MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russia's leadership was forced to defend its legitimacy yesterday after about 100,000 demonstrators rallied in central Moscow to demand democratic reform and fair elections in the largest wave of popular dissent since the fall of the Soviet Union.
IRAN - Iran stands ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq, its armed forces chief of staff said Sunday, a week after the exit of US forces from the neighbouring Arab country. General Hassan Firouzabadi hailed the "forced departure" of the US and allied forces that he said "was due to the resistance and determination of the Iraqi people and government," the state Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
EGYPT - Egypt's two leading Islamist parties won about two-thirds of votes for party lists in the second round of polling for a parliament that will help draft a new constitution after decades of autocratic rule, the election committee said Saturday.
PARIS, FRANCE - The head of the International Monetary Fund said the world economy was in danger and urged Europeans to speak with one voice on a debt crisis that has rattled the global financial system. In Nigeria last week, IMF Christine Lagarde said the IMF's 4 percent growth forecast for the world economy in 2012 could be revised downward, but gave no new figure.
NIGERIA - There has been widespread condemnation in the international community of a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in Nigeria that killed almost 40 people. The White House said the attacks were "senseless violence" and the UK foreign secretary called them "cowardly".
UK - In a Christmas message to the Falkland Islands, Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted Britain will not give up their sovereignty. He pledged: 'We will never negotiate on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless you, the Falkland Islanders, so wish. No democracy could ever do otherwise.'
USA - Susan Lee, a divorced mother of three in New York City, is taking a drastic step this year. "No Christmas for me," she says. "No gifts, no turkey, no tree, no kidding." Lee, 41, a marketing consultant, says she needs a break from the stress and spending that are integral parts of the holiday. Her kids will celebrate a traditional Christmas with their dad, but she's ignoring all the rituals.
ROME, ITALY - Pope Benedict ushered in Christmas for the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics on Saturday, urging humanity to see through the superficial glitter and commercialism of the season and rediscover the real significance of the humble birth of Jesus.
ABUJA, NIGERIA - A bomb blast has ripped through a Catholic church near the Nigerian capital, Abuja, causing deaths and injuries, officials say. The blast tore through St Theresa's Church in Madalla as worshippers gathered for Christmas services.
TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran's navy began a 10-day drill Saturday in international waters near the strategic oil route that passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The exercises, dubbed "Velayat 90," could bring Iranian ships into proximity with US Navy vessels in the area.
NEW ZEALAND - A series of earthquakes has shaken the New Zealand city of Christchurch, sending residents rushing from buildings and causing minor damage. The first 5.8 magnitude quake struck at 1358 local time (0058 GMT), the US Geological Survey said. Another of similar magnitude hit 80 minutes later.
USA - Government Says It Can Assassinate or Indefinitely Detain Americans on American Soil Without Any Due Process of Law. This admittedly sounds over-the-top. But one of the nation's top constitutional and military law experts - *Jonathan Turley - agrees.
ARGENTINA - Argentina has prepared top-secret war plans for a new invasion of the Falkland Islands, a senior security source claimed last night. Diplomatic tension between Buenos Aires and London has been ramped up over the disputed territory. And Argentina's military leaders believe UK defence cuts have given them a good chance of successfully seizing control of the islands, decades after their 1982 invasion ended in ignominious defeat by British forces sent in by then Premier Margaret Thatcher.
USA - Rowdy scenes have broken out at stores across the US as shoppers jostled to lay their hands on Nike's new shoe. There was disorder from California to Georgia as shoppers vied to buy a retro version of a classic Air Jordan model.
USA - A secret air show in Houston. An unmanned blimp in Utah. A sovereign citizen arrested in North Dakota. Each of these is just one small part of the bigger story of the proliferation of unmanned aircraft use within the US, and each is likely to become smaller still if the FAA goes through with plans to loosen regulations governing domestic use of drones.