1. Two Maasai herdsmen have been charged with allegedly poisoning a famous pride of lions which featured on the BBC's Big Cat Diary programme in Kenya. Two lions were killed after the herdsmen doused a cow carcass with poison, one is missing and eight are being treated, the BBC reports. The Lions killed three of the men's cows when they entered the Maasai Mara Game Reserve.
2. The outcry over Donald Trump's comments to ban Muslims has grown with the White House, foreign leaders and even JK Rowling piling in. The White House says the comments disqualify Trump from the presidential race. British Prime Minister David Cameron called the comments "divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong" and French PM Manuel Valle said Trump "stokes hatred". Rowling said her fictional bad wizard Voldemort was "nowhere as bad" as Trump. Trump claims it is a message to Muslims that "we want you to turn in the bad ones." He claimed that police avoid "radicalised" areas of Paris and London.
3. Oscar Pistorius is now able to go about Pretoria wearing an electronic tag after being granted bail. Despite having his sentence upgraded from culpable homicide to murder, Pistorius' conditions have improved - he had earlier gone from a year in jail to home detention. He intends to appeal to the Constitutional Court which will take months.
4. AFP reports that Malaysian airport authorities, still puzzled by the disappearance of MH370, are facing the opposite problem. They are trying to find the international owners of three Boeing 747 planes left unclaimed at Kuala Lumpur airport and have placed an ad in the Star newspaper threatening disposal if they are not collected within 14 days.
5. Sky News reports on a survey of what it's like to be a 15 year old today. That survey was of 120,000 15 year olds across England by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. It revealed data such as 11% try cannabis. Girls are more likely to smoke than boys. Girls are more likely to be victims of cyber crimes. A total 46% of girls and 23% of boys think they are too fat.
6. Sky News reports that a suspected Florida burglar who is thought to have hidden in a pond, was killed by an alligator, authorities have said. The body of Matthew Riggins, 22, was found on November 23 floating in a pond. He had injuries consistent with an alligator attack
7. The FBI is looking into a US $28,000 deposit placed in the San Bernardino shooters account but Reuters says there's no indication the money trail links the couple with any foreign group. Reuters says they drained their accounts and maxed out their credit cards knowing they would not have to pay debts.
8. As Beijing continues to suffer through its red alert pollution emergency, New Delhi is planning to bring in measures from January 1 to cut down on pollution which is one of the worst in the world. Drivers in the Indian capital will be banned on alternate days. Meanwhile the New York Times report from Beijing says that walking through the city was like "strolling through a coal mine".
9. French scientist Pascal Cotter has told a BBC documentary about his 10-year study of the Mona Lisa using the Layer Amplification Method. It shows Da Vinci's changing conception of the painting by looking at the different layers. The first image did not smile
10. The Iraqi Army has retaken a district in Ramadi from Isis (Islamic State). The south western area of Tamin fell after a battle, including the army headquarters. Isis took Ramadi in May. An intelligence expert says Isis has attracted about 31,000 foreign fighters to Syria in the past 18 months. Richard Barrett, of the Soufan Group, says that in June 2014 the number was 12,000. The former head of counter-terrorism for MI6 says "we have to find better ways to address the Isis appeal. This is not about murder and mayhem ... it is about the way we see each other." He said the Laytonstone station rebuke by a passerby 'you ain't no Muslim, bruv' does far more to undermine Isis than dropping bombs on Raqqa.
