Top 10 world news: Former Pope Benedict XVI passes away, multiple blasts rock Kyiv on New Year's Eve, & more

Former Pope Benedict XVI died at his Vatican residence at the age of 95, the Vatican announced on Saturday. In other news,Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday in his New Year's eve address, Xi said that the "light of hope is right in front of us"talkingabout the current coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in the country. Finally, at least one person died and several were injured on Saturday (December 31) after missile strikes on Kyiv, the capital city of war-hit Ukraine, officials claimed.

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He led the Catholic Church for about eight years until 2013 andwas one of the oldest Popes to be ever elected.Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, Benedict was 78 when in 2005 when he was elected Pope. Besides being one of the oldest Popes, he was the first from Germany in over 1000 yearsto be elected as head of the Catholic Church in Vatican City.

Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said on Saturday (January 31) that a 22-year-old man was killed as Iran's security force fired on a crowd in Kurdish-populated western region of the country. The death has come more than 100 days after Mahsa Amini's untimely demise in custody.

In a televised address,Xi said, "Epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase... Everyone is working resolutely, and the light of hope is right in front of us."

"At present, epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase, it is still a time of struggle, everyone is persevering and working hard, and the dawn is ahead. Let's work harder, persistence means victory, and unity means victory," Xi added.

A war monitor on Saturday said that this year, Syria recorded the lowest death toll since the war began a decade ago.In 2022, at least 3,825 people died, AFP reported.Among the 1,627 persons killed this year, there were 321 children, said UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.Over 500 jihadists have died this year.

Air raid sirens rang out in the Ukrainian capital after multiple blasts shook Kyiv on Saturday afternoon. According to the journalists of the news agency AFP, at least ten explosions were heard in the city. Local authorities told that the air raid alerted the residents, urging them to go to shelters.

The 42-year-old Indian-origin British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in his first New Year message on Saturday said that "UK's problem won't go away in 2023," at the end of "tough" 12 months.The year 2022 has been tough for the UK in economic and political aspects.

Jailed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party on Saturday (December 31) condemned her latest sentence and said that it would continue to oppose the military junta whose court imposed the it.

Following the confirmation of Pope Benedict XVI, former Catholic Church leader, tribute to have poured in from world leaders.

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