Reuters World News Summary

U.S. charges three North Koreans in $1.3 billion hacking spree The United States has charged three North Korean computer programmers with a massive hacking spree aimed at stealing more than $1.3 billion in money and cryptocurrency, affecting companies from banks to Hollywood movie studios, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Myanmar coup protesters mass to reject army claim of support

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Myanmar on Wednesday, rejecting the army's assertion that the public supported its overthrow of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and saying they would not be cowed in their bid to end military rule. The day's demonstrations were largely peaceful, but security forces fired shots in the city of Mandalay after dark in a confrontation with striking railway workers, residents said. Migrants in Mexican camp brave icy nights, chance to enter U.S. nears

Roberto Manuel wore two shirts, three jackets and four pairs of pants to brace himself for subzero temperatures in Matamoros, the Mexican city opposite Texas, where he lives in a flimsy tent while waiting to resolve an asylum claim in the United States. "It was cold last year, but not like this with ice," the 43-year-old said on Tuesday evening by phone from the encampment, where he is among about 1,000 migrants, most from Central America, hoping to be granted refuge across the border. Exclusive: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine supply to the EU about 10 million doses short of plan -sources

Pfizer Inc has not yet delivered to the European Union about 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that were due in December, EU officials said, leaving it about one-third short of the supply it had expected from the U.S. drugmaker. The shortfall is another blow to the EU, which has also been hit by delays in vaccine deliveries from Britain-based AstraZeneca Plc and U.S. biotech Moderna Inc. It had also faced earlier delays with the shot from Pfizer. U.S. charges three North Koreans in $1.3 billion hacking spree

The United States has charged three North Korean computer programmers with a massive hacking spree aimed at stealing more than $1.3 billion in money and cryptocurrency, affecting companies from banks to Hollywood movie studios, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday. The indictment alleges that Jon Chang Hyok, 31, Kim Il, 27, and Park Jin Hyok, 36, stole money while working for North Korea's military intelligence services. Park had previously been charged in a complaint unsealed in 2018. Blinken to hold virtual 'Quad' meeting with Australia, India, Japan

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet virtually on Thursday with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India in the "Quad" framework, a grouping seen as part of efforts to balance China's growing military and economic power. The meeting, announced by State Department spokesman Ned Price at a regular briefing on Wednesday, will be the first of the informal group under the Biden administration that took office on Jan. 20, although it has discussed its future role in bilateral calls with members since then. Biden makes first call to Israel's Netanyahu after delay

U.S. President Joe Biden made a long-awaited first phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after a delay that had seen Washington deny it was snubbing Israel's leader. There had been speculation that the Democratic president was signaling displeasure over Netanyahu's close ties with former President Donald Trump, who called the right-wing leader two days after his inauguration in 2017. NY judge: No proof U.S. prosecutors knowingly hid evidence in Iran sanctions case, despite misconduct

A U.S. judge found no proof that federal prosecutors in Manhattan knowingly withheld key evidence from lawyers for a banker charged with Iran sanctions violations, even as she excoriated the government for mishandling the case. In an order on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan urged the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate any prosecutorial misconduct in the case against the banker, Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad. Show us that Sheikha Latifa is alive, UK tells Dubai

Britain called on the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday to show proof that Sheikha Latifa, one of the daughters of the ruler of Dubai, was still alive after she said in a video message from a bathroom that she was being held captive in a barricaded villa. The fate of Latifa, 35, and her tempestuous relationship with her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has cast a new spotlight on his family affairs and on an international campaign to free his daughter. Mexico urges rich countries to stop 'hoarding' COVID-19 vaccines

Mexico on Wednesday made a plea at the U.N. Security Council for countries to stop hoarding vaccines against COVID-19 as poorer ones fall behind in the race to vaccinate their citizens. Three quarters of the first doses have been applied to citizens in only ten countries that account for 60% of global gross domestic product (GDP), Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said, while in more than 100 countries no vaccines have been applied at all. Men charged in Ghosn escape plot ask U.S. State Department to halt extradition - letter

An American father and son accused of helping former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee trial in Japan have asked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to halt their impending extradition to the East Asian country. On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency request by lawyers for U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, to pause a lower court order that cleared the way for them to be extradited.