Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

EU, Mercosur set to finalise contentious trade deal

The European Union and South America's Mercosur bloc are expected on Friday to finalise a free trade agreement but it faces a tortuous battle for approval in Europe given firm French opposition. After negotiations spanning more than 20 years and five years on from an initially inked deal, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her Mercosur counterparts are due to announce a political agreement at 9.30 a.m. (1230 GMT) in Montevideo, capital of Uruguay.

Macron, defying calls to resign, struggles on in search for stable French government

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday began his latest search for a new prime minister to lead France's unruly parliament, after rejecting demands he quit to end a crisis he said was driven by the far right and extreme left's "anti-republican front." In a prime time address on Thursday, Macron said he would announce a new prime minister in the coming days to replace Michel Barnier, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote by lawmakers angered by his belt-tightening 2025 budget bill.

War-weary Iraq weighs Syria intervention as rebels advance

Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim ruling parties and armed groups are weighing the pros and cons of armed intervention in Syria, viewing as a grave threat the advance of Sunni Islamist rebels who have taken two Syrian cities and now bear down on a third. Baghdad has a dark history with Syria-based Sunni fighters, thousands of whom crossed into Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion and fuelled years of sectarian killing before returning again in 2013 as Islamic State to conquer a third of the country.

Israeli forces storm into Gaza hospital, expel some staff, displaced people, its director says

Israeli forces stormed into Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza overnight on Friday and expelled some staff and displaced people before withdrawing, and bodies of people killed by airstrikes littered the streets outside, its director said. The attack had begun with a series of airstrikes on the western and northern sides of Kamal Adwan accompanied by intensive shooting, hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya said, speaking via an online chatroom monitored by Reuters.

South Korea's Yoon under pressure to resign as threat of impeachment looms

South Korea's ruling party leader said President Yoon Suk Yeol needed to be removed from power for trying to impose martial law, increasing the pressure on him to quit even though members of his People Power Party late on Friday reaffirmed its formal opposition to his impeachment. On Saturday, lawmakers will vote on the main opposition Democratic Party's motion to impeach Yoon, who shocked the nation late on Tuesday when he gave the military sweeping emergency powers in order to root out what he called "anti-state forces" and overcome obstructionist political opponents.

Turkey's Erdogan hopes Syrian rebels will advance, but raises alarm about some fighters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he hoped Syrian rebels will continue their advance against President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria, but voiced concern about what he said were terrorist organisations in their midst. Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers he was closely following the push which he said was heading to the Syrian capital. But he suggested he had mixed feelings, given some of the forces involved.

Thousands attend pro-European rally in Romania ahead of presidential run-off vote

Thousands of people rallied in the Romanian capital Bucharest late on Thursday in support of democracy ahead of a Sunday presidential election runoff that could see a far-right critic of the EU defeat a pro-European centrist candidate. The Dec. 8 vote is the last of three consecutive ballots for both a new parliament and president in Romania, a member of the European Union and of NATO, and pits the far-right, pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu against centrist leader Elena Lasconi.

Up to 1.5 million people could flee Syrian escalation, UN official says

Up to 1.5 million people could be forced to flee a surge in fighting in Syria, a senior U.N. official said on Friday, as rebels pressed on with their lightning offensive against government forces. The violence has already displaced 280,000 people since it erupted in late November, Samer AbdelJaber, the World Food Programme's Director for Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, told reporters in Geneva.

Exclusive-Kenyan police in Haiti tender resignations over pay delays

Nearly 20 of the roughly 400 Kenyan police officers serving in Haiti on a U.N.-backed anti-gang force have submitted letters of resignation from the mission over the past two months because of pay delays and poor conditions, three officers told Reuters. The officers have received no response to their letters and continue to serve on the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, said the three officers, who requested anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.

Iran, Hezbollah aim to bolster Assad as rebels bear down on Homs

Iran will send missiles, drones and more advisers to Syria, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, as rebel forces pushed their lightning offensive south towards the city of Homs in the biggest challenge for years to President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Seizing Homs would cut off Syria's capital Damascus from the coast, a longtime redoubt of Assad's minority Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.

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