Reuters World News Summary

Negotiations in Mexico between Venezuela's government and opposition politicians ground to a halt late last year after Colombian businessman Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, was extradited to the United States to face money laundering charges. White House: U.S., allies girding for security talks with Russia next week The United States and its allies will raise election interference, arms agreements, Ukraine and other issues at security talks with Russia next week, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Asylum seekers shut out of financial system by some EU banks, watchdog finds

Some European Union banks are shutting out asylum seekers and other types of customers in mishandled efforts to comply with anti-money laundering rules, the bloc's banking watchdog said. Banks have become far more nervous as regulators in the EU, the United States and elsewhere crack down on inadequate "know your customer" checks, prompting some people to complain that they are being unfairly locked out of the financial system.

Blinken, German minister reiterate warning to Russia over Ukraine

The United States and Germany's top diplomats on Wednesday reiterated that they would impose consequences on Russia for an invasion of Ukraine, with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stressing the need for a diplomatic solution to heightened tensions between Moscow and the West. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his newly installed German counterpart met at the State Department ahead of a series of meetings https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-head-convenes-council-with-russia-jan-12-2022-01-04 with Russian officials in Europe next week.

Series of rocket attacks target military bases near Baghdad airport, western Iraq –military

Katyusha rockets hit Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. forces near Baghdad's international airport and west of Baghdad on Wednesday, Iraqi military sources said. An Iraqi military statement said it found a rocket launcher with one rocket in al-Jihad district in western Baghdad near the airport.

COVID testing policy put under the microscope as Omicron sweeps world

Britain and Israel are overhauling their COVID-19 testing policies as governments seek to reduce the burden on laboratories and struggle with tight supplies of kits amid soaring infection rates fuelled by the Omicron variant. This time last year, vaccines offered hope that the pandemic could be over by now. But Omicron has brought new challenges, including overloading public health systems, even if - as many scientists say - it leads to less severe illness than the earlier Delta variant.

U.S. begins returning migrants to Mexican border city under rebooted Trump-era policy

The United States on Wednesday began returning migrants to the Mexican city of Tijuana in an restart of a Trump-era program that forces asylum seekers to wait for U.S. court hearings in Mexico, Mexican authorities and the U.N. migration agency said. The United States and Mexico last month agreed to relaunch the controversial scheme known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), in keeping with a U.S. federal court order.

N.Korea says launch on Wednesday was hypersonic missile

North Korea test fired a "hypersonic missile" this week that successfully hit a target, state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday, as the country pursues new military capabilities amid stalled denuclearisation talks. The launch on Wednesday was the first by North Korea since October and was detected by several militaries in the region, drawing criticism from governments in the United States, South Korea, and Japan.

Venezuela opposition must recognize errors to resume dialogue-gov't

Venezuela's opposition must abandon hypocrisy and recognize its mistakes if it wants to restart talks with the ruling party, which were suspended in October, National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez said on Wednesday. Negotiations in Mexico between Venezuela's government and opposition politicians ground to a halt late last year after Colombian businessman Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, was extradited to the United States to face money laundering charges.

White House: U.S., allies girding for security talks with Russia next week

The United States and its allies will raise election interference, arms agreements, Ukraine and other issues at security talks with Russia next week, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday. U.S. delegations will raise concerns with Russia's security actions in Europe during the talks next week, Psaki told reporters.

Kazakh president fails to quell protests, ex-Soviet states offer help

A Russia-led security alliance of ex-Soviet states will send peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan, Armenia's prime minister said on Thursday, after the Kazakh president appealed for their help in quelling violent and deadly protests. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook that an unspecified number of peacekeepers would go to Kazakhstan for a limited period to stabilise the situation after state buildings were torched and the Almaty international airport was seized.

Ex-paramilitaries stand trial for Guatemala civil war rape of 36 indigenous women

Five former Guatemalan paramilitaries went on trial on Wednesday on charges of raping 36 women from the indigenous Achi group from 1981 to 1985 during the Central American country's decades-long civil war. The paramilitary Civil Self-Defense Patrols (PACs) were created by the Guatemalan army during the conflict to control the indigenous population. Since the signing of peace agreements in 1996, they have been accused of serious human rights violations.

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