Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. North Korea resumes insults of 'erratic old man' Trump

Satellite imagery indicated on Monday that North Korea had tested a rocket engine, and a senior Pyongyang official called Donald Trump a "heedless and erratic old man", resuming insults of the U.S. president that had been set aside during a thaw. The statement carried in state media KCNA by Kim Yong Chol, a ruling party vice chairman who was instrumental in arranging a failed second summit in February, was the strongest salvo yet in a war of words that has rekindled in recent days. French unions dig in against Macron on fifth day of strikes

Drivers on two Paris metro lines voted on Monday to extend a walkout until the end of the week as France grappled with a fifth day of strikes, a sign transport workers will keep up a fight against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to streamline pensions. The week ahead will test Macron's mettle and his ability to deliver the social and economic change he says is necessary for France to compete with powers like China and the United States. Israelis look to Inquisition roots to get Portuguese passports

Danny Roup, Israel's celebrity weatherman, does not necessarily see clouds on the geopolitical horizon. But he thought it worth digging into his centuries-old family roots in order to get a second, Portuguese passport. Roup is among thousands of Israelis who have embraced a citizenship offer by Portugal to descendents of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the Iberian peninsula during the medieval Inquisition. Fire and petrol bombs after 'generally peaceful' Hong Kong march, police say

Hong Kong protesters lit a fire outside court buildings, threw petrol bombs and spray-painted graffiti on government buildings, following a "generally peaceful" march at the weekend, police said on Monday. Protesters called for strikes across the city on Monday, but most railway and transport links ran smoothly during the morning rush hour and there were no reports of widespread disruptions. China says people held in Xinjiang camps have 'graduated', condemns U.S. bill

People held in camps in China's Xinjiang region have now "graduated" and new trainees will have the freedom to come and go, the regional governor said on Monday. Governor Shohrat Zakir also hit out at Western criticism of the camps and said the United States had launched a smear campaign against Xinjiang. Amid flurry of Saudi reforms, mocktails on order in execution square

For decades, criminals in Saudi Arabia were lined up after Friday prayers at a central Riyadh plaza and beheaded by sword in a gruesome public spectacle overseen by the religious police. These days, families sipping designer coffee stroll through what foreigners call Chop-Chop Square, where the blood of the condemned once flowed. At night, diners drop 5,000 riyals ($1,333) at an alcohol-free restaurant imported from Ibiza. Rights groups launch Myanmar boycott ahead of Hague genocide hearings

Human rights campaigners supporting Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority on Monday called for a global boycott of the country, a day before genocide hearings begin at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday, will defend her country's record during three days of hearings initiated after a lawsuit was filed by Gambia in November. Sweden charges former China envoy over dissident bookseller case

Swedish prosecutors said on Monday they had brought criminal charges against the country's former ambassador to China over unauthorized meetings in Stockholm aimed at freeing dissident bookseller Gui Minhai. Anna Lindstedt was replaced as ambassador in February amid a furore over her alleged role in setting up the meetings with people representing the Chinese government, which Sweden's foreign ministry said had not been authorized. Israeli parties agree on March 2 election if no government formed

Israel's two biggest parties agreed on Monday on a March 2 election date, barring a last-minute power-sharing deal, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fighting for political survival under criminal indictment. A 21-day period in which parliament can nominate a legislator with majority support to try to put together a ruling coalition expires at 2200 GMT on Wednesday, triggering the legislature's dissolution and an election within 90 days. At least 5 dead, some still missing after New Zealand volcano erupts

New Zealand police said early on Tuesday they did not expect to find any more survivors from a volcanic eruption that killed at least five people, injured up to 20 and left an unknown number unaccounted for. The volcano, off New Zealand's North Island, erupted suddenly on Monday at about 2:11 p.m. (0111 GMT), spewing a plume of ash thousands of feet into the air.

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