| Arson suspected at Bill Clinton's birthplace Posted: 25 Dec 2015 08:51 AM PST  Arson is suspected in a fire that broke out at former US president Bill Clinton's birthplace early Friday morning, damaging the historical site, police said. "It's pretty logical it was purposely set," J.R. Wilson, the police chief in Hope, Arkansas, told AFP. The blaze ran up an exterior back wall of the white frame house where Clinton spent the first few years of his life, but the damage was minor, Wilson said.
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| Alabama tornado adds to Christmas storm woes Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:40 PM PST  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A Christmastime wave of severe weather continued Friday as a tornado touched down in Jefferson County, Alabama, including through the southwest portion of Birmingham, the state's largest city.
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| The Obamas (and their dogs) send festive cheer to Americans Posted: 25 Dec 2015 03:38 AM PST  Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama -- and their two dogs -- on Friday paid tribute to US soldiers in a joint address wishing Americans a Merry Christmas.
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| Pope urges Christmas prayers for Syria, Libya peace Posted: 25 Dec 2015 10:23 AM PST  Pope Francis issued a Christmas Day prayer that recent U.N.-backed peace processes for Syria and Libya will quickly end the suffering of their people, denouncing the "monstrous evil" and atrocities ...
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| Bristol Palin gives birth to her second child Posted: 25 Dec 2015 06:40 AM PST  (Reuters) - Bristol Palin, a daughter of 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, has given birth to a second child out of wedlock. Palin, 25, who has been an advocate of sexual abstinence before marriage, tweeted on Thursday that she had given birth to a girl, Sailor Grace. Palin announced she was pregnant in June, a few weeks after her engagement to Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer was called off.
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| Israeli-Palestinian violence clouds Christmas in Bethlehem Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:39 AM PST  BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Christian faithful from around the world on Thursday descended on the biblical city of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations at the traditional birthplace of Jesus, trying to lift spirits on a holiday dampened by months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
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| Oops: U.K. astronaut Tim Peake calls wrong number from space Posted: 25 Dec 2015 06:48 AM PST  LONDON (AP) — Anyone can dial a wrong number, but it's not often done from outer space.
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| Churches offer refuge for Central Americans facing U.S. deportation Posted: 25 Dec 2015 01:54 PM PST  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Leaders of the church-based Sanctuary Movement vowed on Friday to offer their places of worship as refuge for immigrants facing deportation under an Obama administration crackdown on Central American families who entered the United States illegally. The statement came two days after The Washington Post first reported the U.S. government was planning a series of raids to remove hundreds of undocumented families as early as January in the first such large-scale effort targeting the recent flood of border crossers. The Department of Homeland Security preparations to intensify deportations of Central American migrants, confirmed by U.S. government sources, drew immediate fire from Democratic presidential candidates and human rights groups.
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| Eastern U.S. sees warm Christmas, winter storm looms for Plains Posted: 25 Dec 2015 10:01 AM PST  Much of the U.S. East Coast could see record high temperatures on Christmas Day and through the weekend even as a major winter storm looms for the southern Great Plains, forecasters said on Friday. Temperatures are forecast to be more than 20 degrees above normal for the East Coast on Christmas Day, the National Weather Service said. Above-average temperatures will linger for the eastern United States through the weekend, with rain across the area raising the possibility of flash floods.
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| Cleanup begins from Southern U.S. storms that left 14 dead Posted: 24 Dec 2015 07:44 PM PST  Recovery crews and utility workers began cleaning up widespread damage on Thursday left by severe storms that spawned tornadoes across six states in the U.S. South and Midwest, killing at least 14 people and destroying scores of homes. Emergency declarations were issued in Mississippi and Tennessee, the two states hardest hit by severe weather on Wednesday that also complicated getaway plans for travelers looking to make the most of the long holiday weekend. With about 100 million Americans expected to travel over the Christmas holiday, most of them by car, the National Weather Service forecast isolated severe thunderstorms from the mid-Atlantic region to the Gulf Coast and record warmth in New York.
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| Ministry: Russia warming '2.5 times quicker' than global average Posted: 25 Dec 2015 07:38 AM PST  Russia is warming more than twice as fast as the average for the rest of the world, the environment ministry said Friday, sounding an alarm on the rise in floods and wildfires nationwide. A government report on environmental protection said temperatures in Russia had warmed by 0.42 degrees Celsius per decade since 1976, or 2.5 times quicker than the global warming trend of 0.17 degrees. "Climate change leads to growth of dangerous meteorological phenomena," the ministry said in a comment to the report published Friday.
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