From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to Boston, the surging coronavirus put a damper on Christmas Eve for a second year, forcing churches to cancel or scale back services and disrupting travel plans.
Read more ...An Idaho sheriff faces calls to resign after allegedly aiming a gun at church teens National News
Sheriff Craig Rowland faces felony criminal charges following the incident. Critics say he also used racist language to describe members of Idaho's Shoshone-Bannock tribal community.
Read more ...Syrians say Belarus deported them even though they're wanted by Assad's regime National News
After luring asylum-seekers to the EU as a political stunt, Belarus has now sent people back to the dangerous place they were escaping, rights groups and migrants tell NPR.
Read more ...Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Eve Mass as Italy sets pandemic record of new cases National News
Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass before an estimated 2,000 people in St. Peter's Basilica, going ahead with the service despite the resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
Read more ...More than 3,700 people were killed in Syria's civil war this year National News
The count, by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, comes after more than a decade of a war that's killed at least 350,000 people and displaced millions.
Read more ...Family members says they're happy about the guilty verdict for the former police officer, who fatally shot Wright in April. But they say it's not true justice.
Read more ...Some Christmas travelers face canceled flights as the omicron surge hits airlines National News
In a preemptive move, United, Delta and others canceled dozens of flights scheduled for Friday. They say the omicron spike has left them with staffing shortages.
Read more ...How the Soviet Union's collapse explains the current Russia-Ukraine tension National News
To understand the friction between Russia and Ukraine, it's important to go back to 1991. Exactly 30 years ago this weekend, the Soviet Union formally dissolved and broke up into 15 separate nations.
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