From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting.

German police are searching for a Tunisian man suspected of involvement in Monday's truck attack in Berlin.

An arrest warrant issued Wednesday names Anis Amri and lists him as a Tunisian citizen. The warrant says he is considered armed and dangerous.

The evacuations of rebels and civilians from the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo have resumed after being delayed for one day.

The complete evacuation of the rebel-held enclave will give full control of Aleppo to the Syrian government, a milestone in the nearly six-year-old civil war.

The evacuations are being conducted under an agreement negotiated by Russia and Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the assassination of the Russian ambassador earlier this week was carried out by a member of the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey's foreign minister told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call earlier this week that his government believes the killer is linked to Gulen, who lives in the United States.

Gulen condemned the attack earlier this week and the United States has rejected what it called as "absolutely ridiculous" suggestions that it was involved in or supported the assassination because of Gulen's presence in the U.S.

Mexican authorities have identified fewer than half of the victims of explosions at a fireworks market that killed at least 31 people and injured scores of others near Mexico City.

The San Pablito market in the city of Tultepec was packed with shoppers buying fireworks for the Christmas and New Year's holidays when a series of explosions erupted. Most of the stalls in the market were destroyed.

This is VOA news.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday the attacks in Europe this week "prove" that he was "right" about his plans to institute tough screening for Muslims attempting to enter the United States.

"... an attack on humanity, that's what it is. It's an attack on humanity. And it's gotta be stopped."

Trump spoke to reporters in Florida, where he is continuing to interview candidates to fill key positions in his administration.

U.S. President Barack Obama has declared a ban on offshore oil and natural gas drilling throughout large areas of the Arctic and the U.S. Atlantic seaboard.

The White House announced the bans Wednesday in conjunction with a similar move taken by the Canadian government.

The United States is denying claims made by a Russian spokesman that the two countries have all but frozen communications channels, saying both sides are still engaged.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Mir TV Wednesday that "almost every level of dialogue" had been severed with the United States.

But State Department spokesman John Kirby said Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken by phone as late as Tuesday.

"And then there's just a range of other issues where dialogue continues with Russia, even on Ukraine."

Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo has left at least 21 people dead. The violence broke out amid demonstrations against President Joseph Kabila, who remains in office even though his term has ended.

A court rule that he could stay in power until elections which the ruling party has set for 2018.

Opposition demonstrators are demanding Mr. Kabila step down.

Local media and insurgent sources say Taliban gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed the house of an Afghan lawmaker in Kabul, killing at least five people.

Witnesses say three insurgents took part in the assault. Afghan special forces engaged them.

The fate of the lawmaker, Malim Mer Wali, is unclear.

Sao Tome and Principe, a Western African ally of Taiwan since 1997, cut ties Wednesday.

Taiwan followed by disbanding the embassy in Taipei and stopping a range of exchanges.

The Taiwan government's Mainland Affairs Council said China used money diplomacy to push Sao Tome and Principe to make the break.

China has been engulfed in smog for the past few days. More than 70 cities have declared pollution alerts.

The government has ordered factories to shut down, has restricted driving and has closed schools in the worst hit cities including Beijing. Those measures won't be lifted until Thursday when stronger winds are expected to help disperse the pollutants.

On Wall Street, U.S. stock indexes were down at the close of trade today.

In Washington, I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.