Sgt. Jamie Rocque of the Melbourne Police Department in Florida said officers were giving warnings to drivers caught violating traffic laws on Christmas Day, along with lottery tickets that the officers purchased with their own money to spread a bit of holiday cheer while ensuring public safety.

Dylan Rosier, a 10-year-old boy from Conyers, Ga., who was diagnosed with leukemia and has been undergoing chemotherapy for 14 months, got a white Christmas after a photographer, an area police organization and neighbors teamed up to use 4,000 pounds of ice and a snow-making machine to turn the boy’s backyard into a winter wonderland.

Yin Zhihe of northeastern China was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trying to kill his 2-month-old daughter by inserting sewing needles into her body.

Ahren Longo, a Tennessee man who received fire and medical training before he left the Navy more than seven years ago, was praised by Maury County Fire Chief Eric Hileman for rescuing an unconscious driver before the man’s wrecked car burst into flames.

LeAngela Handy, a guard at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, was arrested on smuggling charges after being accused of sneaking drugs and other illegal items into the prison in her bra.

Chiara de Blasio, the 19-year-old daughter of New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, acknowledged a history of depression and drug and alcohol problems in a video released by her father’s campaign team that was framed as an effort to help those who might be struggling with similar issues during the Christmas season.

Corey Lynn Plumlee, 41, of central Texas is facing a drug charge on accusations that he sold a half ounce of marijuana to an undercover police officer who responded to a Craigslist ad that said “I’m here for those looking for the budz, so kind, so green!”

Eliot Spitzer, a former New York governor who resigned in 2008 after admitting that he paid for sex with prostitutes, announced that his marriage of more than two decades to Silda Wall Spitzer is over.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/26/2013