World News Roundup: British PM May survives party confidence vote; Wikileaks' Assange undergoes medical tests at Ecuador's urging

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Turkey to launch operation against U.S.-backed Kurds in Syria 'in a few days'

Turkey will launch a new military operation in northern Syria within days, targeting Kurdish militia fighters who are supported by U.S. troops east of the Euphrates river, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. Ankara and Washington have long been at odds over Syria, where the United States has backed the YPG Kurdish militia in the fight against Islamic State insurgents.

U.S. wants U.N. to ban nuclear ballistic missile work by Iran

The United States will push the U.N. Security Council to toughen its stance to prevent Iran from working on ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and carrying out test launches, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. Pompeo also told the Security Council an arms embargo on Iran should not be lifted in 2020 and called on the council to establish "inspection and interdiction measures, in ports and on the high seas, to thwart Iran's continuing efforts to circumvent arms restrictions."

Saipem says Shamoon variant crippled hundreds of computers

A hack on Italian oil services firm Saipem that crippled more than 300 of the company's computers used a variant of the notorious Shamoon virus, Saipem said, a development that links the case to a massive attack in 2012 on Saudi Aramco. "The cyber attack hit servers based in the Middle East, India, Aberdeen and in a limited way Italy through a variant of Shamoon malware," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Maduro accuses U.S. official of plotting Venezuela invasion, gives no evidence

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday, without providing evidence, that U.S. national security adviser John Bolton was leading a plan to invade the South American country, which is increasingly at odds with Washington as its socialist economy collapses. Maduro made his accusation just days after Russian bombers landed in Venezuela to carry out joint military exercises, sparking a war of words between Moscow and Washington.

Police hunt across eastern France for Strasbourg Christmas market attacker

Police searched through eastern France on Wednesday for a man suspected of killing at least two people in a gun attack on a Christmas market in Strasbourg and who was known to have been religiously radicalized while in jail. Witnesses told investigators the assailant cried out "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greater) as he launched his attack on the market, the Paris prosecutor said.

British PM May survives party confidence vote but Brexit deal still teetering

British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a confidence vote by the Conservative Party on Wednesday, but a mutiny by more than a third of her lawmakers indicated parliament was heading toward deadlock over Brexit. While 200 Conservative lawmakers voted in support of May as leader, 117 dissented, indicating opposition not only from several dozen supporters of a hard Brexit but also from many more pragmatic lawmakers - and signaling that she was no nearer to passing her EU divorce agreement.

Myanmar activists stage rally on anniversary of Reuters reporters' arrest

More than 100 Myanmar activists marked the anniversary on Wednesday of the arrest of two Reuters journalists sentenced to seven years in jail in a landmark free speech case by releasing balloons at a rally in the country's largest city Yangon. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were found guilty in September of violating the country's Official Secrets Act, in a case that has raised questions about Myanmar's progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from human rights advocates.

Defying Trump, U.S. Senate advances resolution to end support for Saudis in Yemen war

In a rare break with President Donald Trump, the U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to move ahead with a resolution that would end U.S. military support for the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in the war in Yemen. Eleven of Trump's fellow Republicans voted with Democrats to provide the 60 votes needed to advance the war powers resolution in the Republican-led chamber, paving the way for debate and a vote on U.S. involvement in a conflict that has created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

Wikileaks' Assange undergoes medical tests at Ecuador's urging

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange received a series of medical exams, Ecuador's top attorney said on Wednesday, in line with a new set of rules for his asylum at the Andean country's London embassy that prompted him to sue the government. Assange first took asylum in the embassy in 2012, but his relationship with Ecuador has grown increasingly tense, with President Lenin Moreno saying he does not like his presence in the embassy.

Canada frees CFO of China's Huawei on bail; Trump might intervene

A top executive of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was granted bail by a Canadian court on Tuesday, 10 days after her arrest in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities sparked a diplomatic dispute. Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, faces U.S. claims that she misled multinational banks about Iran-linked transactions, putting the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions.

(With inputs from Reuters)