Reuters World News Summary

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, Tajani said that closer European cooperation on defence was a priority for the Forza Italia party that he leads. Blinken in UAE, Saudi, Israel on Monday, seeking to avert wider Middle East war U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Monday before heading on to Israel after warning that the Gaza war could spread across the region without concerted peace efforts, while Israel vowed to continue fighting until Hamas was eliminated.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

North Korea vows military strike if any provocation, fires artillery rounds

North Korea will launch a military strike immediately in response to any provocation, Kim Yo Jong, the sister and key ally of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Sunday, as it fired artillery shells near its border with the South for the third day in a row. The remarks come after South Korea's military said the North had fired more than 60 artillery rounds on Saturday near their disputed maritime border, following a similar volley of more than 200 the previous day.

For Israel's hostage families, despondency sets in as world attention shifts

As Israel's vigil for its hostages in Gaza moves into a fourth month, a sense that time is passing while world attention shifts elsewhere has deepened the anguish felt by their families as hopes have faded for a deal to secure their release. The weekly demonstrations attract crowds in the thousands but developments like the presumed assassination in Lebanon last week of Saleh Al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas, and political rows about the future of Gaza after the war have left families feeling increasingly left behind.

Mexican authorities investigate massacre after rival criminal groups clash in remote desert

Mexican authorities in the violence-plagued southwestern state of Guerrero said they were investigating a gruesome massacre that took place in a part of a remote desert where two rival criminal groups have been fighting for control. Police investigators had found five burned bodies stacked onto a burned vehicle when they arrived in Buenavista de los Hurtado on Friday, the state attorney general said in a statement shared late on Saturday.

Italian foreign minister calls for formation of EU army

The European Union should form its own combined army that could play a role in peacekeeping and preventing conflict, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said. In an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, Tajani said that closer European cooperation on defence was a priority for the Forza Italia party that he leads.

Blinken in UAE, Saudi, Israel on Monday, seeking to avert wider Middle East war

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Monday before heading on to Israel after warning that the Gaza war could spread across the region without concerted peace efforts, while Israel vowed to continue fighting until Hamas was eliminated. Blinken was in Jordan and Qatar on Sunday at the start of a five-day diplomatic effort in the Middle East seeking to avert a wider war in the region. He is also due to visit the West Bank and Egypt this week.

Portugal's Socialists pledge to raise minimum wage, boost competitiveness

The new leader of Portugal's ruling Socialist Party (PS) Pedro Nuno Santos pledged on Sunday to increase the minimum wage and boost economic competitiveness through more incentives to select sectors, if he wins an election in March. Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa, in office since 2015, resigned on Nov. 7 over an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government's handling of lithium, hydrogen and data centre projects.

Russia launches 28 drones, three missiles at Ukraine - Ukraine's air force

Russia launched 28 attack drones and three cruise missile at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's air force said on Sunday, adding that its air defence systems destroyed 21 of the drones. The air force said on its Telegram messaging channel that Russia targeted mainly the south and east of Ukraine, and did not say what happened to the three cruise missiles.

Israeli police kill Palestinian girl when responding to ramming attack - emergency services

Israeli police killed a young Palestinian girl in a car at a West Bank crossing when they opened fire on another car suspected of a ramming attack, Israeli emergency services said. The border police said they hit the girl after firing at a couple in a car who they said rammed into two Israelis at a crossing in the occupied West Bank just outside Jerusalem.

Boeing checks hit paperwork snag; US investigators search for missing part

Safety checks on some Boeing jets hit a snag over paperwork on Sunday, as U.S. authorities searched for a missing panel that blew off a new Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet in midair on Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing jets installed with the same panel after the eight-week-old Alaska Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage.

Bangladesh turnout low in election set to keep PM Hasina in power

Bangladeshis largely stayed away from the polls in a general election on Sunday set to give Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a fourth straight term, after a vote boycotted by the main opposition party and marred by violence. Rights groups have warned of virtual one-party rule by Hasina's Awami League in the South Asian country of 170 million people after the boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and some smaller allies.

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