BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged New Year greetings on Monday.

In his congratulatory message to Putin, Xi said that the year 2018 has a special significance in China-Russia relations, and both countries have smoothly completed their respective important domestic political agendas and opened a new era for China-Russia ties. (China-Russia-New Year)

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MANILA -- The death toll of landslides and flood triggered by heavy rains in the Philippines has risen to 68, the government agency said on Monday.

The deaths were mostly due to landslides and drowning in the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas in central Philippines, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in its latest report. (Philippines-Landslides-Toll)

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MOSCOW -- Up to 79 people are missing and the death toll has increased to three after a gas explosion rocked a building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk in the Ural Mountains, Chelyabinsk Region's deputy governor Oleg Klimov said Monday.

"Three alive and three dead were taken from under the debris," Klimov was quoted by Sputnik news agency as saying, adding that the fate of the 79 missing people remains uncertain. (Russia-Explosion)

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SEOUL -- South Korea's environment ministry said Monday that major local retailers would be banned from offering single-use plastic bags beginning Tuesday to conserve natural resources and facilitate recycling.

Under the revised law, the use of disposable plastic bags will be prohibited from the first day of next year in major retailers, including about 2,000 discount chain outlets and some 1,100 large-sized supermarkets with floor space of 165 square meters or bigger. (S.Korea-Plastic Bag) Enditem

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