World News Roundup: Analysis-Gang crime looms over election in Sweden as shootings spread; UN chief pledges support for denuclearization of North Korea and more

The court on Wednesday upheld Ghafoor's earlier in-absentia conviction, ordering him to pay a fine but revoking a three-year jail term handed down in May. Ukraine, Russia trade blame for risk of nuclear disaster at frontline plant Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Friday of risking nuclear disaster by shelling Europe's largest nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Analysis-Gang crime looms over election in Sweden as shootings spread

In the span of eight days in May, three young men were shot dead in a small neighborhood of the town of Orebro, part of a wave of gang violence spreading from big cities to small-town Sweden that is topping voters' concerns ahead of elections next month. The killings took place in Varberga, a collection of low-rise brick houses about two miles (3 km) from Orebro's picturesque city centre in central Sweden. The neighborhood is home to about 3,300 people, many of them of Christian Syrian origin.

UN chief pledges support for denuclearization of North Korea

In Seoul for meetings with South Korean leaders, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said he fully supports efforts to completely denuclearize North Korea.

"I would like to take this opportunity to express our full support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, especially North Korea, and to say that this goal is very fundamentally important for us to achieve regional security, peace and stability," he said when meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol.

First rigging allegation as Kenyan media slow tally of votes in tight presidential race

Without providing any proof, the secretary-general of Kenya's governing party has said there was election rigging, fuelling public anxiety on Friday as media outlets significantly slowed down their unofficial tallies from Tuesday's tight vote.

Only the electoral commission is authorized to declare a winner, but the tallies done by media were seen as a bulwark against the kind of rigging allegations that have previously sparked violence.

American attorney convicted in UAE of money laundering will pay fine - lawyer

U.S. citizen and civil rights attorney Asim Ghafoor, who was convicted in the United Arab Emirates this week on money laundering charges, maintains his innocence but will pay the $1.36 million court fine so that he can be released from detention, his lawyer said on Friday. The court on Wednesday upheld Ghafoor's earlier in-absentia conviction, ordering him to pay a fine but revoking a three-year jail term handed down in May.

Ukraine, Russia trade blame for risk of nuclear disaster at the frontline plant

Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Friday of risking nuclear disaster by shelling Europe's largest nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war. Western countries have called for Moscow to withdraw its troops from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the United Nations called on Thursday for it to be declared a demilitarised zone. But there has been no sign so far of Russia agreeing to move its troops out of the facility they seized in March.

Drought in England, fires rage in France as heatwave persists

Firefighters from across Europe came to France's rescue on Friday to battle a massive wildfire, while parts of England faced a severe drought, as successive heatwaves on the continent renewed the focus on climate change risks. Much of Europe has faced weeks of baking temperatures that have led to large wildfires, are depleting water levels of the Rhine River in Germany and have seen the source of Britain's River Thames dry up further downstream than in previous years.

Analysis-China's sharper focus on military option for Taiwan raises risks with U.S

As the dust settles from China's military exercises around Taiwan, the message is clear: the military will uphold China's claim on the island in a challenge to the United States that will keep tension high and ramp up the risk of confrontation. China failed to stop U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi from visiting democratically ruled Taiwan last week, a trip that China said destroyed the basis for political trust between the world's two largest economies.

Iran may accept EU proposal to revive nuclear deal if demands met -IRNA

A European Union proposal to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “can be acceptable if it provides assurances" on Tehran's key demands, the state news agency IRNA said on Friday, quoting a senior Iranian diplomat. The EU said on Monday it had put forward a "final" text following four days of indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Vienna.

Terrorism suspect blew himself up in Jeddah, injuring four, Saudi media says

A Saudi Arabian man wanted in connection with a deadly 2015 bombing in the kingdom detonated an explosive device in Jeddah on Wednesday as security forces attempted to arrest him, killing himself and injuring four others, state media reported. Saudi news agency SPA, reporting the incident on Friday, identified the man as Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Shehri.

Israeli families of 1972 Munich Olympics victims demand more compensation

The families of Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics are unhappy with fresh German compensation offers and plan to boycott a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the attack in protest, their spokesperson told Reuters on Friday. An official ceremony is planned for Sept. 5 in Munich.

(With inputs from agencies.)