Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Trump poised to settle for partial Afghan withdrawal, despite Pentagon shakeup: sources

President Donald Trump's new Pentagon team has not yet signalled an imminent withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, raising expectations among U.S. officials and allies that Trump might settle for a partial reduction before leaving office. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military was expecting formal orders in the coming days to go down to about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan by early next year from around 4,500 currently. UK PM Johnson says he is well and will govern by Zoom after COVID-19 contact

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was perfectly well after coming into contact with someone with COVID-19 and will drive the government forward via Zoom while he self-isolates for two weeks in Downing Street. Johnson's latest brush with COVID comes after a tumultuous week in which his most senior adviser, arch Brexiteer Dominic Cummings, was ousted after clashing with a rival faction led by his fiancée and his new spokeswoman. British diplomat saves drowning student in southwest China

A British diplomat leapt into a river in southwest China and rescued a drowning student over the weekend, Britain's embassy in Beijing and Chinese state media said. Stephen Ellison, the 61-year-old British consul-general in Chongqing, jumped into the water at a scenic spot in the municipality on Saturday after spotting the struggling female student, who had fallen in by accident, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. Crisis-hit Peru names centrist lawmaker as third president in a week

Peru's Congress on Monday chose legislator Francisco Sagasti as the Andean country's caretaker president, in an attempt to defuse a sharp political crisis after angry protests and the departure of two presidents in the past week. Sagasti, 76, from the centrist Morado Party, won enough votes to head Congress, which means he will constitutionally assume the presidency of Peru ahead of national elections called for April. Pompeo says Europe, U.S. need to work together to address Turkey

The U.S. administration and Europe need to work jointly on addressing actions led by Turkey in the Middle East over the past few months, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told French daily newspaper Le Figaro. "France's president Emmanuel Macron and I agree that Turkey's recent actions have been very aggressive," Pompeo said, citing Turkey's recent support to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia as well as military moves in Libya and the Mediterranean. Hurricane Iota, a climate 'bomb' terrorizing Central America

Iota exploded into a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane bearing down on remote Central American coastal provinces on Monday, with the region's leaders blaming climate change for destruction that has pushed millions closer to hunger Iota was due to smack into northeastern Nicaragua overnight, packing maximum sustained winds of 160 miles (260 km) per hour, having reached Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Ethiopia resists mediation as it bombs Tigray capital

Ethiopia resisted international pressure for mediation in a war in the country's north on Monday as its air force bombed the Tigrayan capital Mekelle, according to diplomatic and military sources. Hundreds have died, 25,000 refugees have fled to Sudan and there have been reports of atrocities since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered air strikes and a ground offensive on Nov. 4 against Tigray's local rulers for defying his authority. Shell-shocked Armenians return to Nagorno-Karabakh after peace deal

Armenian refugees who fled a six-week war between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces have begun to return home to Nagorno-Karabakh to try to rebuild their shattered lives after Russia last week brokered a peace deal over the enclave. At least two convoys of buses carrying residents arrived in Stepanakert, the capital of the mountainous area, from neighbouring Armenia over the weekend. Putin, extending Russian footprint, approves new naval facility in Sudan

President Vladimir Putin on Monday approved the creation of a Russian naval facility in Sudan capable of mooring nuclear-powered surface vessels, clearing the way for Moscow's first substantial military foothold in Africa since the Soviet fall. The new facility, earmarked to be built in the vicinity of Port Sudan, will be capable of accommodating up to 300 military and civilian personnel and improve Russia's ability to operate in the Indian Ocean, expanding its influence in Africa. U.S. sending delegation to Bahrain, Israel for first direct flight

President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Avi Berkowitz, will lead a U.S. delegation to Bahrain and Israel this week to discuss expanded economic cooperation between the two countries, a senior White House official said on Monday. Berkowitz, part of a team led by Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner to help negotiate the Bahrain-Israel deal, will join Bahraini officials on the first-ever direct commercial flight from Bahrain to Israel.