Reuters World News Summary

A day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Joe Biden in a phone call against playing with fire over Taiwan, deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang reinforced the message during a meeting on Ukraine at the 15-member U.N. Security Council. No evidence of looming Chinese military action against Taiwan, U.S. official says The United States has seen no evidence of looming Chinese military activity against Taiwan, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday when asked about a possible visit to the island by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.


Reuters | Updated: 30-07-2022 05:22 IST | Created: 30-07-2022 05:22 IST
Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pope again asks for forgiveness as tour ends in Canada's north

Pope Francis again asked for forgiveness after meeting on Friday with residential school survivors in the Arctic territory of Nunavut, the last stop in his six-day visit to Canada to apologize to indigenous people for abuse in government schools run by the Roman Catholic Church. After a private meeting in a small elementary school, Francis said hearing survivors' stories had "only renewed in me the indignation and shame that I have felt for months" at the harm done to them.

Lavrov tells Blinken the U.S. is breaking promises about food sanctions

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Washington was not living up to promises regarding the exemption from sanctions for the supply of food from Russia, Moscow said. A Russian foreign ministry read-out of the call also cited Lavrov as telling Blinken that Russia would achieve all the goals of its "special military operation" in Ukraine and said western arms supplies would only drag out the conflict.

Brazil's Lula calls on supporters to take to streets to win October vote

Front-running former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on his supporters to take to the streets to help him win Brazil's election in October and deny far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro a second term. The leftist leader and Workers Party (PT) founder said the Brazilian economy will recover solid growth only if there is income distribution in the South American country.

U.S. judge gives Canadian man life in prison for aiding Islamic State

A U.S. judge on Friday sentenced a Saudi-born Canadian man to life in prison after he pleaded guilty in December to aiding Islamic State by working with propagandists who publicized the group's beheading of hostages including American journalist James Foley. Mohammed Khalifa, 39, who grew up in Toronto and left Canada in 2013 for Syria, killed two Syrian soldiers on the group's behalf before his capture by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement on his sentence.

As U.S. defends Ukraine at U.N., China warns against challenge over Taiwan

China accused the United States of double standards at the United Nations on Friday for challenging Beijing's sovereignty over Taiwan while emphasizing the principle of sovereignty for Ukraine after Russian forces invaded. A day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Joe Biden in a phone call against playing with fire over Taiwan, deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang reinforced the message during a meeting on Ukraine at the 15-member U.N. Security Council.

No evidence of looming Chinese military action against Taiwan, U.S. official says

The United States has seen no evidence of looming Chinese military activity against Taiwan, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday when asked about a possible visit to the island by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "(We've) seen no physical, tangible indications of anything untoward with respect to Taiwan," Kirby told reporters. Pelosi has not confirmed a potential trip to Taiwan.

Russia, Ukraine trade blame for dozens of deaths in Donetsk prison destruction

Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war appeared to have been killed when a prison building was destroyed in a missile strike or explosion, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of responsibility on Friday. The deaths, some of which were confirmed by Reuters journalists at the prison where the men were held in eastern Donetsk province, overshadowed a U.N.-brokered deal to restart shipping grain from Ukraine and ease a worldwide food crisis.

Japan's Hayashi says 'logic of brute force' gaining traction in Indo-Pacific

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi sounded the alarm about China's behavior in the Indo-Pacific during a visit to Washington on Friday, saying the "logic of brute force" was gaining more traction over the rule of law in the region. In a speech at a Washington think tank, Hayashi referred to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said such moves should never be allowed elsewhere. He said it was essential that it go down as "clear failure," or other countries would attempt to change the status quo by force.

U.S., Japan to cooperate on semiconductors as part of new economic dialogue

The United States and Japan launched a new high-level economic dialogue on Friday aimed at pushing back against China and countering the disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two long-time allies agreed to establish a new joint research center for next-generation semiconductors during the so-called economic "two-plus-two" ministerial meeting in Washington, Japanese Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda said.

Brazil reports first monkeypox death outside Africa in current outbreak

Brazil on Friday reported the first monkeypox-related death outside the African continent in the current outbreak, shortly before Spain confirmed Europe's first known death in the outbreak later in the day. The Brazilian victim was a 41-year-old man who, according to the health ministry, also suffered from lymphoma and a weakened immune system.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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