World News Roundup: Exclusive-UK to warn EU it may deviate from Brexit deal on N.Ireland -sources; Singapore police arrest teen after killing of schoolboy, 13 and more

Opening a new area of tensions with China, the United States is joined by NATO, the European Union, Britain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Canada to level the allegations, according to a White House fact sheet released Monday morning. S.Korea's Moon scraps Tokyo trip over 'unacceptable' diplomat remarks South Korean President Moon Jae-in will not visit Tokyo for the upcoming Olympics, his office said on Monday, scrapping plans for what would have been his first summit with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Exclusive-UK to warn EU it may deviate from Brexit deal on N.Ireland -sources

Britain will threaten this week to deviate from the Brexit deal unless the European Union shows more flexibility over Northern Ireland, one UK and three EU sources told Reuters, a move that could thrust the five-year Brexit divorce into tumult. Deviating from the deal's so-called Northern Ireland Protocol is a risky step: its aim was to prevent Brexit from disrupting the delicate peace brought to Northern Ireland by the U.S.-brokered 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of sectarian conflict.

Singapore police arrest teen after killing of schoolboy, 13

Singapore police said on Monday a high school student had been arrested and would be charged with murder over the killing of a 13-year-old boy, whose body was found in a school bathroom along with an ax. Extreme violence in schools is rare in Singapore, a country known for low crime and obedience to rules that counts itself as among the safest places in the world.

Ethiopia's Tigray forces enter neighbouring Afar region, Afar says

Forces from Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have mounted attacks in neighbouring Afar region, a spokesman for Afar said on Monday, marking an expansion of an eight-month-old conflict into a previously untouched area. Tigrayan fighters crossed into Afar on Saturday and Afar forces and allied militias were still fighting them on Monday, Afar spokesman Ahmed Koloyta said.

England's 'freedom day' marred by soaring cases and isolation chaos

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'freedom day' ending over a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England was marred on Monday by surging infections, warnings of supermarket shortages and his own forced self-isolation. Johnson's bet that he can get one of Europe's largest economies firing again because so many people are now vaccinated marks a new chapter in the global response to the coronavirus.

U.S., allies accuse China of global cyber hacking campaign

The United States and a coalition of allies on Monday accused China's Ministry of State Security of a global cyber hacking campaign, specifically attributing a large Microsoft attack disclosed earlier this year to hackers working on Beijing's behalf. Opening a new area of tensions with China, the United States is joined by NATO, the European Union, Britain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Canada to level the allegations, according to a White House fact sheet released Monday morning.

S.Korea's Moon scraps Tokyo trip over 'unacceptable' diplomat remarks

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will not visit Tokyo for the upcoming Olympics, his office said on Monday, scrapping plans for what would have been his first summit with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The announcement came after Seoul lodged a protest over a news report on Friday that a senior diplomat at Japan's embassy in Seoul had said Moon was "masturbating" when describing his efforts to improve relations between the two countries.

El Salvador 'House of Horrors' killings shock nation numbed to violence

Neighbors knew something was wrong in that squat greenhouse when a young woman's screams pierced the quiet of their neighborhood in Chalchuapa, a small town about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from San Salvador, this nation's capital. Jacqueline Palomo Lima, 26, and her mother had been lured to the windowless dwelling by the man who lived there – 51-year-old former policeman Hugo Osorio - who had promised them information about Palomo's missing brother, Alexis, a family member told Reuters.

Foreign missions in Afghanistan call for Taliban ceasefire

Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Afghanistan urged the Taliban on Monday to halt their military offensives just hours after the rival Afghan sides failed to agree on a ceasefire at a peace meeting in Doha. A delegation of Afghan leaders met the Taliban's political leadership in the Qatari capital over the weekend but the Taliban, in said in a statement late on Sunday, made no mention of a halt to Afghanistan's escalating violence.

France, South Pacific nations to combat 'predatory' fishing as China extends reach

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday France and South Pacific nations would launch a South Pacific coastguard network to counter "predatory" behavior, which an adviser said was aimed at illegal fishing, as China expands its maritime reach. The United States and allies including France, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, are actively expanding their activity in the Pacific to counter China's influence.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)