Briefs package

Syrian aircraft pummeled opposition areas in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing at least 32 people and extending the government’s furious aerial bombardment of the rebel-held half of the divided city to an eighth consecutive day. Sunday’s air raids targeted several Aleppo neighborhoods, but the worse hit was Masaken Hanano, where bombs fell on a second-hand market, a two-story building and a main road, activists said. Activists said the airstrikes were carried out by government helicopters that dropped so-called barrel bombs, crude devices filled with explosives and fuel that are wildly inaccurate but cause massive damage on impact.

CALIFORNIA

City helps soldier replace stolen gifts

An Army corporal on leave from his third tour in Afghanistan will be able to give his family the Christmas he wanted thanks to the kindness of strangers. Residents, firefighters and police officers in Lodi gave gifts and cash Saturday to replace the thousands of dollars’ worth of presents that robbers took from Cpl. Chris Petrossian’s home. Petrossian was still in Afghanistan when his frightened wife called a week ago to tell him about the break-in. An iPad and digital camera were among the gifts he had ordered online and shipped home as a surprise. He said he has been able to replace most of the stolen gifts with the community’s donations.

NEW JERSEY

Sex stalled home sale, lawsuit claims

A northern New Jersey couple claim their real estate agent kept potential buyers away from their vacant home so he could use it for “sexual escapades” with a female colleague. The couple sued the real estate agents and their firm alleging breach of trust and fiduciary duties after the trysts were captured on security cameras in the house. The suit claims the male agent made a duplicate key to the house and intentionally listed it above market value to deter others from visiting the home. The two real estate agents named in the suit could not be reached for comment.

NEW YORK

Apple, China Mobile reach iPhone deal

Apple says it has reached a deal to bring the iPhone to China Mobile, the world’s biggest phone carrier. The deal could boost sales of the iPhone in China. Demand for iPhones, once hugely popular in China, have slumped there as lower-priced rival smartphones from Samsung and Chinese companies entered the market. The iPhone 5s and 5c will go on sale in Apple stores and China Mobil stores beginning Jan. 17. Customers can register for phones starting Dec. 25. The companies didn’t announce pricing or the terms of their agreement.

SWEDEN

Thousands rally against racism

Swedish police say more than 15,000 people have participated in a rally against a recent neo-Nazi attack in a Stockholm suburb. Police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said the Sunday demonstration remained peaceful. Support rallies were also held in Malmo, in southern Sweden, and Lulea in the north. The events were organized as reaction against an incident Dec. 15 when neo-Nazis hurled bottles, torches and firecrackers against a smaller anti-racism rally in Stockholm’s suburb of Karrtorp.

YEMEN

Al-Qaida apologizes for attack

In a rare public apology, the militant leader of al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen said that one of his fighters disobeyed orders and attacked a hospital attached to the Defense Ministry during a December assault that killed 52 people. Qassim al-Rimi, commander of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said in a video posted on militant websites that the attackers were warned in advance not to enter the hospital within the complex, nor a place for prayer there. But he said one fighter did. “Now we acknowledge our mistake and guilt,” al-Rimi said in a video released late Saturday by al-Qaida’s media arm al-Mallahem.