World News Summary: Trump invites UK's Johnson to White House in new year: British media

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Trump invites UK's Johnson to White House in new year: British media

U.S. President Donald Trump has invited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to visit him in the White House in the new year, British media reported on Sunday. Trump's invitation was made after the British prime minister's election win this month, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. Britain wants to strike a new trade deal with the United States after it leaves the European Union at the end of January. France's Macron to give up a presidential pension in reform gesture

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose plans to reform the pension system have run into fierce public opposition, will forego a special presidential pension payout when he eventually steps down, his office said on Sunday. Under a law dating back to 1955, France's presidents are entitled to draw a pension of about 6,000 euros ($6,650) per month before tax as soon as they leave the office. Modi says citizenship law not anti-Muslim as protests continue across India

Following days of violent, sometimes deadly protests across India against a new citizenship law critics say discriminates against Muslims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a rally on Sunday for his Hindu nationalist party in the capital. New Delhi's state election early next year will be the first major electoral test for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in the wake of the mass demonstrations seen after parliament cleared the Citizenship Amendment Act on Dec. 11. North Korea threat looms as China, Japan, South Korea leaders meet

The spectre of new confrontation between Pyongyang and Washington hangs over meetings between China, Japan and South Korea this week, with growing risks North Korean actions could end an uneasy detente and upend recent diplomatic efforts. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping separately on Monday. They will then travel to the southwestern city of Chengdu for a trilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Though they are expected to discuss various economic matters, North Korea appears likely to dominate the agenda. Afghanistan's Ghani wins slim majority of presidential vote in preliminary results

Afghanistan's incumbent President Ashraf Ghani won a slim majority of votes in a Sept. 28 election, delayed preliminary results showed on Sunday, after a poll that plunged the country into political crisis and was marred by allegations of fraud. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the total turnout in the presidential election was over 1.8 million with Ghani securing 50.64%, enough to win the first round of voting, beating his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah, who currently shares power with Ghani in a unity government. Russia's Lavrov says Trump told Putin U.S. will continue looking for arms treaty solutions: Ifax

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump had sent a short letter about the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Interfax news agency reported. "U.S. President Donald Trump sent a short letter in which he said that they are ready to continue looking for ways to overcome the problems in our relations," Interfax cited the minister as saying on a TV talk show. Christmas in Lebanon not so merry as economic crisis bites

Rafi Tabakian's clothing store in a Beirut suburb is usually buzzing with customers during the holiday season, but with Lebanon's economy in ruins, shoppers are in short supply. "We've been in business for 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this," he said, adding that sales have dropped 80% in December even though he has cut his prices. Tesco suspends Chinese supplier after prisoner labor report

British supermarket giant Tesco suspended a Chinese supplier of Christmas cards on Sunday after a press report said a customer found a message written inside a card saying it had been packed by foreign prisoners who were victims of forced labor. "We abhor the use of prison labor and would never allow it in our supply chain," a Tesco spokesman said on Sunday. Clashes as police try to clear Hong Kong protesters after Uighur support rally

Hong Kong riot police pepper sprayed protesters to disperse crowds in the heart of the city's financial district on Sunday after a largely peaceful rally in support of China's ethnic Uighurs turned chaotic. Dozens of police marched across a public square overlooking Hong Kong's harbor to face off with protesters who hurled glass bottles and rocks at them. Legionaires founder sexually abused 60 boys, religious order's report says

Sexual abuse of minors was rife among superiors of the Legionaires of Christ Catholic religious order, with at least 60 boys abused by its founder Father Marcial Maciel, a report by the group showed. The report is important because for decades until 2006, including during all of the pontificate of Pope John Paul, the Vatican dismissed accusations by seminarians that Maciel had abused them sexually, some when they were as young as 12.