Reuters World News Summary

The decision in the world's second biggest Roman Catholic nation means that courts can no longer prosecute abortion cases, and follows Argentina's historic legalization which took effect earlier this year. Salvador street protest breaks out against bitcoin adoption More than 1,000 people marched in El Salvador's capital on Tuesday to protest the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender, amid a bumpy initial rollout of systems to support the digital currency.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Parties focus on key battlegrounds in tight Canadian election

Canada's federal election race is so close that even a few swing districts on the western Prairies, a region usually hostile to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals, may be key to his hopes to stay in power, analysts say. Trudeau, 49, called an election for Sept. 20 two years early, gambling that the country's successful COVID-19 vaccination campaign would help him hold the 155 seats he currently holds and pick up 15 more, which would allow him to govern without opposition support in the 338-seat House of Commons.

Security high in Paris as 2015 jihadist attacks trial begins

A trial of unprecedented scale starts under high security on Wednesday to judge 20 men suspected of involvement in a jihadist rampage across Paris on Nov. 13, 2015, the deadliest attack in peacetime France. Some 130 people were killed and hundreds wounded when gunmen with suicide vests targeted six bars and restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and a sports stadium, leaving deep scars on the nation's psyche.

Afghan protests persist, posing a problem for new Taliban government

A group of Afghan women crouched on the side of a Kabul street and took cover after armed members of the Taliban fired shots into the air to disperse hundreds of protesters. One of them spoke rapidly at the camera filming them.

Taliban name new Afghan government, interior minister on U.S. sanctions list

The Taliban drew from its inner high echelons to fill top posts in Afghanistan's new government on Tuesday, including an associate of the Islamist militant group's founder as premier and a wanted man on a U.S. terrorism list as interior minister. World powers have told the Taliban the key to peace and development is an inclusive government that would back up its pledges of a more conciliatory approach, upholding human rights, after a previous 1996-2001 period in power marked by bloody vendettas and oppression of women.

COVID-19 disruption causing many deaths from TB, AIDS in poorest countries, fund says

Hundreds of thousands of people will die of tuberculosis left untreated because of disruption to healthcare systems in poor countries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a global aid fund said. In a few of the world's poorest countries, excess deaths from AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) could even exceed those from the coronavirus itself, said the head of the Geneva-based aid body, known as the Global Fund.

Guinea military consolidates takeover, opposition leader signals openness to transition

Guinea's main opposition leader said on Tuesday he was open to participating in a transition following a military coup over the weekend, as the soldiers who seized power consolidated their takeover. West African countries have threatened sanctions following the overthrow of President Alpha Conde, who was serving a third term after altering the constitution to permit it.

Aboriginal group files U.N. complaint over heritage bill

A group of Aboriginal people has filed a complaint to the United Nations over Western Australia's draft heritage protection laws, more than a year after miner Rio Tinto legally destroyed historically and culturally significant rock shelters.

The group is making a formal request for the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to review the state's cultural heritage bill, calling it incompatible with Australia's international obligations.

IAEA says Iran is stonewalling as talks on nuclear deal hang in balance

The U.N. atomic watchdog on Tuesday criticised Iran for stonewalling an investigation into past activities and jeopardising important monitoring work, possibly complicating efforts to resume talks on the Iran nuclear deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in two reports to member states reviewed by Reuters that there had been no progress on two central issues: explaining uranium traces found at several old, undeclared sites and getting urgent access to some monitoring equipment so that the agency can continue to keep track of parts of Iran's nuclear programme.

Mexico's top court decriminalizes abortion in 'watershed moment'

Mexico's Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday that penalizing abortion is unconstitutional, a major victory for advocates of women's health and human rights, just as parts of the United States enact tougher laws against the practice. The decision in the world's second biggest Roman Catholic nation means that courts can no longer prosecute abortion cases, and follows Argentina's historic legalization which took effect earlier this year.

Salvador street protest breaks out against bitcoin adoption

More than 1,000 people marched in El Salvador's capital on Tuesday to protest the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender, amid a bumpy initial rollout of systems to support the digital currency. The protesters burned a tire and set off fireworks in front of the Supreme Court building around noon local time, as the government deployed heavily militarized police to the site of the protest.