Snippets of news from here and there

From Reuters:
Israel voiced doubt on Tuesday    about the accuracy of Syrian activists' reports that chemical weapons had been used against rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
"We have seen reports from the opposition. It is not the first time. The opposition has an interest in drawing in international military intervention," Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Army Radio.....

From TorontoStar: 
Toronto police are seeking a woman      they suspect destroyed thousands of dollars worth of merchandise at several high-end stores by smearing fur garments with petroleum jelly....
....“She’s not wiping a ton of the stuff on the jackets,” said Toronto Police Staff- Sgt. Shawn Meloche. “But it’s enough to completely ruin the product.”....

From the BBC:
 Gunmen in the northern Nigerian state   of Yobe have shot dead at least six Christians, the army and local officials say.
They say a church in Peri village near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe, was set on fire in an attack late on Christmas Eve.
No group has so far said it carried out the attack. The Boko Haram Islamist militant group has targeted a number of churches in the north since 2010. It has killed hundreds in its campaign to impose Sharia law.....

From Reuters:
.... Egypt is expected to announce    on Tuesday that voters approved a new Islamist-backed constitution, and the government slapped limits on carrying cash abroad to save the economy from collapse after weeks of street violence and political disarray.

From TorontoSun:
TORONTO - Relatives of a senior marking his 78th birthday in hospital      Monday fear brutal home invaders targeted him and his wife for Christmas cash intended for their grandchildren.
The Jeanne Dr. couple was sleeping early Saturday when two men burst into their home of almost 39 years northwest of Hwy. 7 and Pine Valley Dr. around 4:30 a.m., daughter-in-law Nadia Iantorno told The Toronto Sun.
Despite co-operating and surrendering money intended for their seven grandchildren, the seniors - whose names she did not want published - were tied up and assaulted.

From  the CBC:
An unsolicited telephone offer   to improve security on a home computer resulted in several fraudulent credit card charges, Winnipeg police say.
The victim was contacted in September with an offer to update his computer security system by a man who called himself the PC Doctor, police said in a news release on Monday.

From TorontoSun: 
TORONTO - Christmas Eve saw a grandmother of five collect a $50-million Lotto Max cheque, just in time for the holidays.
Susan Flam - in her mid-60s - is a Thornhill resident who originally thought she won $50,000 when she first checked her ticket in a grocery store on Saturday.
"I felt I got hit by a train," she said when she discovered it was a few more zeroes than she thought.
A self-described homemaker, the mother-of-two says she enjoys doing charity work to "keep myself busy." She also plays the lottery every week and has previously won $83.
"It's not going to change me, no," she said about hitting the jackpot. "It doesn't change who I am or what I do.".....

From WashingtonPost:
Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace    to the world Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the “defenseless” in Syria, urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate and encouraging China’s new leaders to allow more religious freedom.
Delivering the Vatican’s traditional Christmas day message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.

From TorontoStar:
 A former top York University executive received     about $250,000 worth of home improvements including a Jacuzzi hot tub in a widespread phoney invoice racket that he masterminded on campus, the school alleges.
In a major lawsuit with supporting documents, York says former assistant vice-president of campus services and business operations Michael Markicevic used staff and construction materials from the university for work at two family homes, while the school unknowingly covered the costs through a “vast” scheme featuring scores of bogus invoices.

From TheTelegraphUK:
 India acid attack victim wins      Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? A woman disfigured and blinded by an acid attack has won the top prize in the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?  Sonali Mukherjee will use the jackpot worth nearly £30,000 to fund her next round of plastic surgery after her family spent all their money on her treatment.
The 27-year-old has had 22 operations since she was attacked in 2003 while a student in the eastern city of Dhanbad.
She remains blind and partially deaf and as she despaired of getting more treatment, she applied to appear on "Kaun Banega Crorepati", the Indian version of the game show, which was featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire.

From Reuters:
An Iranian-Afghan     policewoman who killed a U.S. contractor at the police headquarters in Kabul may have been motivated by a personal grudge, said security officials, who were also probing possible Taliban or al Qaeda involvement.
The officials said the woman named as Narges seemed wracked with remorse over the shooting. They said she held an Iranian passport but offered no evidence that Iran may have orchestrated the attack.