AP – How contagious is swine flu? Less than the novel viruses that have caused big world outbreaks in the past, new research suggests.

Reuters – The world’s fastest train hit its first speed bump in the form of a disobedient smoker less than a week after it began running in southern China.

Reuters – Afghanistan’s first skateboarding park and school opened in Kabul on Tuesday with a boarding showdown between dozens of youngsters — ranging from ministers’ children to streetkids — that it aims to bring together.

Reuters – North Korea’s New Year’s wish of seeing the destruction of a massive concrete wall dividing the Korean peninsula never seems to come true — mostly because there is no such barrier.

AP – Two new studies find shortfalls in the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for heart devices such as pacemakers and stents.

AP – It’s 8 a.m. and Dr. Theresa Rossouw is already drowning behind a cluttered desk of handwritten HIV charts — new, perplexing cases of patients whose lifesaving drugs have turned against them.

AP – The first box that arrived at Shirley Shupp’s door was filled with braces to help with her arthritis. Then came a motorized scooter, just like the one the 69-year-old already owned. She hadn’t asked for any of it — but Medicare was apparently footing the bill.

Reuters – From the German town that unwittingly advertised pornography on its website to the American who interrupted his wedding to update his Facebook and Twitter accounts, the world was full of weird stories in 2009.

Reuters – Americans would most like to live next door to the Obama family. But a reality star like California’s “Octomom”, or Jon and Kate Gosselin and their brood of eight would be a big turn off, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

AP – They’re not your grandpa’s hearing aids.

AP – Most people don’t buy long-term care insurance. They simply don’t want to think about moving into an assisted living center or hiring a stranger to bathe them.

AP – The mystery started the day farmer Russ Kremer got between a jealous boar and a sow in heat.

Reuters – Roman Polanski has thanked people who have sent messages of support during his battle to avoid extradition from Switzerland to the United States over a case of having sex with a 13-year-old in 1977.

Reuters – How many unwanted gifts did you get under the Christmas tree? If you’re Australian, the number is likely to be more than one, amounting to a nationwide total of 20 million “useless” presents, according to a survey.

AP – O’treng village doesn’t look like the epicenter of anything.

AP – It started with a cough, an autumn hack that refused to go away.

AP – How many Americans will get subsidized medical coverage — plus who will pay for it — will be front-burner issues when Congress returns next month to complete President Barack Obama’s health care remake.

Reuters – An Italian toy store opened at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning to help a frantic mother whose gifts for her children had been stolen from a basement.