Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Russia, China have blood on their hands after veto on Syria cross-border aid: Pompeo

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said Russia and China had blood on their hands after the two countries used a veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution to block cross-border aid deliveries from Turkey and Iraq to millions of Syrian civilians. "The Russian Federation’s and China’s veto yesterday of a Security Council resolution that allows for humanitarian aid to reach millions of Syrians is shameful," Pompeo said in a statement. Cooler weather helps Australian firefighters; PM returns from holiday

Fire conditions eased on some of the major fronts burning across Australia on Sunday after a cool weather change, with firefighters trying to contain blazes before hotter conditions are expected to return at the end of the week. Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Rural Fire Service (RFS) headquarters in Sydney, having returned from a holiday in Hawaii on Saturday night that has drawn sharp criticism as the wildfires crisis in his home state deepened. Berlin police give all-clear after closing Christmas market

Berlin police gave the all-clear on Saturday after earlier evacuating a Christmas market that was the scene of a fatal attack three years ago to investigate a possible suspicious object, which they did not find. Tunisian Anis Amri ploughed a truck into the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in 2016, killing 12 people. Amri, who had Islamist militant ties, was later shot dead by Italian police after he fled Germany. Work ties pose questions over U.S. intel on nabbed Mexican drug official

Business ties between former U.S. officials and an ex-Mexican security minister charged with taking bribes from a drug cartel have raised questions about what U.S. law enforcement knew about him before his arrest this month. A former U.S. official who once headed the FBI's office in Mexico and a senior ex-CIA officer worked as recently as last year with the accused Genaro Garcia Luna, one of the principal architects of Mexico's 13-year war on drug cartels. France kills 33 militants in Mali raid: president

French forces killed 33 Islamist militants in Mali on Saturday using attack helicopters, ground troops and a drone, near the border with Mauritania where a group linked to al Qaeda operates, French authorities said. The raid about 150 km (90 miles) northwest of Mopti in Mali targeted the same forest area where France wrongly claimed last year it had killed Amadou Koufa, one of the most senior Islamist militants being hunted by French forces in the Sahel. Cuba names prime minister in move to lighten presidential load

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday named tourism minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country’s first prime minister in decades, under a new constitution that seeks to decentralize former leader Fidel Castro’s job. Manuel Marrero Cruz, 56, an architect and whose nomination was ratified by the National Assembly, is a former functionary of the military-run Gaviota tourism corporation whose hotels have been sanctioned by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Hundreds arrested in India during days of protests over citizenship law

More than 1,500 protesters have been arrested across India in the past 10 days, officials said, as police try to quell sometimes violent demonstrations against a citizenship law that critics say undermines the country's secular constitution. Additionally, some 4,000 people have been detained and then released, the officials said. Eastern Libyan forces seize ship with a Turkish crew: spokesman

Eastern Libyan forces seized a Grenada-flagged ship with a Turkish crew on Saturday off the Libyan coast, a spokesman said, amid rising tensions with Turkey, which supports the rival and internationally recognized Libyan government in Tripoli. Turkey's parliament on Saturday approved a security and military cooperation deal signed with Tripoli government last month, state media reported, an agreement that could pave the way for military help from Ankara. West Africa renames CFA franc but keeps it pegged to euro

West Africa's monetary union has agreed with France to rename its CFA franc the Eco and cut some of the financial links with Paris that have underpinned the region's common currency since its creation soon World War Two. Under the deal, the Eco will remain pegged to the euro but the African countries in the bloc won't have to keep 50% of their reserves in the French Treasury and there will no longer be a French representative on the currency union's board. Queen Elizabeth mixes puddings, and sends message of continuity

At the end of a difficult year, Queen Elizabeth has posed for photographs with her son Prince Charles, grandson Prince William and great-grandson Prince George in an apparent message about the continuity of the British royal family. Buckingham Palace released photographs on Saturday of the Queen and the three immediate members of the line of succession as they prepared traditional Christmas puddings.