World News in Brief: December 29

* The Chairman of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un convened a meeting of top ruling party officials on Saturday to discuss important policy matters ahead of the year-end deadline set by Kim for the United States, the state news agency said on Sunday (December 29).

* Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the battle against climate change is the new frontier as he outlined the priorities for his government going forward during a year-end press conference in Roma on Saturday. Conte heads a coalition government made up of the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement.

* The United States is looking at ways to cooperate with Mexico on customs along their border to curb flows of illicit arms, drugs and money, the US ambassador to Mexico said on Friday.

* Iranian foreign minister is scheduled to visit Russia on Monday to hold talks with his Russian counterpart on bilateral ties as well as regional and international developments, the Financial Tribune daily reported Saturday.

* Residents and holidaymakers in part of the Australian state of Victoria were urged to leave on Sunday ahead of what is expected to be a day of extreme fire danger.

* The crime rate in Venezuela fell 36.3 percent this year in the eight main criminal categories, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said Saturday.

* Iran summoned Kuwait's envoy in Tehran on Saturday to protest about Kuwaiti officials meeting a representative of a "terrorist group" and hosting an "anti-Iranian" meeting, Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement on its website. The ministry did not provide any more details about the group concerned or about which Kuwaiti officials had met the group's representative.

* Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Saturday named Abdelaziz Djerad - a university professor and former diplomat - as prime minister as he builds a new government to handle political unrest and a looming economic challenge.

* Four commuters have lost their lives and 15 others were injured following a deadly road accident in Afghanistan's eastern Laghman province, an official said Sunday.