World News Roundup: Sea-Watch charity rescues hundreds of migrants from Mediterranean; Taiwan pitches investment deal with EU to strengthen democracy and more

With eye on U.N. arms embargo, Britain, France, Germany to discuss Iran Britain, France and Germany will on Friday define their Iran strategy for the coming months amid talks at the United Nations and violations by Tehran of a 2015 nuclear deal, France's foreign ministry said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Sea-Watch charity rescues hundreds of migrants from Mediterranean

German NGO Sea-Watch on Friday said it had rescued 46 migrants from a sinking boat in the Mediterranean overnight, bringing the total of saved people to 211 in the last 48 hours. The Sea-Watch 3 vessel is now sailing in international waters in the area of the Italian island of Linosa waiting for a safe port to disembark migrants, the charity group said.

With eye on U.N. arms embargo, Britain, France, Germany to discuss Iran

Britain, France, and Germany will on Friday define their Iran strategy for the coming months amid talks at the United Nations and violations by Tehran of a 2015 nuclear deal, France's foreign ministry said. Under Iran's deal with world powers to accept limits to its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, a U.N. weapons embargo is due to expire in October. The United States, which exited the deal in 2018, says it wants to extend the embargo.

Taiwan pitches investment deal with EU to strengthen democracy

Taiwan and the European Union should sign an investment agreement to use economics as a way to strengthen their democratic ties, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday, pitching to revive a deal that has languished since before she took office. The bloc included tech-powerhouse Taiwan on its list of trade partners for a potential bilateral investment agreement in 2015, the year before Tsai first won the presidency. But since then it has held no talks with Taiwan on the issue.

China says arbitrary decoupling by U.S. not realistic or wise

China said on Friday that any decision by the United States to arbitrarily decouple from China would not be realistic or wise, responding to renewed threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to cut ties with Beijing. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks during a daily briefing.

North Korea's Kim stokes tensions with eye on distracted Trump

North Korea has been ramping up tensions with South Korea in recent weeks, but the campaign seems aimed at making a renewed push for sanctions relief by recapturing the attention of a U.S. administration that is distracted by domestic issues. North Korea blew up a joint liaison office on its side of the border last week, declared an end to dialogue with South Korea and threatened military action.

Activist Joshua Wong says he plans to run for Hong Kong legislature

Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong said on Friday he planned to run for a seat in the Chinese-ruled city's legislature, setting up a new battle with authorities after being barred from running in previous polls. Wong, who was 17 when he became the face of the 2014 student-led Umbrella Movement, has not been a leading figure of the often-violent protests that have shaken the semi-autonomous financial hub for the past 12 months.

Italy anti-racism activists deface statue, alter street name

Anti-racism activists poured red paint on a statue of an Italian colonial-era general and pasted over the name of a street in Rome on Friday to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Early in the morning, the activists from a group calling itself the "Let's Remain Human Network" changed a street sign from Via Amba Aradam to Via George Floyd and Bilal Ben Messaud.

Putin uses WW2 anniversary to push idea of Russian-backed summit to stabilise world

President Vladimir Putin has called on the leaders of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to make good on an agreement to hold a face-to-face summit to try to tackle the world's problems as soon as possible. Putin made the appeal in an article in English published late on Thursday in American international affairs magazine The National Interest in which he examined the events of World War Two ahead of a Red Square parade next week to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

U.S. slaps sanctions on Mexican firms, individuals linked to Venezuelan oil trade

The United States on Thursday blacklisted Mexico's Libre Abordo and a related company, accusing them of helping Caracas evade U.S. sanctions in the first formal action by the U.S. Treasury Department against Mexican firms involved in trading Venezuelan oil. The Treasury said in a statement it imposed sanctions on three individuals, eight entities and two vessels for activities related to a network attempting to skirt U.S. sanctions on Venezuela aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro.

Soccer player puts spotlight on plight of migrant fruit pickers in Spain

Like many African immigrants seeking fruit-picking jobs in Spain, Europe's largest fruit and vegetable exporter, Ibrahim Ndoye had to sleep rough on the streets of Lleida for 10 days this month as nobody would rent him a room. The 42-year-old Senegalese acknowledges that restrictions over the coronavirus and fears of the disease may have undermined the northeastern town's hospitality while stoking demand for seasonal jobs, but he largely blames racism.

(With inputs from agencies.)