Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. North Korea says leader Kim elected as general secretary of ruling party: KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been elected as general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, state media KCNA said on Monday, taking over the title from his late father in a largely symbolic move seen aimed at further cementing his power. The election took place on Sunday during the party's ongoing multi-year congress, designed for Kim to map out blueprints for his diplomatic, military and economic policy over the next five years and make key personnel decisions.

U.S. Capitol siege a 'wake-up call' for democracies, top EU diplomat says The European Union's top diplomat said on Sunday that last week's siege of the U.S. Capitol exposed the dangers of allowing the degradation of democratic values to go unchecked and disinformation to spread on social media. "What we saw on Wednesday was only the climax of very worrying developments happening globally in recent years. It must be a wake-up call for all democracy advocates," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a blog post.

Northern Ireland hospitals under pressure 'like never before': health minister Northern Ireland's health minister on Sunday night said COVID-19 was placing the healthcare system under pressure "like never before," as one hospital appealed on social media for the immediate help of all off-duty healthworkers nearby. The British-run region has struggled with persistently high coronavirus infection rates despite being in and out of some form of lockdown since October. Cases soared to by far their highest level since the pandemic began after the Christmas holidays.

Indonesia locates black boxes of crashed jet as body parts recovered Indonesian authorities on Sunday located the black boxes of the Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the sea soon after taking off from the capital Jakarta, as human body parts and pieces of the plane were retrieved. The Boeing 737-500 with 62 passengers and crew was headed on a domestic flight to Pontianak in West Kalimantan on Saturday before it disappeared from radar screens four minutes after take-off.

Kyrgyz nationalist wins landslide victory in presidential poll Nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov won a landslide victory on Sunday in Kyrgyzstan's snap presidential election, which was triggered by the collapse of the previous government. Japarov has won almost 80% of the vote in the Central Asian nation, which is closely allied with Russia, preliminary results cited by Kyrgyzstan's Central Election Commission showed, meaning there will be no run-off.

At least 23 dead in clash between gangs and police in Venezuelan capital At least 23 people died over the weekend in a clash between police and gangs in Venezuela's capital Caracas, according to news reports and human rights activists, as the government faces international scrutiny for killings by security forces. The bloodshed began on Friday afternoon with an operation by two police units - the Special Action Forces, known as FAES, and the Special Tactical Operations Units, known as UOTE - in the gang-ridden neighborhood of La Vega. It continued into Saturday, activist Marino Alvarado wrote on Twitter.

Spain paralysed by snowstorm, sends out vaccine, food convoys The Spanish government will send convoys carrying the COVID-19 vaccine and food supplies on Monday to areas cut off by Storm Filomena which brought the heaviest snowfall in decades across central Spain and killed four people. Across central Spain, over 600 roads were affected by the rare blizzard and hundreds of travellers were stranded at Madrid's Barajas airport, which closed on Friday but will reopen gradually later on Sunday.

Exclusive: U.S. to designate Yemen's Houthi movement as foreign terror group as soon as Monday - sources The United States plans to designate Yemen's Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, three sources familiar with the matter said, a move that diplomats and aid groups worry could complicate efforts to combat the world's largest humanitarian crisis. The decision to blacklist the Iran-aligned group, which could be announced as soon as Monday according to two of the sources, would also threaten to derail U.N.-led peace talks as the administration of President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take over from the Trump administration on Jan. 20.

Ethiopian military says it killed 15 members of rebellious Tigray forces, captured 8 others Ethiopia's military said on Sunday it had killed 15 members of the Tigray region's former ruling party and captured eight others, according to state-run TV. Citing a brigadier-general from Ethiopia's National Defence Force, the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said that those captured included the region's former president Abay Weldu, who was also a former chairman of the region's ruling party. Those killed included the region's former deputy police commissioner, it said.

Iran tells South Korea not to politicise seized vessel, demands release of funds Iran said on Sunday that South Korea should avoid politicising the seizure of its vessel by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Gulf, Iranian state media reported, while pressing Seoul to release $7 billion in funds frozen amid U.S. sanctions.

South Korea's vice foreign minister, Choi Jong-kun, arrived in Tehran on Sunday to discuss the release of the South Korean-flagged MT Hankuk Chemi, which was seized by the Guards on Monday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

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