* Mikheil Kavelashvili was sworn in as Georgia's sixth president in a ceremony held at the Parliament building on Sunday, Interpressnews reported.
* Voting for the Croatian presidential election began at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday, with over 3.7 million eligible voters across the country set to vote for a new president.
* Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called for his supporters to take to the streets "to defend the vote" as he prepares to be sworn in for the 2025-2031 presidential term on Jan. 10.
* The Cambodian government on Saturday decided to reduce e-visa fees for tourists and business or ordinary people, taking effect from Jan. 1, 2025.
* The ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has convened a key year-end meeting in Pyongyang, as the country's top leader reassessed the state affairs this year and set policies for the next, state media said on Sunday.
* Russia is open to negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict, but such talks must address its "root causes" and reflect realities on the ground, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday in an interview with RIA Novosti.
* Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, the first time he has commented on a possible timetable for elections since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the "tragic incident" in Russian airspace during a phone talk with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday, referring to a recent Azerbaijani plane crash, the Kremlin said.
* Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan killing 38 people had been damaged due to shooting from the ground in Russia, Azerbaijan state television reported.
* Heavy clashes erupted between Afghan and Pakistani border forces at border crossing points, killing 19 Pakistani soldiers and three Afghan civilians, local media reported on Saturday.
* The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), the legislative body of the African Union based in Johannesburg, on Saturday called for restraint in Mozambique and urged dialogue to resolve the ongoing crisis in the country.
* Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, discussed developments surrounding ceasefire talks for Gaza with a Hamas delegation headed by senior official Khalil al-Hayya in Doha on Saturday, the Qatari foreign ministry reported.
* China on Saturday called on the international community to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries in the Middle East, respect the legitimate and reasonable concerns of those countries, respect the independent choices made by the people of the Middle East, and respect the historical and cultural traditions of countries in that region.
* Turkey's foreign minister on Saturday discussed with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken the need to act in cooperation with the new Syrian administration to ensure the completion of the transition period in an orderly manner, the ministry said.
* Israeli forces carrying out a weeks-long offensive in northern Gaza ordered any residents remaining in Beit Hanoun to quit the town on Sunday, pointing to Palestinian militant rocket fire from the area, residents said.
* At least 45,514 Palestinians have been killed and 108,189 wounded in Israel's military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday.
* Military forces of Syria's interim administration have begun deploying attack helicopters against what it described as "remnants of the former regime" in the country's coastal regions, local media channels reported.
* Lebanon expelled around 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally via informal routes, a Lebanese security official and a war monitor said.
* Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Saturday that it will cease gas supplies to Moldova starting Jan. 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova's national gas company, Moldovagaz.
* Italy's upper house of parliament approved the 2025 budget law on Friday, marking the final step in passing the 30 billion euros (31.2 billion USD) package. The budget aims to stimulate the economy through tax cuts, social incentives, and targeted spending.
* The United States experienced surging labor strikes in 2024, with workers across various sectors staging protests over issues ranging from wages to working conditions.
* Myanmar's Yangon Region Investment Committee has approved 60 investment projects for 2024, which will create 29,290 job opportunities, the state-run daily Myanma Alinn reported on Sunday.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Saturday that additional policy rate cuts are expected in 2025, following the central bank's recent decision to reduce its key interest rate by 250 basis points to 47.5 percent.
* Iran's non-oil exports increased by 18 percent year-on-year in value between March 20 and December 20, covering the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.
* The Indonesian government has worked out a plan to reactivate idle wells across the country to decrease oil shipment from overseas, amid high price * Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced emergency disaster payments for people affected by a major bushfire in the country's southeast.
volatility, a minister said on Sunday.
* Afghanistan will receive over 9.4 million USD in aid from leading aid agencies for thousands of displaced people and returnees in the country, the caretaker government's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said in a statement on Sunday.
* Mount Lewotobi, located in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Saturday, prompting the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center to issue an aviation warning.
