Reuters World News Summary

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a quarter of Kyiv remained without heating but that the metro system was back in service and all residents had been reconnected to water supply by early morning. Tunisian election, dismissed by Saied critics as charade, draws just 8.8% turnout Only 8.8% of Tunisian voters cast ballots in Saturday's parliamentary elections, authorities announced, after most political parties boycotted the vote as a charade aimed at shoring up President Kais Saied's power.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

New COVID model predicts over 1 million deaths in China through 2023

China's abrupt lifting of stringent COVID-19 restrictions could result in an explosion of cases and over a million deaths through 2023, according to new projections from the U.S.-based Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). According to the group's projections, cases in China would peak around April 1, when deaths would reach 322,000. About a third of China's population will have been infected by then, IHME Director Christopher Murray said.

Exclusive-Sam Bankman-Fried to reverse decision on contesting extradition

Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas on Monday to reverse his decision to contest extradition to the United States, where he faces fraud charges, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday. The 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul was indicted in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday and accused of engaging in a scheme to defraud FTX customers by using billions of dollars in stolen deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments for his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC.

German police recover bulk of booty from $120 million Dresden diamonds heist

Most of the jewels stolen from a historic Dresden art collection in 2019 in a $120 million heist have been recovered, German police and prosecutors said on Saturday. The 31 pieces, including a breast star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle and an ornate diamond head-dress, had been secured by investigators in Berlin, authorities said.

Peru president urges Congress to bring elections forward amid deadly protests

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, who has said she is leading a transitional government, urged the country's Congress to pass a proposal to bring forward general elections in a news conference from the presidential palace on Saturday. Boluarte, formerly Peru's vice president, assumed the presidency earlier this month after leftist then-President Pedro Castillo tried to illegally dissolve Congress and was arrested.

In COVID-hit Beijing, funeral homes and crematoriums are busy

Hearses bearing the dead lined the driveway to a designated COVID-19 crematorium in the Chinese capital on Saturday while workers at the city's dozen funeral homes were busier than normal, days after China reversed tight pandemic restrictions. In recent days in Beijing the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has hit services from catering to parcel deliveries. Funeral homes and crematoriums across the city of 22 million are also struggling to keep up with demand as more workers and drivers testing positive for coronavirus call in sick.

Pakistan's Imran Khan says his party to dissolve two local assemblies on Dec. 23

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Saturday that his party would dissolve two provincial assemblies next week, earlier than scheduled, in an attempt to build pressure on the federal government to hold early general elections. Khan has campaigned for snap polls since being ousted from power in a parliamentary vote in April, which has heightened political uncertainty in the South Asian nation even as it struggles to stave off financial default.

Iran central bank governor blames protests for currency's fall

Iran's central bank governor on Saturday partly blamed recent anti-government unrest for the fall of the Iranian currency to record lows, while authorities detained a prominent actress who had voiced support for protesters. The unrest, which poses one of the biggest challenges to theocratic rule in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, also saw groups of oil workers holding protests on Saturday to demand higher wages, according to reports on social media.

Fog-shrouded Kyiv recovers after Russia strikes, power restored to 6 million

Basic services were being restored in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Saturday after the latest wave of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure, as residents navigated a city gripped by fog and girded for a holiday season marked by uncertainty. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a quarter of Kyiv remained without heating but that the metro system was back in service and all residents had been reconnected to water supply by early morning.

Tunisian election, dismissed by Saied critics as charade, draws just 8.8% turnout

Only 8.8% of Tunisian voters cast ballots in Saturday's parliamentary elections, authorities announced, after most political parties boycotted the vote as a charade aimed at shoring up President Kais Saied's power. The provisional turnout figure is below November's 9.8% inflation rate, underscoring the economic pressures that have left many Tunisians disillusioned with politics and infuriated with their leaders.

Brazil literary great Nelida Pinon dies at 85

Writer and scholar Nelida Pinon, the first woman to preside over the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL), died at age 85 in Lisbon, according to the literary club and Brazilian media reports. The acclaimed author published a vast body of work translated in more than 30 countries.

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