SINGAPORE, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday called on Singaporeans to give Lawrence Wong and his team full support in 2024 while giving a New Year address.

"Next year, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will take over from me as prime minister. This is not the first time we are having a leadership transition. But transitions are always delicate," Lee noted.

KINSHASA, Jan 1 (NNN-IRIN) – Felix Tshisekedi has been re-elected as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for a second five-year term, securing 73.34 percent of the total votes cast in the elections, held on Dec 20, the Independent National Electoral Commission said, yesterday.

Moise Katumbi, one of the main opposition candidates, attained the second position with about 18 percent of the votes, according to the commission.

The commission reported that over 18 million people, out of a total of 44 million registered voters, cast their ballots.

Jan 1 (Reuters) - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy honoured his people's resilience in times of bloodshed in a long and lyrical New Year speech, while Russian leader Vladimir Putin stressed his country's unity in a short and stern message that made only passing reference to the war.

The speeches - traditional Dec. 31 messages in both Russia and Ukraine - came as both countries marked the end of the year with increased air attacks on each other's territories. But neither side can point to any major frontline achievements in 2023.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan dropped its highest-level tsunami alert after issuing one following a series of major earthquakes Monday but told residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.

The quakes, the largest of which had a magnitude of 7.6, started a fire and collapsed buildings on the west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu. It was unclear how many people might have been killed or hurt.

VATICAN CITY, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Monday denounced a growing crackdown on the Catholic Church in Nicaragua by the government of President Daniel Ortega.

Twelve priests and a bishop have been detained in recent days in the Central American country, where Ortega began repressing the Church after national demonstrations in 2018.

"I am following with concern what is happening in Nicaragua, where bishops and priests have been deprived of their freedom," Francis said in his weekly Sunday message and blessing in St. Peter's Square.

DONETSK, January 1 /TASS/: At least four people were killed and 13 injured when the armed forces of Ukraine shelled downtown Donetsk on New Year’s Eve, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Monday.

"As of 02:00 a.m. [Moscow time, 11:00 p.m. GMT Sunday], tentatively, 13 people were reported to have been injured and four killed," Pushilin wrote on Telegram.

VALLETTA, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela on Sunday pledged more measures to tackle inflation in 2024 as part of the government's fight against the increased cost of living.

Addressing the nation in his New Year speech, Abela said the government could not be indifferent to the challenges that families were facing.

"I can confirm that in the coming days, we will implement more measures that we have already announced, and we will continue working with all our stakeholders" to tackle the cost of living, he said.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — South Africa launched a case Friday at the United Nations’ top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to halt its attacks — the first such challenge made at the court over the current war. Israel swiftly rejected the filing “with disgust.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa frenzy is typically in full force by now.

With less than three weeks until the Iowa caucuses formally usher in the presidential nomination process, White House hopefuls are usually in a heated competition. They fan out across the state and pack as many events into a single day as is humanly possible — all in a bid to appeal to undecided voters and lock down support that could lift them to victory in Iowa and keep them in the race for months to come.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time this month the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas in Gaza under increasing international criticism.

The State Department said Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had told Congress that he had made a second emergency determination covering a $147.5 million sale for equipment, including fuses, charges and primers, that is needed to make the 155 mm shells that Israel has already purchased function.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are seizing more shipments of unauthorized electronic cigarettes at U.S. ports, but thousands of new flavored products continue pouring into the country from China, according to government and industry data reviewed by The Associated Press.

The figures underscore the chaotic state of the nation’s $7 billion vaping market and raise questions about how the U.S. government can stop the flow of fruit-flavored disposable e-cigarettes used by 1 in 10 American teens and adolescents.