World News Roundup: Kenya's president suspends senior election officials who disowned his win; Inside China's fight over the future of zero-COVID and more

Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks at the White House on Thursday that they would hold Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine but the U.S. president also appeared to hold out an olive branch to Moscow while stressing he saw no sign of any change in Putin's stance. U.S. and Asian allies impose new sanctions on North Korea after ICBM test The United States, South Korea, and Japan have imposed sanctions on North Korean officials connected to the country's weapons programs after Pyongyang's latest and largest intercontinental ballistic missile test last month.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Kenya's president suspends senior election officials who disowned his win

Kenya's President William Ruto has suspended four election commissioners who disowned his win in an August election and formed a panel to investigate if they should be removed, the presidency said on Friday. The move has opened a new battle front between the government and the opposition in East Africa's biggest economy and comes after the national assembly asked Ruto to form a tribunal against Commissioners Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang'aya, Irene Masit and Francis Wanderi.

Inside China's fight over the future of zero-COVID

Samuel Ren is sick of zero-COVID. "Omicron is not a threat, it is just like a normal cold," said the IT worker in his mid-20s in Shanghai, describing China's ongoing lockdown measures as "ridiculous".

Three killed in Russian artillery attacks on Kherson region

Three people were killed and seven wounded in Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson over the past 24 hours, the regional governor said on Friday. Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych wrote on the Telegram messaging app that Russian troops had bombarded the city of Kherson and other parts of the region 42 times in the same period.

Pope: migrant deaths 'unacceptable and almost always avoidable'

Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean are "unacceptable and almost always avoidable," Pope Francis said on Friday, renewing a call for policymakers across the region to address the issue in a manner "beneficial to all." The 85-year-old pontiff, son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, often speaks up for the rights of migrants, and has repeatedly denounced how the Mediterranean has turned into a "vast cemetery."

Syria Kurds halt joint ops with US-led coalition after Turkish raids -spokesman

The Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed group that helped defeat Islamic State jihadists in Syria, said on Friday it had stopped all joint counter-terrorism operations with the United States and other allies as a result of Turkish bombardment on its area of control. Turkey has ramped up its shelling and air strikes on northern Syria in recent weeks and is preparing a ground invasion against Syrian Kurdish fighters that it dubs terrorists but which make up the bulk of the U.S.-supported SDF.

South Africa's ANC meets over 'Farmgate' as Ramaphosa allies mount defence

Senior officials in South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) were gathering on Friday to decide whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should stay on after an inquiry found evidence of misconduct over cash hidden at his farm. His future has been in doubt since the publication on Wednesday of a report by a panel of experts investigating the alleged theft of millions of dollars stuffed into furniture in the multi-millionaire leader's Phala Phala game farm in 2020.

Russia 'open' to talks on Ukraine but presses demands after Biden comment

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "open to negotiations" on Ukraine but the West must accept Moscow's demands, the Kremlin said on Friday, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said he was willing to talk if Putin were looking for a way to end the war. Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks at the White House on Thursday that they would hold Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine but the U.S. president also appeared to hold out an olive branch to Moscow while stressing he saw no sign of any change in Putin's stance.

U.S. and Asian allies impose new sanctions on North Korea after ICBM test

The United States, South Korea, and Japan have imposed sanctions on North Korean officials connected to the country's weapons programs after Pyongyang's latest and largest intercontinental ballistic missile test last month. The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday named the individuals as Jon Il Ho, Yu Jin, and Kim Su Gil, all of whom the European Union designated for sanctions in April.

Relief and worry as major Chinese cities ease COVID curbs

Further easing of COVID-19 testing requirements and quarantine rules in some Chinese cities was met with a mix of relief and worry on Friday, as hundreds of millions await an expected shift in national virus policies after widespread social unrest. The looser measures were welcomed by workers frustrated by three years of economically damaging curbs but have jolted others who suddenly feel more exposed to a disease authorities had consistently described as deadly until this week.

Macron reforms in the balance as French conservatives choose leader

France's conservative Les Republicains (LR) party, squeezed by President Emmanuel Macron on one side and the far-right on the other, elects a new leader this weekend in a ballot that will matter for Macron's chances of pushing through his reforms. Both the frontrunner Eric Ciotti and his main opponent Bruno Retailleau hail from a more right-wing branch of LR than its current leadership, and they are set to push hard to toughen bills on a broad range of issues including immigration.