AFP 1400 GMT News Advisory

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Dec, 2022 ) :Duty Editor: Imran Marashli Tel: +33 1 40.41.46.36 -- TOP STORIES -- + Foreign NGOs suspend work in Afghanistan + Pope urges end to 'senseless' Ukraine war in Christmas message + Hundreds of thousands without power in US megastorm + Putin blasts West's attempt to 'tear apart' Russia + Relatives gather around hospitalised Pele Afghanistan-women-economy-NGOs,WRAP KABUL Three foreign aid groups, including Save the Children, announce they are suspending operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban ordered all NGOs to stop their women staff from working.

750 words 1600 GMT by Jay Deshmukh and Qubad Wali Vatican-pope-religion-Christmas,WRAP VATICAN CITY Pope Francis appeals for an end to the "senseless" war in Ukraine, in his traditional Christmas Day message broadcast around the world.

650 words moved by Clement Melki. Picture. Video. Live video US-weather,WRAP NEW YORK More than 200,000 Americans wake up without power on Christmas morning as the tail end of a days-long winter megastorm batters several eastern US states with a deadly mix of prolonged blizzards and historic cold.

450 words 1500 GMT by Maggy Donaldson. Picture. Video. Graphic Ukraine-Russia-conflict,WRAP MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin blasts the West for trying to "tear apart" Russia and says his offensive in Ukraine aimed to "unite the Russian people".

600 words 2100 GMT. Picture. Video fbl-BRA-Pele-health SAO PAULO Family members spend Christmas morning with Pele at the Sao Paulo hospital where the legendary footballer is suffering from worsening cancer as well as kidney and heart problems, according to a social media post by his daughter.

400 words 1500 GMT -- SPOTLIGHT -- Afghanistan-education-women-family,FOCUS KABUL Marwa was just a few months away from becoming the first woman in her Afghan family to go to university -- instead, she will watch achingly as her brother goes without her.

700 words moved by Estelle Emonet and Abdullah Hasrat. Picture. Video -- WAR IN UKRAINE -- Ukraine-Russia-conflict-religion-Christmas,SCENE KYIV Church bells and chanting ring throughout Ukraine's capital as Orthodox Christians attend Christmas services, a defiant break from Russian religious leaders who will mark the holiday in two weeks.

700 words 1430 GMT by Robbie Corey-Boulet. Picture. Video Ukraine-Russia-conflict-women,FOCUS MYKOLAIV, Ukraine The very day Russia launched its attack on her country, Svitlana Taranova enlisted in the Ukrainian army in the southern city of Mykolaiv, her home.

650 words moved by Joris Fioriti. Picture -- EUROPE -- France-crime-shooting,WRAP PARIS A French man suspected of killing three Kurds in Paris has confessed to a "pathological" hatred for foreigners, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau says.

650 words 1700 GMT by Murielle Kasprzak and Alexandre Hielard. Picture. Video Britain-royals-Charles-Christmas LONDON King Charles III delivers his first Christmas Day message since ascending to the throne, as people across the recession-hit UK struggle with a worsening cost of living crisis and an escalating series of strikes.

500 words 1530 GMT by Joe Jackson. Picture. Video Spain-accident,WRAP MADRID Four people die after a bus plunged into a river overnight while crossing a bridge in Spain's northwestern Galicia region, officials say.

400 words 1800 GMT by Valentin Bontemps. Picture -- AFRICA -- SAfrica-explosion-accident,WRAP JOHANNESBURG The death toll from a fuel tanker explosion in a South African city east of Johannesburg has risen to 15, the health minister says.

400 words moved by Gersende Rambourg. Picture. Video DRCongo-Rwanda-unrest,SCENE GOMA, DR Congo Few in the giant displacement camps north of Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, are enjoying the feasting and festivities they usually reserve for Christmas.

500 words moved by Heritier Baraka Munyampfura. Picture. Video -- ASIA -- Health-virus-China-government,WRAP BEIJING China will no longer publish daily figures for Covid-19 cases and deaths, the National Health Commission (NHC) says, ending a practice that began in early 2020.

550 words 1430 GMT -- AMERICAS -- ElSalvador-crime-gangs-police,WRAP SAN SALVADOR More than 1,000 soldiers surround a district in El Salvador's capital as part of President Nayib Bukele's war on gangs, the second such operation this month in the Central American country.

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