Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

At least 32 people died due to heavy rain and floods over the Christmas weekend in the Philippines. 

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in an update on December 29 that 11 people were injured while 24 were still missing. Most of the deaths were caused by drowning from flash floods after two days of heavy rain disrupted Christmas celebrations and forced more than 45,000 people to take shelter in evacuation centers, the agency said.

Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, got its first metro rail, which it is hoped will ease commuting in one of the most densely populated cities in the world. 

A section of the 20-kilometer-long urban rail project, known as Line 6, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 28. The line connects the northern zone of Dhaka to a hub of government offices and hospitals in the middle for now. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described the new railway as a "matter of pride."

The United Nations said on December 27 that some time-critical programs in Afghanistan have temporarily stopped and warned that many other activities will also likely need to be paused because of a ban by the Taliban-led administration on women aid workers.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, the heads of UN agencies and several aid groups said in a joint statement that women's "participation in aid delivery is not negotiable and must continue," calling on the authorities to reverse the decision. Earlier, the UN Security Council had denounced the ban by the Taliban-led administration on women attending universities or working for humanitarian aid organizations.

China Eastern Airlines has begun a final verification flight for its C919 aircraft, the country's first domestically made large passenger jet. The flight is to confirm the aircraft's operational safety, paving the way for its commercial debut in spring of 2023. 

The verification flight will involve 100 hours of flying, from December 26 until mid-February 2023, covering nine provinces across China. The jetliner has to land in Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Haikou, Qingdao, Wuhan, Nanchang and Jinan before returning to where it took off. This routine will be repeated every day of the test flight process, along with the entire maintenance and boarding processes.

A former guerrilla fighter who led a decade-long insurgency against Nepal's Hindu monarchy was on December 26 appointed prime minister for the third time, in alliance with the main opposition after last month's election returned a hung parliament.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who goes by his assumed name Prachanda, will head the new government for the first half of the five-year term with the support of the opposition Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist party and some other smaller groups, party officials said.

(Cover: Residents inspect the damage caused by heavy rain and flooding in Oroquieta City, Simisamis Province, Philippines, December 27, 2022. /CFP)