Reuters World News Summary

Washington is adding dozens of Chinese companies, including the country's top chipmaker, SMIC, to a trade blacklist, a move seen as the latest in President Donald Trump's efforts to cement his tough-on-China legacy.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Friday an international team led by the U.N. agency would be going to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, said international experts would go to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first cases of COVID-19 were detected last December. Special Report-The last taboo. A new generation of Thais is defying the monarchy

Songphon "Yajai" Sonthirak had been a boxer for most of his young life and knew how to face down a stronger opponent: Keep your guard up, stand tall, stay focused. So he was shocked to discover, on the day of his arrest, how little his training mattered and how fear seized him. Yajai, meaning "balm for the heart," is a 21-year-old law student with a mop of dyed blue-green hair. He'd volunteered to help with security at a small anti-government protest in the heart of old Bangkok. Yemen's president, separatists announce new power-sharing government

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen announced on Friday a new power-sharing cabinet that would include southern separatists in the internationally-recognised government, part of a deal to end a power struggle between the nominal allies. The government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, based in the southern port of Aden, and the separatists are allies within the coalition, which has been at war against the Iran-aligned Houthis that have controlled the capital Sanaa since 2014. Airports advised to step up security efforts for COVID-19 vaccine cargo

Airports around the world are being advised to step up security efforts to protect COVID-19 vaccine shipments amid police warnings of potential targeting from criminal networks. The recommendation from a global airports body comes as pharmaceutical companies and airlines are carrying out the largest logistical operation of its kind to distribute vaccines designed to combat the global pandemic. UK government pushes for lifting of U.S. travel restrictions -sources

The British government is making a concerted effort to persuade the Trump administration to lift or soften travel restrictions that bar most people in the United Kingdom from traveling to the United States, sources briefed on the matter said. On Nov. 25, Reuters reported the White House was considering rescinding entry bans for most non-U.S. citizens who recently were in Brazil, Britain, Ireland and 26 other European countries. Senior China diplomat urges U.S. to stop 'arbitrary suppression' of Chinese companies

The United States should choose dialogue and consultation with China instead of pursuing "unacceptable" unilateral sanctions against Chinese companies, China's State Councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi said on Friday. Washington is adding dozens of Chinese companies, including the country's top chipmaker, SMIC, to a trade blacklist, a move seen as the latest in President Donald Trump's efforts to cement his tough-on-China legacy.