World News Roundup: Blinken calls on China, ASEAN countries to hold Myanmar accountable; NASA to showcase Webb space telescope's first full-color images and more

Thousands of protesters stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's home and office and the prime minister's official residence on Saturday, as demonstrations over their inability to overcome a devastating economic crisis erupted into violence. Japan's ruling coalition makes strong election showing after Abe killing Japan's conservative coalition government was set to increase its majority in the upper house of parliament in an election on Sunday, two days after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a dominant politician and power broker.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Blinken calls on China, ASEAN countries to hold Myanmar accountable

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday urged China and members of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN to put pressure on Myanmar's rulers to return to democracy and to hold it accountable to a peace deal agreed with the group. "It is incumbent on China and in China's interest to see Burma move back to the path it was on," Blinken said, using the country's former name.

NASA to showcase Webb space telescope's first full-color images

Drawing back the curtain to a photo gallery unlike any other, NASA will soon present the first full-color images from its James Webb Space Telescope, a revolutionary apparatus designed to peer through the cosmos to the dawn of the universe.

The highly anticipated July 12 unveiling of pictures and spectroscopic data from the newly operational observatory follows a six-month process of remotely unfurling various components, aligning its mirrors, and calibrating instruments.

Sri Lanka protesters vow will not let up until the president, PM quit

Leaders of Sri Lanka's protest movement said on Sunday they would occupy the residences of the president and prime minister until they finally quit office, the day after the two men agreed to resign leaving the country in political limbo. Thousands of protesters stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's home and office and the prime minister's official residence on Saturday, as demonstrations over their inability to overcome a devastating economic crisis erupted into violence.

Japan's ruling coalition makes strong election showing after Abe killing

Japan's conservative coalition government was set to increase its majority in the upper house of parliament in an election on Sunday, two days after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a dominant politician and power broker. Abe, Japan's longest-serving modern leader, was gunned down on Friday during a speech in support of a local candidate in the western city of Nara, a killing the political establishment condemned as an attack on democracy itself.

Sri Lanka protesters plan to occupy the president and PM's residences until they quit

Leaders of the protest movement in Sri Lanka who have forced the president and prime minister out of their official residences said on Sunday they will occupy the buildings until the two quit office. "The president has to resign, the prime minister has to resign and the government has to go," said playwright Ruwanthie de Chickera at a news conference at the protest site, flanked by other leaders helping coordinate the movement against the government.

Candidates jostle to replace UK PM Johnson in a packed race

The contest to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered pace on Sunday as five more candidates declared their intention to run, with many pledging lower taxes and a clean start from Johnson's scandal-ridden premiership. Johnson on Thursday said he would resign as prime minister, after lawmakers and cabinet colleagues rebelled over his handling of a series of scandals, including breaches of lockdown rules in gatherings at his Downing Street office.

Japan election: what you need to know

Japanese voters went to the polls for a parliamentary election that may give the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) a surge of support after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a dominant politician and power broker. * Polls close and media exit polls are expected at 8 p.m. (1100 GMT)

Explainer-How Sri Lanka spiraled into crisis

Sri Lanka's economic crisis looks to have finally toppled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa has not commented directly but he plans to step down on July 13, the country's parliamentary speaker said on Saturday, bowing to intense pressure after a violent day of protests in which demonstrators stormed the president's official residence and set fire to the prime minister's home in Colombo.

South Korea detects shots apparently launched by North Korea

South Korea's military said on Sunday it had detected the trajectories of what appeared to be shots fired by North Korea, possibly from multiple rocket launchers (MLRs). South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff announced that the shots were detected after 6 p.m. and that the military had strengthened surveillance and alert levels, without mentioning any further response.

Death and devastation as Russian rockets hit Ukraine apartment block - local officials

At least 15 people were killed and two dozen more are feared trapped after Russian Uragan rockets hit a five-story apartment block in Ukraine's Donetsk region, local officials said on Sunday as rescuers picked their way through the rubble. Ukraine also reported clashes with Russian troops on fronts in the east and south, while Moscow said its forces struck Ukrainian army hangars storing U.S.-produced M777 howitzers, a type of artillery, near Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region.