ALEPPO, Syria (AP) – Residents started returning Sunday to a contested neighborhood in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. First responders entered to tend to residents, clear rubble and disarm mines.
HELSINKI (AP) – Thousands of tourists were stranded in northern Finland on Sunday after flights at Kittilä airport were canceled due to severe cold. The temperature at the airport dropped to minus 37 degrees Celsius (minus 34.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday morning, after several days of similar frigid weather, making de-icing of aircraft difficult.
Prediction markets let people wager on anything from a basketball game to the outcome of a presidential election – and recently, the downfall of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Last week, an anonymous trader pocketed more than $400,000 after betting that Maduro would soon be out of office.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Leo XIV baptized 20 babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling, continuing an annual tradition that marks the end of the Christmas holiday period at the Vatican. In his first baptismal ceremony as pope, Leo celebrated the Lord’s gift of faith to the children, saying that it gives sense to the gift of life.
A group of Buddhist monks and their rescue dog are striding single file down country roads and highways across the South, captivating Americans nationwide and inspiring droves of locals to greet them along their route. In their flowing saffron and ocher robes, the men are walking for peace. It’s a meditative tradition more common in South Asian countries.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) – Supporters of Nepal’s deposed royal family rallied in the capital on Sunday demanding the restoration of the monarchy ahead of March elections. It was the first rally by supporters of ousted King Gyanendra since a wave of violent demonstrations by disgruntled youth in September installed an interim government.
BERLIN (AP) – The German government has sharply rejected accusations by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claiming that it has been sidelining patient autonomy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The statements made by the US Secretary of Health are completely unfounded, factually incorrect, and must be rejected,” German Health Minister Nina Warken said Saturday.
HONG KONG (AP) – A Hong Kong court convenes a hearing on Monday to hear arguments about the sentencing of democracy advocate and onetime media magnate Jimmy Lai, whose conviction under a national security law could land him in jail for the rest of his life.
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