MINSK, Belarus, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The European Union Parliament said it adopted a resolution that supports maintaining sanctions against Belarus officials to prompt greater democratization.

ROTHLEY, England, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The parents of Madeleine McCann said in a holiday appeal they long for the safe return of their missing daughter to their home in England.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- British soldiers in Northern Ireland are being warned dissidents may use women to lure them into ambushes this holiday season, a security force source said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has until Saturday to stitch a 60-vote healthcare compromise if a Christmas Eve vote is to be taken, aides said.

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The European Parliament said in an approved resolution it deplores crimes against humanity occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

NEW PLYMOUTH, New Zealand, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A family of three and a family friend were rescued Friday from a capsized pontoon boat off the coast of New Zealand's Taranaki Region, police say.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A Eurojust spokesman said the chairman of the board for the European Union's anti-crime agency resigned following a scandal in his home country.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Israel will soon decide whether it will include 50 "heavy" Palestinian prisoners in a possible exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, Arab media says.

News from United Press International, around the world around the clock ...

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A Polish research institute alleges former Communist Interior Minister Czeslaw Kiszczak sabotaged the inquiry into the killing of poet Grzegorz Przemyk.

TEHRAN, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Demonstrators took to the streets of Tehran following Friday prayers to protest reformers who vandalized pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini, state media said.

HELSINKI, Finland, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The Obama administration's decision to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in 18 months after the start of the surge has already begun to bear fruit, but perhaps not in a way that was intended.

PARIS, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Former French President Jacques Chirac was placed under formal investigation Friday over alleged embezzlement while he was Paris mayor, officials said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The Pentagon didn't begin securing communications from unmanned U.S. aircraft until 2009, despite knowing about the vulnerability in 2004, officers said.

BUCHAREST, Romania, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton marked Romania's 20th anniversary of its revolution, saying America was proud to call Romania an ally.