Xinhua world news summary at 0330 GMT, Dec. 22

MOSCOW -- British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Friday said both London and Moscow were ready to take steps to restore mutual trust in spite of their existing differences.

"There are difficulties in relations between our two countries, but there are many issues we can work on together and there is every reason to build trust now," Johnson said at a press conference after talks with Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter. (Britain-Russia)

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MADRID -- A judge of the Spanish Supreme Court on Friday charged several Catalan political leaders with rebellion for their role in making the region an independent state.

Those charged included Marta Rovira, general secretary of separatist party Esquerra Republicana (ERC), former Catalan leader Artur Mas, coordinator of the PDeCAT party Marta Pascal, and former spokesperson of the CUP party Anna Gabriel, among others, the Spanish media quoted Judge Pablo Llarena as saying. (Spain-Catalonia)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian police said Friday that 20 suspects had been arrested for link to terror activities in recent operations.

The suspects, including Malaysians, Filipinos, Indonesians and one from northern Africa, were nabbed in a series of recent police counter terrorism operations across the country, national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement. (Malaysia-Terrorist)

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PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said he would recognize a Palestinian state "at the right time," reiterating Paris' commitment to a two-state solution for lasting peace in the region.

"Is unilateral decision to recognize Palestine effective? I do not believe, because it would be a reaction to an unilateral decision that has caused unrest in the region," he told reporters. (France-Palestine)

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KAMPALA -- The Ugandan military on Friday said it had launched attacks on the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The military in a statement issued here said the troops carried out a preemptive attack after receiving intelligence information that rebels were planning to attack Uganda. (Uganda-Rebel) Enditems