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Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) – Indonesians pray for those who lost their lives in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at a mass grave in Banda Aceh on the 20th anniversary of the disaster. More than 220,000 people across Asia died two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters. IMAGES

Ban Nam Khem (Thailand) (AFP) – Mourners gather at a memorial on Thailand’s southern coast as ceremonies begin across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters. IMAGES +COMPLETES VIDI36RH837_EN+

Kabul (AFP) – For many in Afghanistan — one of the poorest countries in the world, where 12.4 million people live in acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme — bread makes up the largest part of meals. “A meal without bread, especially when you have guests, is incomplete for Afghans and Afghan families,” says Mohammad Masi, 28, while picking up several rounds on his way home.

San Bartolo (AFP) – A police officer disguised as the popular Christmas character the Grinch helps a squad arrest a gang of three drug traffickers in southern Lima, authorities say.

Sanaa (AFP) – Yemen’s Huthi rebels say they fired a “ballistic missile” at central Israel after the Israeli military said it intercepted a “projectile”. The Iran-backed rebels, who have targeted Israel as well as key maritime routes over the Gaza war, last week fired two missiles that caused damage and more than a dozen injuries in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv.

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (AFP) – One of the world’s most active volcanoes erupted again Monday, spewing columns of lava 80 meters (260 feet) above Hawaii, according to US volcanologists. Kilauea has been very active since 1983 and erupts relatively regularly, including most recently in September. It is one of six active volcanoes located in the Hawaiian Islands, which also include Mauna Loa, the largest volcano in the world.

Douma (AFP) – Two Syrian doctors and a nurse told AFP in a series of interviews over the weekend that Bashar al-Assad’s government coerced them into providing false testimony to international investigators after a deadly 2018 chlorine attack.

Yakutsk (AFP) – Russian scientists are showing off the remarkably well-preserved remains of a young mammoth from some 50,000 years ago, which was found in the permafrost-covered region of Yakutia. The female mammoth has been nicknamed “Yana” after the river basin in which it was discovered this summer. Studies will now be carried out to work out her exact age at death, estimated at “one year old or a bit more”.

London (AFP) – Bursting with customers the week before Christmas, a second-hand charity shop in London’s Marylebone High Street looks even busier than the upscale retailers surrounding it. Popular in Britain for personal shopping, charity stores and online second-hand retailers are seeing an unlikely surge in interest for Christmas gifts, a time of year often criticised for promoting consumerism and generating waste.

Guatemala-Stadt (AFP) – Continuing a tradition he started 27 years ago, a veteran firefighter dressed as Santa Claus rappels from a bridge to deliver gifts to children from low-income neighborhoods in the Guatemalan capital two days before Christmas. At the age of 78, Hector Chacon, a major in the municipal fire department, descends from the Las Vacas bridge, a 75-meter former railroad crossing in the northern part of Guatemala City.

Damaskus (AFP) – Syrians visit a Christmas market in Damascus two weeks after Islamist-led rebels ousted longtime leader Bashar al-Assad. Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital after a lightning offensive.