World News Roundup: Paris shooting suspect expressed 'hatred of foreigners', says prosecutor; World is starving for peace, Pope Francis says in Christmas message and more

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained of repeated Chinese military activity nearby over the past three years or so as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty. Ukraine gives all-clear after air-raid alarms Air raid sirens wailed in Kyiv and across all Ukrainian regions on Sunday morning but no new Russian attacks were reported, officials said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Paris shooting suspect expressed 'hatred of foreigners', says prosecutor

The suspect detained over the killing of three Kurdish people in Paris told investigators of his "hatred of foreigners", the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday. The 69-year-old man was arrested on Friday after shooting dead two men and a woman at a Kurdish cultural centre and nearby Kurdish cafe in the 10th district of Paris.

World is starving for peace, Pope Francis says in Christmas message

Pope Francis called for an end to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts in his Christmas message on Sunday, saying the world was suffering from a "famine of peace". Delivering the 10th Christmas "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing and message of his pontificate, he also urged people to look beyond the "shallow holiday glitter" and help the homeless, immigrants, refugees and the poor in their midst seeking comfort, warmth and food.

China stages 'strike drills' around Taiwan, citing provocation

China's military said it had conducted "strike drills" in the sea and airspace around Taiwan on Sunday in response to unspecified "provocation" from the democratically-governed island and the United States. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained of repeated Chinese military activity nearby over the past three years or so as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty.

Ukraine gives all-clear after air-raid alarms

Air raid sirens wailed in Kyiv and across all Ukrainian regions on Sunday morning but no new Russian attacks were reported, officials said. The all-clear was later given. Unconfirmed Ukrainian social media reports suggested the sirens may have been triggered after Russian jets took to the skies in Belarus and that the all-clear was sounded after the planes returned to their bases.

China's Zhejiang has 1 million daily COVID cases, expected to double

China's Zhejiang, a big industrial province near Shanghai, is battling around a million new daily COVID-19 infections, a number expected to double in the days ahead, the provincial government said on Sunday. Despite a record surge of cases nationwide, China reported no COVID deaths on the mainland for the five days through Saturday, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday.

'Where else can I go?': Migrants face freezing Christmas at U.S.-Mexico border

Hundreds of migrants prepared to camp in the cold at Mexico's northern border over Christmas, hoping for a swift reversal in U.S. migration restrictions as they endure the bite of a winter storm ravaging the United States. After the U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that restrictions known as Title 42 could stay in place temporarily, many migrants are facing a Christmas weekend of what Mexico's weather service called a "mass of arctic air."

Kurdish protest over Paris shooting turns violent

Clashes broke out for a second day in Paris on Saturday between police and Kurdish protestors angry at the killing of three members of their community by a gunman. Cars were overturned, at least one vehicle was burned, shop windows were damaged and small fires set alight near Republic Square, a traditional venue for demonstrations where Kurds earlier held a peaceful protest.

Taliban bans female NGO staff, jeopardizing aid efforts

Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign NGOs to stop female employees from working, in a move the United Nations said would hit humanitarian operations just as winter grips a country already in economic crisis. A letter from the economy ministry, confirmed by spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib, said female employees of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were not allowed to work until further notice because some had not adhered to the administration's interpretation of Islamic dresscode for women.

At least 3 dead, 4 missing in Spain after bus plunges off bridge into river

At least three people died and four were missing after a passenger bus careened off a bridge and plunged into a river in northwestern Spain, local emergency services said on Sunday. Two survivors - the vehicle's driver and a passenger - have been rescued so far from the river Lerez, where a strong current and high flow due to heavy rains sweeping the Galicia region were hampering search-and-rescue efforts, authorities said.

Putin says Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine

Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday. Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most deadly conflict in Europe since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.