[Agenzia Fides] Kinshasa -- A city suspended in limbo. This is the situation in Uvira, a city in South Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on the border with Burundi, which was captured on December 10 by M23/AFC (Congo River Alliance) guerrillas (see Fides, 15/12/2025).

La mort du petit Loko Pascal Cameron, âgé de 13 ans, nous bouleverse profondément. En cette période de Noël, une famille gabonaise est plongée dans une douleur immense. Comme mère et comme citoyenne, je ressens cette peine avec gravité et compassion. Aucun enfant ne devrait connaître une telle fin. Les enfants sont ce que notre nation a de plus précieux. Les atteindre, c'est frapper toute la communauté. La protection de nos enfants est une responsabilité collective. Elle ne peut (...) - SOCIETE / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON

President Droupadi Murmu presented the annual Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar to 24 distinguished scientists across four categories. The highest honor, Vigyan Ratna, was posthumously awarded to physicist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar for his lifetime achievements. Other awards recognized contributions in diverse fields like agricultural science, biological sciences, and space science.

“Skate always holds its own. The tradition endures even as new generations come along,” says Viktor Örn Andrésson, head chef at the restaurant Brasa in Turninn at Smáratorg in Kópavogur. Yesterday, he was preparing today’s buffet, where skate takes centre stage, as is customary on Þorláksmessa (St Thorlak’s Day).

A year after a special audit committee found AbbVie violated marketing practices by sponsoring luxury trips for doctors, no action has been taken. The National Medical Commission's ethics board, responsible for acting against the doctors, is largely vacant.

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The US embassy in India will be closed from December 24 to December 26 due to a Presidential Executive Order mandating federal government closures. Routine consular services will be suspended, with only emergency assistance available for US citizens. Normal operations are set to resume on December 29.

The Election Commission has released draft voter lists for Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, showing significant deletions. Madhya Pradesh removed over 42 lakh voters, including deceased, untraceable, and shifted residents. Kerala also deleted more than 24 lakh names for similar reasons, with final rolls to be published in February.

Germans, French, and Canadians polled hold an overwhelmingly negative view of US foreign policy, according to Politico Read Full Article at RT.com

For those finding another reason to visit South Korea, there's now one — with the country extending its automated immigration clearance system to Singaporeans. In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Dec 23), the Singapore Embassy in Seoul said the authorities in South Korea have expanded the use of their smart entry service to Singaporeans aged 17 and above since Dec 1. The service is an automated immigration clearance system which the Korea Immigration Service (KIS) says provides a «simple and convenient process» where travellers can verify themselves with biometric data. To enjoy the service, a one-time, on-site registration is required on arrival in South Korea. As of Dec 23, registration is only available at Incheon International Airport. Once registered, eligible Singaporean travellers can use the electronic gates immediately, including at any South Korea airport on subsequent visits. KIS said that the registration remains valid alongside the passport's validity. South Korea is a popular destination among Singaporeans with more than 370,000 visitor arrivals from Singapore in 2024. 

Kiev has slapped restrictions on Chinese who allegedly support Russia’s defense industry Read Full Article at RT.com

Russia is a strategic partner as cooperation grows in education, energy, and trade, Zambia’s Mulambo Haimbe has said Read Full Article at RT.com

The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (IRCA) managed traffic on the national highway just above Vík this morning after rocks fell from Reynisfjall and landed on the road.

For 22-year-old Brandon Peh, there was nothing higher on his bucket list than visiting all HDB blocks numbered «67» as part of an online trend. Speaking to AsiaOne on Tuesday (Dec 23), Peh, a sociology student at Nanyang Technological University, shared why he specifically chose the number. «I chose to visit blocks 67 because it felt like something I wanted to do before I die. The number itself has no meaning, and sometimes it’s okay to just do nothing. People often ask me why I do it — I think the better question is, why not?» he said. Peh, who visited the five HDB blocks numbered 67 over a two-week period, said he plans to continue visiting any new ones that emerge. «During my research, I could only find five blocks numbered 67, so I visited all of them and plan to continue doing so,» he added. Peh, who also runs a personal YouTube channel documenting his explorations across various blocks, said that he enjoys playing card games with his friends in his free time. 

TEHRAN – A delegation from the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) paid a visit to Iran, holding roundtables on smart livestock farming and climate change, with experts from member states, namely Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in attendance.

An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.

It was just a few months ago that U.S. President Donald Trump told the world he doesn’t want Canadian cars. But now, it’s a Canadian-built vehicle — a reimagined North American muscle car — that’s been racking up U.S. awards.

Two families in eastern Ontario have welcomed some very special four-legged friends into their homes, ones whose job is to help their children with autism.

Flu cases across Canada are on the rise and may push hospitals to their limits over the holidays and into the new year, leading health officials in regions across the country to warn people not to visit emergency rooms unless it's absolutely necessary.

More than 30 years after Canada's military allowed women to serve in combat roles, it's now specifically designing uniforms and body armour systems to fit their bodies.

[MSF] Bujumbura - According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 88,000 refugees have fled to Burundi since the recent escalation of violence in South Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. People face dire living conditions in the camps, with limited access to clean water, food, hygiene and basic needs, as people kept arriving during the last days. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is expanding its emergency response and warns about the risk of the spread of epidemic diseases

The St Catherine South police will be increasing its presence on the roads to address the problem of traffic congestion. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Christopher Phillips, who has responsibility for Area Five, said that police personnel...

Four deserving residents from Clarendon are proud homeowners, just in time for Christmas. Cynthia Johnson in Rock River, Maudlyn Simpson-Needham from Coxwain, Carlus Greyson from Four Paths, and Angella Boothe from Mocho, were presented with keys...

A Ukrainian investigative journalist has reportedly been “kidnapped” from his home by conscription officers Read Full Article at RT.com

Ukrainian attacks killed 20 civilians and left 73 injured last week, according to Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik Read Full Article at RT.com

Kenya’s Foreign Ministry has said hundreds of people from the country were lured to Myanmar by trafficking syndicates using fake job offers Read Full Article at RT.com

A man, currently serving a jail sentence over his links to a case involving husbands who had their wives drugged and raped, has been ordered to spend an additional eight weeks behind bars.This took place on Dec 23 after the 47-year-old man, who cannot be named due to a gag order, pleaded guilty to one count of posting multiple obscene images on an online portal.He was one of the offenders involved in an unprecedented case where husbands with sexual fantasies conspired with other men to have their own partners sedated and raped.In January 2024, he was sentenced to 13 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane after he was convicted of being part of a conspiracy to commit rape between 2010 and 2011.He will start serving his latest sentence only after completing his previous one.For the current case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana told the court that in 2010, the man started a thread titled “Wife Fantasy” on the online portal.Court documents stated that he also invited other men with such fantasies to contact him.

The Hindu Endowments Board (HEB) will be getting a new leader at its helm. In a media release on Tuesday (Dec 23), HEB announced that Sarojini Padmanathan, who had previously served as its finance member, will be appointed as its new chief executive officer on Wednesday.Padmanathan, 63, is an experienced human resource practitioner with over four decades in Singapore's healthcare sector, having held senior roles in the Ministry of Health and the Health Sciences Authority. According to HEB, she was also involved in organisational resilience and people transformation efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic. In its announcement, HEB said Padmanathan is well-positioned to lead HEB in fulfilling its mission.«Mrs Sarojini Padmanathan's extensive leadership experience, strong governance background and prior service on the board position her well to lead HEB in fulfilling its mission of managing Hindu endowments and programmes for the benefit of the community.»She takes over the reins from Jeevaganth Arumugam, 58, who was appointed in mid-September 2024.

A Bukit Panjang resident returned home to a rude shock when he saw fallen concrete debris in the kitchen of his HDB flat. The incident reportedly happened on Monday (Dec 22) morning in a fifth-floor unit at Block 416 Saujana Road. A 46-year-old-man surnamed Wong told Shin Min Daily News that his father had just returned home after 9am when he found a 8cm-wide hole in his ceiling, adding that parts of the steel bars in the ceiling were also exposed. «As it was the first day of renovation works for the unit, there were a lot of noisy works. I had my earbuds on, so I wasn't sure when they broke our ceiling,» Shin Min reported Wong as saying. Checks by AsiaOne indicate that works at a sixth-floor unit in the HDB block are permitted to be carried out from Dec 22 to Jan 20, with demolition and hacking works permitted from Dec 22 to 23, and again on Dec 26. Wong shared that two workers carrying out the renovation works later came by to explain the situation. According to Wong, the workers said that they were removing the floor tiles when the incident happened. They were unsure what had caused the damage.