Merry Christmas Australia! - A grinch in Australia's government is stopping a British woman from seeing the New Year's fireworks in Sydney, and she's upset about what she believes is the reason - Nigeria's President declares victory in the war against Boko Haram - One of the winners of a European year-end lottery came there by immigrant boat - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

A British woman says her travel plans to come to Sydney for New Year's were crushed after Australia approval and then abruptly cancelled her entry visa.  "I went to check-in (for my flight), and I got an email from the High Commission saying it had been overruled and that I was not eligible for a visa to Australia," 30-year old Zahra Ramadani told the ABC.  The only explanation she can think of is her birthplace:  Damascus, Syria.  Ms. Ramadani adds that the last time she was there was "six or seven years ago".  Her MP says she's as harmless as "a wombat" and the way she is being treated by the Australia High Commission is "disgraceful".  This comes after Australia was sharply criticized for initially refusing entry to the family of a dying Pakistani student.  Earlier this week, the US mysteriously canceled the entry visas of a large Muslim family en route to a family dream holiday at Southern California's theme parks.  

Islamist guerrillas killed at least seven Christians in a series of attacks in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.  Philippine military Colonel Ricky Bunayog said at least four attackers were killed in the fighting.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari says his country has "technically won the war" against Islamist Boko Haram militants, degrading the terrorist group to the point that it cannot launch military attacks.  Boko Haram still hasn't returned the Chibok girls, whose kidnapping from their boarding school in 2014 sparked international outrage; nor has it stopped a campaign of suicide bombings that continues to kill scores of people.  Critics of the government argue that it is exaggerating, and that the military has claimed to have wiped out Boko Haram several times before.

Fire ripped through a hospital in Jazan, southwestern Saudi Arabia, killing 25 people and injuring 100 more.  Investigators are determining if a possible electrical fault was the cause.

An unusual heat wave in the southern and eastern United states caused tornadoes that killed at least eight people from Texas to Mississippi.

Pope Francis celebrated Christmas even mass at the Vatican.

Santa goes water-skiing in Virginia.  It's Christmas with heavily armed soldiers in camos in France after too many terrorist attacks.

Rome and Milan will ban cars from the city centers after the holiday weekend.  It's because of smog, which has been at unhealthy levels for the past couple of weeks without any rainfall to wash it away.  Sarajevo isn't much better.

"Hey!  That's not a drive-through!"  "It is now."

Merry Christmas Japan!  The government approved the restart of four more nuclear reactors!  (>_<#)

A migrant from Senegal has won a big prize in Spain's year-end "El Gordo" lottery - equal to about A$600,000.  The 35-year-old and his wife were rescued from a migrant boat in 2007 and were taken to live in Tenrife, where they often subsist on less than five Euros per day.  I want to give thanks to Spaniards and the Spanish government for rescuing me when I was in the sea," says the man,who goes by the single name Ngagne.

A grandmother in Italy made her family sick with a batch of hot cocoa, using a mix that expired in 1990.  The 77-year old woman, her friend, her son, and three grandchildren - aged between eight and twelve - were all sent to the emergency room with nasty bouts of food poisoning.  Rather than let that be a lesson, police overreacted and charged the old woman with causing injury through neglect, according to local media.