World News Roundup: Mexico's president expected to ask Biden to share U.S. vaccines; Don't bully Riyadh, Saudi columnists tell Biden administration and more

Don't bully Riyadh, Saudi columnists tell Biden administration Saudi Arabia's sovereignty is a red line, Saudi columnists said on Sunday, ramping up rhetoric in defense of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Don't bully Riyadh, Saudi columnists tell Biden administration

Saudi Arabia's sovereignty is a red line, Saudi columnists said on Sunday, ramping up rhetoric in defense of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Prince Mohammed, de facto ruler of the U.S.-allied Gulf powerhouse, has denied any involvement in the 2018 murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

U.S. calls on African Union to exert pressure over worsening crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday called on the African Union and other international partners to help address a deepening crisis in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region as he condemned alleged atrocities in fighting there. Blinken's statement suggested growing frustration with the response so far from Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea to what America's top diplomat described as a "worsening humanitarian crisis."

Exclusive: Mexico's president expected to ask Biden to share U.S. vaccines, say sources

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is expected to ask President Joe Biden to consider sharing part of the U.S. coronavirus vaccine supply with its poorer southern neighbor when the two leaders hold a virtual summit on Monday, U.S. and Mexican officials said. Biden is open to discussing the matter as part of a broader regional effort to cooperate in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but will maintain as his "number one priority" the need to first vaccinate as many Americans as possible, a White House official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Nigerian schoolboys freed as forces search for 300 abducted girls

Gunmen in Nigeria on Saturday released 27 teenage boys who were kidnapped from their school last week in the north-central state of Niger, while security forces continued to search for more than 300 schoolgirls abducted in a nearby state. Schools have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups.

Dozens of leading Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners charged with subversion Forty-seven Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners and activists were charged on Sunday with conspiracy to commit subversion in the largest single crackdown on the opposition under a China-imposed national security law. Among them was Sam Cheung, a 27-year-old activist and a participant in an unofficial primary election last summer, who was charged after reporting to a local police station.

Arrival of 'sticky bombs' in Indian Kashmir sets off alarm bells Security forces battling a decades-long insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir are alarmed by the recent arrival in the disputed region of small, magnetic bombs that have wreaked havoc in Afghanistan. "Sticky bombs", which can be attached to vehicles and detonated remotely, have been seized during raids in recent months in the federally administered region of Jammu and Kashmir, three senior security officials told Reuters.

At least 11 dead on bloodiest day of Myanmar protests against coup Myanmar police fired on protesters on Sunday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup and at least 11 people were killed and several wounded, political and medical sources, residents and media said. Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of the biggest city of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds. Soldiers also reinforced police.

Analysis: U.S. seeks to put Saudi crown prince in his place - for now Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have been spared direct punishment after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he has not emerged unscathed. The declassified report, based on CIA intelligence, concludes that the prince approved an operation to "capture or kill" Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Philippines receives first batch of COVID-19 vaccine, doses donated by China The Philippines received on Sunday its first batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses in a shipment donated by China, a day before it was due to roll out a national inoculation campaign.

President Rodrigo Duterte attended a ceremony to mark the arrival of the initial 600,000 doses of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac, which were delivered by a Chinese military aircraft. The Philippines is due to receive another 25 million doses of CoronaVac in batches this year.

Israeli-owned ship in Dubai for assessment after explosion

An Israeli-owned ship hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman strategic waterway has arrived at a port in Dubai, where is it is due to be assessed in dry dock. The MV Helios Ray, a vehicle-carrier ship, was hit overnight between Thursday and Friday by a blast above the water line that a U.S. defence official said ripped holes in both sides of its hull.