World News Roundup: Hungary calls France a partner before Macron-Orban meeting; U.N. chief urges action on 'killer robots' as Geneva talks open and more

Since the first Omicron cases were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and on Sunday he urged people to get booster shots to prevent the health service from being overwhelmed. German cabinet passes climate fund booster with 60 billion euro extra budget Germany's new government passed a supplementary budget on Monday to supercharge its climate and transformation fund with a debt-financed injection of 60 billion euros to allow more investments in the shift towards a green economy, officials said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Hungary calls France a partner before Macron-Orban meeting

Hungary said it agreed with France on several issues of strategic importance for Europe's future as it prepared for talks on Monday between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron, who was due to start a trip to Budapest by visiting the grave of a philosopher who opposed Orban, said last week the Hungarian leader was a political opponent but also a European partner with whom it was possible to find compromise.

U.N. chief urges action on 'killer robots' as Geneva talks open

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for new rules covering the use of autonomous weapons as a key meeting on the issue opened in Geneva. Negotiators at the U.N. talks have for eight years been discussing limits on lethal autonomous weapons, or LAWS, which are fully machine-controlled and rely on new technology such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition.

Two crew missing after Danish and British boats collide in icy Baltic

Two Danish crew members of a capsized barge were missing in the freezing Baltic Sea on Monday after an overnight collision with a British vessel in a busy maritime route off Sweden. With the pair unlikely to survive long in water temperatures around 4 Celsius, rescue boats and a helicopter hunted for hours. There was also hope they might still be inside an air pocket within the hull of the overturned Karin Hoj.

Russia says it may be forced to deploy intermediate nuclear missiles in Europe

Russia said on Monday it may be forced to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe in response to what it sees as NATO's plans to do the same. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russia's RIA news agency in an interview that Moscow would have to take the step if NATO refused to engage with it on preventing such an escalation.

Thousands of La Palma residents locked down as eruption mars air quality

Thousands of residents of Spain's La Palma island were ordered to stay at home on Monday due to "extremely adverse" air quality generated by the Cumbre Vieja volcano that has smouldered for almost three months. The eruption, which has sent spectacular rivers of molten lava running down the slopes of Cumbre Vieja since Sept. 19, is the longest running on the Spanish Canary island since records began in 1500.

First person dies from Omicron variant in United Kingdom

At least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday, warning that the variant now accounted for 40% of infections in the British capital. Since the first Omicron cases were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and on Sunday he urged people to get booster shots to prevent the health service from being overwhelmed.

German cabinet passes climate fund booster with 60 billion euro extra budget

Germany's new government passed a supplementary budget on Monday to supercharge its climate and transformation fund with a debt-financed injection of 60 billion euros to allow more investments in the shift towards a green economy, officials said. The supplementary budget, passed unanimously by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet, will channel 60 billion euros of unused debt in this year's federal budget into the government's climate and transformation fund for future spending.

Blinken in Indonesia as U.S. seeks to shore up Southeast Asia ties

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Indonesia on Monday, kicking off a short Southeast Asia trip aimed at strengthening relations with a region that has become a strategic arena for Washington and Beijing. In his first Southeast Asia trip since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January, Blinken met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the first of several senior officials he will meet on a four-day tour that includes stops in Malaysia and Thailand.

Omicron poses 'very high' global risk but data on severity limited - WHO

The Omicron coronavirus variant, reported in more than 60 countries, poses a "very high" global risk, with some evidence that it evades vaccine protection but clinical data on its severity is limited, the World Health Organization says. Considerable uncertainties surround Omicron, first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong, whose mutations may lead to higher transmissibility and more cases of COVID-19 disease, the WHO said in a technical brief issued on Sunday.

EU 'in deterrent mode', studies possible Russia sanctions over Ukraine

The European Union is discussing a possible new round of economic sanctions against Russia with the United States and Britain, but no decisions will be taken on Monday, the bloc's top diplomat said. The EU and the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia in July 2014, targeting its energy, banking and defence sectors, and is considering further measures if Russia tries to invade Ukraine after a troop on its borders.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)