World News Roundup: Thailand U-turns on COVID vaccination rule for visitors; Chinese rush to renew passports as COVID border curbs lifted and more

Sunday's reopening is one of the last steps in China's dismantling of its "zero-COVID" regime, which began last month after historic protests against curbs that kept the virus at bay but caused widespread frustration among its people. Philippines' Marcos picks ex-military chief and COVID tsar as defence minister Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has chosen a former military chief who led the country's fight against the coronavirus as his new defense minister, his office said on Monday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Thailand U-turns on COVID vaccination rule for visitors

Thailand has rescinded an entry policy announced at the weekend requiring visitors to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination, its health minister said on Monday, citing sufficient immunisation levels in China and globally. Anutin Charnvirakul said checking evidence of vaccinations was inconvenient and a panel of heath experts had agreed to withdraw the new rule, which was announced on Saturday by aviation authorities ahead of an expected deluge of visitors from China, where COVID-19 cases have surged.

Chinese rush to renew passports as COVID border curbs lifted

People joined long queues outside immigration offices in Beijing on Monday, eager to renew their passports after China dropped COVID border controls that had largely prevented its 1.4 billion residents from travelling for three years. Sunday's reopening is one of the last steps in China's dismantling of its "zero-COVID" regime, which began last month after historic protests against curbs that kept the virus at bay but caused widespread frustration among its people.

Philippines' Marcos picks ex-military chief and COVID tsar as defence minister

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has chosen a former military chief who led the country's fight against the coronavirus as his new defense minister, his office said on Monday. Carlito Galvez, 60, headed the Philippines' COVID-19 task force and as a regional army commander was in 2017 credited with overseeing the defeat of militants loyal to Islamic State, who took over and held a southern town for five months in 2017.

Iran sentences three more protesters to death amid international criticism

Iran's judiciary has sentenced three more anti-government protesters to death on charges of "waging war on God", its Mizan news agency reported on Monday, defying growing international criticism over its fierce crackdown on demonstrators. Iran hanged two other people on Saturday in its attempts to stamp out demonstrations, which have slowed considerably since it began executions carried out just weeks after arrests.

Germany says it wants to increase pressure on Iran after latest executions

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday condemned Iran for using the death penalty against demonstrators, and his spokesperson said Berlin wanted to crank up pressure on the Iranian authorities with new international measures. Iran hanged two men on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, drawing condemnation from the European Union, the United States and other Western nations.

Brazil riot police deploy at Bolsonaro backers' camp after capital stormed

Brazilian police deployed at a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil's state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s. Hundreds of police in riot gear and some on horseback amassed at the encampment near Brasilia's army headquarters, while soldiers in the area withdrew, Reuters witnesses said, after Sunday's storming by thousands of Bolsonaro's backers of Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace.

Italy's Ukraine arms supply decision delayed until February - paper

Italy will not take a decision on the supply of new arms to Ukraine until February due to political tensions, cost considerations and military shortages, newspaper la Repubblica reported on Monday. Two weeks ago Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Rome was considering supplying air defences after a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in which she reaffirmed her government's "full support" for Ukraine.

California storm leaves over 120,000 still without power

More than 120,000 homes and businesses were still without power in California early on Monday, according to data from PowerOutage.us, after a massive storm last week that disrupted road travel with flash floods, rock slides and toppled trees. At least 12 fatalities have been reported from weather-related incidents in California in the past 10 days, Governor Gavin Newsom told a news conference.

Ukraine bolsters defences in east as Russia sends waves of attacks

Ukraine said it was strengthening its forces around Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region and repelling constant attacks there by Russian mercenary group Wagner, whose leader has vowed to capture the area's vast underground mines. Kyiv had sent reinforcements to Soledar, a small town near Bakhmut where the situation was particularly difficult, Ukrainian officials said.

Macron to take Japan's Kishida to Notre-Dame as allies deepen ties

French President Emmanuel Macron will take Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to visit the construction site of the Notre-Dame cathedral on Monday as he looks to boost bilateral relations ahead of Tokyo taking over the G7 presidency. Kishida, who will host a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers in May, begins a tour of G7 capitals this week with talks expected to range from economic security and semiconductors to the war in Ukraine and rising tensions with nuclear-armed China and North Korea.