Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Air India grounds crew over handling of unruly passenger on flight

Air India has issued show cause notice and de-rostered one pilot and four cabin crew as it investigates the handling of an unruly passenger on a flight from New York to Delhi in November, the airline’s chief executive office said on Saturday.

The Tata group-owned airline has faced criticism from India’s aviation regulator following an incident on a Nov. 26 flight in which a male passenger, while apparently inebriated, urinated on a female co-passenger.

Peru protesters clash with police in airport takeover attempt in Puno

Dozens of protesters attempted to take over an airport near Peru’s border with Bolivia Friday as part of anti-government protests, prompting police to use tear gas to disperse them. Protesters set fire to a police tank outside the Inca Manco Capac airport in Juliaca, in Peru’s Puno region, according to images on social media and local television.

Western Australia in grip of ‘devastating’ flood emergency, Australia PM says

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday his government was ready to provide whatever support was needed to residents of Western Australia state as record-breaking floods isolated far-flung communities there. The crisis in the Kimberley – an area almost three times the size of the United Kingdom – was sparked this week by severe weather system Ellie, a former tropical cyclone that brought heavy rain to the vast region.

Iran hangs two men accused of killing security official during protests

Iran hanged two men on Saturday for allegedly killing a security official during nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16. The two men executed on Saturday had been convicted of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary force militia. Three others have been sentenced to death in the same case, while 11 received prison sentences.

China’s ‘great migration’ kicks-off under shadow of COVID

China on Saturday marked the first day of “chun yun”, the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel known pre-pandemic as the world’s largest annual migration of people, bracing for a huge increase in travellers and the spread of COVID-19 infections. This Lunar New Year public holiday, which officially runs from Jan. 21, will be the first since 2020 without domestic travel restrictions.

Ukrainians mark Orthodox Christmas in Poland with a prayer to return home

Victoria, a Ukrainian refugee, is celebrating Orthodox Christmas in Poland with a simple prayer – that next year she will be back at home. The 40-year-old is one of the millions of Ukrainians who have fled the Russian invasion of their homeland and are marking the holiday with mixed emotions – relief that they are safe, but sadness to be away from their families.

‘What ceasefire?’: shells fly at Ukraine front despite Putin’s truce

Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged artillery fire at the front line in Ukraine on Friday, even after Moscow said it had ordered its troops to stop shooting for a unilateral truce that was firmly rejected by Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin ordered the 36-hour ceasefire from midday on Friday to observe Russian Orthodox Christmas. Ukraine has said it has no intention to stop fighting, rejecting the purported truce as a stunt by Moscow to buy time to reinforce troops that have taken heavy losses this week.

Exclusive-Russian hackers targeted U.S. nuclear scientists

A Russian hacking team known as Cold River targeted three nuclear research laboratories in the United States this past summer, according to internet records reviewed by Reuters and five cyber security experts. Between August and September, as President Vladimir Putin indicated Russia would be willing to use nuclear weapons to defend its territory, Cold River targeted the Brookhaven (BNL), Argonne (ANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL), according to internet records that showed the hackers creating fake login pages for each institution and emailing nuclear scientists in a bid to make them reveal their passwords.

Journalists detained over footage appearing to show South Sudan president wet himself

Six journalists in South Sudan have been detained over the circulation of footage showing President Salva Kiir appearing to wet himself at an official event, the national journalists union said on Saturday. The footage from December showed a dark stain spread down the 71-year-old president’s grey trousers as he stood for the national anthem at a road commissioning event. The video never aired on television but subsequently circulated on social media. The journalists, who work with the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, were detained on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Patrick Oyet, president of the South Sudan Union of Journalists. They “are suspected of having knowledge on how the video of the president urinating himself came out,” he told Reuters. South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei and National Security Service spokesperson David Kumuri did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kiir has been president since South Sudan gained independence in 2011. Government officials have repeatedly denied rumours circulating on social media that he is unwell. The country has been embroiled in conflict for much of the past decade.

Putin praises Russian Orthodox Church for backing troops in Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin on Saturday praised the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Moscow’s forces fighting in Ukraine in an Orthodox Christmas message designed to rally people behind his vision of modern Russia. The Kremlin issued Putin’s message after the Russian leader attended an Orthodox Christmas Eve service on his own inside a Kremlin cathedral rather than joining other worshippers in a public celebration.

(With inputs from agencies.)