World News Roundup: EU sets out Indo-Pacific plan; Hunger-striking Navalny being transferred to hospital ad mlore

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Kremlin says Russia will continue to respond in kind to any sanctions

The Kremlin on Monday said Russia would continue to respond in kind if further sanctions were imposed, after new U.S. measures last week targeting sovereign debt and blacklisting Russian companies prompted Moscow to retaliate. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "The principle of reciprocity is an absolute constant. These (retaliatory) decisions will keep being taken if the similar practice continues."

Promising change, Germany's Greens make first bid for chancellery

The co-leader of Germany's Greens, Annalena Baerbock, said on Monday she would run to become chancellor in September's elections, the first time the left-leaning party has sought the top job in its 40-year history. Baerbock, a former champion trampolinist who has seen support for her party rise over the past year, said she would offer a "new start" and focus on investing in education, digital and green technologies.

EU sets out Indo-Pacific plan, says it's not 'anti-China'

The European Union resolved on Monday to step up its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, using areas from security to health to protect its interests and counter China's rising power, although the bloc insists its strategy is not against Beijing. Led by France, Germany, and the Netherlands, which first set out ways to deepen ties with countries such as India, Japan, and Australia, the 27-member bloc wants to use the nascent plan to show Beijing that it is against the spread of authoritarianism.

Hunger-striking Navalny being transferred to hospital

Prison doctors have decided to transfer Russia's main opposition leader Alexei Navalny to hospital, its prison authority said on Monday, 20 days into a hunger strike that has brought international warnings of consequences should he die in jail. Allies of Navalny, who have had no access to him since last week, said they were braced for bad news about his health. They are planning mass countrywide demonstrations later this week.

Analysis: Beijing huddles with friends, seeks to fracture U.S.-led 'clique'

China is shoring up ties with autocratic partners like Russia and Iran, as well as economically dependent regional countries while using sanctions and threats to try to fracture the alliances the United States is building against it. Worryingly for Beijing, diplomats and analysts say, the Biden administration has got other democracies to toughen up to a rising, more globally assertive China on human rights and regional security issues like the disputed South China Sea.

Greece opens to tourists, anxious to move on from crisis season

Greece began opening to tourists on Monday with few bookings but hopes for a better season to help make up for 2020 devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. On Rhodes island, where most visitors are from abroad, hoteliers are scrubbing, polishing, and painting in anticipation of a make-or-break year.

Analysis-Guatemala defies Washington, pushing anti-graft judge from top court

Guatemala has set a collision course with Washington over the removal of the most prominent graft-fighting judge from the Central American nation's highest court, despite her having the outspoken support of the Biden administration. Lawmakers invited Constitutional Court President Gloria Porras to an investiture ceremony in Congress last week after she was re-elected to another five-year term on the bench - only to refuse to swear her in.

Local uprisings emerge to challenge Myanmar's army

Sleeping by their makeshift barricades, knots of young men at Tahan in the western Myanmar town of Kale had not expected an attack in the pre-dawn darkness. Armed with a few hunting guns made by village blacksmiths, catapults, some airguns, and Molotov cocktails, they were no match for forces hardened by decades of conflict and equipped with combat weapons.

India's Modi scorned over reckless rallies, religious gathering amid virus mayhem

Many Indians are pillorying Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his response to a scary surge in coronavirus cases, sickened by him addressing tens of thousands of people at state election rallies and letting Hindu devotees congregate for a festival. Tags like #ResignModi and #SuperSpreaderModi have trended on Twitter in the past two days, as bodies piled up in mortuaries and crematoriums, and desperate cries for hospital beds, medical oxygen, and coronavirus tests flooded social media.

Factbox-Some countries limit AstraZeneca vaccine use, U.S. pauses J&J shot

Some countries are restricting the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to certain age groups, or suspending use, after European and British regulators confirmed possible links to rare blood clots. Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine has also been hit by concerns over blood clots. European regulators are reviewing such cases and are expected to issue findings on April 20. U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing its use temporarily on April 13 and a U.S. health advisory panel will meet on April 23 to discuss whether the pause should continue.

(With inputs from agencies.)