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Yarmuk (AFP) – Residents of Syria’s Yarmuk, located on the outskirts of Damascus, return home after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Yarmuk camp, established in the 1950s to house Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their land after Israel’s creation, had become a key residential and commercial district over the decades. As Syria sank into civil war in 2011, around 140,000 residents fled the following year, and few have found their homes still standing in the eerie wasteland that used to be Yarmuk.

Pueblo Garzón (AFP) – A town in sleepy rural Uruguay may not be the most obvious location for an international art festival, but Pueblo Garzon has big ambitions to join the world’s cultural hotspots. More than 20 artists from countries including Brazil, Singapore, South Korea and the United States took part in the three-day CAMPO Artfest in late December. The 8th edition of the event, created by American photographer Heidi Lender, drew around 6,000 visitors to the town with fewer than 200 residents.

Jerusalem (AFP) – “We see a lot of airflights coming in to Damascus, and a lot of meetings with high officials,” says Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar Tal during a press conference in Jerusalem as he warns the international community about Syria’s new authorities and their change in appearance that “disguise the real essence of this group.”

Washington (AFP) – A major winter storm covers Washington, DC, in snow. Residents of the US capital take part in a giant snowball fight and remove snow from sidewalks and cars. The storm blanketed a large swath of the central and eastern United States in snow and ice — disrupting travel for millions and contributing to at least five deaths — before heading offshore.

Kathmandu (AFP) – A devastating earthquake in China’s remote Tibet region killed at least 95 people and collapsed “many buildings”, state media reported, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and parts of India. The powerful quake struck Tingri county with a magnitude of 6.8 near the border with Nepal at 9:05 am, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The US Geological Survey reported the tremor as magnitude 7.1.

Ankara (AFP) – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that it was “only a matter of time” before Syrian Kurdish fighters — seen by the West as essential in the fight against Islamic State jihadists — will be wiped out. Turkey sees the People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the main component of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — as a terror group linked to its outlawed domestic foe the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Beverly Hills (AFP) – English actor Daniel Craig and actress Kate Winslet walk the red carpet with other celebrities ahead of the 82nd Golden Globes ceremony in California’s Beverly Hills.

Jakarta (AFP) – Indonesia has launched an ambitious $4.3 billion free-meal programme to combat stunted growth due to malnutrition, a key election promise of President Prabowo Subianto. Prabowo has pledged to provide nutritious meals free to tens of millions of schoolchildren and pregnant women, saying it would improve their quality of life and boost economic growth. 

Las Vegas (AFP) – Holograms for video calls, labrador robots that respond to petting and voice commands, and a spoon that enhances taste. These are just some of the developments on show at ‘CES Unveiled’, an event where start-ups present their innovations ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, offering a glimpse into an AI-centric world.

Comayagüela (Honduras) (AFP) – Police escort retired Honduran General Romeo Vasquez to Tamara prison outside Tegucigalpa as he awaits trial for the 2009 military killing of a protester, days after leading the coup against former President Manuel Zelaya. Also imprisoned are Deputy Joint Chiefs of Staff head Venancio Cervantes and former Joint Operations Command commander Carlos Puerto, arrested alongside Vasquez. They will remain at the National Penitentiary in Tamara, 27 km northwest of Tegucigalpa, until the first trial hearing on January 10. IMAGES

Epsom (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer slams those “spreading lies and misinformation” following days of incendiary posts by tech billionaire Elon Musk on his X platform over historical sex offences against children in northern England.

Yangon (AFP) – Shaven-headed men pour out of their Yangon hostel at around 6am for a day of weightlifting, karate drills, dancing, and Buddhist prayer — with the aim of quitting drugs.