World News Roundup: Pompeo to visit Indonesia after spy plane rebuff; Russia gives whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights and more

Plans for U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to meet the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Friday raised hopes this week that the two former Soviet republics would agree to end their deadliest fighting since the mid-1990s.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Six killed in Ivory Coast town ahead of presidential election

At least six people have been killed in a port town in southern Ivory Coast this week, the mayor said on Thursday, as supporters and opponents of President Alassane Ouattara trade blame for rising violence ahead of the Oct. 31 election. The authorities decreed a curfew on Wednesday night in response to the killings in Dabou, which Mayor Jean-Claude Niangne said were carried out by men armed with assault rifles and machetes.

Spanish parliament overwhelmingly rejects far-right's no-confidence motion

Spain's parliament on Thursday threw out, as expected, a motion of no confidence in Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez launched by the far-right Vox party and dismissed as a 'circus show' by the main conservative opposition People' Party (PP). The motion was rejected by 298-52 votes.

Pompeo to visit Indonesia after spy plane rebuff

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Indonesia next week, his first trip to the country since its leadership rejected a U.S. proposal to host its spy planes. Pompeo will address an Islamic youth group conference on religion and civilisation in Jakarta, Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi said on Thursday, without providing further details of his itinerary.

New fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh dims hopes before Washington talks

Hopes of ending nearly a month of bloodshed in the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh were receding on Thursday as Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces fought new battles on the eve of talks in Washington. Plans for U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to meet the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Friday raised hopes this week that the two former Soviet republics would agree to end their deadliest fighting since the mid-1990s.

Thai protest leader released after Wednesday arrest

One of Thailand's protest leaders, Patsaravalee "Mind" Tanakitvibulpon, was released on Thursday after being arrested a day earlier on charges related to emergency measures imposed last week to stop protests, she said. Patsaravalee, 25, told reporters after being freed that the court had deemed the charges were not serious and that she still needed to attend classes and exams, so bail was granted without having to submit any guarantees.

Fourteen South Korean delivery workers die because of pandemic overwork: union

Fourteen delivery workers in South Korea have died of overwork this year because they had to handle a sharply higher volume of packages due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the latest fatality this week, a union official said. A worker for CJ Logistics Corp collapsed while taking a short break late on Tuesday night and later died in hospital, according to an official at the union representing delivery workers.

South Korea sticks to flu vaccine plan despite safety fears after 25 die

South Korean officials refused on Thursday to suspend a seasonal influenza inoculation effort, despite growing calls for a halt, including an appeal from a key group of doctors, after the deaths of at least 25 of those vaccinated. Health authorities said they found no direct links between the deaths and the vaccines.

EU lawmakers award rights prize to Belarus opposition

The European Parliament awarded Belarus' democratic opposition on Thursday its annual human rights prize, in support of the country's protests against the results of an August presidential election that the West and the opposition say was rigged. "My message for you, dear laureates, is to stay strong and not to give up on your fight. Know that we are by your side," European Parliament President David Sassoli said after announcing the prize to "brave women ... prominent political and civil society figures."

Russia gives whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights

Russia has granted U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights, his lawyer said on Thursday, a step towards Russian citizenship if he wants it. Snowden, 37, fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency where he was a contractor.

Hariri, designated Lebanon's PM again, vows to halt collapse

Lebanese veteran politician Saad al-Hariri was named prime minister for a fourth time on Thursday and pledged to form a new government that can tackle the country's worst crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. After his nomination, Hariri said he would quickly form a cabinet of specialists "with a mission to enact the economic and financial reforms" set out in a French roadmap to unlock foreign aid.