1. U.S. blizzard

    A winter blizzard* moved across the northeastern United States on Monday, disrupting air and rail travel and forcing motorists* to deal with blowing snow and icy roads at the end of the busy Christmas weekend.

    Six states declared state of emergency. At least 2,000 flights in the region had been canceled and the Amtrak passenger rail service between New York and Boston was suspended.

    2. Assange memoirs

    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to write his memoirs*, U.S. publisher Random House confirmed on Sunday, receiving an advance* that Assange said totals more than US$1 million for U.S. and U.K. rights as he seeks to pay legal bills and keep the document-leaking Web site in the black.

    Random House, a unit of Germany’s Bertelsmann AG, expects the manuscript* to be delivered at some point in 2011 but doesn’t yet have a timetable for publication.

    3. Rocket explodes

    An Indian space rocket carrying an advanced communications satellite was destroyed by mission control on Saturday following a malfunction* after lift-off. Live television pictures showed the rocket exploding after taking off from the Sriharikota launch site, some 80 kilometers from the southern city of Chennai.

    4. New ROK drills

    The announcement by the Republic of Korea (ROK) of naval drills, starting on Monday, has again escalated* tension on the Korean Peninsula.

    The ROK military plans to stage live-fire drills at 23 locations off its coast from Monday to Friday. The exercise will not be held near the tense maritime* border with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on the Yellow Sea.

    5. Snow in Europe

    Heavy snow disrupted the Christmas holiday getaway in Europe, forcing the continent’s biggest airports to close and thousands of stranded passengers to spend the night on terminal floors. In London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Brussels, flights were cancelled.

    6. Christmas Eve attacks

    Explosions in Nigeria’s central region killed 32 people on Christmas Eve and six people died in attacks on two churches in the northeast of Africa’s most populous nation, officials said on Saturday.

    On Friday night, a series of bombs were detonated* during Christmas Eve celebrations in villages near the central city of Jos, killing at least 32 people while 74 were in a critical condition.

    7. Indian road accident

    A bus collided* head-on with a van that was carrying mourners* returning from a funeral in northern India, killing 35 people, police said on Sunday. State police official DYS Chauhan said another 14 people in the two vehicles were injured in the accident near Badaun on Saturday, a town in Uttar Pradesh state. The van’s driver lost control of the vehicle as it went through a mound of sand. It then crashed into the bus.

    (SD-Agencies)