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BARTELLA, Iraq (AP) — A Christmas Eve Mass in northern Iraq is providing holiday cheer but also reminders of the war still raging against the Islamic State group. Three hundred Christians braved rain and wind to attend the ceremony in their hometown of Bartella. They were displaced when IS extremists seized the town in August 2014. The militants torched the church, but volunteers cleaned it up after government forces recaptured Bartella as part of an ongoing campaign to liberate the nearby city of Mosul.
MILAN (AP) — The husband of a Czech woman killed in Berlin Christmas market attack says he is relieved that the suspect no longer poses a threat to people in Europe. The man says he did not want revenge but needed to know that Anis Amri had been removed from society "one way or another." The Tunisian was killed Friday in a shootout with police in Italy.
CHICAGO (AP) — Forecasters are cautioning drivers in the northern Plains and some Western states to keep alternate routes in mind and prepare for possible delays. A large stretch of the Dakotas is under a blizzard warning tomorrow and Monday, with the National Weather Service forecasting heavy snow and strong winds. Parts of central Minnesota are under an ice storm warning, while snow is also forecast for much of Idaho, Montana, Utah and northeast Colorado.
COEBURN, Va. (AP) — A 36-year-old Virginia woman is facing a murder charge after prosecutors say she crashed head-on into another car while trying to avoid a drunken-driving checkpoint. The collision killed the driver of the second vehicle, 32-year-old Rebecca Starling of St. Charles, Missouri. Starling's 2- and 5-year-old daughters were also in the car. They suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An acrid order like rotten eggs wafted over Philadelphia last night and into this morning. Officials now have an explanation. PBF Energy says a brief loss of power at a refinery just across the Delaware River resulted in "flaring and odors." The company apologized. City officials determined the smell was caused by a kind of sulfur-based additive and say it wasn't dangerous.
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