SEVERE WEATHER

ASHLAND, Mississippi — Instead of doing some last-minute shopping or wrapping gifts, families across the U.S. South spent Christmas Eve taking stock of their losses after an unusual outbreak of December tornadoes and other violent weather killed at least 14 people and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes.  

PARK RANGER SHOT-BODY FOUND

SALT LAKE CITY — The remains of a man police believe shot and wounded a state park ranger in 2010 and eluded more than 100 officers in a desert manhunt are found in a narrow cave. A college student makes the discovery after he and his brother decide to spend two weeks looking for the fugitive and earn a $30,000 reward. 

ECUADOR-TRANSGENDER PREGNANCY

BOGOTA, Colombia — A couple in Ecuador is making history with a unique pregnancy: The father-to-be is carrying the baby of his transgender partner. 

TRINIDAD-ECONOMY

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — The governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago has been fired after releasing the names of companies that have bought one-third of the foreign exchange sold in the last three years. 

BRAZIL-ZIKA-BIRTH DEFECTS

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil has seen a 17-fold increase in a birth defect known as microcephaly this year, and officials attribute that to a mosquito-born virus, Zika. International health officials say the link's not yet proven, but Brazilian officials are taking emergency action. Some women are even putting off pregnancy out of fear. 

NORTH CAROLINA-MALL SHOOTING

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — A long-standing dispute sparked a shooting at a crowded North Carolina shopping mall on Christmas Eve, police said, and an off-duty officer fatally shot a man who pointed a gun in his direction.