Iraq declares Ramadi liberated from ISIS, sweeps for bombs
Iraq declared the city of Ramadi liberated from the Islamic State group on Monday (Dec 28) and raised the national flag over its government complex after clinching a landmark victory against the jihadists.
Fighters brandishing rifles danced in the Anbar provincial capital as top commanders paraded through the streets after recapturing the city lost to ISIS in May.
Pockets of extremists may remain but the army said it no longer faced any resistance and that its main task was to defuse countless bombs and traps.
Gallantry medal to be awarded to Diesel, the police dog killed after Paris attacks
A French police dog killed in a security services raid after the Paris attacks is to receive a posthumous medal for gallantry from a British animal charity, it said Monday.
Diesel died in November during a police raid on an apartment in a northern suburb of Paris, which killed the alleged mastermind of the attacks in which 130 people died.
He had been sent in to a building where lead plotter Abdelhamid Abaaoud.had a flat to sniff out booby traps but was blown to pieces when a woman came out firing her AK-47 at police and then detonated her suicide vest, according to Britain's Mail Online.
Record El Nino, climate change drive extreme weather
Deadly extreme weather on at least five continents is driven in large part by a record-breaking El Nino, but climate change is a likely booster too, experts said Monday (Dec 28).
The 2015-16 El Nino, they added, is the strongest ever measured.
"It is probably the most powerful in the last 100 years," said Jerome Lecou, a climate expert at the French weather service Meteo France, noting that accurate measurements have only existed since the mid-20th century.
World stocks slide on China's weakening economic outlook and oil worries
World stocks fell on Monday as a weakening economic outlook for powerhouse China and renewed falls in the oil price prompted a sell-off.
Turnover was muted, however, with many operators still on end-year breaks and the key London exchange closed for a bank holiday.
Wall Street fell on Monday, hurt by the steep drop oil prices as well as a dip in Apple shares, pushing the S&P 500 back into negative territory for 2015.
Football: Improved Manchester United draw with Chelsea, Arsenal go top
Manchester United's winless run continued but they gave under-fire coach Louis van Gaal crumbs of cheer with a committed display in an entertaining 0-0 draw with Chelsea while Arsenal went top of the table on Monday.
Arsenal beat Bournemouth 2-0 with goals from Gabriel and Mesut Ozil to move on to 39 points from 19 Premier League games, one ahead of Leicester City who are at home to Manchester City, in fourth, on Tuesday.
Dutchman Van Gaal, whose tenure in the Old Trafford hot seat is under intense scrutiny after a Champions League exit and three successive league defeats, was afforded a warm reception by fans who have been critical of his team's lack of flair.
