[WORLD AFFAIRS OVERVIEW]

Homeless man in video asks for Timberlake's help

USA: A homeless man featured in a mock video produced by a friend of Justin Timberlake for the actor's wedding is now asking the actor-singer for help.

High-profile lawyer Gloria Allred is publicising the demands of the man, who goes by "Eddie" and who has lived for six or seven years off and on Skid Row, a Los Angeles neighbourhood with a big homeless population.

In an open letter, Eddie asked for Timberlake to arrange a meeting with him "very soon" through Allred "so you can understand my situation, and so that we can talk about this situation involving so many others who are homeless." "I would like to take you on a tour of Skid Row and other places where we the homeless live and talk with you about what you can do to help us," he added.

AFP

'Irresistible' woman fired for being too sexy

USA: An "irresistible" Iowa dental assistant fired for threatening her boss's marriage -- even though she turned away his advances -- has lost her discrimination lawsuit.

Melissa Nelson, who is married with children, had worked for James Knight for 10 years before his wife complained about his infatuation with her.

AFP

White Christmas for Moscow while south Europe sweats

PARIS: From deadly cold in Russia, floods in Britain and balmy conditions that have residents in southwest France rummaging for their bathing suits, the weather has gone haywire across Europe in the days leading up to Christmas.

The mercury in Moscow has fallen to minus 25 degrees Celsius -- unseasonably cold in a country where such chills don't normally arrive until January or February.

The cold has claimed 90 lives in Russia since mid-December and 83 in Ukraine, with eastern Eurasia in the grips of an unusually icy month that has seen temperatures drop to as low as minus 50 degrees C in eastern Siberia.

AFP

Pirates attack ship off Nigeria, kidnap Italian sailors

LAGOS: Pirates attacked an Italian ship off Nigeria and kidnapped four sailors, including three Italians, in the latest such incident off the country's oil-producing southern coast, officials said.

While a spokeswoman for Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed three of those abducted were Italians, the nationality of the fourth victim was not yet clear following the Sunday night attack.

"Pirates armed with guns attacked, boarded an offshore supply vessel ... and kidnapped four crew members," the International Maritime Bureau said.

AFP

Prosecutor, six others killed in Guatemala

Guatemala: A Guatemalan federal prosecutor and six other people were killed in an attack near the Mexican border blamed on drug traffickers, officials said Monday. The attackers burned the bodies of their victims, inluding Chiquimula prosecutor Irma Olivares, a businessman and the director of a regional government social services agency, said Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez. The bodies of three bodyguards were found in another charred vehicle nearby. "The modus operandi of the attackers corresponds to drug trafficking groups" operating in the border region, he added.

AFP

Actor Jack Klugman dead at 90

US: Jack Klugman, the television star who portrayed a slovenly sportswriter on "The Odd Couple" and a tough medical examiner on "Quincy, ME," has died. He was 90.

Klugman's attorney Larry Larson said the actor died peacefully at his home in the Northridge neighbourhood of Los Angeles with Peggy, his wife of nearly five years, at his side.

AFP