World News Roundup: Belgian PM offers to quit in crisis started by migrant row; Trump urges Kosovo to reach 'historic' deal with Serbia

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Blasts heard in Yemen's main port city on first day of truce: residents

Four blasts were heard in Yemen's main port city of Hodeidah late on Tuesday on the first day of a ceasefire agreed between the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the Saudi-backed government at U.N.-led peace talks last week, residents said. One resident told Reuters the blasts sounded like artillery shelling on the eastern and southern outskirts of the Red Sea port city, vital for food and aid supplies to Yemen. Other residents said they had heard similar explosions.

U.S. Middle East peace plan to take advantage of technology: Haley

Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday that an American plan to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians brings "brings new elements to the discussion, taking advantage of the new world of technology that we live in." However, during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Middle East Haley gave no details of exactly what was in the long-awaited, unpublished plan, which has been prepared by U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Belgian PM offers to quit in crisis started by migrant row

Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel offered to resign on Tuesday after opponents tabled a no confidence vote in a political crisis triggered by differences over immigration. In office since 2014, Michel lost the support of the biggest party in his coalition, the Flemish N-VA, last week in protest at his support of a U.N. pact to foster cooperation over the world's 21 million refugees.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says he will target Venezuela, Cuba

Brazil's far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday that he would take all action "within the rule of law and democracy" to oppose the governments of Venezuela and Cuba. Bolsonaro, who takes power Jan. 1, is a fervent anti-communist who has praised his country's 1964-1985 military regime. He frequently targets Venezuela and Cuba for verbal attacks, a drastic change from Brazil's governments under the leftist Workers Party that ruled from 2003 to 2016 and had warm relations with those regimes.

U.S. pledges billions in aid to develop Central America, curb migration

The United States is committing billions of dollars toward development in Central America and Mexico, as part of a plan to strengthen economic growth in the region and curb illegal immigration, the U.S. and Mexican governments said on Tuesday. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been seeking to persuade U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to work with Mexico to develop Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, as well as Mexico's poorer south to stem the flow of migrants.

Trump urges Kosovo to reach 'historic' deal with Serbia

U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci urging him to do everything to reach a longstanding deal with Serbia two decades after their war ended, according to Thaci's official website. Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, committed in 2013 to a European Union-sponsored dialogue meant to resolve all unsolved issues but little progress has been made.

Trump willing to look at extraditing Turkish cleric, but noncommittal

U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington "would take a look at" the possibility of extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who Ankara suspects of being behind a 2016 coup attempt, but he made no commitment, the White House said on Tuesday. "The only thing he said is that we would take a look at it," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters. "Nothing further at this point beyond that ... nothing committal at all in that process."

Russia, Iran, Turkey back new Syria constitution body but fail to agree makeup

Russia, Iran and Turkey, supporters of the main sides in Syria's complex civil war, on Tuesday failed to agree on the makeup of a U.N.-sponsored Syrian Constitutional Committee but called for it to convene early next year to kick off a viable peace process. In a joint statement read out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the trio met U.N. Syria peace envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva, they said the new initiative should be guided "by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement".

Cuba's president, steeped in era of hours-long lectures, turns to Twitter

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said his office would shortly launch a new website, Twitter account and Youtube channel as part of his bid to harness the digital era to better communicate government policy to an ever-more connected people. Connectivity in Communist-run Cuba, a tech laggard, has surged in recent years as the government opened cybercafes, Wi-Fi parks and this month launched mobile internet - although few homes are connected to the web.

British government to activate full 'no-deal' Brexit preparations

The British government said on Tuesday it would implement plans for a no-deal Brexit in full and begin telling businesses and citizens to prepare for the risk of leaving the European Union without an agreement. Those plans include setting aside space on ferries to ensure a regular flow of medical supplies and keeping 3,500 armed forces personnel ready to support the government with its contingency plans.

(With inputs from Reuters)