World News Roundup: German millionaires rush assets to Switzerland ahead of election; Mexico urges Haitians at US-Mexico border to give up and head south and more

The meeting of the Quad, as the grouping of the four major democracies is called, will take place just over a week after the United States, Britain and Australia announced a AUKUS security pact under which Australia will be provided with nuclear-powered submarines, a move that has been roundly denounced by Beijing. Evergrande's billionaire boss exuded calm as crisis grew Mingling with power brokers at celebrations to mark the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1, a beaming Hui Ka Yan showed no signs that his company, China Evergrande, was facing mounting pressure with debt repayments.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

German millionaires rush assets to Switzerland ahead of election

A potential lurch to the left in Germany's election on Sunday is scaring millionaires into moving assets into Switzerland, bankers and tax lawyers say. If the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), hard-left Linke and environmentalist Greens come to power, the reintroduction of a wealth tax and a tightening of inheritance tax could be on the political agenda.

Mexico urges Haitians at US-Mexico border to give up and head south

Mexican officials are urging Haitians on the Texas border trying to reach the United States to give up and return to Mexico's frontier with Guatemala to request asylum, even as discontent grows over the treatment meted out to the beleaguered migrants. Up to 14,000 mostly Haitians were camped just north of the Rio Grande river this month as they attempted to enter the United States, but hundreds retreated to Mexico after U.S. officials began sending planes of people back to Haiti.

World's youth returns to the streets to fight climate change

Young people around the world began taking to the streets on Friday to demand urgent action to avert disastrous climate change, in their largest protest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The strike takes place five weeks before the U.N. COP26 summit, which aims to secure more ambitious climate action from world leaders to drastically cut the greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet.

Farmers despair as volcano ravages La Palma's banana crop

In more than 50 years growing bananas on the Spanish island of La Palma, Antonio Brito Alvarez has never seen anything like the devastation wrought by the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which has been spewing out molten rock and ash since Sunday. "All this is burnt, burnt from the heat and the wind ... The bananas are totally burnt," said Alvarez, 65, picking off charred black fruit from a tree in his small plantation in the agricultural heartland of Los Llanos de Aridane.

China draws up list of 100 instances of U.S. "interference" in Hong Kong

China on Friday listed more than 100 instances of what it said was U.S. interference in Hong Kong affairs, including President Joe Biden's show of support for a pro-democracy newspaper. U.S. politicians and officials have denounced China over its tightening control of the former British colony of Hong Kong, especially the imposition of a sweeping national security law last year cracking down on dissent.

Mozambicans return to uncertain future after Islamists pushed back

Rwandan forces patrolled burnt-out streets once besieged by Islamist fighters in northern Mozambique, saying it was now safe for civilians to return to the gas-rich region, despite U.N. warnings of a continuing militant threat. Soldiers laid out rifles and rocket launchers seized from the militants. The Rwandan military's spokesman said they had already brought 25,000 people back home. "It is very safe for them to go back," Ronald Rwivanga told Reuters.

Quad leaders to meet at White House amid shared China concerns

Leaders of United States, Japan, India and Australia, sharing concerns about China's growing power and behavior, meet in person as a group for the first time on Friday for a summit expected to bring progress on COVID-19 vaccines, infrastructure and technological cooperation. The meeting of the Quad, as the grouping of the four major democracies is called, will take place just over a week after the United States, Britain and Australia announced a AUKUS security pact under which Australia will be provided with nuclear-powered submarines, a move that has been roundly denounced by Beijing.

Evergrande's billionaire boss exuded calm as crisis grew

Mingling with power brokers at celebrations to mark the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1, a beaming Hui Ka Yan showed no signs that his company, China Evergrande, was facing mounting pressure with debt repayments. Hui, wearing a navy-blue suit and open-neck shirt, looked relaxed as he stood on a podium overlooking the festivities in Tiananmen Square, an invitation many considered a show of support for the billionaire businessman.

Heathrow Airport says UK border gates affected by "systems failure"

Britain's busiest airport, Heathrow, said on Friday that a systems failure is affecting the e-gates which allow people to cross the border in the airport, adding that the issue was also affecting other points of entry. The e-gates are staffed and operate by Britain's Border Force.

French shipbuilding town in shock over lost Australian submarine order

Teaching assistant Georgina was settling into a new life in the shipbuilding town of Cherbourg with her Australian husband when Canberra revealed it was scrapping the $40 billion submarine order that he had been sent to France work on. Ten months after the couple arrived in France, Georgina was two weeks into a new job when Australia announced that the deal with France's Naval Group to supply a dozen diesel-powered submarines was dead.

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