Top 10 world news: Kremlin says Zelensky's peace plan must include annexed regions, and more

The Kremlin has hit out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's 10-point peace plan by saying that the peace plan must include the four annexed regions- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia declared these regions as part of its territory in September but it does not fully control any of them.

Hospitals and funeral homes in China on Wednesday faced intense pressure as the surge in the nation's COVID-19 cases and the dearth of resources hit the nation of 1.4 billion people.

China recently began taking down its strict Zero-Covid restriction measures which have been in place for almost three years. This abrupt change has sparked an outbreak that is fast exhausting the nation's hospitals.

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that his predecessor – Benedict XVI – is very ill and also requested people to pray for his health. Benedict, who was the first person to resign from the position in over six centuries, has been suffering for some time and the Vatican said that condition is getting worse.

An Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Wednesday that more than 100 Iranians are currently facing charges punishable by death in connection to the protests that took place all around the country after the death of Mahsa Amini. The Iranian authorities have already executed two people for their involvement in protests and the country’s Supreme Court said recently that many more are facing similar charges and it expects to announce the punishments in the near future.

Kabosu the dog, the famous internet sensation who inspired the "doge" meme and digital currencyfor nearly a decade, is seriously ill with leukemia and liver disease, her owner said.According to an Instagram post on Dec 26 by Atsuko Sato, a kindergarten teacher, the 17-year-old Shiba Inu stopped eating and drinking on Christmas eve, and has been diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitisand chronic lymphoma leukemia, CNN reported.

The Office of United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Wednesday (December 28) that number of civilian casualties in the Ukraine war may be more than those that are known till date. The office has released a count of known casualties which indicates that 6884 civilians have lost their lives in the conflict from February 24 to December 26 this year.

Earlier this year, in November, amid the Group of 20 (G20) major economies meeting in Indonesia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the leaders present to step and stop the Russian invasion of Kyiv.

It was then that he first mentioned his 10-point peace plan which Zelensky said would end the conflict, “justly and on the basis of the UN Charter and international law”. Since then the Ukrainian president has spoken about his plan with the United States President Joe Biden during hisvisit to Washington, last week.

Amid a rise in Covid cases in several countries, official sources on Wednesday said that the (SII) has offered 20 million coronavirus vaccines, Covishield, free of cost to the central government.

The source said that the Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute, Prakash Kumar Singh, in written offered the vaccine doses worth Rs 420 Crore ($50 million) free of cost to the Indian government, PTI reported.

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