Reuters World News Summary

Many released balloons into the sky when the clocks struck midnight, as per tradition in the central Chinese city where the pandemic began three years ago, before grabbing selfies with their friends. Ukraine's Zelenskiy in New Year message: "I want to wish all of us one thing – victory" President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his only wish for all Ukrainians for 2023 was victory and resolved to stay the course while the country fights for it.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Missile strikes on Ukraine kill one, Zelenskiy says Russians in league with the devil

Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles at targets in Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person in Kyiv, in attacks President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said showed Moscow was in league with the devil. The second barrage of major Russian missile attacks in three days badly damaged a Kyiv hotel and a residential building. Energy Minister German Galushchenko on Facebook said the strikes had not caused serious damage to the national power system.

Thousands celebrate the new year in Wuhan amidst China's COVID wave

Thousands gathered in central Wuhan on Saturday night to count down to the start of what many hoped would be a much better year after a "tough" 2022 filled with lockdowns and in December a major new outbreak of the coronavirus. Many released balloons into the sky when the clocks struck midnight, as per tradition in the central Chinese city where the pandemic began three years ago, before grabbing selfies with their friends.

Ukraine's Zelenskiy in New Year message: "I want to wish all of us one thing – victory"

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his only wish for all Ukrainians for 2023 was victory and resolved to stay the course while the country fights for it. "I want to wish all of us one thing - victory. And that's the main thing. One wish for all Ukrainians," Zelenskiy, dressed in his trademark khaki outfit, said in a video message a few minutes before midnight.

The New Year rings in as Asia then Europe usher out 2022

With fireworks planned in Paris, hopes for an end to war in Kyiv, and a return to post-COVID normality in Australia and China, Europe and Asia bid farewell to 2022. It was a year marked for many by the conflict in Ukraine, economic stresses and the effects of global warming. But it was also a year that saw a dramatic soccer World Cup, rapid technological change, and efforts to meet climate challenges.

Canada to impose mandatory COVID tests for travelers from China

Air travelers to Canada from China must test negative for COVID-19 no more than two days before departure, Ottawa said on Saturday, joining other nations that have implemented such restrictions. The requirements, which take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday, apply to all travelers aged 2 and older on Canadian-bound flights originating from the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong or Macao.

Netanyahu says Israel not bound by 'despicable' U.N. vote

Israel condemned and the Palestinians welcomed on Saturday a United Nations General Assembly vote asking the International Court of Justice to provide an opinion on legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. The Friday vote presents a challenge for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who this week took office at the head of a government which has set settlement expansion as a priority and which includes parties who want to annex West Bank land on which they are built.

Brazil's Lula calls for peace at meetings with Russia, Ukraine representatives

Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met on Saturday with representatives of Russia and Ukraine ahead of his inauguration and called for an end to the war between the two countries. Lula, who will be sworn in on Sunday, said on Twitter he had separately met with the speaker of Russia's Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, and Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

Former Pope Benedict, hero to Catholic conservatives, dies

Former Pope Benedict, the first pontiff in 600 years to resign and a standard bearer for conservatives who yearned for a more traditional Church, died on Saturday, ending an extraordinary period in which two men wearing white lived in the Vatican. Benedict, 95, died in a former monastery where he had lived since his shock resignation in 2013.

North Korea's Kim calls for new ICBM, greater nuclear arsenal

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles and massive production of tactical nuclear weapons to counter threats from the United States and South Korea, state media said on Sunday. At a key meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, Kim highlighted the need to boost the country's nuclear arsenal and secure "overwhelming military power" to defend its sovereignty and security.

Putin uses New Year address for wartime rallying cry to Russians

Russian President Vladimir Putin devoted his annual New Year's address on Saturday to rallying the Russian people behind his troops fighting in Ukraine and pledging victory over Ukrainian "neo-Nazis" and a West supposedly intent on "destroying Russia". In a stern and combative recorded video message, broadcast on national television, Putin cast the war - which he calls a "special military operation" - as a near-existential fight for the future of Russia.