Reuters World News Summary

Ville Skinnari, Finland's minister for development cooperation and foreign trade whose government co-organised the conference, said donors had pledged $3 billion for next year, with annual commitments expected to continue at roughly the same level through to 2024, adding: "This would amount to $12 billion." France's Macron announces three-step reopening amid 'glimmer of hope' France will start easing its COVID-19 lockdown this weekend so that by Christmas, shops, theatres and cinemas will reopen and people will be able to spend the holiday with their families, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Tigrayans accused of massacre in Ethiopia war, both sides claim advances

Ethiopia's state-appointed rights watchdog accused a Tigrayan youth group on Tuesday of killing hundreds of civilians as federal and local forces both claimed advances in a three-week war in the country's mountainous north. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government said enemy soldiers were surrendering as it advanced towards the regional capital, but the Tigrayans reported they were resisting and had destroyed a prestigious army division. Netanyahu promises Israel's ex-spy in U.S. a warm welcome home

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised Jonathan Pollard, an American who spent 30 years in U.S. prison for spying for Israel, a warm welcome and a comfortable life in Israel now that parole restrictions have ended. "We are waiting for you, even during the time of the coronavirus, with open arms, and you will receive the genuine embrace of the Israeli people," Netanyahu said in a video distributed by his office on Tuesday of part of a telephone call with Pollard and his wife Esther on Monday. Foreign aid to Afghanistan could reach $12 billion over four years, some with conditions

Foreign donors pledged a projected $12 billion in civilian aid to Afghanistan over the next four years at a conference on Tuesday, but many made it conditional on protecting human rights and making progress on peace talks in a major shake-up for the country's economy. Ville Skinnari, Finland's minister for development cooperation and foreign trade whose government co-organised the conference, said donors had pledged $3 billion for next year, with annual commitments expected to continue at roughly the same level through to 2024, adding: "This would amount to $12 billion." France's Macron announces three-step reopening amid 'glimmer of hope'

France will start easing its COVID-19 lockdown this weekend so that by Christmas, shops, theatres and cinemas will reopen and people will be able to spend the holiday with their families, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. In a televised address to the nation, Macron said the worst of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in France was over, but that restaurants, cafes and bars would have to stay shut until Jan. 20 to avoid triggering a third wave. Two blasts kill seven in Syrian rebel-held northwest near Turkish border

Two bomb blasts killed at least seven people and wounded scores on Tuesday in areas of northwest Syria near the Turkish border and under heavy Turkish influence, witnesses and police sources said. Five people were killed and 20 wounded, some critically, in a blast that exploded at a road junction on the outskirts of the city of al Bab, north of Aleppo province, they said. Supreme leader dismisses talks as Iran looks to post-Trump future

Iran's supreme leader dismissed the prospect of new negotiations with the West on Tuesday, even as the Tehran government spoke optimistically about the return of foreign companies in "the absence of Trump" and his sanctions. President-elect Joe Biden's victory has raised the possibility that the United States could rejoin a deal Iran reached with world powers in 2015, under which sanctions were lifted in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear programme. Hurricanes Eta, Iota hit Nicaragua with $743 million in economic losses

Nicaragua suffered nearly $750 million in damage from Hurricanes Eta and Iota, the government said on Tuesday, as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) promised $1.7 billion in aid for millions of people affected across Central America. Nearly 44,000 homes suffered total or partial damage in Nicaragua, said Nicaraguan Finance Minister Ivan Acosta, estimating the storms have cost the country $743 million in losses, according to government media site El 19. Twin blasts in Afghan province of Bamiyan kill 14 people, injure 45 - officials

Twin explosions in the central Afghan province of Bamiyan killed at least 14 people and wounded 45 more, provincial officials said on Tuesday, as the international community pledged assistance for Afghanistan at a conference in Switzerland. The two bombs, hidden at the side of a road in a main bazaar in Bamiyan city, killed 12 civilians and two traffic policemen, said Zabardast Safai, the police chief of the province. Pakistan gives U.N. a dossier on India after India submits one on Pakistan

Pakistan gave U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres a dossier on Tuesday accusing India of stoking terrorism in Pakistan, a day after India provided a dossier to some U.N. Security Council members accusing militants from Pakistan of attempting an attack in the disputed Indian territory Kashmir. The tit-for-tat moves come ahead of India joining the 15-member council for a two-year term starting Jan. 1, 2021. Biden says UK border with Ireland must be open

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday he did not want to see a guarded border between Ireland and the United Kingdom, adding that he had previously discussed the matter with the British and Irish prime ministers and other European leaders. Biden had stressed the importance of protecting Northern Ireland's peace deal in the Brexit process in a call with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier in the month, after Biden won the Nov. 3 U.S. election against President Donald Trump.

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