East Dunbartonshire to host National Holocaust Memorial Day

Scotland’s national Holocaust Memorial Day will be hosted next month by East Dunbartonshire – along with a number of other events throughout the week. The Council is working in partnership with Interfaith Scotland and the Scottish Government to raise awareness of the persecution on the theme of ‘How can life go on?’ Bishopbriggs Academy has been chosen as the venue for Scotland’s Holocaust memorial event on Thursday 26 January – the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day.

Essex man fighting for his life in hospital after he was discovered unconscious in a park

Mystery surrounds man, 35, who is fighting for his life in hospital after he was discovered unconscious in a park after his work’s Christmas party Detectives have released an image of a man in a life threatening condition after he was found unconscious in a park after a Christmas party. He had suffered a severe head injury and was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where he is currently recovering.

Pope urges peace, comforts terror victims in Christmas message

Pope Francis urged peace around the world in his traditional Christmas address on Sunday, calling for weapons in Syria to fall silent and offering comfort to victims of terrorism. As Europe ramped up security for the holiday just days after the truck attack that left 12 dead at a Berlin Christmas market, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics said he hoped for “peace to those who have lost a person dear to them as a result of brutal acts of terrorism”.

Tens of thousands flee Christmas Day typhoon in Philippines

Babies, toddlers and old people were loaded onto military trucks in pouring rain in the Philippines on Sunday as tens of thousands fled the path of a powerful typhoon barrelling towards the disaster-prone archipelago. Officials warned of large coastal waves of up to 2.5-metres high, landslides and flash floods as Nock-Ten closed in on the Bicol peninsula and nearby islands.

Israel to do ‘all it takes’ to emerge unharmed by UN vote

Israel pressed forward with promises of retaliation and damage control Sunday following a U.N. vote last week on an anti-settlement resolution that passed thanks to an abstention by the U.S., Israel’s close ally. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it began summoning the ambassadors of countries who voted in favor of the resolution, including those from the permanent members of the Security Council _ Russia, China, the U.K. and France.

The Latest: Putin declares day of mourning for crash victims

The Latest on the crash of a Russian aircraft with 92 people on board en route to Russia’s air base in Syria : Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a nationwide day of mourning for victims of the crash of a Russian plane that plunged into the sea with 92 people aboard. There appeared to be no survivors after the Tu-154 passenger plane operated by the Russian Defense Ministry crashed into the Black Sea Sunday minutes after taking off from Sochi.

Russian plane with 92 aboard crashes int…

A Russian plane headed to an air base in Syria with 92 people aboard, including members of the world-famous Russian army choir, crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday minutes after taking off from the city of Sochi, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. There appeared to be no survivors.

‘Hit by drought, Kashmir nomads shifting closer to urban centres’

Jammu, Dec 25 : Hit by unprecedented dry spell in the higher reaches, nomad tribals in Jammu and Kashmir have started shifting to plain areas close to cities and towns in the Jammu region, a tribal rights body said on Sunday. [NK Business] “Facing extreme deficit of fodder for their animals due to insufficient rainfall, the drought-hit families of Gujjars living in hills of Jammu and Kashmir have started shifting along with their cattle towards the plain areas, nearer to cities and towns, in search of cattle feed and water,” the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, representing nomadic tribals, said in a statement.

Money has lost its ‘anonymity’ after demonetisation: Jaitley

New Delhi, Dec 25 : Describing the currency being deposited in banks following last month’s demonetisation of high-value notes as money that has lost its earlier “anonymity”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said these funds now available with the banks have strengthened the Indian banking system. [NK Business] “The money that is being deposited in cash form after demonetisation… now the anonymity of that money is gone,” Jaitley said at the DigiDhan Mela event here to promote cashless transactions.

Queen Elizabeth to miss church service due to heavy cold

Buckingham Palace said Sunday that Queen Elizabeth will miss the traditional Christmas morning church service as she continues to recover from a heavy cold. The church service near her Sandringham estate in rural Norfolk, 177 kilometres north of London, is an important part of the royal Christmas celebration.

German town evacuates on Christmas morning for WWII bomb

Police help a man to leave his apartment in Augsburg, Germany as the town was evacuated so authorities could disarm a World War II bomb. FRANKFURT, Germany – Thousands of people in the southern German city of Augsburg have left Christmas presents and decorations behind, forced to evacuate while authorities disarm a large World War II aerial bomb.

George Mitchel at the Commitent to Life Aids benefit concert on Jan….

George Michael, the English singer-songwriter who shot to stardom as a teen idol in the 1980s as half of the pop duo Wham! and went on to become one of the era’s biggest pop solo artists with hits such as “Faith” and “I Want Your Sex,” died over the Christmas holiday, The Associated Press has confirmed. He was 53. Michael, whose career was marred by a 1998 arrest for engaging in a lewd act in a Beverly Hills park restroom, died peacefully at home, his publicist said.