Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Pentagon chief says no specific evidence Iran was plotting to attack four U.S. embassies

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday said he did not see specific evidence from intelligence officials that Iran was planning to attack four U.S. embassies, an assertion made by President Donald Trump in justifying the killing of Iran's top general. While Esper said he agreed with Trump that additional attacks against U.S. embassies were likely, he said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that Trump's remarks to Fox News were not based on specific evidence on an attack on four embassies. Canadian PM Trudeau tells Iran crash vigil he will pursue justice

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his voice sometimes breaking, on Sunday told a vigil for some of those killed in an Iranian plane disaster that he would "pursue justice and accountability" for what happened. Iran says it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner on Wednesday, killing 176 people. At least 57 Canadians died, most of them of Iranian descent, in one of the biggest single losses of life Canada has suffered in 40 years. Colombia says police foil attempt to assassinate FARC leader Timochenko

Colombian police thwarted an assassination attempt against Rodrigo Londono, former commander of the demobilized FARC rebels better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, a senior official said Sunday. General Oscar Atehortua, director of Colombia's national police, said officers killed two men who planned to commit the attack, which was ordered by commanders of dissident rebels who decided to return to conflict last year. 'Our enemy is here': Iran protesters demand that leaders quit after plane downed

Protests erupted across Iran for a second day on Sunday, increasing pressure on the Islamic Republic's leadership after it admitted its military shot down a Ukrainian airliner by accident, despite days of denials that Iranian forces were to blame. "They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here," one group of protesters chanted outside a university in Tehran, according to video posted on Twitter. Hezbollah: It's time for Iran's allies to start working to avenge Soleimani

Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Sunday it was time for Iran's allies to begin working to retaliate for the killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani though it would be a "long path" to the goal of ejecting U.S. forces from the region. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also denied the Iranian general had been planning to blow up U.S. embassies. U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been killed after he landed in Baghdad in part because "they were looking to blow up our embassy". Australian prime minister's approval rating slumps as bushfires rage

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's approval rating has declined sharply in the face of horrendous bushfires that have killed 28 people and destroyed 2,000 homes, a closely watched poll showed on Monday. Morrison has come under attack for being slow to respond to an unprecedented crisis, even taking a family holiday to Hawaii while fires were burning, and acknowledged on Sunday he had made some mistakes. Iran's only female Olympic medalist says she has defected

Iran's only female Olympic medalist has said on social media she had left her homeland because she had had enough of being used by its authorities as a propaganda tool. Taekwondo champion Kimia Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, implied in an Instagram post that she had moved to Europe. She wrote on an account she has used for some time, but it was not immediately possible to verify her location. Former Pope Benedict breaks silence on celibacy debate after synod

Former Pope Benedict, in a new book written with a conservative cardinal, defends priestly celibacy in the Catholic Church in what appears to be a strategically timed appeal to Pope Francis to not change the rules. Benedict wrote the book, "From the Depths of Our Hearts," with Cardinal Robert Sarah, 74, a Guinean prelate who heads the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Ten years after devastating quake, Haitians struggle to survive

Every morning as the sun rises over the dusty, overgrown ruins of the Haitian capital's iconic cathedral, Paul Christandro, who lived nearby all his life, thinks about the day ten years ago when he watched it come down, killing his friends. On Jan. 12, 2010, the impoverished island nation was struck by a devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands and left many more homeless. It lasted just 35 seconds, but its scars are still visible. Malta's new leader promises to keep strengthening rule of law

Malta's incoming leader Robert Abela promised to strengthen the rule of law and said the country would emerge stronger after recent events, in an address on Sunday a day before he is due to succeed Joseph Muscat as prime minister. Muscat is stepping down following an investigation into the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The ruling Labour party elected Abela as the party's new leader in a vote on Saturday and he will be sworn in as prime minister on Monday.

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