World News Roundup: Analysis-Unmasked and in charge, China's Xi puts personal diplomacy back in play; Myanmar junta frees Suu Kyi's Australian adviser, former UK envoy and more

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said stagnant resources as costs spiralled were pushing many of the 5.7 million registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East - for many of whom the agency is a lifeline - to unprecedented poverty levels. Ukrainian investigators find bodies with signs of torture in Kherson-minister Investigators in Ukraine's recently liberated southern Kherson region have uncovered 63 bodies with signs of torture after Russian forces left the area, Ukraine's interior minister was quoted as saying early on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Analysis-Unmasked and in charge, China's Xi puts personal diplomacy back in play

President Xi Jinping, conspicuously absent from the main stage of diplomacy during China's COVID isolation, has been mostly smiles and handshakes on his return this week with a flurry of meetings that Beijing hopes will begin to mend frayed relations. But in an exchange that went viral, a mask-less Xi was also captured on-camera giving Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a dressing-down at the Group of 20 (G20) summit over media leaks, apparently from their bilateral meeting a day previously. It was a rare, candid glimpse of the Chinese leader and a reminder of Beijing's testy relations with the West.

Myanmar junta frees Suu Kyi's Australian adviser, former UK envoy

Myanmar's military rulers granted amnesty to Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former adviser to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, among nearly 6,000 prisoners to be freed to mark a national holiday, state media reported on Thursday. A diplomatic source told Reuters Turnell as well as former British ambassador to Myanmar, Vicky Bowman, had been freed and had left Myanmar by plane, adding they were due to fly to Thailand.

Black Sea grain export deal extended, but Russia wants more on fertiliser exports

A deal aimed at easing global food shortages by facilitating Ukraine's agricultural exports from its southern Black Sea ports was extended for 120 days on Thursday, though Moscow said its own demands were yet to be fully addressed. The agreement, initially reached in July, created a protected sea transit corridor and was designed to alleviate global food shortages by allowing exports to resume from three ports in Ukraine, a major producer of grains and oilseeds.

More Russian missile strikes, as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine

Russia again unleashed missiles on Thursday against Ukrainian energy facilities, while its forces stepped up attacks in eastern Ukraine, reinforced by troops pulled from Kherson city in the south which Kyiv recaptured last week. NATO and Poland concluded that a missile that crashed in Poland on Tuesday, killing two people, was probably a stray fired by Ukraine's air defences and not Russian. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy contested this view in a rare public disagreement with his Western allies.

China's Xi says Asia should not become arena for 'big power contest'

The Asia-Pacific is no one's backyard and should not become an arena for a big power contest, China's President Xi Jinping said in written remarks on Thursday, calling on the world to reject any cold war mentality. "No attempt to wage a new cold war will ever be allowed by the people or by our times," Xi said in remarks prepared for a business event on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok, which he had to withdraw from due to his meetings schedule.

Exclusive-U.N. Palestinian refugee agency warns it is in funding 'danger zone'

The global economic crisis has pushed UNRWA, the U.N. agency that delivers basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees, into a "danger zone" that could result in it no longer being able to fulfil its mandate, the agency's head said on Thursday. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said stagnant resources as costs spiralled were pushing many of the 5.7 million registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East - for many of whom the agency is a lifeline - to unprecedented poverty levels.

Ukrainian investigators find bodies with signs of torture in Kherson-minister

Investigators in Ukraine's recently liberated southern Kherson region have uncovered 63 bodies with signs of torture after Russian forces left the area, Ukraine's interior minister was quoted as saying early on Thursday. "Now, 63 bodies have been discovered in Kherson region, but we must understand that the search has only just started so many more dungeons and burial places will be uncovered," Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted Denys Monastyrsky as telling national television.

North Korea fires missile, vows 'fiercer' response to U.S., allies

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Thursday as it warned of "fiercer military responses" to U.S. efforts to boost its security presence in the region with its allies, saying Washington is taking a "gamble it will regret". North Korea has conducted a record number of such tests this year, and also fired hundreds of artillery shells into the sea more recently as South Korea and the United States staged exercises, some of which involved Japan.

U.N. publishes draft COP27 climate deal

The U.N. climate agency published a first draft on Thursday of a hoped-for final agreement from the COP27 climate summit, repeating many of last year's goals while leaving contentious issues still to be resolved. The 20-page document is labelled a "non-paper", indicating it is far from a final version and there are still hours if not days left in the negotiations between delegates from nearly 200 countries.

Victims call Italy Church's abuse report 'shamefully' limited

Italy's Catholic Church on Thursday released its first report on alleged sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable individuals but victims' advocates said the number of cases was likely much higher and denounced its limited scope as shameful. The 41-page report, the first of two, covers only 2020-21. A second, promised report will cover abuse going back to 2000, although it is not clear when that will be released.