World News Roundup: China examines black boxes of crashed jet, looking for more plane debris; Canadian indigenous ask pope for residential schools records and more

The snap lockdown, announced by the local government late on Sunday, will split China's most populous city roughly along the Huangpu River for nine days to allow for "staggered" testing by healthcare workers in white hazmat suits. Kremlin says Biden's remark on the end of Putin is alarming The Kremlin said on Monday that U.S. President Joe Biden's remark that Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" was a cause for alarm, in a measured response to a public call from the United States for an end to Putin's 22-year rule.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

China examines black boxes of crashed jet, looking for more plane debris

After finding two black boxes from a crashed China Eastern jet, recovery crews are looking for more airplane debris, nearby video footage and eyewitness accounts, an official at China's aviation regulator said on Monday. Flight MU5735, operated by a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, crashed into a mountainside last Monday, killing all 132 people on board in mainland China's deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years.

Canadian indigenous ask pope for residential schools records

Survivors of Canada's residential schools on Monday asked Pope Francis for unfettered access to Church records on the institutions where indigenous children were abused and their culture denied. Francis met for about an hour each with representatives of the Métis and Inuit nations, the first of four meetings this week with Canada's native peoples in what both sides have called a called a process of healing and reconciliation.

Iran struck Iraq target over gas talks involving Israel - officials

A nascent plan for Iraq's Kurdistan region to supply gas to Turkey and Europe - with Israeli help - is part of what angered Iran into striking the Kurdish capital Erbil with ballistic missiles this month, Iraqi and Turkish officials say. The March 13 attack on Erbil came as a shock to officials throughout the region for its ferocity, and was a rare publicly declared assault by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Ukraine talks to resume; Kremlin calls Biden remarks "alarming"

Ukraine and Russia were preparing on Monday for the first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, with Kyiv insisting it would make no concessions on ceding territory as battlefield momentum has shifted in its favour. Ukrainian officials played down the chances of a major breakthrough at the talks, due to be held in Istanbul after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

Shanghai locks down as COVID surges in China's financial hub

China's financial hub of Shanghai launched a two-stage lockdown of its 26 million residents on Monday, closing bridges and tunnels and restricting highway traffic in a scramble to contain surging COVID-19 cases. The snap lockdown, announced by the local government late on Sunday, will split China's most populous city roughly along the Huangpu River for nine days to allow for "staggered" testing by healthcare workers in white hazmat suits.

Kremlin says Biden's remark on the end of Putin is alarming

The Kremlin said on Monday that U.S. President Joe Biden's remark that Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" was a cause for alarm, in a measured response to a public call from the United States for an end to Putin's 22-year rule. "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power," Biden said on Saturday at the end of a speech to a crowd in Warsaw. He cast Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a battle in a much broader conflict between democracy and autocracy.

Taliban bars government employees without beards from work

Afghanistan's Taliban has instructed all government employees to wear a beard and adhere to a dress code or risk being fired, three sources told Reuters, the latest of several new restrictions imposed by the hardline Islamist administration. The sources said representatives from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were patrolling the entrances to government offices on Monday to check that employees were in compliance with the new rules.

Turkey faces risks acting as sanctions 'safe haven' for Russians

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked a flurry of Western sanctions on Moscow, at least one oligarch and thousands of other Russians have arrived in Turkey, seen as a safe place to stay, invest and hold assets despite its NATO membership. Acting as a safe haven raises risks for Turkey's government, banks and businesses that could face tough decisions and penalties if the United States and others ramp up pressure on Moscow with broader "secondary" sanctions.

Israel's U.S., Arab partners close ranks on Iran and urge Palestine talks

The top diplomats of the United States and four Arab countries convened in Israel on Monday in a display of unity against Iran but also used the rare summit to press their host to revive long-stalled peacemaking with the Palestinians. Concluding the two days of discussions at a desert retreat where its founding father David Ben-Gurion is buried, Israel said the event would be repeated and expanded as it builds up commercial and security ties with like-minded Sunni Arab states.

Analysts investigate possibility of N.Korea missile test 'deception'

Reports suggest North Korea's biggest missile test ever may not have been what it seemed, raising new questions over the secretive country's banned weapons program. North Korea said it had test-fired its new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday, the first test of a missile that size since 2017.