World News Roundup: Boost for Ukraine as U.S. expected to send longer-range rockets; Exclusive-Indonesia to send general to Myanmar to highlight transition, president says and more

The Laura Bassi vessel reached a point with the coordinates of 78° 44.280 S in the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea, according to Italy's National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics. Olympics-Paris 2024 organisers will abide by IOC decision on Russia's participation Paris 2024 organisers insisted they would abide by the International Olympic Committee's decision on Russian and Belarusian athletes' participation in the Games after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the governing body into banning them from the sport's extravaganza.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Boost for Ukraine as U.S. expected to send longer-range rockets

News that the United States could soon send rockets nearly doubling the firing range of Ukrainian forces gave Kyiv a big lift on Wednesday, even as its troops were being pushed back by a relentless Russian winter offensive in the east. In the capital Kyiv, authorities raided the home of one of Ukraine's most prominent billionaires and a former interior minister, the boldest moves so far in a war-time anti-corruption campaign launched last week by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Exclusive-Indonesia to send general to Myanmar to highlight transition, president says

Indonesia plans to send a top general to Myanmar to talk to its junta leaders in the hope of showing Myanmar's military rulers how Indonesia made a successful transition to democracy, President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday. Southeast Asian biggest economy takes on the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year and with it the responsibility of trying to resolve the region's perennial problem of the suppression of democracy in fellow member Myanmar.

UK's teachers and civil servants join mass strike on 'Walkout Wednesday'

Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, and train drivers walked out over pay in the largest coordinated strike action for a decade on Wednesday, with unions threatening more disruption as the government digs its heels in over pay demands. The mass walkouts across the country shut schools, halted most rail services, and forced the military to be put on standby to help with border checks on a day dubbed "Walk Out Wednesday" by unions.

Cannot rule out internal assistance for Pakistan mosque bombing -police

Major arrests have been made in connection with the Pakistan mosque bombing that killed over 100 people on Monday, Peshawar police chief Ijaz Khan told Reuters on Wednesday. He said police are investigating how the suicide bomber entered the highly-secured police area, and could not rule out internal assistance to carry out the attack.

Hundreds of Afghans risk 11-country trek to seek haven in United States

Their journey starts with a humanitarian visa for Brazil: one of the few remaining exit routes for Afghans fleeing Taliban rule. It ends, after a perilous trek overland through Latin America across at least 11 countries, with scaling the border wall and jumping onto U.S. soil.

Romanian court to rule on ex-kickboxer Tate's detention appeal

Divisive internet personality Andrew Tate reiterated claims he was innocent on Wednesday ahead of a court hearing to rule on his appeal against extended detention pending a criminal investigation for alleged human trafficking and rape. Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects have been in police custody since Dec. 29 pending an ongoing criminal investigation on charges of forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. They have denied the accusations.

Australia recovers radioactive capsule, finds 'needle in the haystack'

Australian authorities on Wednesday found a radioactive capsule smaller than a coin that was lost in the vast Outback after nearly a week-long search involving around 100 people along a 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) stretch of highway, officials said. The Caesium-137 capsule lost in transit more than two weeks ago was discovered when a vehicle travelling at 70 kms per hour equipped with specialist detection equipment picked up the radiation, according to officials from the state of Western Australia.

Myanmar coup anniversary marked by 'silent strike', rallies oversees

Protesters marked the two-year anniversary of Myanmar's military coup with a "silent strike" in major cities and rallies overseas on Wednesday, as exiled civilian leaders vowed to end what they called the army's "illegal power grab". The Southeast Asian country's top generals led a putsch on February 2021 after five years of tense power-sharing under a quasi-civilian political system created by the military.

As ice recedes, Italian ship makes record journey into Antarctic

An Italian ice-breaker carrying scientists researching in the Antarctic has sailed further south than any ship has done before, the organisers of the voyage said on Tuesday, a further sign of how ice is retreating around the poles. The Laura Bassi vessel reached a point with the coordinates of 78° 44.280 S in the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea, according to Italy's National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics.

Olympics-Paris 2024 organisers will abide by IOC decision on Russia's participation

Paris 2024 organisers insisted they would abide by the International Olympic Committee's decision on Russian and Belarusian athletes' participation in the Games after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the governing body into banning them from the sport's extravaganza. Last week, the IOC said the Olympic Council of Asia had offered Russian and Belarusian athletes the chance to compete in Asia, drawing an outcry from Kyiv which has called for Russian sportspeople to be banned over Russia's invasion.

(With inputs from agencies.)