Reuters World News Summary

The Scottish National Party (SNP), which runs Scotland's semi-autonomous government, has been plunged into crisis since Nicola Sturgeon, the country's longest-serving leader, announced last month she was standing down after eight years, saying she had become too divisive to lead the nation to independence. Japan public approval for PM Kishida's cabinet rises to near 50% -media Japanese public support for the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rose to 48%, exceeding the disapproval rate for the first time in seven months, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday, citing a poll it conducted with TV Tokyo.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Court hearing for Prince Harry and Elton John's privacy case against UK publisher

The first hearing in a lawsuit brought by Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other high profile figures against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper over alleged phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy, is due to begin on Monday. The seven claimants, which include actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, and Elton John's husband and filmmaker David Furnish, launched the action last year, but legal restrictions requested by the newspaper group mean specific details of their allegations have not so far been made public.

Scotland's next leader to be announced with independence movement in crisis

The next leader of Scotland will be announced on Monday with the victor facing the challenge of uniting a country divided over its future and revitalising an independence movement that dreams of ending its three-centuries-long union with England. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which runs Scotland's semi-autonomous government, has been plunged into crisis since Nicola Sturgeon, the country's longest-serving leader, announced last month she was standing down after eight years, saying she had become too divisive to lead the nation to independence.

Japan public approval for PM Kishida's cabinet rises to near 50% -media

Japanese public support for the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rose to 48%, exceeding the disapproval rate for the first time in seven months, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday, citing a poll it conducted with TV Tokyo. The approval rate increased 5 percentage points from the poll in February, while the disapproval rate slid to 44%, the newspaper said.

French PM offers to meet opposition, unions amid pension crisis

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne plans to meet with opposition leaders and trade unions in the hope of ending weeks of protests against a new pension law, her office said on Sunday. Demonstrations against the pension reform, which will raise the retirement age by two years, turned violent after the government pushed through the legislation this month without a final parliamentary vote.

Netanyahu sacks defence minister, sparking mass protests

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, triggering mass protests, a day after Gallant broke ranks with the government and urged a halt to a highly contested plan to overhaul the judicial system.

As news of the dismissal spread, tens of thousands of protesters, many waving blue and white Israeli flags, took to the streets late at night across the country. Crowds gathered outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem, at one point breaching a security cordon.

NATO criticises Putin for 'dangerous and irresponsible' nuclear rhetoric

NATO on Sunday criticised Vladimir Putin for what it called his "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, a day after the Russian president said he planned to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Putin likened the move on Saturday to the U.S. stationing its weapons in Europe, while insisting that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.

Mexico government to challenge Supreme Court suspension of electoral reform

The Mexican government said Sunday it would challenge the Supreme Court's temporary suspension of parts of a controversial electoral reform pushed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The Supreme Court on Friday halted parts of the reform, which was a scaled-down version of a failed constitutional reform originally sought. The court also confirmed it will consider a lawsuit from independent electoral institute INE that seeks to overturn it.

Ukraine's Avdiivka becoming 'post-apocalyptic', city shuts down -official

Russia is turning Ukraine's Avdiivka into "a place from post-apocalyptic movies", intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday. Some 2,000 civilians are left in Avdiivka, a Donetsk region city some 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the besieged Bakhmut, according to officials. The city had a pre-war population of more than 30,000.

Cubans head to the polls, all eyes on voter turnout

Cubans headed to the polls on Sunday to vote for the 470 lawmakers who will represent them in the country´s National Assembly in a closely watched election seen as a referendum on the communist-run government at a time of deep economic crisis. Voting centers in the capital Havana opened at 7 a.m. ET and bustled with activity through mid-day as citizens arrived to cast ballots at the city's share of more than 23,000 official ballot sites throughout the country.

North Korea fires ballistic missile off its east coast -South Korea military

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea's military said on Monday. Japan's Coast Guard said the projectile believed to be North Korea-fired missile has already fallen.