Thirty-eight people were killed when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 on board crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, a senior Kazakh official said.

Angry protests broke out Wednesday in several areas of Syria after a video circulated showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the country's north, a war monitor and witnesses said.

Survivors and victims' relatives will this week mark the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 220,000 people across more than a dozen countries.

Hamas and Israel traded accusations on Wednesday over delays in finalising a ceasefire and hostage release deal, after both had reported progress in the latest round of Gaza truce talks.

Russian scientists criticised Wednesday the effort to clean up oil that has washed ashore from two oil tankers, saying it lacks sufficient equipment.

The United States and Europe on Wednesday warned against any blockade of decision-making bodies in Bosnia's Serb Republic, in protest at the trial of its leader Milorad Dodik.

Pope Francis on Wednesday called for easier access to humanitarian aid in Sudan, ravaged by 20 months of brutal civil war where millions are under the threat of famine.

A Russian court slightly reduced prison sentences Wednesday on a playwright and a theatre director convicted of "justifying terrorism" in a play.

Pope Francis called Wednesday for an end to the war in Ukraine and for talks for a just peace as the country was pummelled by 170 Russian missiles and drones on Christmas morning.

A fire early Wednesday killed dozens of dogs at a breeding facility on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, an official said.

Kazakhstan's emergency situation ministry on Wednesday said 25 people had survived the crash of a passenger jet with 67 people on board in the west of the country.

Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border province of Afghanistan killed 46 people, the Taliban government spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.