World News Roundup: Pressure mounts on Macron after violent unrest over pensions; Japan's Kishida to announce new Indo-Pacific plan, seek India's support and more

Xi's March 20-22 trip comes after China last month published a 12-point plan for "a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis" and after a senior Chinese diplomat called on Thursday for negotiations in a call with Ukraine's foreign minister. China's leader to visit Moscow next week after U.S.-Russia clash over Ukraine Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia next week, officials from both countries said on Friday, weighing into the Ukraine conflict just as relations between Moscow and Washington hit a new low.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pressure mounts on Macron after violent unrest over pensions

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday faced the gravest challenge to his authority since the so-called Yellow Vest protests after his decision to push through a contested pension overhaul without a vote prompted violent unrest overnight. Cars were torched in Paris and other French cities in the evening during otherwise peaceful demonstrations involving several thousand people. Trade unions urged workers to step up and briefly blocked the Paris ring road on Friday.

Japan's Kishida to announce new Indo-Pacific plan, seek India's support

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will on Monday announce a new plan for an open and free Indo-Pacific in New Delhi and seek India's support to partner with Tokyo to check China's growing influence across the region. Under the plan, which will be announced during Kishida's two-day visit to India, Japan will increase support to emerging economies, especially in the region, Japanese officials said.

Mobile court offers rare chance of justice for east Congo rape victims

A large crowd gathered around the open sides of the makeshift courtroom in the eastern Congolese village of Kamanyola in early March to watch the culmination of a trial of 15 military officers for the rape of minors. They watched in silence, some craning to see better, as a soldier stripped the epaulettes off a colonel whom a judge had just ordered be dishonourably discharged from the army and sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a local 14-year-old girl last September.

Xi heads to Russia next week after China touts Ukraine peace plan

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next week to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin, the two countries said on Friday, as Beijing touts a plan to end the grinding Ukraine war that has received a lukewarm welcome on both sides. Xi's March 20-22 trip comes after China last month published a 12-point plan for "a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis" and after a senior Chinese diplomat called on Thursday for negotiations in a call with Ukraine's foreign minister.

China's leader to visit Moscow next week after U.S.-Russia clash over Ukraine

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia next week, officials from both countries said on Friday, weighing into the Ukraine conflict just as relations between Moscow and Washington hit a new low. Xi's visit to Moscow is a diplomatic coup for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has been placed under unprecedented international sanctions since he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Veterans, carpenters and vaccines: What's at stake if US COVID aid is canceled

A Republican proposal to cancel unspent COVID-19 relief money could undercut healthcare for military veterans and pensions for blue-collar workers while doing little to improve the U.S. fiscal picture, a Reuters review of federal spending figures found. The flood of COVID-relief aid -- $5.2 trillion in all -- that Congress approved in 2020 and 2021 under Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic successor Joe Biden has emerged as an early target for House of Representatives Republicans as they search for ways to rein in federal spending.

Pakistan court halts police operation to arrest ex-PM Imran Khan

A Pakistan high court on Friday cancelled an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Imran Khan, local media reported, defusing a volatile stand-off between his supporters and security forces that had escalated into clashes earlier this week. News network Geo TV said the Islamabad high court had cancelled the warrant to allow Khan to appear before the court on Saturday over charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries when he was prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

Taiwan, facing loss of ally Honduras, says it won't bow to China

Taiwan will remain resilient and pragmatic and support its allies, not bowing before the "big bully in the neighbourhood", Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Friday as the island faces the loss of long-term ally Honduras to China. On Tuesday, Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced the government would seek diplomatic ties with Beijing, which would come at the expense of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.

At least 22 people killed in suspected massacre at Myanmar monastery

At least 22 people, including three Buddhist monks, were shot dead at close range in central Myanmar last week, according to a doctor's post-mortem report, in what opponents of military rule say was a massacre of civilians conducted by the army. A spokesman for Myanmar's junta, which staged a coup two years ago to depose the elected government, said its troops had been involved in clashes with rebel fighters in the Pinlaung region of southern Shan state but had not harmed any civilians.

Japan and South Korea top businesses push to leave behind a difficult history

Business leaders from Japan and South Korea pledged on Friday to work more closely on chips and technology, seeking to put behind years of acrimony over wartime history that have stoked South Korean public anger. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met executives from both countries in Tokyo as he makes the first visit there by a South Korean leader in 12 years. On Thursday, Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promised a reset in relations and dined on a dish of omelette served over rice called "omurice".