Reuters World News Summary

Belarusian police raids homes of journalists and human rights activists Belarusian security forces searched the homes of journalists and human rights activists in several cities across the country on Tuesday, intensifying a crackdown on mass protests against veteran President Alexander Lukashenko.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Students in Delhi protest against environmentalist's detention

Students chanted slogans outside the Delhi police headquarters on Tuesday demanding the release of a 22-year-old environmentalist accused of sedition for an online document in support of farmers' protests. Police say Disha Ravi, a leader of the local arm of climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg's advocacy group, created and shared a "toolkit" or an action plan that was used to foment violence in Delhi last month during the protests. U.S. forces in Iraq hit by rockets, contractor killed

A rocket attack on U.S.-led forces in northern Iraq killed a civilian contractor on Monday and injured a U.S. service member, the U.S. coalition in Iraq said, in the deadliest such attack in almost a year. The rockets landed in and around a military air base operated by the coalition at Erbil International Airport. North Korean hackers tried to steal Pfizer vaccine know-how, lawmaker says

South Korea's intelligence agency has said North Korea attempted to steal information on coronavirus vaccines and treatments by hacking Pfizer Inc, a lawmaker briefed by the agency said on Tuesday. Digital espionage targeting health bodies, vaccine scientists and drugmakers has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as state-backed hacking groups scramble to secure the latest research and information about the outbreak. Chad deploys 1,200 troops to combat militants in the Sahel region

Chad has deployed 1,200 troops to help tackle Islamist militants who have occupied swathes of territory in the West African Sahel region, a statement from a summit of leaders of the region and their allies said on Tuesday. Heads of state of Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, who form the G5 Sahel group, met with European and other international allies to discuss progress on combating the insurgents linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State who are threatening the stability of the region. Myanmar military guarantees new election; protesters block train services

Myanmar's military junta guaranteed on Tuesday that it would hold an election and hand over power, denied its ouster of an elected government was a coup or that its leaders were detained, and accused protesters of violence and intimidation. The junta's defence of its Feb. 1 seizure of power and arrest of government leader Aug San Suu Kyi and others came as protesters again took to the streets and as China dismissed rumours spreading on social media that it had helped with the coup. Kidnap capital Mexico eyes biometric phone registry, sparking privacy fears

A plan by Mexican lawmakers to put millions of cell phone users' data in a biometric registry, billed as a tool to fight kidnapping and extortion, has sparked a backlash from telecoms companies and rights groups who warn it could lead to stolen data and higher costs. Already approved in the lower house of Congress, the reform is in line with President Andres Lopez Obrador's vow to counter crime using intelligence methods rather than force, but critics say it reveals the pitfalls of governments seeking to gather more citizen data for law enforcement purposes. Ten years on, Libyan revolutionaries live with wounds and unfulfilled dreams

As revolution swept their region in 2011, three young Libyans joined mass protests against Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule. They now live divided by Libya's frontlines, their futures irrevocably shaped by the uprising. The first demonstrations against Gaddafi's rule began in the eastern city of Benghazi on Feb. 17, 2011. A decade on, Libya is still split between rival factions, and shell and shrapnel holes scar its cities. Belarusian police raids homes of journalists and human rights activists

Belarusian security forces searched the homes of journalists and human rights activists in several cities across the country on Tuesday, intensifying a crackdown on mass protests against veteran President Alexander Lukashenko. Police searched the homes of 25 members of the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and the human rights organization Viasna-96, Viasna-96 said. Woman alleges raped in Australian parliament, PM apologises for way complaint handled

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised on Tuesday to a woman who alleged that she was raped in parliament two years ago for the way her complaint was handled at that time, ordering a probe into the government's workplace culture. The woman told an online news publication and Channel 10 on Monday that she had been raped in the office of the current Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in March 2019 by unnamed colleague who also worked for Morrison's ruling Liberal party.

Prosecution seeks hefty slander fine for Kremlin critic Navalny Russian state prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to fine Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny 950,000 roubles ($13,000) for slandering a World War Two veteran, a charge he calls politically motivated. President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic was jailed this month for almost three years for parole violations that he said were trumped up. The West has condemned the case and is discussing possible sanctions on Russia.