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Hopes faded on Dec. 20 for 78 people missing from a ferry that sank off Indonesia's eastern island of Sulawesi, officials said, after 37 passengers were pulled alive from rough seas by rescuers in helicopters, fishing vessels and rubber dinghies.

Three people have been found dead in the Gulf of Bone off South Sulawesi since the vessel with 118 on board ran into trouble on Dec. 19. 

A Berlin church celebrated a service with a "Star Wars" theme Sunday, with lightsaber-wielding pastors preaching parallels between Christianity and the blockbuster movie series to costumed parishioners.

The world-famous Turkish dance group Fire of Anatolia started its eighth China tour on Dec. 18 with a well-received performance at Shanghai's Oriental Art Center.

The two-hour show - featuring a synthesis of Turkish folk dance with ballet, modern dance and other dance disciplines - earned a period of sustained applause from the Chinese audience.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" raked in an estimated $120.5 million in its first full day in U.S. and Canadian theaters, setting an industry record, Disney said on Dec. 19.

The movie is likely to become the highest grossing film in an opening weekend Disney added, while reporting that it had already made $250 million globally.

Spanish model Mireia Lalaguna was crowned Miss World 2015 after beating out 113 contestants from across the globe on Dec. 19 night at a coastal resort city in south China's Hainan Province.

The pharmacy student from Barcelona claimed the illustrious crown after winning over the contest's judges during the 65th edition of the world famous pageant in China's Sanya.

A landslide at an industrial park in southern China buried more than 20 buildings and left 22 people missing on Dec. 20, state media reported, as more than 1,500 emergency workers searched the scene.

Rescuers pulled four people from the debris after the accident in the southern city of Shenzhen bordering Hong Kong, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries agreed to abolish agricultural export subsidies after five days of talks in Nairobi, but failed to make progress on the long-stalled Doha Round of negotiations aimed at lowering global trade barriers.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said the burden from the planned minimum wage raise will be shared between the state and the private sector in a speech on Dec. 19. 

The co-chair of Turkey's Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has said he will be traveling to Moscow to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Dec. 23.

HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirta? made the announcement on Dec. 19 on a program aired by a local television network in the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r.

Hillary Clinton and other Democratic presidential hopefuls used Donald Trump as a political bogeyman on Dec. 18 to highlight their own calls to defeat jihadist extremists without the bigotry and bluster brandished by their top Republican rival.