World News Roundup: WHO team in Wuhan probing COVID-19 origins moves out of quarantine; In locked-down Lebanon, Tripoli protester killed in night of unrest and more

WHO team in Wuhan probing COVID-19 origins moves out of quarantine A World Health Organization-led team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic left its quarantine hotel in Wuhan on Thursday to begin field work, two weeks after arriving in the Chinese city where the virus emerged in late 2019.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

In locked-down Lebanon, Tripoli protester killed in night of unrest

A Lebanese man was killed in Tripoli on Thursday in clashes between security forces and protesters angry that a strict lockdown has left them with no means to survive the economy's collapse. Witnesses and local media said riot police had fired live bullets as protesters tried to storm the northern city's government building.

WHO team in Wuhan probing COVID-19 origins moves out of quarantine

A World Health Organization-led team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic left its quarantine hotel in Wuhan on Thursday to begin field work, two weeks after arriving in the Chinese city where the virus emerged in late 2019. The mission has been plagued by delays, concern over access and bickering between China and the United States, which has accused China of hiding the extent of the initial outbreak and criticised the terms of the visit, under which Chinese experts conducted the first phase of research. Anger in Somalia as sons secretly sent to serve in Eritrea military force

Ali Jamac Dhoodi thought his son was working as a security guard in Qatar, helping prepare for next year's soccer World Cup. Then one day last April, officials from Somalia's National Intelligence Agency arrived with $10,000 in cash. They told him his son had died - not in Qatar, but in Eritrea, one of the world's most secretive countries. Polish protests against abortion ruling pose coronavirus infection risks, says minister

Poland's health minister said on Thursday that expected protests against a ruling restricting access to abortion will increase the risk of rising numbers of coronavirus infections. Poland's government put into effect on Wednesday a constitutional court decision banning terminations of pregnancies with foetal defects, as conservative policies increasingly take root in one of Europe's most devoutly Catholic countries. Italy's Renzi to meet president in bid for way out of government crisis

Former premier Matteo Renzi, a central figure in an Italian government crisis, will meet the head of state on Thursday and tell him whether he is ready to support a new government headed by caretaker Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Renzi triggered Conte's resignation this week when he pulled his Italia Viva party out of the ruling coalition, depriving it of a majority in the upper house Senate and throwing the country into political limbo in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Myanmar poll body says no election fraud after army warns of 'action'

Myanmar's election commission on Thursday rejected allegations by the country's military of vote fraud in last year's election and said there were no errors big enough to impact the credibility of the vote. The commission's statement comes two days after the armed forces spokesman declined to rule out a coup and warned the military would "take action" if its demands to investigate irregularities were not met. China sharpens language, warns Taiwan that independence 'means war'

China toughened its language towards Taiwan on Thursday, warning after recent stepped up military activities near the island that "independence means war" and that its armed forces were acting in response to provocation and foreign interference. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, reported multiple Chinese fighter jets and bombers entering its southwestern air defence identification zone last weekend, prompting Washington to urge Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan.

Russian court rules that Kremlin critic Navalny must stay in jail A Russian court on Thursday ordered Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to be kept in jail after rejecting an appeal against his detention, a decision that Navalny called predictable. Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was remanded in custody for 30 days on Jan. 18 after flying back to Russia for the first time since being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent in August.

Islamist convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl to go free, victim's family in 'shock' Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of an Islamist convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, a decision that has left his family in "complete shock", lawyers said. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl, was released by a panel of three judges.

EU snubs UK envoy amid spat over diplomatic status A top European Union official cancelled a meeting set for Thursday with the UK's new envoy to Brussels amid a spat over Britain's refusal to grant the EU's envoys full diplomatic status in London following Brexit, an EU official said. Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby, head of the UK Mission to the EU who took office last week, was informed that his meeting with the chief of European Council President Charles Michel's cabinet had been postponed.