China says nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 have died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-COVID policy last month, a huge increase from previously reported figures that follows global criticism of the country's coronavirus data.
Russia has unleashed a major missile attack on Ukraine, smashing a nine-storey apartment block in the city of Dnipro, killing at least five people and striking vital energy facilities across the country, officials said.
Iran has executed a British-Iranian national who once served as its deputy defence minister, defying calls from London for his release after he was handed the death sentence on charges of spying for Britain.
Supporters of Brazil's far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro have invaded the country's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court in Brasilia, in a grim echo of the US Capitol invasion almost exactly two years ago by fans of former President Donald Trump.
Ukraine has dismissed as a trick a unilateral order by Russia for a 36-hour ceasefire, as US and German leaders say they are sending armoured fighting vehicles in a boost for the Kyiv government.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has not addressed a strike on a temporary barracks in the Russian-controlled area of Donetsk which killed at least 89.
From medical professionals to delivery men and women, from community workers to next-door neighbors, ordinary Chinese people are doing their best and lending a hand to help others cope with the latest waves of COVID-19 infections in the country.
Elon Musk has recorded an unprecedented $US200 billion ($A294 billion) loss in wealth since November 2021, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI 's body, his head resting on a pair of crimson pillows, lay in state in St Peter's Basilica as tens of thousands queued to pay tribute to the pontiff who shocked the world by retiring a decade ago.
Israel's military has fired missiles toward the international airport of Syria's capital Damascus, putting it out of service and killing two soldiers and wounding two others, the Syrian army says.
Fireworks have soared over major capitals as the world welcomes 2023 after a year marked by war in Ukraine, economic stress and the effects of global warming.
The last of the Sussexes' controversial Netflix documentary has been released, with Harry and Meghan accusing the palace of aiding negative coverage of them.
A pair of work trousers recovered from an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina and described as the oldest known pair of jeans in the world have sold for $US114,000 ($A168,000).
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have insisted they always intended to keep up public duties after quitting the royal family, and say a "distorted narrative" had been created to "trap" them into silence.
