AP – The Nigerian suspected of trying to bring down a U.S. airliner with explosives might have used Arabic studies as a pretext for entering Yemen before disappearing for months, perhaps into one of the lawless country’s al-Qaida strongholds, fellow students and teachers said. Read more

AP – The United Nations said Thursday it would relocate about a quarter of the U.N.’s international staff in Pakistan, a response to the increasingly volatile security situation in the country. Read more

AP – A lone gunman dressed in black killed five people, four in a crowded shopping mall, before returning home and taking his own life on Thursday. It was the third such massacre in Finland in about two years, and once again raised questions about gun control in a Nordic country where hunting is popular. [...]

AP – Fireworks exploded over Sydney’s famous bridge and the Eiffel Tower prepared for its own colored-light spectacle as the world celebrated a New Year that many hope will be more prosperous and peaceful than 2009. Read more

Time.com – After one of the worst years of his political career, Italy’s prime minister retreats from the public eye, with reports suggesting he may need plastic surgery following a nasty attack Read more