World News Roundup: Canada's Conservatives set to embrace populist to take on Trudeau; U.N. says China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and more

"We are currently assessing the content of the report and we will be issuing reaction in good time," a European Commission spokesperson told a news briefing. Poland puts its WW2 losses at $1.3 trillion, demands German reparations Poland estimates its World War Two losses caused by Germany at 6.2 trillion zlotys ($1.32 trillion), the leader of the country's ruling nationalists said on Thursday, and he said Warsaw would officially demand reparations.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Canada's Conservatives set to embrace populist to take on Trudeau

Canada's Conservatives next month look set to embrace a career politician who has promised to fire the central bank governor and promoted bitcoin as an inflation hedge to become its fourth leader since 2020. Having lost three consecutive elections to Liberal Justin Trudeau since 2015, the Conservative Party is keen for a leader like Pierre Poilievre, who is a skilled communicator and unabashedly right leaning, said one strategist who expects him to cruise to victory.

U.N. says China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang

China's "arbitrary and discriminatory detention" of Uyghurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region may constitute crimes against humanity, the outgoing U.N. human rights chief said in a long-awaited report on Wednesday. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who has faced criticism from some diplomats and rights groups for being too soft on China, released the report just minutes before her four-year term ended. She visited China in May.

Clashes in Iraq's Basra kill four as crisis flares in oil-rich south

Clashes among rival Shi'ite Muslim militants in the Iraqi city of Basra have killed at least four people, security officials said on Thursday, as violence from a worsening political crisis hit the south of the country. The unrest began with two days of intense street fighting in Baghdad earlier in the week, the worst the Iraqi capital has seen for years.

Russia calls ageing space station "dangerous" as it plans successor

The International Space Station (ISS) is dangerous and unfit for purpose, Russia's space chief said on Thursday, as Moscow pushes ahead with plans to quit the project and launch its own station. Yuri Borisov, head of the Roscosmos agency, said mass equipment failures and ageing parts were endangering crew safety on the 24-year-old station.

EU, responding to UN report, condemns rights violations in China

The European Commission, responding to a U.N. report that China may have committed crimes against humanity in its Xinjiang region, said on Thursday that it strongly condemns human rights violations in the country. "We are currently assessing the content of the report and we will be issuing reaction in good time," a European Commission spokesperson told a news briefing.

Poland puts its WW2 losses at $1.3 trillion, demands German reparations

Poland estimates its World War Two losses caused by Germany at 6.2 trillion zlotys ($1.32 trillion), the leader of the country's ruling nationalists said on Thursday, and he said Warsaw would officially demand reparations. Poland's biggest trade partner and a fellow member of the European Union and NATO, Germany has previously said all financial claims linked to World War Two have been settled.

UN inspectors arrive at Ukraine nuclear plant after shelling causes delay

A team of U.N. experts arrived at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia atomic plant complex on Thursday to assess the risk of a radiation disaster after being delayed several hours by shelling near the site. Russia and Ukraine earlier accused each other of trying to sabotage the mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the plant in southern central Ukraine, which is controlled by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian staff.

South Pakistan braces for surge of flood water flowing from north

Southern Pakistan braced for more flooding on Thursday as a surge of water flowed down the Indus river, compounding devastation in the country, a third of which is already inundated by a disaster blamed on climate change. Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains have triggered floods that have killed at least 1,191 people, including 399 children.

Macron vows long-term support for Ukraine, cites need to keep Russia contact

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he would continue to dialogue with Russia to help prevent the Ukraine conflict escalating, but pledged France's unwavering support for Kyiv in what he said would be a long war. Macron has in the past been criticised by Ukraine and eastern European allies for what they perceived as his ambiguous backing for Kyiv since Russia's invasion of its neighbour, and his repeated dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mexican housing must become denser, better planned - study

Mexican housing must become denser and better planned to provide adequate living options to lower-income parts of the population, according to a new study, which said the country's current residential construction was largely unregulated. "The real problem is providing housing to the bottom 20% or 30%," said Albert Saiz from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).