World News Roundup: Taliban tax collectors help tighten grip in Afghan; EU extends Venezuela sanctions

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Taliban tax collectors help tighten insurgents' grip in Afghanistan

Every two months, Mohammaddin visits a tax collector in Chardara district, in northern Afghanistan, and is given receipts to show he has paid his tax and utility bills. The service is professional, he says, though the paperwork he receives does not bear the name of state-owned power company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, which provides the electricity, but instead carries the printed logo of the Taliban.

EU extends Venezuela sanctions over democracy, rights violations

The European Union on Tuesday extended sanctions against Venezuela until November 2019 for what it said were human rights violations and undermining of democracy and the rule of law under President Nicolas Maduro. The bloc has an embargo against Venezuela on the sales of arms and "equipment for internal repression", a travel ban and an asset freeze on 18 Venezuelan officials in place.

Russia seen adopting new tactics in U.S. election interference efforts

Russian agents believed to be connected to the government have been active in spreading divisive content and promoting extreme themes ahead of Tuesday's U.S. mid-term elections, but they are working hard to cover their tracks, according to government investigators, academics and security firms. Researchers studying the spread of disinformation on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other platforms say the new, subtler tactics have allowed most of the so-called information operations campaigns to survive purges by the big social media companies and avoid government scrutiny.

'We're heading for no deal Brexit,' Northern Ireland DUP lawmaker says

The United Kingdom is heading toward leaving the European Union without a divorce deal, a senior member of the Northern Irish party which props up Prime Minister Theresa May's government said on Tuesday. With less than five months until Britain is due to exit the EU, May has yet to clinch a divorce deal, with negotiators stuck on the so-called "backstop" arrangement that would keep open the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland regardless of what course Britain takes after Brexit.

British cabinet will meet again when it's decision time for Brexit: source

British Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet of top ministers will meet again when there is a decision to be taken on a Brexit deal, but so far no such meeting has been scheduled this week, a government source said on Tuesday. With a Brexit deal nearing completion with Brussels, May is trying to secure the agreement of her cabinet to press on with finalizing the terms for Britain's exit from the European Union. A cabinet meeting can be called at any time.

Security spending soars in China's troubled Xinjiang region: report

Spending on security-related construction tripled in 2017 in China's far western region of Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of detaining as many as one million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims, an academic analysis of government expenditure found. Beijing says its "vocational training centres" in Xinjiang camps teach employment skills and legal knowledge aimed at curbing religious extremism.

Taliban attack Afghan government post near Iran border, killing 20 troops

Taliban militants attacked a border outpost in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 20 government soldiers in the latest assault likely to compound fears that the security forces are facing an unsustainable casualty toll. Sparsely populated Farah, on the border with Iran, has seen months of heavy fighting, with hundreds of police and soldiers killed. The Taliban threatened to seize the provincial capital in May.

Frost thaws in U.S.-China ties ahead of G20 meeting

The United States and China will hold a delayed top-level security dialogue on Friday, the latest sign of a thaw in relations, as China's vice president said Beijing was willing to talk with Washington to resolve their bitter trade dispute. The resumption of high-level dialogue, marked by a phone call last week between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, comes ahead of an expected meeting between the two at the G20 summit in Argentina starting in late November.

Six people arrested in France over 'loose' plan to attack Macron

Six people have been arrested as part of a preliminary investigation into a suspected plan to attack French President Emmanuel Macron, an official close to the probe said. The source said French security services arrested the six on Tuesday on suspicion of undertaking an "imprecise and loosely-formed" plan for "violent action" against the president.

Thai junta says no need for foreign observers at next year's election

Thailand does not need international observers to monitor next year's general elections, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, despite criticism from pro-democracy activists that the junta has restricted fundamental civil rights. The government has promised to hold elections between February and May after repeated delays, a contest between supporters of the military and royalist establishment and the populist political forces now led by the Puea Thai Party that was ousted by the military in a 2014 coup.

(With inputs from agencies.)