World News Roundup: China's Xi meets with IOC's Bach in Beijing ahead of Games; Kremlin says watching U.S. actions over Ukraine with great concern and more

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff did not specify the missiles' range or trajectory, but said it was conducting an analysis together with U.S. authorities. Death toll from Yemen detention centre strike rises to 91 - Houthi minister Air strikes last week on a detention centre in Yemen killed around 90 people and wounded more than 200, the Houthi administration's health minister said on Tuesday, providing an updated toll after rescue efforts ended.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

China's Xi meets with IOC's Bach in Beijing ahead of Games

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Tuesday, just over a week before the start of the Winter Games, in a rare in-person encounter with a foreign visitor during the pandemic. Xi, who has not left China since COVID-19 first emerged, wore a white mask with a red Chinese flag in the corner as he stood next to a masked Bach at a government guesthouse in Beijing, according to images on state television.

Kremlin says watching U.S. actions over Ukraine with great concern

Russia said on Tuesday it was watching with great concern after the United States put 8,500 troops on alert to be ready to deploy to Europe in case of an escalation in the Ukraine crisis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of fuelling tensions over Ukraine - repeating Moscow's line that the crisis is being driven by U.S. and NATO actions rather than by its own build-up of tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border.

Thailand gives green light to growing cannabis at home

Thailand's narcotics board on Tuesday said it would remove cannabis from its drugs list, paving the way for households to grow the plant. Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to legalize marijuana in 2018 for medical use and research.

British police investigating lockdown parties at PM Johnson's residence

British police said on Tuesday they had opened an investigation into possible COVID lockdown breaches at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street residence after receiving evidence from an internal government probe into a series of gatherings. Johnson is fighting for his political life after a series of claims that he and staff partied at the heart of the British state in breach of the rules they had themselves imposed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

N.Korea fires cruise missiles amid tension over lifting nuclear moratorium

North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, amid rising tension over a recent series of weapons tests. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff did not specify the missiles' range or trajectory, but said it was conducting an analysis together with U.S. authorities.

Death toll from Yemen detention centre strike rises to 91 - Houthi minister

Air strikes last week on a detention centre in Yemen killed around 90 people and wounded more than 200, the Houthi administration's health minister said on Tuesday, providing an updated toll after rescue efforts ended. The United Nations said on Saturday that at least 60 people were killed in the attacks. Witnesses interviewed by Reuters described blasts hitting the centre, which was reduced to rubble, images show.

Russia adds Putin critic Navalny to list of 'terrorists and extremists'

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and a handful of his allies were added on Tuesday to an official list of "terrorists and extremists", the latest in a series of moves by Russian authorities to stamp out their opposition to President Vladimir Putin. News agencies reported separately that the federal prison service had demanded that Navalny's brother Oleg be given a real jail term in place of a one-year suspended sentence handed to him last year.

Stadium stampede kills eight in Africa Cup of Nations soccer match

At least eight people died and 38 were injured when fans stormed a soccer stadium hosting an Africa Cup of Nations match in Cameroon's capital on Monday, the government said. Images shared on social media, which Reuters could not immediately authenticate, showed a panicked crowd trying to squeeze through a narrow entrance gate at the newly built Olembe stadium in Yaounde that was hosting a round of 16 game between Cameroon and Comoros.

Royal crown slips as Elizabeth prepares to mark 70 years as queen

Celebrations this year marking Queen Elizabeth's seven-decade reign will mask a less happy reality for the world's pre-eminent royal family: the British monarchy is being questioned in ways that were unthinkable for most of the last 70 years. From the U.S. sex abuse court case facing son Prince Andrew to her grandson Prince Harry and his wife's allegations of racism in the royal household, rarely has the family of 95-year-old Elizabeth, who became queen on Feb. 6, 1952, faced such scrutiny and damaging headlines.

Burkina Faso crowd celebrates West Africa's latest coup

More than 1,000 people gathered in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday in support of a coup that a day earlier ousted President Roch Kabore, dissolved government, suspended the constitution and closed borders. The latest in a long history of coups in West Africa comes amid an increasingly bloody Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced millions across the Sahel region.