Reuters World News Summary

Despite attempts to demonstrate unity during the war with Russia, signs of friction between Zaluzhnyi and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have been evident for weeks, spurring domestic media speculation that the army chief could be fired. Hamas leader visits Egypt amid intensive talks on new ceasefire The leader of Hamas made his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and get hostages freed.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Ukraine's citizen army struggles with a hidden enemy: combat stress

Psychotherapist Oleh Hukovskyi stands beside a white board in a makeshift classroom in eastern Ukraine and addresses a group of soldiers attending a session on how to cope with the stress of war. The former psychiatrist joined the armed forces about six months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, and now runs a psychological support group attached to the 67th Separate Mechanised Brigade in the direction of the ruined town of Lyman.

Expect more turbulence for US and China in 2024

After a year that brought panic over spy balloons, a fight over semiconductors and an intensifying military rivalry, China and the U.S. are ending the year with an uneasy detente. This follows a November meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping where both men signaled a desire to stop the free fall in their countries' relations.

Migrant surge at U.S.-Mexico border slows trade as Washington seeks answers

Railroad companies and business groups are pressing the U.S. government to reopen trade routes on the Texas-Mexico border, after authorities closed two crossings in response to a rise in migrant crossings in recent days. U.S. Border Patrol apprehended about 10,800 migrants at the southwest border on Monday, according to an internal agency report reviewed by Reuters. About 40% were families or unaccompanied children.

Chinese earthquake victims pulled to safety in sub-zero cold

Braving sub-zero cold, rescuers on Wednesday pulled to safety victims of an earthquake that rocked a remote area in China's northwestern Gansu province, while survivors faced months of uncertainty ahead without permanent shelter. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake jolted Jishishan county near the border straddling Gansu and Qinghai provinces a minute before midnight on Monday, sending frightened residents out of homes into the cold in the dead of the night. Roads, power and water lines and agricultural production facilities suffered damage, and the quake triggered land and mudslides.

Taiwan to 'handle' spate of Chinese balloons based on threat level

Taiwan will "handle" Chinese balloons flying nearby based on threat assessments, though officials believe the current wave is for weather purposes, driven by the prevailing winds at this time of year, the defence ministry in Taipei said on Wednesday. The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February when the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon. China said the balloon was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray.

House Speaker Johnson among US politicians with ancestral ties to slavery

It was one of the first moments in the Washington spotlight for junior congressman Mike Johnson. In 2019, the Republican from Louisiana was the ranking member of a U.S. House subcommittee discussing the controversial subject of slavery reparations. Johnson told the panel he opposed taking money "from current taxpayers for the sins of a small subset of Americans from many generations ago." To highlight the point, he shared a personal story.

Most Ukrainians would oppose sacking of popular army chief Zaluzhnyi - poll

The vast majority of Ukrainians would not support the sacking of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi from his position as head of the armed forces, a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) showed on Wednesday. Despite attempts to demonstrate unity during the war with Russia, signs of friction between Zaluzhnyi and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have been evident for weeks, spurring domestic media speculation that the army chief could be fired.

Hamas leader visits Egypt amid intensive talks on new ceasefire

The leader of Hamas made his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and get hostages freed. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who normally resides in Qatar, typically intervenes in diplomacy publicly only when progress seems likely. He last travelled to Egypt in early November before the announcement of the only agreement on a ceasefire in the war so far, a week-long pause during which more than 100 hostages were released.

Love or country: UK families caught up in Sunak's plan to cut migration

In early December Rebecca Kaya was celebrating after she and her Kurdish husband Baran finally hit their savings goal to qualify for a British visa so the couple could move from Icmeler in Turkey to Britain. A few days later Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hiked the amount a British person must earn in order to sponsor a foreign partner to move to Britain - raising their fears that the savings threshold will also jump and their nest egg will not be enough.

Israel charts unmapped ways to treat trauma of freed child hostages

Just days after Hamas kidnapped more than 35 young children and teenagers during its Oct. 7 rampage, youth psychologists and welfare experts in Israel began worriedly preparing for their return. The war in Gaza was in its early stages and the fate of the hostages was not clear, but Israel wanted to be sure that treatment protocols were in place when they came home.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)