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Taipei (AFP) – Taiwanese lawmakers wrestle for control of the podium inside the island’s parliament, where opposition parties have tabled legal amendments that could make it more difficult for voters to oust officials they see as unfit. The Democratic People’s Party (DPP) of President Lai Ching-te is against the bills, warning that the opposition parties — the Kuomingtang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) — risk damaging democracy.

Palermo (Italy) (AFP) – “I’m absolutely proud of what I’ve done,” says Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, as he arrives for the verdict in his long-running trial for blocking a migrant rescue ship at sea. Salvini denies charges of abuse of office and the deprivation of liberty of 147 migrants who were on board the charity ship in August 2019, when he was the interior minister of Italy’s previous government. Salvini risks six years in jail.

Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) (AFP) – 102 Rohingya refugees have been rescued by the Sri Lankan navy after their boat was spotted adrift in the Indian Ocean. The mostly Muslim ethnic group face heavy persecution in Myanmar and thousands face dangerous sea journeys each year, with the majority trying to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.

Síkinos (Greece) (AFP) – Coming ashore after eight hours at sea, medical professionals arrive on Sikinos, one of Greece’s smallest inhabited islands, where locals would otherwise struggle to get treatment. The initiative is funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to provide free healthcare in a country where the sector suffered heavily from the debt crisis of 2010-2018, leaving per capita spending at less than half the EU average.

Harbin (China) (AFP) – Every winter, dozens of workers brave subzero temperatures to hack ice from the mighty Songhua River in northeastern China. The ice forms the building blocks for the massive sculptures at Harbin’s Ice and Snow World, an annual festival that draws tens of thousands of visitors. But this year, a warmer autumn has delayed the freeze and left the river ice thinner than normal.

Rescue operations are ongoing on the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, where a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck on Tuesday December 17. As of December 19, nine deaths are reported, but officials say this figure is set to rise. International disaster response teams and resources have been sent to the low-lying archipelago, which is located in the quake-prone Pacific Ring of Fire.

Renea Morina’s decoration skills are in high demand in the Kosovar capital, Pristina, this holiday season. The 16-year-old window painter is bringing a festive touch to businesses around the city in the run-up to Christmas, a venture she began to help her mother financially.

Sitting in the empty dining room of the central Tbilisi hotel he owns, Shalva Alaverdashvili is one of those whose business is suffering under Georgia’s ongoing political crisis, with the country’s vital tourism industry feeling the impact. The 46-year-old’s hotel has been right in the midst of the regular pro-EU protests that have gripped the city since disputed October elections and Alaverdashvili says the unrest has triggered a wave of cancellations that has cost hoteliers around “3.5 million euros” collectively.

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Images of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visiting the Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo, as he prepares to return to Brasilia after getting the go-ahead from his doctors following emergency head surgery. IMAGES

Moscow (AFP) – “I haven’t yet seen president Assad since his arrival in Moscow,” says Russian President Vladimir Putin, “but I plan to, I will definitely speak with him”. The toppled Syrian leader fled to Moscow as Islamist-led rebels took over the country earlier in December, an event that Putin says is not “a defeat for Russia.”

Hanoi (AFP) – A fire in a Hanoi karaoke bar has killed 11 people and left another two in hospital, in what police believe is an act of arson. Police in the Vietnamese capital say they received reports of the fire at 11:00pm and arrested a suspect around midnight.

Beijing (AFP) – Responding to a Pentagon claim that corruption in China’s military could hamper its modernisation, Beijing urges the US to “abandon its Cold War mentality”. Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian says the report “ignores facts, is full of bias and spreads the theory of the China threat”. According to the US report, at least 15 high-ranking military officers and defence industry figures were removed from their posts between July and December after “a new wave of corruption-related investigations.”