Below is a summary of current world news.
North Korea confirms ‘major’ spy satellite test for April launch
North Korea’s state media KCNA said on Monday that the country conducted an “important and final” test on Sunday for the development of a spy satellite, which it aims to complete by April 2023. The report It was released a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries reported the isolated North had fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles toward its east coast.
Russian ‘kamikaze’ drones hit Kyiv as Putin heads for Belarus
Moscow launched a “kamikaze” drone strike on Monday that hit key infrastructure in and around Kyiv as Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to Belarus, fueling fears he is pressuring his former Soviet ally to join a new offensive against Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force said its air defenses shot down 30 drones, the third Russian airstrike on the Ukrainian capital in six days and the latest in a series of assaults since October targeting Ukraine’s power grid, causing widespread blackouts amid subfreezing conditions. temperatures
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar wins the confidence vote in parliament
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s confidence motion was passed in parliament on Monday, winning vital support for his prime ministership after last month’s election returned an unprecedented parliament. Anwar had summoned parliament to prove his majority, after his rival and former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin cast doubt on his support.
US leaves door open to Iran’s nuclear diplomacy
For nearly two years, the United States has tried and failed to negotiate a revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but Washington and its European allies are refusing to close the door on diplomacy. His reasons reflect the danger of alternative approaches, the unpredictable consequences of a military attack on Iran, and the belief that there is still time to alter Tehran’s course: while progress is being made toward making fissile material, it is not there yet, nor has it been. mastered the technology to build a bomb, officials said.
South Africa’s Ramaphosa: Wounded president re-elected to party leadership
President Cyril Ramaphosa, the anti-apartheid champion who became one of South Africa’s richest businessmen, survived a challenge to his party leadership on Monday, days after he was spared impeachment proceedings for a scandal called “Farmgate”. He assumed the presidency in 2018 after being elected party leader in 2017, promising to stamp out corruption and fix the economy. But just as he was about to start campaigning for his second term, he faced calls to resign after an advisory panel found preliminary evidence that he may have committed misconduct.
Hasidic Jewish refugees from Ukraine celebrate Hanukkah in Hungarian shelter
An elderly man from a Hasidic Jewish refugee community in Ukraine lit the first Hanukkah candle at his rescue shelter in Hungary, which houses about 150 people on the shores of Lake Balaton. Saul Melamed, who first fled Donetsk for Kyiv years before the Russian invasion, sang at the solemn candlelight vigil with families around as they celebrated their first Hanukkah away from their homeland.
Putin to come to Belarus for talks amid fears of fresh assault on Ukraine
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was due to travel to Belarus on Monday amid fears in Kyiv that he intended to pressure its former Soviet ally to join a planned ground offensive that would open a new front against Ukraine. Putin, whose troops have been pushed out of northern, northeastern and southern Ukraine since his invasion in February, is taking a more public role in the war and visited the headquarters of his operation on Friday to sound the military commanders
Six dead, including a suspect, after a shooting in Vaughan, Canada
Five victims and a suspect have died after a shooting at a condominium in the Canadian city of Vaughan, north of Toronto, the York Regional Police Department said. Another victim is hospitalized in serious condition, police said in a statement early Monday.
China reports first COVID deaths in weeks as official count questioned
China reported its first COVID-related deaths in weeks on Monday amid growing doubts about whether the official count was capturing the full toll of a disease sweeping cities after the government relaxed strict virus controls .
Monday’s two deaths were the first reported by the National Health Commission (NHC) since December 3, days before Beijing announced it was lifting the brakes that had kept the virus under control for three years but sparked protests widespread last month.
Events in most Tunisian districts in controversial parliamentary elections
Run-offs will be held in most Tunisian regions after only 21 candidates secured victory in the first round of parliamentary elections, the electoral commission said on Monday, following a controversial vote marked by very low turnout. Only 8.8 percent of Tunisian voters cast ballots in Saturday’s parliamentary election, the country’s electoral commission announced, after most political parties boycotted the vote as a sham to bolster President Kais Saied’s power.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
