World News Roundup: Belarus moves jailed U.S. citizen; India says Australia will join its naval drills with U.S., Japan and more

Tibetans' political leader sees growing U.S. support after meeting new envoy The head of the Tibetan government in exile said he met the new U.S. special coordinator on Tibet, whose appointment last week angered China, at the State Department, the first political head of the Tibetans in exile to be hosted there in 60 years.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

India says Australia will join its naval drills with U.S., Japan

India announced on Monday that Australia will join annual naval exercises scheduled with the United States and Japan, in a move that could raise concerns in China which has previously criticised any joint drills as destabilizing. India is hosting the Malabar drills in the Bay of Bengal scheduled for later next month.

Belarus moves jailed U.S. citizen, two others to house arrest

Belarus has released a jailed political consultant with U.S. citizenship and two opposition figures into house arrest, the Tut.by media outlet reported on Monday, in a rare concession by veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko after months of protests. Vitaly Shkliarov, a consultant who has worked in the United States and Russia, was detained in Belarus in July and accused of organising public disorder in the runup to an Aug. 9 presidential election.

China denies report it may detain Americans, says U.S. mistreats its scholars

China denied on Monday that foreign nationals are under threat of arbitrary detention, following a newspaper report that Beijing had warned Washington it might arrest Americans in China. The Chinese foreign ministry said it was Washington that was mistreating foreign citizens, accusing the United States of "outright political repression" of Chinese academics.

Under attack and losing hope, Iraqi activists flee abroad

Hasanain Alminshid had received death threats for his human rights activism for years, but ignored most of them. After his mentor was gunned down outside a police station, he finally made the difficult choice to flee Iraq. "It's too dangerous now. There have been killings in the open in front of security forces," he said, speaking by 'phone from Istanbul, where he has based himself since that incident in November last year.

Reports of shelling, missile fire jeopardise Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire

A new ceasefire in the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was in jeopardy on Monday with Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces reporting shelling and heavy fighting in some areas. Azerbaijan said it had "neutralised" a missile fired by Armenian forces at an oil pipeline in Azerbaijan on Sunday, several hours after the ceasefire went into force, but Armenia denied the accusation.

Tibetans' political leader sees growing U.S. support after meeting new envoy

The head of the Tibetan government in exile said he met the new U.S. special coordinator on Tibet, whose appointment last week angered China, at the State Department, the first political head of the Tibetans in exile to be hosted there in 60 years. U.S. Secretary of State of Mike Pompeo last week appointed senior human rights official Robert Destro as special envoy for Tibetan issues. Beijing responded sharply, saying this was an attempt to destabilise Tibet and that it would not allow any interference there.

French police conduct raids in crackdown after teacher beheading

French police on Monday raided Islamic associations and foreigners suspected of extremist religious beliefs, police sources said, three days after a suspected Islamist beheaded a school teacher. History teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was murdered on Friday in broad daylight outside his school in a middle-class Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin.

Police shot the attacker dead. Myanmar ex-political prisoners turn counsellors to ease coronavirus isolation

After spending years in confinement, few understand uncertainty, isolation and family separation better than Myanmar's former political prisoners. As the coronavirus spreads in Myanmar, sending thousands of people into quarantine facilities, the detainees under military rule are using their experiences to help promote mental health of those now in isolation, amid concern about infection, stress and social stigma.

On Suga's overseas debut, Japan, Vietnam agree broadly on defence transfer

Japan hailed an agreement in principle to supply Vietnam with military gear and technology, as the two governments pledged on Monday to strengthen security and economic ties amid mounting concerns about China's assertiveness in the region. "It is a big step in the field of security for both countries," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters after meeting his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, in Hanoi.

As U.S. election looms, Europe weighs risk of a disputed result

With less than three weeks until the U.S. presidential election, European capitals are concerned about the risk of a disputed outcome and the impact it would have in the United States and abroad. While Democrat candidate Joe Biden leads in opinion polls, the 2016 election produced a split between the popular vote and the Electoral College. Analysts say that remains possible on Nov. 3.