World News Roundup: U.S. releases Baghdadi raid video, warns of likely retribution attack; U.S. expects Argentina to uphold commitment to IMF

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Hariri ready to be Lebanese PM again but with conditions -source

Saad al-Hariri is ready to return as prime minister of a new Lebanese government, a senior official familiar with his thinking said, on condition it includes technocrats and can quickly implement reforms to stave off economic collapse. Hariri's resignation on Tuesday left a political vacuum at a moment of acute crisis, with reforms urgently needed to ward off even deeper financial problems in one of the world's most heavily indebted states.

U.S. releases Baghdadi raid video, warns of likely retribution attack

The Pentagon on Wednesday released its first images from last weekend's commando raid in Syria that led to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and warned the militant group may attempt to stage a "retribution attack." The declassified, grainy, black-and-white aerial videos from Saturday's raid showed U.S. special operations forces closing in on the compound and U.S. aircraft firing on militants nearby.

Japan justice minister likely to resign over wife's alleged election irregularities: NHK

Japanese Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai is likely to resign following a media report of election irregularities by his wife, who is a ruling party lawmaker, public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had appointed Kawai as justice minister in a cabinet reshuffle last month.

Chile´s President Pinera says Chile will suspend hosting of APEC and COP25

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said on Wednesday Chile would suspend the hosting of the APEC trade summit in November and the COP25 climate summit in December after several weeks of violent unrest.

Quebec to put immigrants seeking residency through 'values' test

Quebec will require immigrants seeking permanent residency in the Canadian province to pass a "values" test to ensure they understand its new secularism law, the provincial government said on Wednesday. The test is being implemented by Premier François Legault's Coalition d'avenir Quebec (CAQ) government. CAQ, a nationalist center-right party, won a majority government in 2018's provincial election, soundly defeating the province's two establishment parties.

German coalition needs to prove its worth: Finance Minister Scholz

Germany's ruling grand coalition needs to show it is in step with the times and can deliver in the next two years, Finance Minister and Social Democrat (SPD) leadership candidate Olaf Scholz told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Scholz, who also serves as vice chancellor in the coalition, came first in a vote to elect a new SPD leader, the party said on Saturday, but he fell short of a majority.

Fire engulfs Japan's Shuri Castle, a World Heritage Site in Okinawa

A fire broke out at Shuri Castle, a World Heritage Site on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, early on Thursday, completely destroying the main hall and other structures as firefighters continued to battle raging flames, media reported. Television footage showed the multi-structure castle reduced to a skeleton, shrouded in flames and smoke hours after emergency responders received the first call about the fire, around 2:47 a.m. (1747 GMT), public broadcaster NHK said.

Johnson and Corbyn hit the campaign trail for UK Christmas election

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn will embark on their first full day of election campaigning on Thursday, pitching their starkly different visions for the country ahead of a highly unpredictable December poll. On the day Britain had been scheduled to leave the European Union, the Conservative Party's Johnson and Labour's Corbyn will join other political leaders in fanning out around the country ahead of a Dec. 12 election.

U.S. expects Argentina to uphold commitment to IMF: Mnuchin

The United States expects Argentina's incoming Peronist government to uphold the country's commitment to the terms of its $57 billion International Monetary Fund loan program, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday. In an interview with Reuters in Saudi Arabia, Mnuchin did not rule out a renegotiation of the program, but said any such request for changes would have to be considered by the IMF as part of Argentina's economic plan.

Exclusive: U.S. to renew waivers allowing non-proliferation work with Iran - sources

The United States plans to allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue work at Iranian nuclear facilities to make it harder for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The Trump administration, which last year pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, will let the work go forward by issuing waivers to sanctions that bar non-U.S. firms from dealing with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said the sources on condition of anonymity.

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