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.

Abbas welcomes UN resolution, calls on Israel to talk peace

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas congratulates Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa , apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, during the Christmas Midnight Mass in Saint Catherine’s Church at the Church of the Nativity, on December 25, 2016 in Bethlehem, West Bank Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday night that the UN Security Council’s resolution condemning Israeli settlements was a step in the right direction for his people, asserting that it posited the “legal basics” for a two-state solution to the conflict and appealing to Israel to make peace.

Chandigarh, neighbouring areas receive showers

Chandigarh, Dec 25 : Giving a break to a prolonged dry spell this winter, Chandigarh and parts of neighbouring Punjab and Haryana received rainfall early on Sunday. [NK Punjab] The rain came as a relief on the occasion of Christmas for revellers who were planning to drive to hill stations like Shimla and Kasauli in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.

Enhanced Energy: ONR Global Seeks More Powerful Electronic Devices

Washington, DC – Groundbreaking energy research from the United Arab Emirates, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research Global , is the focus of an article published this week in the acclaimed Nature Magazine journal “Scientific Reports.” Dr. Ammar Nayfeh’s article reveals unique use of zinc oxide to improve semiconductors and energy output in electronic devices.

Faithful celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem

Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world together with local Christians gathered in the biblical town of Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus, with spirits lifted by a slowdown in recent violence and cool, clear weather. Security was tight in Bethlehem after recent deadly attacks on Christian targets in neighboring Egypt and Jordan by Islamic extremists.

Israela s Netanyahu lashes out at Obama over UN vote

Israel’s prime minister lashed out at President Barack Obama on Saturday, accusing him of a “shameful ambush” at the United Nations over West Bank settlements and saying he is looking forward to working with his “friend” President-elect Donald Trump. Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments came a day after the United States broke with past practice and allowed the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation” of international law.

LDS missionary dies in South Africa

A full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from New Zealand, serving in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission, died on Dec. 23. Elder Nofo-I-Lelenga Latu, 19, from the Auckland New Zealand Tamaki Stake, Clover Park Ward, died of injuries sustained in a car accident. He was traveling with three other missionaries, who are being treated for minor injuries.

Woman, teen tied to Islamist militant group blow themselves up

Bangladesh policemen cover their nose to protect themselves from the smell of teargas during a raid in a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s home minister says a woman and a teenager thought to be linked with a banned Islamist militant group have blown themselves up during a police raid on a two-story house in the nation’s capital.

Thousands of faithful celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem

To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: A Palestinian dressed as Santa Claus takes a picture on Christmas Eve in Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, built atop the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016. BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world together with local Christians gathered in the biblical town of Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus, with spirits lifted by a slowdown in recent violence and cool, clear weather.

Analysis: Egypt’s hasty retreat on its UN settlements resolution

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas in the Egyptian capital Cairo on November 8. Consistency was not Egypt’s strong point in deliberations on the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity. But Cairo got through it with its relationship with the incoming Trump administration intact, and only short-term damage to its credibility.

Australia v Pakistan Test series: Here’s how Pakistan hope to curb Steve Smith

Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer View text version of this page Help using this website – Accessibility statement Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox. Steve Smith played a crucial role in establishing Australia’s series-opening win in Brisbane but Pakistan believe they may have the necessary tactic to quell the run machine.

Sydney To Hobart shapes as fastest of all time

A favourable weather forecast has set up this year’s Sydney To Hobart to be the fastest of all time, although the smaller boats are likely to encounter harsher conditions on their final approach to Tasmania. The fleet of 89 yachts will be greeted by a north-easterly of about 15-20 knots when they turn out of Sydney, with gusts steadily increasing into the evening before a dry southerly change hits the south-east coast of Australia.

It was the year of living dangerously: 2016 CBD Wrap

It was a Tuesday morning, May 24, and your columnist was conferring with Angus Aitken – Bell Potter’s head of institutional trading – about an email he had sent out that morning concerning the recent appointment of Michelle Jablko as ANZ’s chief financial officer. “Former investment bankers tend to be crap at most things in the listed world,” Aitken opined to his clients of the appointment.

Letters from the Front on a frosty Christmas morning

The image of soldiers from both sides leaving their trenches for an impromptu kick about and carol concert belongs in the pages of a fairy tale, not on the bloodiest battlefield of the First World War. For most men, though, there was no fairy tale, no truce, just the hope of gifts from home and perhaps something special for lunch.

The Latest: Trump says UN vote on Israel complicates peace

President-elect Donald Trump takes a question from a member of the media at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” until the rest of the world “comes to its senses” regarding nuclear weapons.

Roxy Jacenko puts on a domestic display as she washes dishes on Christmas Day

‘Their courage allows us to enjoy the season’: The Obamas honor the military in their last holiday message from the White House Fans of Ivanka Trump flood the Amazon book page of Clinton supporter with one-star reviews after his husband ‘accosted’ the future first daughter on a JetBlue flight I MIGHT be home for Christmas? Wintry weather makes for stressful travel as 100million Americans hit the roads and airports for the holidays ‘There is one president at a time’: Obama Administration dismisses Trump’s criticism after U.S. abstains from UN Israel vote ‘Can you bring my daddy home?’: Military dad surprises his little girls just moments after one of them asks Santa for a Christmas miracle Carrie Fisher’s daughter rushes to mom’s intensive care bedside with her beloved dog, as pilot call reveals actress, 60, suffered a major heart attack on flight and ‘stopped breathing for 10 minutes’ ‘I … (more)

Top StoryThe top international stories of 2016

In this image made from video and posted online by Validated UGC on Thursday, April 28, 2016, a civil defense worker carries a child after airstrikes hit Aleppo, Syria. In 2016, repeated cease-fire negotiations failed to halt relentless warfare among multiple factions.

Super typhoon Nock-Ten to strike Philippines on Christmas Day

The U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said Nock-Ten was a super typhoon with winds of up to 240 kph late Christmas Eve local time, though it was expected to weaken before landfall. The Philippines’ own weather bureau said the province of Catanduanes was likely to see sustained winds of up to 170 kph by the afternoon as the storm reaches its shores.

Thousands of faithful gather in biblical town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world together with local Christians gathered in the biblical town of Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus, with spirits lifted by a slowdown in recent violence and cool, clear weather. Security was tight in Bethlehem after recent deadly attacks on Christian targets in neighboring Egypt and Jordan by Islamic extremists.

U.S. troops join displaced Iraqi Christians for Christmas Eve Mass

BARTELLA, Iraq — For the 300 Christians who braved rain and wind to attend Christmas’s Eve Mass in their hometown, the ceremony evoked both holiday cheer and grim reminders of the war raging around their northern Iraqi town, and the distant prospect of moving back home. Displaced when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria seized their town, Bartella, in August 2014, the Christians were bused into town from Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region where they have lived for more than two years, to attend the lunchtime service in the Assyrian Orthodox church of Mart Shmoni.