The Arab League must bring the U.N. into the effort to stop Syria's bloody crackdown on protesters, the top opposition leader said Sunday, as security forces pressed ahead with raids and arrests around the country.

Burhan Ghalioun, the Paris-based leader of the Syrian National Council, made the plea as Arab League officials were setting up observer teams, part of their plan to end nine months of turmoil that has killed more than 5,000 people, according to the U.N.

Cuba says 38 Haitian migrants have died after a boat they were in sank off the island's eastern coast.

According to an official communiqué read out on state television, 87 others were rescued by Cuban civil defense forces after Saturday's shipwreck, including four children. A search was on for more survivors.

Hundreds of Christian faithful, defying lashing rains and wind, filled the ancient Bethlehem church that marks Jesus' traditional birthplace for Christmas Day Mass on Sunday, even as a blast in a Nigerian church shattered the holiday's message of peace on earth.

Worshippers, dressed in their holiday best and some in the traditional attire of foreign lands, rushed into the Church of the Nativity under the cover of umbrellas, leaving Manger Square, with its 50-foot-tall (15-meter-tall) Christmas tree, deserted. The sanctuary was packed, and the overflow crowd waited eagerly in an arched corridor for a chance to enter.

An official says a group of paramilitary soldiers have opened fire on each other inside a camp in Indian Kashmir, killing three soldiers.

Paramilitary spokesman Mohsen Shahedi said Sunday that officials were investigating the cause of the altercation inside the paramilitary camp in Kulgam, a town in the disputed Himalayan region.

A Soyuz spacecraft safely delivered a Russian, an American and a Dutchman to the International Space Station on Friday, restoring the permanent crew to six members for the first time since September.

But just as concerns over the reliability of the Soyuz have eased, a different version of the Soyuz rocket failed Friday during an unmanned launch. It was the latest in a string of spectacular launch failures that have raised questions about the state of Russia's space industry.

Former playing greats Romario and Ronaldo have announced a plan to donate 32,000 free tickets to disabled fans to watch matches at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Romario, a World Cup winner in 1994 who has since been elected to the Brazilian parliament, had requested the free tickets from the organizing committee. The former Brazil striker, who has a daughter with Down syndrome, had tears in his eyes as he announced the giveaway Friday.

Pope Benedict XVI's popemobile may be getting an ecological upgrade.

Young car designers participating in an annual auto style competition are being asked to design a low-emission popemobile that meets the Vatican's high security standards.

More than spirits are being lifted this holiday season.

During the four weeks leading up to this Christmas, an estimated $1.84 billion in merchandise will be shoplifted from retailers in the U.S., according to The Global Retail Theft Barometer. That's up about 6 percent from $1.7 billion during the same period last year.

Almost halfway through the Premier League season and there is already seven points separating Manchester rivals City and United from the chasing pack.

"At this point in time everyone thinks it is going to be a one-two for the city (of Manchester)," United manager Alex Ferguson said Friday. "But things change. You only need to go back over the years to see how dramatic our league can be. Lose a game in this league and all the rest get a pickup and start chasing harder."

Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Brisbane International because of her continuing recovery from a left ankle injury first suffered at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo in September.

Sharapova told Brisbane tournament officials in a statement released Saturday that "unfortunately my ankle is not 100 percent and I won't be able to make it this year." It would have been her first appearance at the Brisbane event which begins Jan. 1.