World News Roundup: Gunmen kill two female Supreme Court judges in Afghanistan; Lebanon patriarch tells feuding president and PM-designate to reconcile and more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched what his government has described as the "world's largest vaccination programme" on Saturday to rein in the pandemic in India, which has reported the second highest number of cases after the United States.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Gunmen kill two female Supreme Court judges in Afghanistan: police

Unidentified gunmen killed two female judges from Afghanistan's Supreme Court on Sunday morning, police said, adding to a wave of assassinations in Kabul and other cities while government and Taliban representatives have been holding peace talks in Qatar. The two judges, who have not yet been named, were killed and their driver wounded, in an attack at around 8:30 am, police said, adding the case was being investigated by security forces.

Lebanon patriarch tells feuding president and PM-designate to reconcile

Lebanon's top Christian cleric has urged President Michel Aoun to set up a reconciliation meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri to form a cabinet and end the country's political deadlock. The country's fractious politicians have been unable to agree on a new administration since the last one quit in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion, leaving Lebanon rudderless as it sinks deeper into economic crisis.

In wheelchair, paraplegic Lai Chi-wai climbs up skyscraper in Hong Kong

Lai Chi-wai became the first in Hong Kong to climb more than 250 meters of a skyscraper while strapped into a wheelchair as he pulled himself up for more than 10 hours on Saturday to raise money for spinal cord patients. The 37-year-old climber, whose car accident 10 years ago left him paralyzed from waist down, could not make it to the top of the 300 metre-tall Nina Tower on the Kowloon peninsula.

Quake death toll at 73 as Indonesia struggles with string of disasters

At least 73 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia's West Sulawesi province on Friday, the disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said on Sunday, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the Southeast Asian country. More than 820 people were injured and over 27,800 left their homes after the 6.2 magnitude quake, BNPB spokesman Raditya Jati said. Some sought refuge in the mountains, while others went to cramped evacuation centres, witnesses said.

In Tokyo's lockdown, some drink on even after authorities call time

For Yuuki Hamazono, it was a relief to find bars and restaurants in Tokyo flouting the Japanese government's request to close by 8 p.m. The 30-year-old financial trader was one of many people out in the Shimbashi nightlife district during the first weekend of an expanded state of emergency, with the government pleading for residents to stay home to contain the coronavirus.

UK hopes to ease lockdown from March: minister

Britain's government hopes to ease some lockdown restrictions in March as it presses ahead with Europe's fastest rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday. The country, which also has Europe's highest COVID-19 death toll, has been under national lockdown since Jan. 5, with schools closed for most pupils, non-essential businesses shut and people ordered to work from home where possible.

India's COVID-19 vaccination drive hits bump due to app glitch

India's COVID-19 vaccination drive hit a bump on the first day due to glitches in an app called Co-Win that is being used to coordinate the campaign, according to several officials involved in the immunisation programme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched what his government has described as the "world's largest vaccination programme" on Saturday to rein in the pandemic in India, which has reported the second highest number of cases after the United States.

Beirut blast chemicals possibly linked to Syrian businessmen: report, company filings

The company that bought the ammonium nitrate which exploded in Beirut last August had possible links to two Syrian businessmen under U.S. sanctions for ties to President Bashar al-Assad, according to a report by a Lebanese journalist and London company filings. Savaro Ltd, the trading firm which procured the chemicals in 2013, shared a London address with companies linked to George Haswani and Imad Khoury, according to the report by documentary film-maker Firas Hatoum, which aired on Lebanon's al-Jadeed TV station this week.

Austria extends third COVID-19 lockdown to February 8

Austria will extend its COVID-19 lockdown, with the goal to start easing restrictions from Feb. 8, the government said on Sunday. The catering sector and tourism will not be able to reopen in February, it added. Guatemala cracks down on migrant caravan bound for United States

Guatemalan authorities on Saturday escalated efforts to stop thousands of Hondurans, many of them families with children, traveling in a migrant caravan bound for the United States just as a new administration is about to enter the White House. Between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants have entered Guatemala since Friday, according to Guatemala's immigration authority, fleeing poverty and violence in a region battered by the pandemic and back-to-back hurricanes in November.

(With inputs from agencies.)