World News Roundup: Don't play with fire on Taiwan, China warns U.S.; I am staying out of conservative race to succeed me and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

India wants Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson to seek licence for COVID-19 vaccines soon: government official

India wants Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to seek a licence for their COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible, a senior government official said on Tuesday, shortly after the government announced it would fast-track emergency approvals. "We hope and we invite the vaccine makers such as Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and others...to be ready to come to India as early as possible," Vinod Kumar Paul, a senior government health official, told a news conference.

U.S. to base additional troops in Germany in reversal of Trump policy

The United States will ramp up its forces in Germany amid the latest tensions with Russia over Ukraine, abandoning former President Donald Trump's plans to withdraw around 12,000 of the 36,000 troops from the fellow NATO country. "I briefed the minister on our intention to permanently stage an approximately 500 additional U.S. personnel in the Wiesbaden area as early as this fall," U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin told at a press conference after meeting his German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, in Berlin.

Merkel: I am staying out of conservative race to succeed me

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she was keeping out of a debate in her conservative bloc over whether Christian Democrat party chairman Armin Laschet or Bavarian premier Markus Soeder should be the candidate to succeed her. "I wanted to, want to and will stay out of it," Merkel told reporters when asked if she feared the struggle between Laschet and Soeder could damage their conservative alliance so much that they lose the chancellery after a Sept. 26 federal election.

Myanmar activists cancel new year festivities; U.N. urges end to 'slaughter'

Opponents of military rule in Myanmar cancelled traditional new year festivities on Tuesday and instead showed their anger with the generals who seized power through low-key displays of defiance and small protests across the country. The United Nations human rights office said it feared that the military clampdown on protests since the Feb. 1 coup risked escalating into a civil conflict like that seen in Syria and appealed for a halt to the "slaughter".

Japan to release contaminated Fukushima water into sea after treatment

Japan will release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, the government said on Tuesday, a move China called "extremely irresponsible", while South Korea summoned Tokyo's ambassador in Seoul to protest. The first release of water will take place in about two years, giving plant operator Tokyo Electric Power time to begin filtering the water to remove harmful isotopes, build infrastructure and acquire regulatory approval.

Israel made a 'very bad gamble' by sabotaging Iranian nuclear site: Zarif

Iran's top diplomat said on Tuesday that an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility which it blames on Israel was a "very bad gamble" that would strengthen Tehran's hand in talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers. Tehran has said an explosion on Sunday at its key nuclear site was an act of sabotage by arch-foe Israel and vowed revenge for an attack that appeared to be the latest episode in a long-running covert war. Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognise, has not formally commented on the incident.

Hong Kong announces more electoral system changes favouring pro-Beijing camp

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced amendments to voting laws on Tuesday that critics say favour pro-Beijing candidates by redrawing constituency boundaries, creating more electoral districts, and criminalising calls for voters to leave ballots blank. Having become Hong Kong's least popular chief executive in the near quarter-century since the handover from British colonial rule, it remains unclear whether Lam will seek re-election. She faced the largest and most violent anti-government protests in 2019 after proposing a bill to allow extraditions to mainland China.

Chinese premier calls for more communication between China, U.S.

China and the United States should step up their communication while managing their differences and respecting each other's core interests, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told a group of senior U.S. executives on Tuesday. China hopes the United States could work with China to meet each other halfway, said Li at a virtual conference with presidents and chief executives from more than 20 large U.S. companies.

Russia calls U.S. an adversary, warns its warships to avoid Crimea

Russia on Tuesday called the United States an adversary and told U.S. warships to stay well away from Crimea "for their own good", calling their deployment in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russian nerves. Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and two U.S. warships are due to arrive in the Black Sea this week amid an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have battled Russian-backed separatists in a conflict Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people.

Don't play with fire on Taiwan, China warns U.S.

China told the United States on Tuesday to stop playing with fire over Taiwan and lodged a complaint after Washington issued guidelines that will enable U.S. officials to meet more freely with officials from the island that China claims as its own. The U.S. State Department's Friday decision to deepen relations with self-ruled Taiwan came amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island, including almost daily air force incursions into Taiwan's air defence zone.