World News Roundup: S.Korea, U.S. showcase air power during U.S. official's Seoul visit; UK PM Johnson seeks to rally his party after surviving leadership test and more

The Irish low-cost airline had from last week started forcing UK-bound travelers with a South African passport to take a test in Afrikaans, a language spoken by just 12% of the country's population and often associated with the apartheid and white minority rule. Crisis-hit Sri Lanka needs $5 billion, help from China for essentials Sri Lanka will need $5 billion over the next six months to ensure basic living standards, and is renegotiating the terms of a yuan-denominated swap worth $1.5 billion with China so as to fund essential imports, the prime minister said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

S.Korea, U.S. showcase air power during U.S. official's Seoul visit

South Korea and the United States staged a joint air power demonstration on Tuesday during a visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who said there would be a strong and clear response if North Korea were to conduct a nuclear test. The demonstration, which involved 20 warplanes including F-35A stealth fighter jets, came a day after the allies fired eight surface-to-surface missiles off South Korea's east coast in response to a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea on Sunday.

UK PM Johnson seeks to rally his party after surviving leadership test

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to shore up his leadership on Tuesday by setting out a raft of new policies to ministers after he narrowly survived a confidence vote that revealed the scale of the threat to his position. Johnson won the ballot of Conservative Party lawmakers on Monday evening by 211 votes to 148 - enough to avoid having to immediately resign but a larger than anticipated rebellion within his party that leaves him wounded and battling to win back the confidence of his colleagues and the general public.

Vatican unveils investment ethics body as corruption trial drags on

The Vatican on Tuesday unveiled a committee to oversee the ethics of its investments, even as a corruption trial related to a botched London real estate deal in which it lost more than 200 million euros continued. The committee will be headed by a cardinal, Irish-American Kevin Joseph Farrell, who is based at the Vatican, but include four outside lay financial experts, a statement said.

Israeli-Palestinian "flag war" brews as violence flares

Following weeks of violence in different parts of Israel and the West Bank, Israeli nationalists have targeted the red, green, black and white Palestinian colors in an escalating "flag war" that underscores a struggle over status and identity.

The conflict reached a high last week, when a bill banning the display of the Palestinian flag at state-funded institutions, including universities, passed a preliminary reading in the Israeli parliament.

'Widen gaze from Ukraine' to avert famine in Somalia, U.N. agency warns

The world must "widen its gaze from the war in Ukraine" to prevent Somalia sliding into famine, the United Nations' children's agency said on Tuesday, warning only a third of the $250 million needed to stave off catastrophe had so far been raised. Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed in the Horn of Africa - the worst drought spell in more than 40 years - and a fifth in October-December also looks likely to do so.

Street fighting rages as Kyiv seeks to hold Sievierodonetsk gains

Ukrainian troops battled Russians street-to-street in the ruins of Sievierodonetsk on Tuesday, trying to hold onto gains from a surprise counter-offensive that had reversed the momentum in one of the bloodiest land battles of the war. The fight for the small industrial city has emerged as a pivotal battle in eastern Ukraine, with Russia focusing its offensive might there in the hope of achieving one of its stated war aims - to fully capture the surrounding Luhansk province on behalf of separatist proxies.

Two people dead after shooting in German supermarket - police

Two people were found dead after a shooting in a supermarket in central Germany on Tuesday, police said on Twitter, adding that there was no danger to the public. The shooting occurred around 1 pm local time (1100 GMT) in Schwalmstadt-Treysa, a town of around 8,500 people northeast of Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, according to police.

Syrian, Russian forces boosted after Turkey signals operation - officials

Russia and Syrian government forces have been bolstered in northern Syria where Turkey may soon launch an offensive against Kurdish fighters, Turkish and rebel Syrian officials said, as Ankara prepares for talks with Moscow. President Tayyip Erdogan said two weeks ago Turkey would launch new military operations in Syria to extend 30-km (20-mile) deep "safe zones" along the border, aiming at the Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions and other areas further east.

South Africa 'taken aback' by Ryanair's Afrikaans test to prove nationality

The South African government said on Tuesday it was taken aback by Ryanair's decision to force UK-bound travelers holding the country's passport to take a test in the Afrikaans language to prove nationality, calling the move a "backward profiling system". The Irish low-cost airline had from last week started forcing UK-bound travelers with a South African passport to take a test in Afrikaans, a language spoken by just 12% of the country's population and often associated with the apartheid and white minority rule.

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka needs $5 billion, help from China for essentials

Sri Lanka will need $5 billion over the next six months to ensure basic living standards, and is renegotiating the terms of a yuan-denominated swap worth $1.5 billion with China so as to fund essential imports, the prime minister said on Tuesday. The island nation's worst economic crisis in seven decades led to a shortage of foreign exchange that stalled imports of essential items such as fuel, medicine and fertilizer, provoking devaluation, street protests and a change of government.