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FILE - A fighter jet maneuvers on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, June 11, 2024.

A handout photo taken on Dec. 21, 2024 and received from the Australian Department Foreign Affairs and Trade shows Australian Defense Forces helping Australians off a C-130J Hercules at Brisbane Airport after an earthquake struck Port Vila, Vanuatu. FILE - in this screengrab taken from a social media video, rubble surrounds a collapsed Port Vila, Vanuatu, building after a Dec. 17, 2024, earthquake. (Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters)

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, right, shakes hands with France's President Emmanuel Macron at the newly renovated Ethiopia's historic National Palace in Addis Ababa on Dec. 21, 2024, as part of a two-day visit to Djibouti and Ethiopia. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, left, speaks with France's President Emmanuel Macron during a visit at the newly renovated Ethiopia's historic National Palace in Addis Ababa on Dec. 21, 2024.

A multi-story residential building shows damage after an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Kazan, Russia, Dec. 21, 2024.

A Palestinian child runs to shelter from the rain at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 20, 2024. A Palestinian carries a wounded child at the site of an Israeli strike on an apartment building in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, on Dec. 20, 2024. Palestinian girls struggle to reach for food at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Dec. 20, 2024.

FILE - Pakistani military personnel stand beside a surface-to-surface ballistic missile during a Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2019. A White House official said on Dec. 19, 2024, that Pakistan is developing missile capabilities that could reach the U.S.

FILE - Three reactors make up the Flamanville 3 nuclear power plant in Flamanville, France, on April 25, 2024, with the European Pressurized Reactor at far right. France connected the EPR to the power grid for the first time on Dec. 21, 2024.

Forensic technicians work on a damaged car sitting with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Dec. 21, 2024. A police officer stands guard at a blocked road near a Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Dec. 20, 2024.

A woman inspects the damage as she evacuates her home in Tel Aviv, Israel, early on Dec. 21, 2024, after a projectile fired from Yemen landed near her building.

FILE - This photo released by the Arakan Army shows members of the Arakan Army posing in front of the captured district police office in Ann township, Rakhine state, Myanmar, Nov. 29, 2024.

FILE - Pilgrims crowd St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, May 30, 1998, on Pentecost Day. FILE - A view of the construction site of the new 25.5-kilometer Metro C subway main hub in Piazza Venezia in central Rome, May 23, 2024. FILE - People gather at the Fori Imperiali avenue, with the Colosseum in the background, during an event celebrating the ban on private vehicles, in Rome, Aug. 3, 2013.

Visitors look at a wall displaying the names of the victims of 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, at the Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Dec 14, 2024. Participants prepare for the start of a 5km running event titled 'Run for Life, Tsunami Memorial 2024' held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Dec. 15, 2024.

KRG Council of Ministers, Dec. 11, 2024.

People take shelter in a metro station during an air raid alarm in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 20, 2024. Ivanna holds her dog in front of a burning car after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 20, 2024. Firefighters work at the site of a damaged building after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 20, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

FILE - California Governor Gavin Newsom meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 25, 2023.

Investigators work near a scooter at the place where Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces, and his assistant were killed by an explosive device in Moscow, Dec. 17, 2024.

Officials from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and China pose for a photo before the six-country informal consultation to discuss ways to address shared concerns, in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 19, 2024. Participants attend an informal consultation among ASEAN member states on Myanmar in Bangkok, Dec. 20, 2024.

FILE - A worker installs names of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the wall of the Tsunami Museum ahead of the 10th anniversary of the killer waves in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Dec. 4, 2014. The 20th anniversary will be observed on Dec. 26 this year.

FILE - Debra Tice, mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, holds a dated portrait of him during a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on July 20, 2017.

Myanmar's army-appointed Foreign Minister Than Swe attends a six-country informal consultation on the situation in Myanmar, in Bangkok, Dec. 19, 2024. (Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Reuters) Group picture taken before a six-country informal consultation on the situation in Myanmar, in Bangkok, Dec. 19, 2024. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Reuters) FILE - Gen. Min Aung Hlaing inspects officers during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. Thailand's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa looks on during a press conference following a 6-Country informal consultation, comprising Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Thailand on the situation in Myanmar, in Bangkok, Dec. 19, 2024.

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello speaks to VOA, in this screenshot from the interview.

FILE - Elon Musk arrives before a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, July 24, 2024. Musk called the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) the country's savior. FILE - Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, holds a bouquet of flowers she was given by party co-leader Tino Chrupalla during a press conference on Dec. 7, 2024 in Berlin,

Palestinians pray next to the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Dec. 19, 2024.

FILE - The American and Chinese flags wave at Genting Snow Park ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 2, 2022.

FILE - Pakistani military personnel stand beside a surface-to-surface ballistic missile during a Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2019. A White House official said on Dec. 19, 2024, that Pakistan is developing missile capabilities that could reach the U.S.

Macao's new leader, Sam Hou Fai, left, is sworn in by China's President Xi Jinping during an inauguration ceremony as part of marking the 25th anniversary of Macao's handover from Portugal to China, in Macao, Dec. 20, 2024.

FILE - The Russian oil tanker Volgoneft-147 stands in Muscat's Mina al-Fahl port, Feb. 7, 2000.

Chinese military personnel line up during the Golden Dragon military exercise in Svay Chok village, Kampong Chhnang province, north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 30, 2024.

A view of the launch event for the "New Mogadishu," a development initiative that aims to reshape the capital's economic landscape, in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec. 19, 2024. (Somali National News Agency)

Vietnamese military officials look at S-125-2TM anti-aircraft missile launchers and ammunition during the Vietnam 2024 International Defense Expo in Hanoi on Dec. 19, 2024.

FILE - People examine photos as they search for missing or deceased people on the wall outside the morgue of Al-Mojtahed Hospital in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024.

France's President Emmanuel Macron visits the Kavani district in Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Dec. 19, 2024, following Cyclone Chido's passage over the archipelago. A young girl walks in the Kaweni slum on the outskirts of Mamoudzou, in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, Dec. 19, 2024, after Cyclone Chido. France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks with children during his visit at the Kavani district in Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Dec. 19, 2024, following the Cyclone Chido's passage over the archipelago. A child sleeps at the Lycee des Lumires where he found refuge, in Mamoudzou, Mayotte, Dec. 19, 2024.

FILE - A Pakistani-made Shaheen-III missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, is displayed during a military parade in Islamabad, March 23, 2022.

FILE - The Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 is anchored near Jutland, Denmark, Nov. 20, 2024. On Dec. 19, Denmark announced that China allowed investigators from four European nations to board the ship, which is suspected in the breach of undersea cables.

Fire personnel inspect a building burned down by a fire in Hanoi, Vietnam, Dec.19, 2024.

Gisele Pelicot, the victim of an alleged mass rape orchestrated by her then-husband Dominique Pelicot, arrives with her lawyers Stephane Babonneau and Antoine Camus to attend the verdict in the trial at the courthouse in Avignon, France, Dec. 19, 2024.

Yemen

FILE - Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, arrives at the Palace of Justice at Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 31, 2023.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

FILE - Police officers fire tear gas shells to disperse protesters in Islamabad on Nov. 26, 2024. Coverage of the protest led to one journalist being detained briefly and another called in for questioning amid a surge of media suppression and violence in Pakistan this year.

A digital image of Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing his annual end-of-year news conference, which will be held on Dec. 19, 2024, appears on the facade of a skyscraper in Saint Petersburg on Dec. 18, 2024.

FILE - Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Feb. 1, 2022, in Washington. FILE - Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo speaks at the convening of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes at the Golden Gate Club at the Presidio in San Francisco, Nov. 20, 2024.

FILE - Parts of downed Shahed drones launched by Russia are piled in a storage room of a research laboratory in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 28, 2024. FILE – This undated photograph released by the Ukrainian military shows the wreckage of a Russian-fired Shahed drone that it said was downed near Kupiansk, Ukraine. FILE - Parts of downed Shahed drones launched by Russia are piled in a storage room of a research laboratory in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 28, 2024.

FILE - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov. 19, 2024.

A torn poster shows ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the entrance of a detention center in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 14, 2024.

Rubble lies around a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, Dec. 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. (Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters)

A Maxar satellite photo shows the possible planned location of UAV manufacturing plant in Russia's Alabuga Special Economic Zone, as evidence of new Russia-Iran cooperation, in this handout acquired June 9, 2023. (White House/Handout via Reuters) FILE - Parts of downed Shahed drones launched by Russia are piled in a storage room of a research laboratory in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 28, 2024. FILE – This undated photograph released by the Ukrainian military shows the wreckage of a Russian-fired Shahed drone that it said was downed near Kupiansk, Ukraine. FILE - Parts of downed Shahed drones launched by Russia are piled in a storage room of a research laboratory in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 28, 2024.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, right, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prior to a meeting in Brussels, Dec. 18, 2024.

Inventory issues are a concern for some Thai businesses like baby clothes store Pretty Baby in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 17, 2024. Ben’s Socks store owner Banchob Pianphanitpor says his business has seen sales reduce by half since low quality imports came into Thailand from China, in Bangkok, Dec. 17, 2024. Many businesses in Bobae Shopping Mall are closed because of stiff competition from cheaper imports from China, in Bangkok, Dec. 17, 2024.