-migrant fence was partially toppled.
Closer to Paris, the celebrated gardens of Versailles were closed to the public because of gales.
Heavy snow caused disruption to roads in Germany too, causing a 25km (16-mile) traffic jam on the A8 motorway near Stuttgart.
In the UK, the Met Office issued warnings of ice across the country and snow in some areas. Hundreds of homes were without power in parts of England, including nearly 500 in the East Midlands and nearly 300 in Devon.

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Egypt bans Exodus Hollywood film

Egypt has banned a Hollywood film based on the Biblical book of Exodus because of what censors described as "historical inaccuracies".

The head of the censorship board said these included a claim that the Pyramids were built by Jews, and that an earthquake, not a miracle by Moses, caused the Parting of the Red Sea.
Exodus: Gods and Kings stars Christian Bale as Moses.
There have also been reports that the film is banned in Morocco.
Although the state-run Moroccan Cinema Centre (CCM) had given the film the green light, media reports said that officials had decided to ban the movie from being screened the day before its premiere.
Exodus, which cost a reported $140m (£89m) to make, took $24.5m (£15.5m) on its debut weekend.
Mixed reviews The biblical epic, which stars Christian Bale as Moses, overtook the third instalment of The Hunger Games, following three weeks at number one. However, it has had mixed reviews.
Time called it a "cinematically uninspired retelling of the Moses story", Vulture said it was "as uneven as Ridley Scott's career", while the New York Times described it as "both woefully insufficient and much too much".
The film's opening fell well short of other modern biblical epics, including Darren Aronofsky's Noah which took $43.7m (£27.7m) on its opening weekend in March and 2004's The Passion of the Christ, which took $83.3m (£52.9m).

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Pope Francis makes Christmas call to Iraqi refugees

Pope Francis has spoken by telephone to Iraqi refugees in a camp near Irbil before celebrating Christmas Eve Mass.

The Pope urged the refugees - forced to flee their homes by the militant group Islamic State - to "persevere", and said he was close to them in his heart.
At a Christmas Eve midnight Mass at St Peter's Basilica, the Pope called on believers to show more empathy towards family and friends.
On Christmas Day, the Pope will deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas address.
The call to refugees at a camp in Ankawa was made by satellite phone and broadcast live on Italian TV.
"Dear brothers, I am close to you, very close to you in my heart," he told them, saying he was thinking particularly of children and the elderly.
"Innocent children, children who have died, exploited children... I am thinking, too, about grandparents, about the older people who have lived their lives, and who must now bear this cross."
He told them they were like Jesus, forced to flee because there was no room for them. "I embrace you all and wish for you a holy Christmas," he said.
Advances in Iraq by Islamic State have forced tens of thousands of Christians and people from other religious minorities to flee to Kurdish controlled areas.
Later in his homily during Christmas Eve Mass, the Pope said the world needed more tenderness and warmth.
"The question put to us simply by the infant's presence is: 'Do I allow God to love me?'" he said.
"Do we have the courage to welcome with tenderness the difficulties and problems of those who are near to us?"

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Father urges IS to show mercy for captured Jordan pilot

The father of a Jordanian pilot seized by Islamic State militants in Syria

has renewed a plea for his release.
Describing his son as "a guest among brothers of ours in Syria Islamic State", Youssef al-Kasaesbeh urged his "hosts" to "treat him well".
Lt Moaz al-Kasaesbeh was captured after his jet crashed in north-eastern Syria on Wednesday during a bombing mission.
Jordan is one of four Arab states in a US-led coalition that has launched air strikes on IS in Syria.
So far, the militants have not commented on the fate of the 26-year-old pilot.
'Hospitality' It is still unclear what caused his plane to crash near the IS stronghold of Raqqa.
IS said it shot it down with a heat-seeking missile. However, the US says "evidence clearly indicates" that this is not true.
On Thursday Moaz al-Kasaesbeh's father said: "I direct a message to our generous brothers of the Islamic State in Syria to host my son... with generous hospitality."
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Jordanian military said it held IS and its supporters "responsible for the safety of the pilot and his life".
The air forces of Jordan, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain have carried out hundreds of air strikes on IS in Syria in the past three months.
Many of the targets have been in and around Raqqa, which is the de facto capital of the "caliphate" whose creation IS proclaimed in June.
Correspondents say that IS is assumed to have a limited air defence capability.
However, IS fighters have downed Iraqi and Syrian government planes in the past, and the group's full capabilities are not known.

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Queen's Christmas speech emphasises reconciliation

She spoke of the impact of the Scottish independence referendum, and also paid tribute to the moment German and British soldiers put down their weapons and met on Christmas Day 1914.
"Sometimes it seems reconciliation stands little chance... but the Christmas truce reminds us peace and goodwill have lasting power," she said.
The royals earlier attended church.
In her speech, the head of state said Christ's example taught her to "respect and value all people of whatever faith or none".
She said many felt "great disappointment" and others "great relief" after the Scottish vote which rejected independence, and "bridging these differences will take time".
In contrast, the Queen said she was reminded that Northern Ireland had already begun the journey to heal divisions when she visited a Belfast prison turned visitor attraction centre in

June.
he began her speech by talking about a sculpture of a man and woman embracing by Josefina de Vasconcellos and called Reconciliation.
"While my tour of the set of Game Of Thrones may have gained most attention, my visit to the Crumlin Road Gaol will remain vividly in my mind," she said.
"What was once a prison during the Troubles is now a place of hope and fresh purpose; a reminder of what is possible when people reach out to one another, rather like the couple in the sculpture."
As the Queen spoke, footage of the visit was shown including the monarch walking through the famous building with Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness - both of whom spent time in its cells in the 1970s or 1980s.

She described sport as a "wonderful way of bringing together people and nations" and this year's Commonwealth Games, staged in Glasgow during the summer, was highlighted as an example.
Images of injured servicemen and women and veterans who took part in the Invictus Games, organised by Prince Harry, were shown competing.
The Queen also reflected on the ceramic poppy tribute to World War One casualties and those who are helping to tackle the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The hugely popular poppy installation at the Tower of London was "a reminder of the grief of loved ones left behind", she said.
The monarch also revealed how she had been "deeply touched" by those who treated victims of Ebola.
The Queen described how the life of Jesus Christ was an "inspiration and an anchor in my life".
"Christ's example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people, of whatever faith or none," she said.
As the Royal Marines band played to signal the end of the address, the Queen said: "On that chilly Christmas Eve in 1914 many of the German forces sang Silent Night, its haunting melody inching across the line.
"That carol is still much-loved today, a legacy of the Christmas truce, and a reminder to us all that even in the unlikeliest of places hope can still be found.
"A very happy Christmas to you all."

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