• Islamic State Sanctioned Organ Harvesting in Document Taken in U.S. Raid, May be Trafficking in Body Parts

  Islamic State has sanctioned the harvesting of human organs in a previously undisclosed ruling by the group's Islamic scholars, raising concerns that the violent extremist group may be trafficking in body parts.

  

• Seized Documents Reveal Islamic State's Department of 'War Spoils', Including Sex Slaves, Exploitation of Natural Resources

  Islamic State has set up departments to handle "war spoils," including slaves, and the exploitation of natural resources such as oil, creating the trappings of government that enable it to manage large swaths of Syria and Iraq and other areas.

  

• Hundreds of Rebel Fighters and Civilians Evacuated from Besieged Syrian Areas

  Buses evacuated several hundred fighters and civilians from two besieged areas in Syria on Monday under a deal between warring parties backed by the United Nations, aid workers and sources familiar with the deal said.

  

• Japan, South Korea Reach Groundbreaking Deal On Wartime 'Comfort Women,' Sex Slaves

  The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan on Monday reached a deal meant to resolve a decades-long impasse over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II, an important breakthrough for the Northeast Asian powers.

  

• Somber Christmas for Iraq's Christians under Threat from Islamic State

  With Christmas falling this year a day after Prophet Mohammad's birthday, the city of Baghdad is holding Christmas celebrations in a sign of brotherhood with Iraq's hard-pressed Christian community.