South Korean lawmakers today sought to question the woman at the heart of a corruption scandal that triggered the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye, as special prosecutors raided the home of a former top presidential aide.

A Russian military plane crashed today in the Black Sea as it made its way to Syria with 92 people onboard, including more than 60 Red Army Choir members heading to celebrate the New Year with troops.

A man who said he was armed with a grenade Friday hijacked a Libyan plane which landed on the Mediterranean island of Malta with 118 people on board, Malta's prime minister and government sources said.

The UN Security Council will vote on Friday on whether to impose an arms embargo and sanctions on South Sudan, but the measure is expected to fail amid divisions over how to pressure leaders to end the three-year war.

The army said on Thursday it had retaken full control of Syria's devastated second city Aleppo, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011.

A "significant" Islamic State-inspired Christmas Day terror plot targeting central Melbourne with explosives has been foiled after a series of arrests in raids across the city, police said on Friday.

The Italian government approved a bailout plan to rescue the country's struggling banks on Friday, with Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) likely the first in line to receive state aid.

 A prototype vaccine for Ebola may be "up to 100 percent effective" in protecting against the deadly virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

America must massively boost its nuclear capability until the "world comes to its senses," President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday, hours after a similar vow by Russia's Vladimir Putin.