A powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck Wednesday off the coast of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, but U.S. geologists said it was too deep to cause a tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 1603 GMT about 37 kilometers (23 miles) west of Sola, Vanuatu.

South Sudan's warring parties were Wednesday set to begin peace talks in Addis Ababa aimed at bringing an end to a nearly three-week-old civil war that has already left thousands dead.

Government and rebel negotiating teams both arrived in the Ethiopian capital by Wednesday evening, a source close to the talks said and diplomats said they expected formal discussions on a possible ceasefire to begin on Thursday, although informal contacts may take place later Wednesday.

A group of seven Ugandan lawmakers on Wednesday accused President Yoweri Museveni of meddling in the escalating conflict in neighboring South Sudan.

Fighting erupted December 15 in South Sudan between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebels who have sided with his rival and former deputy Riek Machar.

A suicide car bomb attack targeting a passenger bus carrying Shiite pilgrims killed two people and wounded at least 17 in southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said.

The attack took place in Akhtarabad, on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

A drunk driver killed six pedestrians, including one child, on Wednesday in Poland, local police said.

The man lost control of his vehicle and careered into a group of pedestrians on the pavement, killing five people on the spot.

Switzerland on Wednesday assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, naming the Western Balkans and South Caucasus as its priorities.

During its year at the helm of the 57-member body, Switzerland vowed to make a "tangible contribution to fostering security and stability, improving people's lives and strengthening the OSCE's capacity to act".

Pope Francis on Wednesday called for greater solidarity in the world in his first New Year blessing as pontiff in front of crowds of pilgrims on St Peter's Square.

"We all have a responsibility to act so that the world may be a community of brothers who respect each other, who accept their diversity and who take care of one another," the pope said on Catholic World Peace Day.

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has lifted a ban on one of the country's leading newspapers and a radio station "as a goodwill gesture for the New Year", according to his office.

Officials from the feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) stormed the premises of community station Teranga FM and private daily The Standard ordered them shut down in August and September 2012.

The banned Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram on Wednesday said it had released a French Roman Catholic priest on compassionate grounds but insisted that no ransom had been paid.

The militants, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, claimed responsibility for kidnapping Georges Vandenbeusch, who was seized from his parish in northern Cameroon on November 13.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un called for unity in a New Year message Wednesday and hailed the execution of his once-powerful uncle as a resolute act to remove "factionalist scum".

"Our party took resolute action to remove... factionalist scum within the party last year," Kim said in his message broadcast on state TV.