Asia East Timor The community support programme for the country's economic recovery was launched to support the population not only from the latest waves of Covid-19 pandemic but also from the recent heavy flooding, delivering food parcels to tens of thousands of people
Asia Afghanistan 231 newspapers have had to close and 6400 journalists have lost their jobs since the Taliban took control of the country, according to a survey conducted by Reporters without Borders, RSF, and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association
Asia Sri Lanka The air quality in Colombo city remains unhealthy and sensitive people are warned to be cautious, said senior scientist H.D Sarath Premasiri of the National Building Research Organisation
Asia Kazakhstan Parliament passed a law to abolish the death penalty; the last execution took place in 2016
Asia Kuwait The holidays of all health workers are suspended from today until the end of January due to the emergence of the new variant Omicron
Asia Georgia Opposition party, United National Movement, has launched a mass hunger strike to express solidarity with the political group's founder, the country's former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has also been on strike since his imprisonment
Asia Singapore Singapore Swimming Association appoints Gary Tan as the new national head coach; he competed in the pool for Singapore and in 2018 was appointed 'Coach of the Year' after swimmers won six medals at that year’s Asian Games
Asia Palestine Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Christmas is a "Palestinian message of hope that our people continue to embrace with love and aspirations towards achieving justice, freedom and peace"
Asia China The University of Hong Kong has confirmed that the statue commemorating Beijing's Tiananmen Square repression has been dismantled and removed after 24 years
Asia Azerbaijan Representatives of the Italian company C Group have inspected the sites of the structures relevant to the design of the Victory Museum, Occupation Museum, Memorial Park and Flag Square, which will be located in Fuzuli
Asia Indonesia Construction has begun on a new industrial zone on the island of Borneo, which officials said aims to use hydropower for plants that produce items including semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, solar panels and aluminium products
Asia Yemen According to the Reporters Without Borders report on journalists detained, killed, held hostage and disappeared in 2021, 9 of the 66 journalists held hostage in the world are in the country