Reuters World News Summary

North Korea has launched a series of missiles this week, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile, drawing condemnation from the United States, South Korea and Japan, and raising speculation it could be preparing to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time since 2017. Sweden to distance itself from Kurdish groups in bid to join NATO Sweden's new government will distance itself from the Kurdish YPG militia as it tries to win Turkey's approval to join NATO, Sweden's foreign minister told Swedish Radio on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show Russia it's open to talks, the Washington Post reports

The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. The paper quoted unnamed people familiar with the discussions as saying that the request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other nations facing constituencies wary of fueling a war for many years to come.

North Korea fires 4 ballistic missiles as U.S., Seoul end drills

North Korea fired four short-range ballistic missiles into the western sea on Saturday, South Korea's military said, as Seoul and Washington ended a high-profile six-day military exercise. North Korea has launched a series of missiles this week, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile, drawing condemnation from the United States, South Korea and Japan, and raising speculation it could be preparing to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time since 2017.

Sweden to distance itself from Kurdish groups in bid to join NATO

Sweden's new government will distance itself from the Kurdish YPG militia as it tries to win Turkey's approval to join NATO, Sweden's foreign minister told Swedish Radio on Saturday. The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and its political branch PYD are considered by Turkey extensions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which launched an insurgency against Turkey in 1980 and is regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Putin endorses evacuation of parts of Ukraine's Kherson region

Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of Ukraine's southern Kherson region on Friday, the latest sign of Russia's retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas in Ukraine. "Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer," Putin told pro-Kremlin activists as he marked Russia's Day of National Unity.

Iran acknowledges drone shipments to Russia before war, Kyiv says Tehran is lying

Iran acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that it had supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power stations and civilian infrastructure. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a "small number" of drones had been shipped a few months before Russia's Feb 24 invasion.

From Russia with cash: Georgia booms as Russians flee Putin's war

As war chokes Europe, a small nation wedged beneath Russia is enjoying an unexpected economic boom. Georgia is on course to become one of the world's fastest-growing economies this year following a dramatic influx of more than 100,000 Russians since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin's mobilisation drive to drum up war recruits.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian youth in the West Bank -health officials

Israeli soldiers fatally shot a Palestinian 18-year-old in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, health officials said, the latest in a string of deadly incidents in the territory. The Israeli military said its soldiers had opened fire at people throwing rocks at Israeli vehicles driving down a road and that "hits were confirmed".

North Kosovo Serbs quit state jobs in licence plate protest

Minority Serbs in the north of Kosovo said on Saturday they were quitting their posts in state institutions including the government, police and courts to protest Pristina's order for them to start using Kosovo vehicle licence plates. The long-running licence plate row has stoked tensions between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which gained independence in 2008 and is home to a small ethnic Serb minority in the north that is backed by Belgrade.

Venezuela rejects ICC prosecutor's decision to resume human rights investigation

Venezuela's government rejected on Saturday a decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resume an investigation into alleged human rights violations by the South American country's officials. On Tuesday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Kham applied for authorization to continue the investigation after he had received "a significant amount of information provided by Venezuela to date, as well as other credible sources".

UK PM Sunak to pledge accelerated renewables plan at COP27

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will promise to speed up the UK's transition to renewable energy when he addresses the U.N. COP27 summit on climate change on Monday. Sunak made a last-minute decision on Nov. 2 to participate in the climate talks, reversing a plan much criticised by environmental activists and political opponents to skip the annual gathering.