Reuters World News Summary

India, China military officials hold 'positive' talks on troop pullback Indian and Chinese military commanders held "positive, constructive" discussions on disengaging troops locked in a months-long standoff at their disputed Himalayan border, the two sides said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Spearfishing in Gaza, a living improvised under the sea

Armed with a snorkel mask and a home-made gun shaped like a trident, and dressed in a green sweatshirt and jogging pants, Ashraf Al-Amoudi goes hunting every day in the coastal waters of Gaza. He is one of scores of spear fishermen who scratch out a living close to shore in the Hamas Islamist-run territory, diving from boats to depths of around four metres (13 ft) without oxygen to prise oysters from the rocks and catch grouper, sea bream and mullet. White House moves forward on three arms sales to Taiwan: sources

The White House is moving forward with three sales of advanced weaponry to Taiwan, sending in recent days a notification of the deals to Congress for approval, five sources said on Monday, while China threatened retaliation. The move in the run-up to the Nov. 3 U.S. election, first reported by Reuters, is likely to anger China, which considers Taiwan a wayward province that it has vowed to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary. Germany wants 'substantive' UK moves in 'critical stage' of Brexit talks

Germany on Tuesday demanded "substantive" movement from Britain on fisheries, dispute settlement and fair competition guarantees in post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union, which it said were "at a very critical stage". Britain, home to the world's sixth-biggest economy, in January became the only country to leave the EU. It has since been locked in painstaking talks with the world's largest trading bloc to keep trade flowing freely despite Brexit. Humanitarian crisis feared as Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire buckles

Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Tuesday of violating a humanitarian ceasefire agreed three days ago to quell fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, drawing warnings from international groups of a humanitarian crisis in the region. A Reuters cameraman witnessed shelling in the town of Martuni in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountain enclave which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but governed and populated by ethnic Armenians. Indonesia Islamic groups, students join movement to scrap jobs law

Wearing white Islamic garb and waving red and white Indonesian flags, more than 1,000 protesters from Islamic and student groups gathered in the world's most populous Muslim nation on Tuesday to show discontent over a divisive new jobs law. Conservative Islamic groups are among the latest to join the volatile street demonstrations, during which police fired tear gas on Tuesday to try to break up crowds, as pressure mounts on the government to repeal a law they say undermines labour rights and environmental protections. England's pubs ponder if pasties or chips make a meal amid COVID lockdown

Pub owners across England's COVID-19 hotspots were on Tuesday pondering a question that could decide if they survive or sink due to the coronavirus lockdown: when is a pub a pub, and when does it become a restaurant? The question has sparked a bizarre discussion about some of England's favourite snacks: fries, chips and pork scratchings - roasted pork rind - do not count as a meal, according to a government minister quizzed on the status of the delicacies. China warns Asian countries to be vigilant on U.S strategy

The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, on Tuesday urged Asian countries to remain "vigilant" over the risk of U.S. strategy stoking geopolitical competition in the South China Sea and other parts of the region. Beijing and members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) should work together to remove "external disruption" in the South China Sea, Wang said during a joint news conference with Malaysia's foreign minister. Kyrgyz president says he will ask parliament to vote again on PM

Kyrgyzstan's president said on Tuesday he would ask parliament to vote again on the man it has nominated as prime minister after both held talks with a senior official from key ally Russia following unrest in the Central Asian state. The move could be a formality but, if the vote fails, it could further deepen the political crisis in a strategically located country which also enjoys close ties with China and hosts a large Canadian-owned gold mining operation. Malaysia's Anwar meets king to prove majority support for PM bid

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim met the king on Tuesday in a bid to prove he has a "convincing" parliamentary majority to form a new government and he called on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to resign. The palace said Anwar only provided the number of members of parliament who he said back his bid to become prime minister and not their identities, and it urged him to respect the constitutional process. India, China military officials hold 'positive' talks on troop pullback

Indian and Chinese military commanders held "positive, constructive" discussions on disengaging troops locked in a months-long standoff at their disputed Himalayan border, the two sides said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Diplomats and military officials have held several rounds of talks to pull back from the brink after a clash erupted between border troops in June in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.