| Singer George Michael of Wham! fame dies at 53 Posted: 25 Dec 2016 04:57 PM PST  By Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - British singer George Michael, who became one of the pop idols of the 1980s with Wham! and then forged a career as a successful solo artist with sometimes sexually provocative lyrics, died at his home in England on Sunday. "It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period," his publicist said in a statement. British police said Michael's death was "unexplained but not suspicious." Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou June 25, 1963 in London to Greek Cypriot immigrant parents in a flat above a north London laundrette, Michael once played music on the London underground train system before finding fame with Wham!.
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| George Michael: pop icon who caught the spirit of the 1980s Posted: 25 Dec 2016 04:10 PM PST  George Michael, who has died aged 53, was a teenage heartthrob turned superstar singer-songwriter whose smooth vocals belied a personal life shadowed by drug problems and heartbreak. There was more grief in 1997 when his mother passed away.
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| Bittersweet Christmas for Iraqi Christians near Mosul Posted: 25 Dec 2016 10:46 AM PST  Iraqi Christians celebrated a bittersweet Christmas in a town near Mosul from which they had fled over two years before, in a church still marred by damaged crosses and jihadist graffiti. Sunday's mass at the Mar Yohanna church in Qaraqosh east of Mosul brought residents home for Christmas, but did not change the fact that they are still displaced and longing to return permanently. "This feeling is indescribable... we were waiting for it," Imama Behnan, one of the worshippers, said of the mass, the church bell ringing as she spoke.
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| Deja vu for U.S. troops celebrating Christmas in Iraq again Posted: 25 Dec 2016 10:29 AM PST  By Stephen Kalin EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - This is the third Christmas that Staff Sergeant Magdiel Asencio is spending in Iraq. For Sergeant First Class Noel Alvarado, it is number four. Few thought they would be back nearly 14 years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, sparking an al Qaeda-backed insurgency and throwing the country into a sectarian civil war.
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| Fearful Christmas in Baghdad after attacks on Christians Posted: 25 Dec 2016 09:50 AM PST  Christians in Baghdad celebrated Christmas on Sunday in a heightened state of fear after deadly attacks on Christian-owned shops that sell alcohol. Two shops next door to each other were riddled with bullet holes and spattered with blood after gunmen opened fire late on Friday in Baghdad's Ghadeer neighborhood. Rayan al-Kildani, commander of Babiliyon Brigades, a group of Christian volunteers formed to fight Islamic State militants, said eight Christians and one member of the Yazidi sect had been killed in the attack.
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| Tunisia security forces warn of returning jihadis Posted: 25 Dec 2016 09:42 AM PST  Tunisia's security forces called on the government on Sunday to take "exceptional measures" to combat the return of jihadists fighting for extremist groups abroad. Tunisia has seen a wave of jihadist attacks since its 2011 revolution, including on foreign tourists, and the United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 Tunisians are fighting for extremist outfits, mainly in Iraq and Syria. "The return of terrorists from hotbeds of unrest in Tunisia is worrying and could lead to the Somali-isation of the country," said a statement from the internal security forces' national union, referring to the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group in Somalia.
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| Anti-refugee sentiment from election spills over to states Posted: 25 Dec 2016 08:45 AM PST HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The push to restrict refugee resettlements and immigration in the U.S. that figured so prominently in Donald Trump's election is now headed to states that are preparing to convene their legislative sessions early next year, immigration advocates said. |
| Pope wishes Christmas peace for those scarred by war, terror Posted: 25 Dec 2016 07:26 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (AP) — Decrying the suffering in Syria, Pope Francis on Sunday wished Christmas peace and hope for all those scarred by war and terrorism, which he said is sowing "fear and death in the heart of many countries and cities."
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| Text of Pope Francis' Christmas day message Posted: 25 Dec 2016 05:50 AM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — The following is the Vatican's official translation of Pope's Francis' traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas day message, delivered in Italian from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica Sunday: |
| Iraq: Blasts in, around Baghdad kill at least 11 Posted: 25 Dec 2016 05:06 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say separate bombings in and around Baghdad have killed at least 11 civilians and wounded 34 others. |
