Reuters World News Summary

White House says U.S. communicating with Iran over detained Americans White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over the country's detention of American citizens, calling the matter a "complete and utter outrage".

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Britain to challenge China at U.N. over access to Xinjiang

Britain will on Monday call for the United Nations to be given "urgent and unfettered" access to Xinjiang to investigate reports of abuses in the Chinese region. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will also mark Britain's return to the U.N. Human Rights Council as a voting member by condemning the rights record of fellow council members China and Russia and will raise concerns about Myanmar and Belarus, his office said. Protesters clash with Spanish police in fresh unrest over jailed rapper

Protesters threw bottles, stones and rubbish containers at police in Barcelona on Sunday in a sixth night of clashes after a rapper was jailed for glorifying terrorism and insulting royalty in his songs. The nine-month sentence of Pablo Hasel, known for his virulently anti-establishment raps, has prompted debate over freedom of expression in Spain and sparked protests that have at times turned violent. UK's Johnson to plot path out of lockdown on Monday

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will plot a path out of COVID-19 lockdown on Monday in an effort to gradually reopen the battered $3 trillion economy, aided by one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world. With more than 120,000 fatalities, Britain has suffered the world's fifth-highest official death toll from the pandemic and its biggest economic crash in more than 300 years. White House says U.S. communicating with Iran over detained Americans

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over the country's detention of American citizens, calling the matter a "complete and utter outrage". Iran has arrested dozens of dual nationals, including several Americans, in recent years, mostly on espionage charges. Rights activists accuse the country of trying to use the detentions to win concessions from other countries, though Tehran dismisses the charge. Huge crowds in Myanmar undeterred by worst day of violence

Huge crowds marched in Myanmar on Sunday to denounce a Feb. 1 military coup in a show of defiance after the bloodiest episode of the campaign for democracy the previous day, when security forces fired on protesters, killing two. The military has been unable to quell the demonstrations and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes against the coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others, even with a promise of new elections and stern warnings against dissent. IAEA strikes deal with Iran to cushion coming blow of slashed access

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sunday it had struck a deal with Iran to cushion the blow of steps Tehran plans to take this week that include ending snap inspections, with both sides agreeing to keep "necessary" monitoring for up to three months. The announcement by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, made at Vienna airport after a weekend trip to Iran, confirmed that Tehran would go ahead with its plan to slash cooperation with the agency on Tuesday. Libyan interior minister's convoy in shootout he calls assassination attempt

Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said he escaped a "well-planned" assassination attempt on Sunday in which gunmen fired on his motorcade in the capital Tripoli, though an armed force that said its members were involved disputed his account. Speaking to Reuters, Bashagha said a vehicle started encroaching on his convoy and people inside the vehicle opened fire, leading to an exchange of fire in which one of his guards and one of the attackers were killed.

Six killed in Mexican air force plane accident in Veracruz Six members of Mexico's military died in an accident on Sunday morning involving a Mexican air force plane in the southeastern state of Veracruz, the country's Defense Ministry said. The accident occurred as the Learjet 45 aircraft was taking off around 9:45 a.m. from an airport in the municipality of Emiliano Zapata, the ministry said in a statement.

Palestinian COVID vaccine plan faces large funding gap, World Bank says The Palestinians' COVID-19 vaccination plan faces a $30 million funding shortfall, even after factoring in support from a global vaccine scheme for poorer economies, the World Bank said in a report on Monday. Israel, a world leader in terms of vaccination speed, could perhaps consider donating surplus doses to the Palestinians to help accelerate a vaccine roll-out in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, the bank said.

Analysis: Road to renewed Iran nuclear deal likely to be long and bumpy It took seven years from the summer's day in 2008 when a top U.S. diplomat first sat down with his Iranian counterpart until the two sides sealed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that aimed to keep Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. No one expects it to take as long to establish whether they can resuscitate the pact abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump, but U.S. and European officials say the journey will be lengthy and arduous, if, indeed, they even begin the trek.