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With Nepal's snowy Himalayan peaks as a backdrop, the sky above Pokhara transformed into a vibrant canvas of colours for the country's first hot-air balloon festival.

Asia's stocks rose in thin Boxing Day trade on Thursday, extending a "Santa Rally" with key markets Hong Kong and Sydney still shut for the holidays.

Tearful mourners prayed Thursday as ceremonies began across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean, in one of the world's worst natural disasters.

Crews of more than 100 yachts set sail Thursday on a "boat-breaking" Sydney-Hobart yacht race, with gale-force winds and high seas forecast for the gruelling bluewater classic.

The quiet resumption of operations at a desalination plant in the Gaza Strip last month marked a small but significant step toward restoring public services in the Palestinian territory ravaged by more than 14 months of war.

Fearless young opener Sam Konstas slammed an entertaining 60 on debut for Australia on Thursday, showing little respect for the Indian pace bowlers in the opening session of the fourth Test.

Emotional ceremonies began across Asia on Thursday to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami devastated coastal areas around the Indian Ocean, in one of the worst natural disasters in human history.

Mikal Bridges and the New York Knicks edged Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs 117-114 in a Christmas Day thriller at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka says she is "fresh and ready to go" in her bid for a third straight Australian Open title, warning she has plenty of room for improvement.

More than 1,500 prisoners escaped from a Maputo prison Wednesday, taking advantage of the third day of unrest triggered by the controversial confirmation of the long-ruling Frelimo party as the winner of recent elections.

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan after travelling far off course, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, officials said.

Mikal Bridges and the New York Knicks edged Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs 117-114 in a Christmas Day thriller at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Survivors and victims' relatives will next week mark the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 220,000 people across more than a dozen countries.

Emotional ceremonies were expected across Asia on Thursday to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami devastated coastal areas around the Indian Ocean, in one of the worst natural disasters in human history.

Angry protests broke out Wednesday in the heartland of deposed Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority, a war monitor and witnesses said, after a video circulated showing an attack on a shrine.

A "terrorist act" sank the cargo ship that went down in international waters in the Mediterranean this week, the Russian state-owned company that owns the vessel said Wednesday.

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, officials said.

La Liga's relegation-threatened Valencia have appointed Carlos Corberan as their new manager after prising him from English second-tier side West Bromwich Albion, the clubs announced on Wednesday.

Desi Bouterse, the former dictator of Suriname who was a fugitive from justice for the murder of political opponents four decades ago, has died at 79, the government said Wednesday.

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan, with 35 people feared dead, officials said.

Pope Francis called Wednesday for "arms to be silenced" around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the "extremely grave" humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Pope Francis called Wednesday for "arms to be silenced" around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the "extremely grave" humanitarian situation in Gaza.

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet with 67 people on board crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan after veering from its scheduled route, officials said.

Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border region of Afghanistan killed 46 civilians, the Taliban government said Wednesday, whilst a Pakistan security official said the bombardment had targeted "terrorist hideouts".

Christmas Premier League chart-toppers Liverpool are overwhelming favourites to see off struggling Leicester on Boxing Day (Thursday).

Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya on Wednesday raised "serious concerns" over China's military buildup as he met counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, Tokyo said.

Christians across the world celebrated Christmas Wednesday, with the mood darkened by wars and a massive Christmas morning attack on Ukraine by Russia and a plane crash in Kazakhstan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denounced an "inhumane" attack from Russia, which launched dozens of missiles and drones on his war-torn country's energy grid on Christmas Day.

New Vietnamese internet rules requiring Facebook and TikTok to verify user identities and hand over data to authorities came into force on Wednesday, in what critics say is the latest attack on freedom of expression.

Christmas revellers around the world donned red and white Santa hats, offered meals to the homeless and lit candles on Wednesday, as Pope Francis launched observation of the global holiday with a sombre mass in the Vatican.

With flickering candles and the sound of organs, hundreds of Catholics held a muted Christmas Eve mass in Indonesia's Aceh province, the only one under ultraconservative Islamic law in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.