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Monday, December 26, 2011 12:13 AM PST

Today's Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines: Islamists kill dozens in Nigeria Christmas bombs Japan urges China to help keep North Korea in check Mortars hit Iranian dissident camp in Iraq: Iraqi army Hackers hit security think tank Stratfor's website Seven people shot dead at Dallas-area apartment Former South Korean first lady heads North for condolences Web gambling gets boost from Obama administration North Korean power-behind-throne emerges as neighbors meet Powerful Darfur rebel chief killed, Sudan says From Dear Leader to Marilyn Monroe, defector mocks Kim Obamas go to church, dine in for Christmas in Hawaii Japan, China look to trade talks, debt buys Egypt's military rulers study plan to speed up vote Tens of thousands of protesters pressure Putin Libya to include rebels in military from January Nigerian blasts mar pope's Christmas peace appeal 'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank Kim Jong Il's son strengthens power with new post Suicide attacker kills 7 at Baghdad checkpoint Fire at Conn. home kills ad exec's 3 kids, parents Police find 7 dead in Fort Worth-area apartment More bodies found far away from Philippine floods In family horror, some Canadians see culture clash Obama spends Christmas with family, military Lions in, Eagles out, heading into NFL finales Islamists kill dozens in Nigeria Christmas bombs Sun,25 Dec 2011 05:21 PM PST Reuters - ABUJA (Reuters) - Islamist militants set off bombs across Nigeria on Christmas Day - three targeting churches including one that killed at least 27 people - raising fears that they are trying to ignite sectarian civil war. The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which aims to impose sharia law across the country, claimed responsibility for the three church bombs, the second Christmas in a row the group has caused mass carnage with deadly bombings of churches. Security forces also blamed the sect for two other blasts in the north. ... Full Story Top Japan urges China to help keep North Korea in check Sun,25 Dec 2011 11:12 PM PST Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan urged China on Monday to shoulder a big role in ensuring North Korea avoids volatility after the death of its leader, Kim Jong-il. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to share information about developments in North Korea, where the succession of Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, has fanned speculation about who will really control the secretive one-party state and its nuclear program. ... Full Story Top Mortars hit Iranian dissident camp in Iraq: Iraqi army Sun,25 Dec 2011 05:12 PM PST Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two mortars hit an Iranian dissident camp in Iraq just days after Baghdad extended a year-end deadline for the camp to be closed as the U.N. negotiated resettlement of 3,000 residents there, the Iraqi military said Sunday. The mortars landed on Camp Ashraf, home to the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, or PMOI, an Iranian opposition group the United States and Iran officially consider a terrorist group. The camp is 65 km (40 miles) from Baghdad. ... Full Story Top Hackers hit security think tank Stratfor's website Sun,25 Dec 2011 02:14 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - U.S. security think tank Strategic Forecasting Inc (Stratfor) said its website had been hacked and that some of the names of corporate subscribers had been made public. Stratfor said the breach came from an unauthorized party, while activist hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility. "As a result of this incident the operation of Stratfor's servers and email have been suspended," the Austin-based company said in an email on Sunday. ... Full Story Top Seven people shot dead at Dallas-area apartment Sun,25 Dec 2011 08:17 PM PST Reuters - GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - Police in Texas found the bodies of seven people in a Dallas-area apartment on Sunday, all shot to death and surrounded by newly unwrapped Christmas presents, authorities said. Police in the town of Grapevine said the dead included four women and three men, one of them the apparent gunman in what investigators believe was a murder-suicide, and that all appeared to be members of the same family. ... Full Story Top Former South Korean first lady heads North for condolences Sun,25 Dec 2011 05:23 PM PST Reuters - PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - The widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the author of a now-jettisoned engagement policy with North Korea, crossed the fortified land border between the two sides on Monday to pay her respects to deceased dictator Kim Jong-il. Ties between the North and South have been frozen since the election of conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in 2008, who cut aid in a bid to force the North to abandon a nuclear programme and bring it to the negotiating table. ... Full Story Top Web gambling gets boost from Obama administration Sun,25 Dec 2011 02:36 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration cleared the way for states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling. A Justice Department opinion dated September and made public on Friday reversed decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites. ... Full Story Top North Korean power-behind-throne emerges as neighbors meet Sun,25 Dec 2011 03:03 PM PST Reuters - SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korean television Sunday showed power-behind-the-throne Jang Song-thaek in the uniform of a general in a sign of his growing sway after the death of Kim Jong-il, and Japan's prime minister said the region faced a new phase with Kim's demise. Footage that North Korean television said was shot on Saturday showed Jang on the frontrow of top military officers who accompanied Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il and his anointed successor, paying their respects before Kim's body. ... Full Story Top Powerful Darfur rebel chief killed, Sudan says Sun,25 Dec 2011 04:47 PM PST Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's military has killed the leader of Darfur's most powerful rebel group, dealing a severe blow to insurgents in the remote western region and complicating a nearly decade-long war with Khartoum in which hundreds of thousands are believed to have died. The Darfur conflict has rumbled on since mainly non-Arab insurgents took up arms in 2003, saying the central government had left them out of the political and economic power structure and was favouring local Arab tribes. ... Full Story Top From Dear Leader to Marilyn Monroe, defector mocks Kim Sun,25 Dec 2011 11:18 PM PST Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - Above the ballooning dress of Marilyn Monroe is the face of the late North Korean despot Kim Jong-il. A pigeon flies overhead and a feather lies nearby on the ground. North Korean artist Song Byeok once proudly drew the "Dear Leader" in propaganda paintings. But he was sent to labor in one of the reclusive state's notorious prisons after hunger forced him to try to flee. Now a defector living in the South Korean capital, Seoul, Song has turned to mocking a ruler who led his country into famine, isolation and economic ruin. ... Full Story Top Obamas go to church, dine in for Christmas in Hawaii Sun,25 Dec 2011 07:01 PM PST Reuters - HONOLULU, Hawaii (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spent a low-key Christmas Day with his wife and daughters in Hawaii, going to church and thanking U.S. troops for their service before hosting friends for dinner at the first family's rented beach house. The Obamas started opening gifts around 8 a.m. on Sunday and then ate breakfast and sang carols together before heading to the chapel at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii for a Christmas service, the White House said. ... Full Story Top Japan, China look to trade talks, debt buys Sun,25 Dec 2011 02:27 PM PST Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan and China agreed to start formal talks early next year on a free trade pact that would also include South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Sunday after talks that showed the deepening bonds between Asia's two biggest economies. Japan also said it was looking to buy Chinese treasury debt, and the two governments agreed to enhance financial cooperation. "On a free trade agreement among Japan, China and South Korea, we've made a substantial progress for an early start of negotiations," Noda told reporters after his meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao. ... Full Story Top Egypt's military rulers study plan to speed up vote Sun,25 Dec 2011 01:45 PM PST Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military rulers are studying a proposal from their own advisers to bring forward parliamentary elections by two weeks after demands from protesters and politicians to speed up transition to civilian rule, an advisory council member said Sunday. Many Egyptians believe the army is no longer fit to manage security on the ground and carry out difficult reforms at a time of political and economic crisis. ... Full Story Top Tens of thousands of protesters pressure Putin Sun,25 Dec 2011 11:45 AM PST Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of flag-waving and chanting protesters called Saturday for a disputed parliamentary election to be rerun and an end to Vladimir Putin's rule, increasing pressure on the Russian leader as he tries to win back the presidency. The protesters shouted "Russia without Putin" and "New elections, New elections" as one speaker after another called for an end to Putin's 12-year domination of the country at the second big opposition rally in two weeks in central Moscow. "Do you want Putin to return to the presidency?" novelist Boris Akunin asked from a large stage. ... Full Story Top Libya to include rebels in military from January Sun,25 Dec 2011 01:06 PM PST Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya will include thousands of former rebels who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in its armed forces from January, the defense minister said on Sunday, testing the government's ability to get rebel leaders to cede command of their fighters. Although rebels met a deadline imposed by the National Transitional Council (NTC) to withdraw this week from the capital Tripoli, militias led by rival commanders still guard key installations and checkpoints across the city. ... Full Story Top Nigerian blasts mar pope's Christmas peace appeal Sun,25 Dec 2011 12:55 PM PST Associated Press - Pope Benedict XVI issued pleas for peace to reign across the world during his traditional Christmas address Sunday, a call marred by Muslim extremists who bombed a Catholic church in Nigeria, striking after worshippers celebrated Mass. Full Story Top 'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank Sun,25 Dec 2011 04:31 PM PST Associated Press - The loose-knit hacking movement "Anonymous" claimed Sunday to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals' accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards. Full Story Top Kim Jong Il's son strengthens power with new post Sun,25 Dec 2011 10:25 PM PST Associated Press - Kim Jong Il's son was identified Monday as head of a top decision-making body of the ruling Workers' Party, a post that now gives him authority over political as well as military matters in North Korea. Full Story Top Suicide attacker kills 7 at Baghdad checkpoint Sun,25 Dec 2011 11:18 PM PST Associated Press - A suicide bomber set off a car bomb Monday at a checkpoint leading to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, killing seven people and injuring 32 others, officials said. Full Story Top Fire at Conn. home kills ad exec's 3 kids, parents Sun,25 Dec 2011 11:32 PM PST Associated Press - An advertising executive's three daughters and parents have been killed in a fire at her home along the Connecticut shoreline. Full Story Top Police find 7 dead in Fort Worth-area apartment Sun,25 Dec 2011 06:46 PM PST Associated Press - Seven people believed to be related had opened their Christmas gifts and started cleaning up the wrapping paper when they were shot to death in a suburban Texas apartment, police said Sunday. Full Story Top More bodies found far away from Philippine floods Sun,25 Dec 2011 09:48 PM PST Associated Press - Fishermen joined Philippine navy sailors, police and firefighters in an ever wider search for bodies from entire villages swept away in one of the country's worst flash floods. More bodies have washed ashore, pushing the death toll to more than 1,200, an official said Monday. Full Story Top In family horror, some Canadians see culture clash Sun,25 Dec 2011 09:01 PM PST Associated Press - On a summer morning in 2009, in canal locks east of Toronto, police made a grisly discovery: In a submerged Nissan car were the bodies of three teenage sisters and a 52-year-old woman. Full Story Top Obama spends Christmas with family, military Sun,25 Dec 2011 08:53 PM PST Associated Press - President Barack Obama blended his roles as a father and commander-in-chief this Christmas, exchanging presents and singing carols with his family, then greeting U.S. service members stationed at a Marine base in Hawaii. Full Story Top Lions in, Eagles out, heading into NFL finales Sun,25 Dec 2011 09:05 PM PST Associated Press - The Lions and Falcons are in; the Eagles and Bears are out. Cincinnati is closing in on a playoff berth, while the Jets and Raiders need some help. Full Story Top

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