World News Roundup: AstraZeneca vaccine not ready for quick European approval, watchdog; UK needs tighter COVID rules to avert new "catastrophe", epidemiologist warns and more

A Chinese court handed down a four-year jail term on Monday to Zhang Zhan, who reported at the peak of the crisis in the city where the coronavirus first emerged.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

UK needs tighter COVID rules to avert new "catastrophe", epidemiologist warns

Britain's government needs to bring in tighter coronavirus lockdown rules to avert a fresh wave of deaths from a new strain of the disease, a leading epidemiologist and government advisor warned on Tuesday. Britain reported 41,385 new COVID cases on Monday, the highest number since testing became widely available in the middle of 2020, and English hospitals say they have more COVID patients than during the first wave of the pandemic in April.

AstraZeneca vaccine not ready for quick European approval, watchdog official says

The European Medicines Authority (EMA) will most likely not be able to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by drug maker AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in January, the watchdog's Deputy Executive Director Noel Wathion said. "They have not even filed an application with us yet", Wathion said in an interview with Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad published on Tuesday. Thousands march against Nepal PM's dissolution of parliament

Thousands of opponents of Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli marched through the streets of Kathmandu on Tuesday urging him to reverse his decision to dissolve parliament and call for early elections. The protesters, who say his decision on Dec. 20 was unconstitutional, rallied outside his office despite coronavirus curbs on gatherings. Second Indian state steps closer to enacting "Love Jihad" law

Lawmakers in a central Indian state controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party approved legislation on Tuesday that would make pressuring a woman to convert to their husband's religion a crime punishable with imprisonment. Although no religion is specified in the legislation, critics say it is aimed against the country's Muslim minority. Hardline Hindu groups have accused Muslim men of waging a campaign, dubbed a "Love Jihad", to lure Hindu women to Islam with promises of marriage. China's capital locks down part of district in coronavirus fight

Beijing sealed off 10 areas of its northeastern Shunyi district on Tuesday, the first lockdown in the Chinese capital since the last coronavirus outbreak in the months of June and July. The city has reported 16 infections and three asymptomatic cases since Dec. 18, when the first cases were found. Most of the cases were in Shunyi, which has banned couriers from entering residential compounds. More Rohingya sent to Bangladesh island, with hopes for future, ducks, chickens

Bangladesh moved a second group of Rohingya Muslim refugees to a low-lying island in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, despite opposition from rights groups worried about the new site's vulnerability to storms. The United Nations says it has not been involved in the relocation but urged the government to ensure no refugee is forced to move to Bhasan Char island, which only emerged from the sea 20 years ago. EU criticises China for jailing citizen-journalist who reported on COVID

The European Union on Tuesday criticised the jailing of a citizen-journalist in China who reported on the early outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic from Wuhan. A Chinese court handed down a four-year jail term on Monday to Zhang Zhan, who reported at the peak of the crisis in the city where the coronavirus first emerged. Her lawyer said Zhang was jailed on the grounds of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". Gaza militants fire rockets into the sea in first joint exercise

An array of Palestinian militant groups launched rockets into the Mediterranean Sea off the Gaza Strip on Tuesday at the start of what they called their first-ever joint exercise, which Israeli media described as a show of force organised by Iran. Gaza is run by Hamas and also home to other militant groups, including Islamic Jihad. The exercise was announced on behalf of a joint command set up by the groups in 2018. Argentina's senate poised to vote on legalizing abortion, rare in region

Argentina was on the cusp of legalizing abortion on Tuesday over the objections of its influential Roman Catholic Church, with the senate preparing to vote on a measure that has the backing of the ruling party and has already passed in the lower house. If passed, the bill would make Argentina the first big country in predominantly Catholic Latin America to allow abortion on demand. The vote is expected to be close after what is likely to be a marathon debate, beginning at 4 pm (1900 GMT). Ethiopian police arrest Reuters cameraman

A Reuters cameraman, Kumerra Gemechu, was arrested in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday and will be kept in custody for at least two weeks, his family said. He has not been charged. No reason was provided to the family for Thursday's arrest, and police did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.