World News Roundup: Pompeo says U.S., India must focus on threat posed by China; Vaccines, not spy planes: U.S. misfires in Southeast Asia and more

Prominent Saudi women's rights activist on hunger strike in detention, says family Prominent Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, held in Saudi Arabia since 2018, began a new hunger strike on Monday over the conditions of her detention, her family said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pompeo says U.S., India must focus on threat posed by China

The United States and China must work together to confront the threat posed by China to security and freedom, U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday as he prepared for talks with Indian leaders. Pompeo arrived in New Delhi on Monday along with Defense Secretary Mark Esper for an annual strategic dialogue at a time of heightened tension in the region, with Indian troops confronting Chinese forces on their disputed Himalayan border.

Vaccines, not spy planes: U.S. misfires in Southeast Asia

For months, by Zoom calls and then by jet, Indonesian ministers and officials scoured the world for access to a vaccine for the coronavirus that Southeast Asia's biggest country is struggling to control. This month, their campaign paid off. Three Chinese companies committed 250 million doses of vaccines to the archipelago of 270 million people. A letter of intent was signed with a UK-based company for another 100 million.

Erdogan files criminal complaint against Dutch politician Wilders

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has filed a criminal complaint with Turkish authorities against prominent Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders saying that he had insulted him on social media, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday. Wilders is one of Europe's most prominent far-rightists and has been a key figure in shaping the immigration debate in the Netherlands over the past decade, although he has never been in government.

France warns citizens to be cautious as anger seethes in Muslim world over cartoons

France warned its citizens living or travelling in several Muslim-majority countries to take extra security precautions on Tuesday as anger surged over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. In a sign that some countries want to limit the fallout, Saudi Arabia condemned the cartoons but held back from echoing calls by other Muslim states for a boycott of French products or other actions.

Prominent Saudi women's rights activist on hunger strike in detention, says family

Prominent Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, held in Saudi Arabia since 2018, began a new hunger strike on Monday over the conditions of her detention, her family said. Hathloul's sister Lina told Reuters that the main demand was to be allowed regular contact with her family. In late August Hathloul went on a six-day hunger strike after authorities at Riyadh's al-Hair prison cut off contact for over four months.

EU's Barnier resumes Brexit trade talks in London

European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier resumed talks in London with his British counterpart on Tuesday as the two sides try to strike a last-minute trade agreement less than 10 weeks before the United Kingdom leaves the bloc's orbit. The United Kingdom left the EU in January but the two sides are trying to clinch a deal that would govern nearly a trillion dollars in annual trade before informal membership - known as the transition period - ends on Dec. 31.

Polish PM warns of 'massive' COVID risk from abortion rights protests

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on Tuesday for an end to mass protests over abortion rights, saying those attending were disregarding "massive risks" from the resurgent coronavirus pandemic. Five days of nationwide protests have followed a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal last week that amounts to a near-total ban on abortion in the predominantly Catholic nation.

Yellow-shirted Thai royalists show support for king

More than 1,000 yellow-shirted Thai royalists demonstrated in support of King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday, close to where thousands of people marched a day earlier to demand reforms of the monarchy. Youth and student-led protests began in Thailand in July to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha - a former army ruler - and a new constitution, but have increasingly sought curbs on the monarchy's powers.

In Armenia, war refugees sleep rough in the diamonds

In a factory where diamonds are cut, Anna Osipyan and her two grandchildren found something even more precious after fleeing their homes in the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh: shelter from the region's worst fighting in almost 30 years. With nearly 200 others, many of them children, Osipyan has camped for a month inside the modern plant on the edge of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. On a tip from a friend, she arrived by car while her younger male relatives stayed behind to fight.

Child malnutrition at record highs in parts of Yemen: U.N. survey

Parts of Yemen are suffering record levels of acute child malnutrition, with nearly 100,000 children now at risk of dying, heightening warnings that the country is approaching a dire food security crisis, a U.N. report and officials said on Tuesday. Drivers of malnutrition in Yemen worsened in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic, economic decline, floods, escalating armed conflict and significant underfunding of this year's global appeal for aid to Yemen have raised the spectre of widespread severe hunger or even famine after almost six years of war.