World News Roundup: Iran carries out second execution linked to anti-govt protests; Queues form at fever clinics as China wrestles with COVID surge and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Iran carries out second execution linked to anti-govt protests

Iran hanged a man in public on Monday who had been convicted of killing two members of the security forces, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported, in the second execution of people involved in anti-government protests in less than a week. Nationwide protests, in their third month, erupted after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 in the custody of morality police enforcing strict mandatory dress code laws.

Queues form at fever clinics as China wrestles with COVID surge

People queued outside fever clinics at Chinese hospitals for COVID-19 checks on Monday, a new sign of the rapid spread of symptoms after authorities began dismantling an apparatus they used to surveil residents and curtail movement. Three years into the pandemic, China is acting to align with a world that has largely reopened to live with COVID, making a major policy change last Wednesday after unprecedented protests.

North Korean cyber spies deploy new tactic: tricking foreign experts into writing research for them

When Daniel DePetris, a U.S.-based foreign affairs analyst, received an email in October from the director of the 38 North think-tank commissioning an article, it seemed to be business as usual. It wasn't.

Freed Russian arms dealer Bout joins Kremlin-loyal ultranationalist party

Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer freed on Thursday after 14 years in U.S. custody in exchange for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, has joined the Kremlin-loyal ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), its leader said on Monday. In a video posted on Telegram, LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky, standing on a stage beside Bout, said: "I want to thank Viktor Anatolievich (Bout) for the decision he has made and welcome him into the ranks of the best political party in today's Russia."

British businessman to fight U.S. extradition for helping oligarch evade sanctions

A British businessman accused of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions placed on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska will fight extradition from Britain at a hearing in May, his lawyers told a London court on Monday. Graham Bonham-Carter is said by federal prosecutors in Manhattan to have worked for entities controlled by Deripaska, the billionaire founder of aluminium giant Rusal, since around 2003.

Fighting rages in east Ukraine, West eyes more sanctions on Russia

Russian forces pounded targets in eastern and southern Ukraine with missiles, drones and artillery, Ukraine's General Staff said on Monday, while millions remained without power in subzero temperatures after further strikes on key infrastructure. In a flurry of weekend diplomacy, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with the leaders of the United States, France and Turkey ahead of planned Group of Seven (G7) and EU meetings on Monday that could agree further sanctions on Russia.

Britain braces for winter of strike action as nurses walk out

British nurses will go on strike this week, hitting already stretched hospitals and cranking up pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to quell the biggest wave of industrial action to hit the country in decades. The walkout comes as strikes cripple the rail network and postal service, airports brace for disruption and junior doctors, midwives and teachers prepare to ballot, threatening to further jam up an economy that is likely already in recession.

Attack in Kabul hotel popular with Chinese nationals

Armed men opened fire on Monday inside a hotel in central Kabul popular with Chinese nationals, two Taliban sources told Reuters, in the latest violence in Afghanistan as it tries to stabilise after the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces. While the firing was continuing in the hotel, a fire broke out on one of the floors, the sources said, adding that they expect casualties.

Qatar graft probe damages European Parliament, EU ministers say

The European Union's credibility is at stake, EU foreign ministers warned on Monday, following allegations Qatar lavished cash and gifts on European Parliament officials to influence decision-making. Greece on Monday froze the assets of a key suspect in the case, Eva Kaili, a vice president in the European Parliament and one of four people arrested and charged in Belgium at the weekend, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Nigerian government rejects Reuters report on abortion programme

The Nigerian government rejects a Reuters report published last week about a secret programme of abortions run by the military in the country's northeast, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said on Monday. "The Federal Government hereby categorically states that there is no 'secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme' being run by our military in the Northeast or anywhere across the country," he said in opening remarks at a public event in Abuja.