Pakistan burqa bomber kills 42
KHAR, Pakistan, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Most of the 42 people killed in a suicide bombing in Pakistan Saturday were members of local tribes lined up for government-issued rations, officials said.
A terrorist wearing a full-length woman's burqa threw hand grenades and set off a bomb he was carrying in the town of Khar in the Bajur Agency where tribesmen were waiting for food to be handed out at a World Food Program office.
Another 70 people were injured in the attack, including a number of women and children, officials told the official government news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, APP.
No militant group took immediate credit for the attack, which was condemned by the government.
The attack occurred the day after the Taliban attacked a Frontier Corps in Mohmad, which borders the Bajur Agency. The battle left 11 soldiers and 24 militants dead, officials told APP.
Christmas Eve bombs kill 31 in Nigeria
JOS, Nigeria, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Officials in Nigeria Saturday said 31 people were killed and several others were injured in a wave of Christmas Eve bombings in the city of Jos.
At least five explosions occurred in two commercial districts of the city, destroying a bar and setting a number of parked cars on fire.
An aide to the governor of Plateau state told CNN two bombs exploded in the Angwa Rukuba area and three more occurred in nearby Kabong. The city has been the scene of violent clashes between Christian and Muslims in recent years.
"It was Christmas Eve, lots of activities was going on," said Choji Gyang, an adviser to the Plateau governor. "People were still preparing for Christmas, lots of people were coming into town."
Gyang chided the Nigerian government for a "lapse in security."
There was no immediate claim of credit for the bombings and no arrests were reported. Troops moved in to secure the areas and fired shots into the air to disperse angry crowds, CNN said.
No Christmas weather break for Europe
LONDON, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Winter storms plaguing Europe and wreaking havoc with air transportation were unabated Saturday, grounding 30,000 people in Paris alone, officials said.
The Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris canceled hundreds of flights early Saturday, a day after Germany's third-largest airport in Dusseldorf closed completely due to heavy snow and ice-slicked runways, Sky News reported.
The Paris airport, second in European volume to London's Heathrow facility, was also hobbled by a strike by workers who manufacture aircraft de-icing fluid, which had to be imported from the United States and Germany Friday, the report said.
Belgian officials said the main airport in Brussels was restricted to just one runway Friday, CNN said.
The Swedish news agency TT said high winds and snow in the south were causing mayhem on highways and disrupting train service. One train became snowbound Friday and emergency officials were called to evacuate the passengers.
Dutch arrest dozen in terror investigation
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Dutch officials Saturday said they staved off an alleged terrorist attack with the arrests of 12 suspects in Rotterdam.
The arrests involved a dozen male suspects of Somali origin, a spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service said.
"The attack was said to be imminent so the national police started an investigation which led to the arrest of 12 Somalis later on Friday in Rotterdam," spokesman Wim de Bruin told CNN. "We are not sure about what the target was, how they were going to carry out the attack or when."
De Bruin said no weapons or explosives had been found and the suspects were being questioned.
CNN said the terror alert level in the Netherlands remained at the "limited" level since the arrests.
South Korean military exercise ends
SEOUL, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- South Korea has completed three days of live-fire military exercises without any retaliation from the north, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
As the drill ended Friday, the Foreign Ministry released a report saying there is a "possibility" North Korea would conduct a third nuclear test early next year to cement Kim Jong-Eun's position as heir apparent to his father, Kim Jong-Il, the Times said. Another report released Thursday said the low-level conflict between the two Koreas could escalate to a war.
Since the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in March, killing 46 sailors, the two countries have been at odds. In November, the North killed two soldiers and two civilians when it shelled Yeongpyeong Island.
Cooperation between the two countries, still technically at war more than half a century after the 1953 cease-fire, has also slowed.
The exercises began off the island and a North Korean official called them a "grave military provocation."
