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Xiamen (China) (AFP) – Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China the US president-elect sits in divine contemplation.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready to hand captured North Korean soldiers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in exchange for the return of Ukrainian POWs from Russia.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia Flores leave the Capitolio -home of the National Assembly- after he was sworn in for a third six-year term in office despite a global outcry. IMAGES

Santiago de Chile (AFP) – Chile announces the largest seizure of methamphetamine made to date in the South American country, with 844 kilos of this synthetic drug whose sale value was estimated at approximately 16 million dollars.

Riga (AFP) – As Riga Russian Theatre’s actors rehearse the season’s big premiere, “Lady Macbeth”, they know the play’s poster will not crop up around the Latvian capital as it normally would. The city council has prohibited the theatre from advertising its shows in Russian — the language of the Baltic state’s biggest minority. The use of the language and more generally the rights of ethnic Russians living in Latvia have become sensitive issues in a country that fervently backs Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

Melbourne (AFP) – Australian police release CCTV footage of a bungling arsonist who set their own pants alight and had to hot-foot it from the scene without them. The attack took place in the early hours of Christmas morning on a fast-food outlet in the southern city of Melbourne.

Malibu (AFP) – Rubble and burnt husks are all that remain of luxury homes that once stood along stretches of the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, as many properties were devastated by the wildfires raging around Los Angeles.

Baabda (AFP) – “To congratulate him and wish him success in these difficult circumstances, of course this is an obligation,” says former Lebanese president Michel Aoun after meeting newly elected president Joseph Aoun at the presidential Palace in Baabda. Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president, ending a more than two-year vacancy in a step towards lifting the war-battered country out of financial crisis.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is sworn for a third six-year term in office, shunned internationally over claims of voter fraud and repression, but bolstered by a loyal military. Maduro takes the oath before parliament, vowing his next term would be a “period of peace,” a day after thousands took to the streets to protest his alleged power grab. IMAGES

Weinan (China) (AFP) – In the frigid night of China’s Qinling mountains, hunters with huge social media followings scour the landscape in pursuit of wild boars menacing local farmers’ livelihoods. China’s wild boars — today numbering two million — were a protected species from 2000 until 2023, but emerged from safeguarding last year with a reputation for devastating crops.