Reuters World News Summary

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who led Ukraine's war effort through the darkest days of the full-scale invasion, was replaced on Thursday by ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is expected to present a new military team in the coming days. US confronts dangers from 'not very good' Iran-backed militants More than a month before a deadly drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to reassure U.S. troops about the military's ability to withstand attacks by Iran-backed militants.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Israel prepares assault on Rafah, seeks to allay fears of 'bloodbath'

Israeli forces geared up on Friday for a ground assault on Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence further north are trapped in desperate conditions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the military had been told to come up with a plan to evacuate civilians but aid agencies warned that a military offensive in such a densely populated area could end up killing large numbers of innocent people.

Analysis-Replacing Ukraine's popular army chief is big gamble for Zelenskiy

The sweeping military shakeup that replaced Ukraine's popular army chief this week throws up big political and military risks for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as the war with Russia heads towards its third year. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who led Ukraine's war effort through the darkest days of the full-scale invasion, was replaced on Thursday by ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is expected to present a new military team in the coming days.

US confronts dangers from 'not very good' Iran-backed militants

More than a month before a deadly drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to reassure U.S. troops about the military's ability to withstand attacks by Iran-backed militants. Austin, in previously unpublished remarks to sailors aboard the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier on Dec. 20, said the number one reason the militants had failed to that point was that "they're not very good at what they do."

US court sentences ex-DEA informant to life for role in Haiti assassination

A former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informant was sentenced to life in prison and another man pleaded guilty on Friday in a U.S. court case over the 2021 assassination of Haiti's last president, Jovenel Moise. The two are among 11 defendants accused of participating in a plot to replace Moise by sending a team of Colombian mercenaries to kill him in his Port-au-Prince residence. Of four who have so far been sentenced in Miami, all have received life.

Drones strike Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, and nearby town

Drones attacked civilian infrastructure late on Friday in and near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, according to officials. Regional governor Oleh Synehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said drones had damaged civilian infrastructure in the city's Nemyshlianskyi district. Reporters from Suspilne public television observed the glow of a fire over the city.

Pakistan ex-PMs and bitter rivals Sharif and Khan both claim poll win

Former Pakistani prime ministers and bitter rivals Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan on Friday both declared victory in elections marred by delayed results and militant attacks, throwing the country into further political turmoil. Sharif's party won the most seats by a single party in Thursday's election, but supporters of imprisoned Khan, who ran as independents instead of as a single bloc after his party was barred from the polls, won the most seats overall.

Ukraine's Zelenskiy names new chief of staff after appointing new commander in chief

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday appointed Maj.-Gen. Anatoliy Barhilevych as Ukraine's new chief of staff, replacing Serhiy Shaptala. Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, described Barhilevych as "an experienced individual who understands the tasks of this war and Ukrainian objectives."

Ecuador's Noboa wins VAT hike as legislators hit impasse

Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa snatched a legislative victory on Friday after his bid to raise value added tax (VAT) was able to proceed as lawmakers hit an impasse while trying to decide whether or not to allow the measure. Noboa has argued that raising VAT - alongside other tax increases such as a levy on banks' profits in 2023 - will help finance his security offensive on criminal gangs he has designated as terrorists amid spiraling violence in the Andean country.

UN against any forced displacement of civilians from Gaza's Rafah

Palestinian civilians in Rafah in the Gaza Strip need to be protected, but there should not be any forced mass displacement, the United Nations said on Friday after Israel began drawing up an evacuation plan to allow it to defeat Hamas in the area. "We're extremely worried about the fate of civilians in Rafah," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.

US underlines to Israel it must stick to international law on weapons

The United States has briefed Israel on a new U.S. national security memorandum that reminds countries receiving U.S. weapons to stick to international law, the White House said on Friday. The memo is a statement of administration policy and was sent on Thursday from the White House to senior Cabinet officials responsible for national security to ensure its aims are carried out.