World News Roundup: US and Iranian envoys talk; Hong Kong mall protests and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

EU-UK trade deal cannot allow 'race to the bottom': EU's Barnier

The European Union's central interest in forging a free trade agreement with Britain is to agree common social and environmental standards and avoid a "race to the bottom", the EU chief Brexit negotiator wrote in an opinion piece. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday there would be no alignment with EU rules under the terms of a trade deal he wants to strike with the bloc next year.

In rare move, U.S. and Iranian envoys talk after U.N. meeting on nuclear deal

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations made a rare compassionate public gesture toward her Iranian counterpart in the Security Council chamber on Thursday, expressing condolences over the death of an Iranian toddler. Since Washington pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, tensions between the United States and Tehran have risen.

Son of Mexican kingpin Zambada extradited to U.S. to face trial

Mexico has extradited a son of drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada to the United States to face trial on narcotics trafficking charges, a government official and media reports said on Friday. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Ismael Zambada Imperial, 35, was extradited on Thursday.

Hong Kong protesters face off with police in mall protests

Hong Kong riot police swept into several shopping malls on Saturday, chasing off and arresting some anti-government Hong Kong demonstrators who had gathered to press their demands in the peak shopping weekend before Christmas. In a mall in Yuen Long, close to the China border, hundreds of black-clad protesters marked the five-month anniversary of an attack in a train station by an armed mob wearing white T-shirts which beat up bystanders and protesters with pipes and poles.

North Korea warns U.S. could 'pay dearly' for human rights criticism

North Korea lashed back at the United States for taking issue with its human rights record on Saturday, saying Washington's "malicious words" would only aggravate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, state news agency KCNA reported. The KCNA statement, attributed to a foreign ministry spokesperson, warned that if the United States dared to take issue with the North's system of government by citing human rights problems, it would "pay dearly".

Pakistan court hands down death sentence to scholar accused of blasphemy

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Saturday sentenced a liberal scholar and former university lecturer to death on blasphemy charges. In 2013, Junaid Hafeez was accused by students at the university where he taught of making blasphemous Facebook posts. Insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammad carries a mandatory death penalty in Pakistan, which is about 95% Muslim.

China criticizes U.S. defense bill as interference

China's top lawmaking body on Saturday criticized the defense bill that Washington passed this week as "interference", Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. You Wenze, a spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. Senate this week.

Muslim nations consider gold, barter trade to beat sanctions

Iran, Malaysia, Turkey and Qatar are considering trading among themselves in gold and through a barter system as a hedge against any future economic sanctions on them, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Saturday. At the end of an Islamic summit in Malaysia, Mahathir praised Iran and Qatar for withstanding economic embargoes and said it was important for the Muslim world to be self-reliant to face future threats.

Man with narwhal tusk recounts fight with London Bridge attacker

A man who used a narwhal tusk to fight a knifeman on a fatal rampage in London last month has spoken of how he and others carried on grappling with the attacker even after seeing that he was wearing what looked like an explosive suicide vest. Darryn Frost, who appeared in video footage of the fight between the attacker and members of the public on London Bridge on Nov. 29, told the PA newswire that he was attending an event in a building nearby when he heard a disturbance downstairs.

Hundreds arrested in India during days of protests over citizenship law

More than 1,500 protesters have been arrested across India in the past 10 days, officials said, as police try to quell sometimes violent demonstrations against a citizenship law that critics say undermines the country's secular constitution. Additionally, some 4,000 people have been detained and then released, the officials said.