World News Roundup: U.S. mulls joint weapons production with Taiwan, Nikkei reports; Russia's Putin declares martial law in seized Ukrainian regions and more

Washington wants to step up production capacity for U.S.-designed arms and speed up their transfer as part of a move to bolster deterrence against China, Nikkei reported. Russia's Putin declares martial law in seized Ukrainian regions President Vladimir Putin introduced martial law on Wednesday in four Ukrainian regions he says are part of Russia as some residents of the Russian-held city of Kherson left by boat after Moscow warned of a looming assault.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S. mulls joint weapons production with Taiwan, Nikkei reports

The U.S. government is considering a plan to jointly produce weapons with Taiwan, Japan's Nikkei newspaper said on Wednesday, citing three sources. Washington wants to step up production capacity for U.S.-designed arms and speed up their transfer as part of a move to bolster deterrence against China, Nikkei reported.

Russia's Putin declares martial law in seized Ukrainian regions

President Vladimir Putin introduced martial law on Wednesday in four Ukrainian regions he says are part of Russia as some residents of the Russian-held city of Kherson left by boat after Moscow warned of a looming assault. The images of people fleeing Kherson were broadcast by Russian state TV which portrayed the exodus - from the right bank of the Rover Dnipro to its left bank - as an attempt to clear the city of civilians before it became a combat zone.

UK PM Truss tries to reassert authority as rebellion grows

British Prime Minister Liz Truss sought to reassert authority over her fraught party on Wednesday with Conservative enforcers telling lawmakers they had to support her fracking policy as a vote treated as a test of confidence in the government. Truss is trying to shore up support from within her party after she was forced to scrap her vast tax-cutting plan, leading some Conservative lawmakers to call for her to be replaced as leader just weeks after she took office.

Elnaz Rekabi: Fans cheer, clap as climber returns to Iran

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi, who caused controversy by competing in an international contest without a headscarf, has returned to Iran to cheering supporters, reiterating in comments to state media she had climbed without a hijab unintentionally.

Footage had shown Rekabi, 33, scaling a wall without her head covered while competing in South Korea while representing Iran, which has been swept by protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in morality police custody.

In Argentina, controls spawn soybean and 'Netflix' currency rates

Jose Zegarra, a Peruvian tourist in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires, found out the hard way that the value of the country's peso isn't always what it seems as tough capital controls spawn an array of wildly diverging exchange rates. Charged near the official 150 pesos per U.S. dollar when he paid for a meal by credit card, he discovered his dollar fetched him twice as many pesos at one of the city's flourishing money changers at what locals know as the "blue" exchange rate.

Putin raises Russian war footing, declares martial law in occupied Ukraine regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he was introducing martial law in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that Moscow last month claimed as its own territory but is struggling to defend from Ukrainian advances. In televised remarks to members of his Security Council, Putin also instructed the government to set up a special coordinating council under Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to work with Russia's regions to boost Moscow's war effort.

Global CO2 emissions to grow less than 1% this year thanks to renewables- IEA

Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are expected to rise by just under 1% this year, as the expansion of renewables and electric vehicles outweighed coal demand, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. CO2 emissions are on course to increase by nearly 300 million tonnes to 33.8 billion tonnes this year, a far smaller rise than their jump of nearly 2 billion tonnes in 2021, the agency said in a report.

Hamas leaders meet Assad in Damascus to 'turn the page'

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad met a delegation from Hamas on Wednesday, with the Sunni Palestinian Islamist faction saying the meeting could help "turn the page" after shunning Damascus for a decade. Hamas leaders publicly endorsed the 2011 Sunni street uprising against Assad's rule and vacated their Damascus headquarters in 2012, a move that angered their common ally, Iran.

Putin restricts movement in and out of regions near Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on Wednesday restricting movement in and out of eight regions adjoining Ukraine. The measures apply to the southern regions of Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov, which are all near Ukraine, and the territories of Crimea and Sevastopol, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

EU to sanction 8 people, entities over Iranian drone use by Russia

European Union governments have provisionally agreed to impose sanctions on eight people and entities over the use of Iranian-made drones in Russian strikes on Ukraine, three diplomats said. Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks. Iran denies supplying drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.

(With inputs from agencies.)