MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: Vladimir Putin’s election campaign headquarters will be established as soon as all procedures for his self-nomination have been completed, Secretary of the ruling United Russia party’s General Council Andrey Turchak announced.

"The [election campaign] headquarters will be established upon the completion of all organizational procedures, after the initiative group [of voters] has held a meeting and all documents have been submitted to the Central Election Commission," he explained.

OTTAWA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Firearms Act received royal assent on Friday, immediately bringing into force a series of measures to combat gun crime.

According to a news release issued by Public Safety Canada, these measures include a national handgun freeze, emergency weapons prohibition orders, and increased penalties for firearms smuggling and trafficking.

DUBAI, December 16. /TASS/: Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has been proclaimed the new Emir of Kuwait, succeeding Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah who passed away on Saturday, Issa al-Kandari, deputy prime minister and minister of state for cabinet affairs, said in a statement on Kuwaiti television.

COLOMBO, Dec 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – Air Arabia has been operating direct flights between Abu Dhabi and Colombo, every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said, yesterday.

The ministry said, Air Arabia launched its first direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo on Dec 8, this year, from the Abu Dhabi International Airport.

The first flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo was welcomed by a water cannon salute, upon arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury awarded $148 million in damages on Friday to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation over lies he spread about them in 2020 that upended their lives with racist threats and harassment.

The damages verdict follows emotional testimony from Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who tearfully described becoming the target of a false conspiracy theory pushed by Giuliani and other Republicans as they tried to keep then-President Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - European Union leaders expressed confidence on Friday that they would clear a large package of aid for Ukraine early in 2024, despite a veto by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

All 27 EU states except Hungary agreed on Thursday to start accession talks with Ukraine despite its invasion by Russia, bypassing Orban's grievances by getting him to leave the room.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/: Vladimir Putin’s election campaign headquarters will be established as soon as all procedures for his self-nomination have been completed, Secretary of the ruling United Russia party’s General Council Andrey Turchak announced.

"The [election campaign] headquarters will be established upon the completion of all organizational procedures, after the initiative group [of voters] has held a meeting and all documents have been submitted to the Central Election Commission," he explained.

JAKARTA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- As many as 12 people were dead and 7 others wounded in a bus accident on a toll road in Indonesia's West Java province on Friday, a police officer said.

The bus hit a guardrail on Cipali toll road at 15:40 Jakarta time, said spokesman of the provincial police office Senior Commissioner Ibrahim Tompo.

The driver might have lost control of the vehicle when the bus was passing through a part of the road that bends to the left, the spokesman said.

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/:  Russia’s second meteorological satellite Arktika-M, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, has been successfully put into a designated orbit with a Fregat booster, Roscosmos said in a statement.

"The second Arktika-M is in orbit!" the space agency said.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Dozens of migrants crossed into Finland on Friday, hours before the reclosure of two southern crossing points on the border with Russia as the Nordic country experiences an influx of asylum-seekers.

The Vaalimaa and Niirala crossings had reopened briefly Thursday after being shut down at the end of last month, along with Finland’s six other posts on the border with Russia.

Finland blames Moscow for sending migrants to the border in an effort to destabilize the country, which joined NATO in April. Russia denies the accusation.

BEIRUT, Dec 16 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese parliament, yesterday, passed a law, to establish a comprehensive pension system for private sector workers, a step that was “delayed for three decades” and considered a “milestone” for the country.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), said in a statement that, it offered technical support to relevant Lebanese parliamentary committees and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), to reach a consensus on the law, ensuring its alignment with the standards for social security.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States experienced a dramatic 12% increase in homelessness to its highest reported level as soaring rents and a decline in coronavirus pandemic assistance combined to put housing out of reach for more Americans, federal officials said Friday.

About 653,000 people were homeless, the most since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007. The total in the January count represents an increase of about 70,650 from a year earlier.