News Headlines - 25 December 2016

▽Queen too ill to attend Christmas Day church service | The Guardian

The Queen has missed the annual Christmas morning church service at Sandringham for the first time in almost 30 years as she continues to fight a heavy cold.

▽Russian military plane crashes in Black Sea, 'killing 92' - BBC News

The plane disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Sochi at 05:25 (02:25 GMT), heading for Latakia in Syria, the defence ministry said... The Tu-154 was carrying soldiers, reporters and 64 members of the famed Alexandrov military music ensemble who were to perform for Russian troops.

▽Trump says he’s closing foundation, but Democrats want more - The Washington Post

President-elect Donald Trump says he will dissolve his charitable foundation before taking office to avoid conflicts of interest. The Democratic Party says that’s not enough and is calling for the billionaire businessman to put his assets in a blind trust.

▽Did Ban Ki-moon take bribes from scandal-ridden tycoon?

Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a leading presidential hopeful, allegedly received bribes worth $230,000 (280 million won) from Park Yeon-cha, an entrepreneur who was at the center of a bribery scandal involving former President Roh Moo-hyun and his aides, according to media reports.

▽163 new species discovered in Southeast Asia: WWF - CBC News

A rainbow-headed snake and a dragon-like lizard are among 163 new species that scientists recently discovered in the Greater Mekong region, conservation group WWF said on Monday, adding rapid development in the area, from dams to mines, was threatening wildlife survival.