Reuters World News Summary

Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) came first in Sunday's national election, just ahead of the conservatives, and aim to lead a government for the first time since 2005 in a coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). La Palma volcano spurts again as lava nears the sea A volcano on Spain's La Palma island began ejecting lava again on Monday after a lull, while hundreds of people in coastal villages hunkered down in anticipation of lava emitted in previous days reaching the sea and releasing toxic gas.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

White House rebuts idea that Huawei's Meng was freed in prisoner swap

The White House on Monday said a near-simultaneous release of a top Huawei executive and two Canadians detained shortly after her arrest was not a prisoner swap, but that their cases came up in a call between the Chinese and American presidents weeks before. On Friday, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou flew home to China from Canada after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her, a point of tension between China and the United States.

Canada's Green Party chief resigns, calling it 'worst period' of her life

Annamie Paul announced her resignation as head of Canada's Green Party on Monday after losing in her own district in last week's parliamentary election, stepping aside just under a year after becoming the nation's first Black leader of a mainstream national party. Paul, 48, said she felt she was never truly allowed to lead the fractious environmentally focused party and was not interested in going through a fight to remain its chief. She called her time as party leader "the worst period in my life."

Israeli PM says Iran has crossed nuclear 'red lines'; Tehran calls it 'full of lies'

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday that Iran had crossed "all red lines" in its nuclear program and vowed that Israel would not allow Tehran to acquire a nuclear weapon. In his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Bennett said Iran sought to dominate the Middle East under a "nuclear umbrella" and urged a more concerted international effort to halt Iran's nuclear activities.

Pledging stability, German SPD seeks three-way alliance to succeed Merkel

German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz vowed on Monday to strengthen the European Union and keep up the transatlantic partnership in a three-way coalition government he hopes to form by Christmas to take over from Angela Merkel's conservatives. Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) came first in Sunday's national election, just ahead of the conservatives, and aim to lead a government for the first time since 2005 in a coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).

La Palma volcano spurts again as lava nears the sea

A volcano on Spain's La Palma island began ejecting lava again on Monday after a lull, while hundreds of people in coastal villages hunkered down in anticipation of lava emitted in previous days reaching the sea and releasing toxic gas. Spurts of vivid lava emerged from the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the early evening and snaked down the dark mountainside after a period of several hours without explosions, according to Reuters witnesses.

N.Korea fires unidentified projectile, criticises U.S. 'hostile' policy

North Korea fired an unidentified projectile towards the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, amid Pyongyang's calls for the United States and South Korea to scrap their "hostile policy". The South Korean military did not give any more details, while Japan's defence ministry said it appeared to be a ballistic missile, without elaborating.

Jordan to fully reopen main crossing with Syria this week

Jordan will fully reopen its main border crossing with Syria from Wednesday, government and industry officials said, as a high-level Syrian team arrived in Amman to discuss how to ease the flow of goods hit by the pandemic and a decade of conflict. Although the Jaber crossing has been open since 2018 after the Syrian government drove rebels from southern Syria, trade has yet to recover to the $1 billion pre-war level.

Belarus leader warns on NATO troops in Ukraine, migrant 'catastrophe'

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned on Monday of a joint response with Russia to military exercises involving troops from NATO member countries in neighbouring Ukraine. Lukashenko, who gave no details of the response, also blamed the West for what he said was a looming humanitarian catastrophe this winter after migrants were left stranded and freezing on the Belarusian-Polish border.

Beirut blast probe faces derailment for second time

A probe into the catastrophic Beirut port explosion faced the risk of being derailed for the second time this year on Monday when a senior politician wanted for questioning filed a complaint doubting the lead investigator's impartiality. The move followed a smear campaign by Lebanon's political class against Judge Tarek Bitar, who was appointed after his predecessor was forced out following similar accusations by officials he wanted to question about suspected negligence.

France's Le Pen proposes referendum on immigration if elected president

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Monday that if she is elected president in the 2022 election, she will call a referendum proposing drastic limits on immigration. Le Pen said on France 2 television the referendum would propose strict criteria for entering French territory and for acquiring French nationality, as well as giving French citizens priority access to social housing, jobs and social security benefits.

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