World News Roundup: Taiwan VP new ruling party boss, setting stage for presidential run; At least 68 killed in Nepal's worst air crash in 30 years and more

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government, which sets pay levels in the publicly-funded health and education services, is already dealing with strikes in rail and other industries as wages increases fall behind rapidly rising prices. Russia says it launched missile strikes against Ukraine on Saturday Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had launched a wave of missile strikes against Ukrainian military and infrastructure sites the previous day.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Taiwan VP new ruling party boss, setting stage for presidential run

Taiwan Vice President William Lai was elected as the new chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Sunday, setting the stage for him to run in presidential elections early next year. Lai was the only candidate for taking the helm of the DPP. President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as party chairwoman in November after the DPP was trounced at local elections.

At least 68 killed in Nepal's worst air crash in 30 years

At least 68 people were killed on Sunday when a domestic flight crashed in Pokhara in Nepal, the country's Civil Aviation Authority said, in the worst air crash in three decades in the small Himalayan nation. Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside where the Yeti Airlines flight, carrying 72 people from the capital Kathmandu, went down.

Israel's Herzog tries to prevent 'constitutional crisis' over judicial reforms

Israel's president warned on Sunday that the country faced an "historic constitutional crisis" over a contested judicial reform plan, and said he was mediating between the relevant parties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now in his sixth term, wants to rein in the Supreme Court, which members of his religious-nationalist coalition accuse of overreach and elitism.

Death toll in Russian missile attack on Dnipro apartment building rises to 21

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro climbed to 21 on Sunday, as rescue workers raced to dig through a huge pile of debris in search of survivors. At least 35 people were still missing and 73 were injured, Mykola Lukashuk, head of the regional council, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Putin says Russian military operation going well in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the military operation in Ukraine had gained positive momentum and that he hoped his soldiers would deliver more wins after Russia claimed control of the eastern Ukrainian salt-mining town of Soledar. Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Iraqi PM al-Sudani supports indefinite U.S. troop presence in country -WSJ interview

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani defended the presence of U.S. troops in his country and set no timetable for their withdrawal, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday. Referring to the U.S. and NATO troop contingents that train and assist Iraqi units in countering Islamic State but largely stay out of combat, he told the newspaper in the interview that the foreign forces are still needed. "Elimination of ISIS needs some more time," he said.

Suspected Islamists kill at least 5 people in east Congo church bomb attack

At least five people were killed and 15 wounded in a suspected Islamist militant bomb attack during a Sunday service at a Protestant church in the eastern Congolese city of Kasindi, on the border with Uganda, the military said. An army spokesman said the attack during a Sunday service was likely carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militant group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

China, Hong Kong resume high-speed rail link after 3 years of COVID curbs

China resumed on Sunday high-speed rail services between Hong Kong and the mainland for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it dismantles travel curbs after Beijing scrapped quarantine for arrivals a week earlier. The re-opening comes amidst a massive wave of infections nationwide and a day after authorities said nearly 60,000 people with COVID had died in hospital, following last month's abrupt U-turn on "zero-COVID" policy in the wake of historic protests.

Strikes in Britain set to intensify as teacher ballot results due

Strikes disrupting swathes of the British economy look likely to intensify this week, with teachers ready to announce industrial action, according to the Sunday Times, and nurses warning their strikes could double in size next month. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government, which sets pay levels in publicly-funded health and education services, is already dealing with strikes in rail and other industries as wages increases fall behind rapidly rising prices.

Russia says it launched missile strikes against Ukraine on Saturday

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had launched a wave of missile strikes against Ukrainian military and infrastructure sites the previous day. The ministry did not mention the city of Dnipro as a specific target of the strikes. Ukrainian authorities said more than 20 people were killed in a strike on an apartment complex in Dnipro on Saturday.

 

(With inputs from agencies.)