Reuters World News Summary

Eswatini's prime minister, who tested positive for COVID-19, dies Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for COVID-19 four weeks ago, has died at age 52 after being hospitalised in neighbouring South Africa, the tiny absolute monarchy's government said late on Sunday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Iran jails British-Iranian researcher for nine years for subversion: report

A court in Iran has handed a nine-year jail sentence to British-Iranian anthropologist Kameel Ahmady, after convicting him of conducting "subversive" research work, the semi-official news agency Tasnim said on Sunday. Ahmady was also fined 600,000 euros ($727,000) - the sum Iranian authorities said he received for his research from institutions accused of seeking to topple Iran's Islamic government, Tasnim reported. 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' novelist John le Carre dies aged 89

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" author John le Carre, who cast flawed spies on to the bleak chessboard of Cold War rivalry, has died aged 89. His agent said in a statement https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/news/a-statement-from-jonny-geller-ceo-the-curtis-brown-group that David Cornwell, known to the world as John le Carre, died after a short illness in Cornwall, southwestern England, on Saturday evening. Armenia, Azerbaijan blame each other for deadly post-ceasefire clashes

Clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region have killed four Azeri servicemen in recent weeks, Azerbaijan's defence ministry said on Sunday, in the first report of casualties since a Russian-brokered ceasefire accord. Separately, authorities in Armenia said six of their servicemen had been wounded in what they described as an Azeri military offensive that took place on Saturday. Eswatini's prime minister, who tested positive for COVID-19, dies

Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for COVID-19 four weeks ago, has died at age 52 after being hospitalised in neighbouring South Africa, the tiny absolute monarchy's government said late on Sunday. "Their Majesties have commanded that I inform the Nation of the sad and untimely passing away of His Excellency the Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. His Excellency passed on this afternoon while under medical care in a hospital in South Africa", Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said in a statement. Leaders to push Brexit trade talks beyond Sunday deadline

London and Brussels agreed on Sunday to "go the extra mile" in coming days to try to reach an elusive trade agreement despite missing their latest deadline to avert a turbulent exit for Britain from the European Union's orbit at the end of the month. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the EU's executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen had given negotiators a Sunday deadline to find a way to resolve an impasse on arrangements that would guarantee Britain zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the EU's single market. Lebanon's collapse is like the Titanic's sinking, only without the music: Le Drian

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Lebanon's political and economic collapse was like the sinking of the Titanic, only without the music. "Lebanon is the Titanic without the orchestra," Le Drian told the daily Le Figaro in an interview published on Sunday. "The Lebanese are in complete denial as they sink, and there isn't even the music." Sudanese prime minister visits Ethiopia to discuss Tigray fighting

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited Ethiopia briefly on Sunday with what three senior Sudanese government officials said was an offer to broker a ceasefire in its northern Tigray region, a proposal Ethiopia said was unnecessary because fighting had stopped. Hamdok, who was accompanied by Sudanese security officials, planned to present his concerns about threats to Sudan's security along its border with Tigray during the visit, the officials said. However, Hamdok returned within a few hours from what Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had earlier described as a two-day trip. Shoppers flood Italian cities as government debates Christmas curbs

Crowds flooded the streets of several Italian cities on Sunday, forcing police to close off popular sites such as Rome's Trevi fountain, while the government debated which restrictions to enforce over the Christmas holiday period. Italy on Saturday overtook Britain as the European nation with the highest death toll with a total of 64,520 COVID-19 fatalities. 11 migrants found dead off of Venezuela's eastern coast

Eleven people believed to have traveled from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago were found dead in waters near the South American nation's coast, Trinidad and Tobago's coast guard said on Sunday. At least 40,000 Venezuelans live in Trinidad and Tobago, the majority fleeing the South American country's economic crisis, unemployment and lack of basic public services, often traveling in small rickety boats above their capacity with limited supplies of fuel and food. France, other European countries withdraw from business forum over execution

France said on Sunday its ambassador to Iran would not participate in an online business forum in Tehran this week, in a growing row between Iran and European nations over the execution of Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam. Other envoys from Germany, Austria and Italy were also cancelling their involvement in the Dec. 14 event, the French foreign ministry said on Twitter. At the foot of its tweet, the ministry ran the hashtag #nobusinessasusual.