WORLD

The day, which started with swarms of attacks on critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital, ended with the unveiling of the 12-metre (40-feet) high artificial tree decorated with white peace doves.

Ghana on Monday suspended payments on most of its external debt, effectively defaulting as the country struggles to plug its cavernous balance of payments deficit.

In comments made on Security Services Day, Putin also ordered the strengthening of Russia's borders and instructed special services to keep greater control of society and ensure the safety of people in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine.

"A 100% air shield for Ukraine. that would be one of the most successful stops against Russian aggression and this stuff is required right now," he added.

The prime minister is under growing pressure from his own members of parliament and the public to deal with the arrivals.

Under the new constitution drafted by Saied and approved by a referendum last July, the new parliament will have very limited powers.

The M23, formed in 2012, says it is defending the interests of Congolese Tutsis, the ethnic group targeted in the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed on Monday that "explosions" had occurred in the capital.

A British government update posted earlier this month listed teachers who qualified in Zimbabwe as eligible to apply directly for "qualified status" -- allowing succesful candidates to go straight into classrooms without further training.

The engagement was reported around Bwiza, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the provincial capital Goma on M23's western front into Masisi territory.

Central Africa has been battling civil war since 2013 and is at the heart of Russia's bid for strategic influence in Africa.

Heavy downpour caused floods and landslides from Monday night through early Tuesday, leveling at least 280 houses in Kinshasa's Mont-Ngafula district and a large stretch of Congo's main national highway, according to U.N. estimates.

The ANC's five-day conference in Johannesburg has exacerbated a rancourous divide between its two main rival power blocs, one coalescing around the incumbent Ramaphosa and the other around former President Jacob Zuma.

The ministry had previously set a deadline of Dec. 19 for domestic bondholders to apply for the debt exchange, with new domestic bonds to be issued on Dec. 23.

Many of the protesters wore shirts printed with the face of Alexander Cummings, who is challenging Weah for the presidency under the ANC flag ahead of a 2023 election.

The move comes as Saied's government negotiates a nearly $2-billion package from the International Monetary Fund to bail out the North African country's crippled public finances.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address to Ukrainians, also issued a fresh appeal to Western nations to provide Kyiv with better air defences as "one of the most powerful" steps to halt the Russian invasion.

Under a deal struck in April, Britain aims to send tens of thousands of migrants who arrive on its shores illegally more than 4,000 miles (6,4000 km) to Rwanda.

Tunisia holds a parliamentary election on Saturday that will tighten President Kais Saied's grip on power, capping what his opponents denounce as a march to one-man rule over a country that shook off dictatorship in 2011.

A Tutsi-led group that lay dormant for years, the M23 took up arms again late last year, seizing swaths of territory in North Kivu province.

It remains unclear what caused the incident at the 14-metre (26-foot) high AquaDom aquarium at around 5:50 am (0450 GMT), police said.

Ramaphosa, portraying himself as a graft-busting champion, took control of the ANC in 2017 after his boss Jacob Zuma became mired in corruption affairs.

Ethiopia does not recognise dual nationality, meaning officials there can treat US citizens of Ethiopian descent as Ethiopians, regardless of their passport.

Moscow-allied officials in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, meanwhile said they had come under some of the heaviest shelling in years from Ukrainian forces, leaving one person dead.

To Tunisian opponents, the former law professor is responsible for dismantling the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring uprisings that ended in civil wars or bloody repression in other parts of the Middle East.

Biden, speaking at a U.S.-Africa leaders summit event, said the United States is looking to increase collaboration in all areas.

A dozen years after the country's revolution triggered the Arab spring, poverty levels are on the rise and its political system is all but broken.

The outline deal signed by the military and civilian parties on Dec. 5 also provides no guarantees that army leaders who staged a coup just over one year ago will cede real power.

Forty-seven troops from a logistical support unit left Bangui airport aboard a C-130 transporter aircraft, becoming the last of a 130-person French contingent to leave the troubled country.