WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Monday that China and the United States need to build their futures together, for themselves and for humanity at large.

Beijing and Washington formally established their diplomatic ties on Jan. 1, 1979. "The 40th anniversary of this relationship is a testament to the ability of countries with different histories, cultures and political systems to work together for the greater good," Carter wrote in an article published in the Washington Post.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Patrick Shanahan officially took over the Pentagon on Tuesday as acting U.S. secretary of defense.

"Under the direction of President Trump, the Department of Defense remains focused on safeguarding our nation," Shanahan said in a statement released on New Year's Day.

JERUSALEM; 02 Jan 2019; AA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lobbied the Honduran president to move his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

This came during a joint meeting between Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez in Brazil on the sidelines of the inauguration of new Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

BRASILIA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Army captain-turned-politician Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in as Brazil's president on Tuesday amid heightened security.

Bolsonaro, 63, took the oath of office at 3:10 p.m. local time at a ceremony held at the National Congress building in the capital Brasilia.

MOSCOW, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- A total of 14 bodies were recovered so far after a gas explosion in a residential building in the city of Magnitogorsk, local branch of the Russian emergency ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Dozens remains unaccounted for, as rescue operations are still under way in wake of the new year eve accident in the city 1,400 km east of Moscow.

Wednesday has been declared a day of mourning in the Chelyabinsk Region for those killed in the tragic explosion.

LONDON, Jan. 1 (Xinhua)-- British new pay ratio regulations came into force on Tuesday, aiming to enhance the salary transparency between bosses and ordinary employees.

According to a statement issued by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the pay ratio regulations will apply to large Britain listed companies with over 250 employees, which are required to be disclosed annually.

The first statutory disclosures will be issued from the start of 2020, which will cover CEO and employee pay awarded in 2019.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Somali government on Tuesday accused the United Nations special envoy of "violating protocols" and "deliberately interfering" in the internal affairs of the Horn of Africa country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation declared Nicholas Haysom, special representative of the UN secretary-general for Somalia, a "persona non-grata," saying the UN envoy is not welcome in the nation.

The ministry said in a statement that the 66-year-old is unwanted and cannot operate in the country.

02 Jan 2019; DW: Several people have been killed in a train collision in Denmark. A severe storm has been hampering efforts by emergency workers to reach the train.

Six people were killed on Wednesday morning after a train collision on a bridge linking the islands of Zealand and Funen, according to train operator DSB. 

Danish media reported that a tarpaulin on a freight train hit a passenger train heading in the opposite direction on the Great Belt Bridge towards Copenhagen, prompting it to brake suddenly. 

Ahmedabad, Jan 1 (PTI) An accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case and another who was recently discharged in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh case were among the six IPS officers promoted by the Gujarat government on Tuesday, according to a notification.

G L Singhal, one of the seven police officers chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Ishrat Jahan case, has been promoted to the rank of inspector general from deputy inspector general of the Commando Training Centre in Gandhinagar.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 1 (PTI) In a first, over 35 lakh women stood shoulder-to-shoulder across the national highways in Kerala, creating a 620 km-long human 'wall' from the northern end of Kasaragod to the southern tip here Tuesday as part of a state-sponsored initiative to uphold gender equality.

The event comes days after thousands of devotees lit 'Ayyappa Jyothis' (lighting of sacred lamps) and lined up from Hosangadi in Kasaragod to Kanyakumari, vowing to protect the age-old customs and traditions of Sabarimala.

02 Jan 2019; AFP: The high priest of one of India's holiest temples carried out a "purification ritual" on Wednesday after two women defied Hindu traditionalists to sneak inside for the first time since a landmark court ruling.

The Supreme Court in September overturned a decades-old ban on women of menstruating age -- deemed as those between 10 and 50 -- setting foot inside the gold-plated Sabarimala temple.

New Delhi, Jan 1 (PTI) India and Pakistan Tuesday exchanged details of civilian prisoners and fishermen lodged in each other's jails.

The Ministry of External Affairs or MEA said India handed over to Pakistan lists of 249 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 98 fishermen in its custody.

Pakistan has shared lists of 54 civilian prisoners and 483 fishermen in its custody, who are Indians or are believed-to-be-Indians.