World News Roundup: Crowds view body of former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's; North Korea's Kim sacks No. 2 military official and more

A failure of primary and secondary power supplies caused the outage at Ninoy Aquino airport, and it should take about 72 hours for airlines to normalise their operations, said Cesar Chiong, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority. Ukraine says it shoots down all drones in third straight night of strikes Ukraine said on Monday it had shot down all Russian drones in a massive wave of attacks, after Moscow launched an unprecedented third straight night of air strikes against civilian targets, intensifying its air war for the New Year holiday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Crowds view body of former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's

A steady stream of tens of thousands of people filed into St. Peter's Basilica on Monday to pay their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI at the start of three days of laying in state ahead of his funeral. Benedict died on Saturday at the age of 95 in the secluded Vatican monastery where he had lived since his shock resignation in 2013.

North Korea's Kim sacks No. 2 military official

North Korea has sacked Pak Jong Chon, the second most powerful military official after leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported. Pak, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party and a secretary of the party's Central Committee, was replaced by Ri Yong Gil at the committee's annual meeting last week, the official KCNA news agency said on Sunday.

Some in China return to regular activity after COVID infections

Some people in China's key cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan braved the cold and a spike in COVID-19 infections to return to regular activity on Monday, confident of a boost to the economy as more recover from infections. Among those who gathered to sled or ice skate on a frozen lake in the capital's Shichahai Lake Park were some upbeat about the opening-up, after China dropped stringent "zero-COVID" measures on Dec. 7 to adopt a strategy of living with the virus.

Philippines airport scrambles to restore normalcy after power cut

The Philippines' main gateway scrambled to resume full services on Monday after a New Year power outage jolted its air traffic control and disrupted 300 flights, prompting calls from business leaders and a top senator for urgent action. A failure of primary and secondary power supplies caused the outage at Ninoy Aquino airport, and it should take about 72 hours for airlines to normalise their operations, said Cesar Chiong, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority.

Ukraine says it shoots down all drones in third straight night of strikes

Ukraine said on Monday it had shot down all Russian drones in a massive wave of attacks, after Moscow launched an unprecedented third straight night of air strikes against civilian targets, intensifying its air war for the New Year holiday. Russian officials meanwhile were reeling from reports that large numbers of Russian troops had been killed in a strike on a dormitory where they were being housed in occupied Ukraine alongside an ammunition dump. Kyiv and Russian nationalist bloggers said hundreds of Russian troops died. Russian-installed officials spoke of high casualties without giving a number.

Cholera deaths surge in Malawi, keeping schools closed

Malawi has delayed the opening of public schools in the southern African country's two major cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, the health minister said Monday, to try to slow down a surge in cholera deaths. The total number of cases and deaths has accelerated to 17,824 and 595 respectively since cases were first reported in March, with the mortality rate increasing to 3.34 per cent, according to the Health Ministry.

Taliban seeks economic self-sufficiency and foreign investment for Afghanistan -minister

The Taliban administration will encourage self-sufficiency and wants international trade and investment, the acting commerce minister said, as Afghanistan faces isolation and suspension of some humanitarian operations over restrictions on women. "We will start a national self-sufficiency programme, we will encourage all government administrations to use domestic products, we will also try to encourage people through mosques to support our domestic products" Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters. "We will support any item which can help us for self-sufficiency."

Japan says it scrambled jets to monitor Chinese aircraft carrier operations

Japan said on Monday it scrambled jet fighters and dispatched aircraft and warships over the past two weeks to keep tabs on China's Liaoning aircraft carrier and five warships that conducted naval manoeuvres and flight operations in the Pacific.

Japan monitored the operations after the Chinese naval group, which included missile destroyers, sailed between the main Okinawa island and Miyakojima island into the Western Pacific from the East China Sea on Dec. 16, Japan's Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

South Korea, U.S. discussing nuclear exercises as tensions flare with North -Yoon

South Korea and the United States are discussing possible joint exercises using U.S. nuclear assets, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un labelled the South its "undoubted enemy" in flaring cross-border tensions. Yoon's comments, in a newspaper interview published on Monday, come after he called for "war preparation" with an "overwhelming" capability, following a year marked by the North's record number of missile tests, and the intrusion of North Korean drones into the South last week.

Lula takes over in Brazil, slams Bolsonaro's anti-democratic threats

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as Brazil's president on Sunday, delivering a searing indictment of far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro and vowing a drastic change of course to rescue a nation plagued by hunger, poverty and racism. In a speech to Congress after officially taking the reins of Latin America's biggest country, the leftist said democracy was the true winner of the October presidential vote, when he ousted Bolsonaro in the most fraught election for a generation.