WORLD
Afghan man sells 10-yr-old daughter to keep family from starving
The desperate father took a down payment from the family who bought his daughter to put food on the table.
Taliban destroying graves of dead rivals
The Taliban have allegedly defiled monuments dedicated to figures who fought the group during its first stint in power in the 1990s. While the Taliban have denied responsibility for many of the incidents, allegations against the hard-line group have mounted, with Afghans accusing the militants of violating Islamic traditions that advocate respect for the dead.
WHO chief optimistic that pandemic will be beaten in 2022
Ghebreyesus warned against "narrow nationalism and vaccine hoarding" in a new year statement, reports the BBC. His comments come two years since the WHO was first notified of cases of an unknown pneumonia strain in China. He warned that continuing inequity in vaccine distribution was increasing the risk of the virus evolving.
Chinese cities cancelled New Year's Eve activities
The popular Happy Valley amusement park in China's capital city Beijing has cancelled its New Year's Eve theme activity scheduled on Friday night, according to a notice released by the park. The Great World amusement park in East China's Shanghai on Wednesday denied the information posted on the Internet that it will hold special events including a count-down, artificial snowfall, and a night market, saying the park will not hold special activities for New Year's Eve this year.
Men barged into my house, harassed me: Wife of Pakistan judge
Serena Isa stated that she was looking after the white-wash process at her Defence residence in Karachi along with her daughter when two unidentified persons entered their house, harassed her, hurled threats and sought personal and family information from her.
Taiwan vows legal action after Nicaragua seizes its embassy for handing over to China
Nicaragua was one of the few states left internationally which had recognised the sovereignty of the democratic and self-governing island nation. Officials from Nicaragua, led by the authoritarian President Daniel Ortega, had signed a joint communique on December 10 on the resumption of diplomatic relations with China thereby ending its diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
UK in better position in battling Covid-19 even as cases soar: PM
"Whatever the challenges that fate continues to throw in our way and whatever the anxieties we may have about the weeks and months ahead, particularly about Omicron and the growing numbers in hospitals...we can say one thing with certainty -- our position this December 31 is incomparably better than last year," Johnson said in his New Year's message posted on social media this Friday.
RCEP to catalyse sustainable economic recovery amid Covid-19, says ASEAN Secretary-General
The ASEAN Secretariat announced in November that the RCEP agreement would enter into force on January 1, 2022, as it had received instruments of ratification from six ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam as well as from four non-ASEAN signatory states of Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand, Xinhua news agency reported.
Russia safeguards national interests, security in 2021: Putin
"We faced colossal challenges, but we learned to live in such harsh conditions to solve complex problems. We were able to do this thanks to our solidarity," Putin said on Friday.
"The most important thing is that we overcame all the difficulties of the outgoing year together ... There are still a lot of unsolved problems, but this year we passed with dignity," he added.
US travel chaos stretching into New Year amid Covid-19 surge
The US set a new record high of over 640,000 daily Covid-19 cases on Friday, according to latest data of Johns Hopkins University. A total of 647,067 new cases and 1,409 new deaths were reported across the nation on Friday. The single-day increase of cases has set a new record since the onset of the pandemic in the country, Xinhua news agency reported.
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