Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma asked the country to begin a week of fasting and prayers on Thursday to end the Ebola virus that has killed more than 2,700 of his countrymen.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised New Year's address on Wednesday that the "return home" of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula to Moscow's control would forever remain an important chapter in Russia's history.
A federal judge on Tuesday recommended approval of a revised settlement of a lawsuit challenging former Abercrombie & Fitch Co Chief Executive Michael Jeffries' pay, three months after another judge rejected a version that appeared to offer few benefits and release too many potential claims.
Lithuania joined the euro zone at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, hoping to anchor itself in Europe as its former master Russia flexes its military muscle in the region.
