Philippine officials said Monday the death toll from Typhoon Rai has climbed to 375 and more than 50 people were still missing, per AP.
Driving the news: Rai was a super typhoon upon initial landfall and was the strongest storm to strike the Philippines this year, with the equivalent strength of a Category 5 hurricane. It caused widespread power and communications outages and injured at least 500 people.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled opposition leader of Belarus, was in a meeting with Western ambassadors to the EU last week when she learned that her husband had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his activism.
What she's saying: "It was very emotionally difficult to accept, but it didn't change anything in our movement," Tsikhanouskaya told Axios in a Zoom interview from Vilnius, Lithuania. She fled there last year after Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime began rounding up opposition leaders.
The 12 remaining members of a Christian missionary group who were kidnapped by a Haitian gang in October are safe, Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries said Thursday.
The big picture: The news comes two months after police say the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 U.S. and Canadian missionaries in Port-au-Prince and demanded a ransom. Five of the abducted missionaries had previously been released.
Driving the news: Their escape came two months after the police say the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 U.S. and Canadian missionaries in Port-au-Prince and demanded ransom. Five hostages had been released prior to last week's escape.
Israeli Cabinet ministers agreed to add the U.S. and Canada to its "red list," banning people from traveling to the countries, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office announced on Monday.
Why it matters: The move comes amid rising case numbers in both countries and as the Omicron variant continues to spread worldwide. The ban will take effect at midnight Wednesday morning after it has been approved by a parliamentary committee.
The World Economic Forum announced Monday it will delay its 2022 global meeting in Davos, Switzerland, until the summer in response to uncertainty over the emergency of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Why it matters: The annual January meeting has now been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic for a second year.
Pro-Beijing candidates claimed victory in Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo) election under the new "patriots only" system, per Reuters.
Why it matters: This was the first LegCosince Beijing lawmakers passed a sweeping law to ensure only "patriotic" figures can run for positions of power — which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called a "denial of democracy."
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has denied that former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli sexually assaulted her, saying there had been a "misunderstanding" over her November social media post about him.
Why it matters: The Women's Tennis Association said that the former world No. 1 doubles player's comments in an interview with a Chinese-language Singaporean outlet, published on Sunday, did not address its concerns about her well-being, per Reuters.
Why it matters: Chile has long been a byword for stability and prosperity in the region, but it has become increasingly polarized since anti-government protests erupted in 2019, thrusting the country into a fierce debate over economic inequality and national identity, per Axios' Dave Lawler.
Pope Francis forcefully condemned domestic violence during an appearance on Italian television Sunday, saying that men who commit it are engaging in something "almost satanic," Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Domestic violence levels have risen throughout the world during the pandemic, as lockdowns and strained health systems have cut many women off from vital sources of help while trapping them with their abusers, according to U.N. Women.
U.K. health minister Sajid Javid on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility of new coronavirus restrictions ahead of Christmas, telling the BBC on Sunday that "at this point, we just have to keep everything under review."
Why it matters: The new Omicron variant has driven a surge of COVID-19 cases in the U.K., with daily infections reaching new record numbers this week.
