World News Roundup: China's Xi calls for unimpeded trade of vaccines; Europe faces real threat of COVID-19 resurgence, WHO Europe head says and more

Speaking in a televised address at the opening of the China International Import Expo, Xi said China has provided more than 1.6 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world. Europe faces real threat of COVID-19 resurgence, WHO Europe head says European countries must work harder to prevent the coronavirus spreading further as deaths and new cases surge, the World Health Organization's Europe head said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

China's Xi calls for unimpeded trade of vaccines

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that China will support the fair distribution and unimpeded trade of key medical supplies such as vaccines. Speaking in a televised address at the opening of the China International Import Expo, Xi said China has provided more than 1.6 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world.

Europe faces real threat of COVID-19 resurgence, WHO Europe head says

European countries must work harder to prevent the coronavirus spreading further as deaths and new cases surge, the World Health Organization's Europe head said on Thursday. Current transmission rates in 53 European countries are of

Calls for ceasefire in Ethiopia grow amid deepening conflict

Calls from African and Western nations for an immediate ceasefire in Ethiopia intensified on Thursday after Tigrayan forces from the country's north made advances towards the capital this week. The U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, arrived in Addis Ababa to press for a halt to military operations and a start to ceasefire talks. African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said he met Feltman to discuss efforts towards dialogue and political solutions.

China has debated attacking Taiwan-controlled islands, Taiwan official says

A top Taiwan security official told lawmakers on Thursday that China had internally debated whether to attack Taiwan's Pratas Islands but will not do so before 2024, the year President Tsai Ing-wen's term ends. National Security Bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong did not say how he knew that such a move had been debated or why it would not happen during the next few years.

COVID cases break records across Europe as winter takes hold

Coronavirus infections are hitting record levels in many countries across Europe as winter takes hold, prompting a call for action from the World Health Organization which described the new wave as a "grave concern". Soaring numbers of cases, especially in Eastern Europe, have prompted debate on whether to reintroduce curbs on movement before the Christmas holiday season and on how to persuade more people to get vaccinated.

NGO rescue ship with 800 migrants aboard asks Italy for safe port

German rescue charity Sea-Eye said on Thursday it had asked Italy for a safe port to disembark some 800 migrants it rescued from boats in distress in the central Mediterranean. The charity vessel SEA-EYE 4 Took onboard another 400 people from a wooden boat on Wednesday night in a seventh rescue operation since it set sail in mid-October, bringing the total to around 800, Sea-Eye said in a statement.

Australian man charged over girl taken from outback camp

Australian police charged a 36-year-old man on Thursday with abducting a four-year-old girl from an outback campsite 18 days before she was found safe in a locked house. The man was twice taken to hospital for self-inflicted injuries before being interviewed and charged with various offences related to the abduction, police in Western Australia state said in a statement.

European prosecutors arrest four in probe of suspected tax crime ring

Authorities have arrested four people in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia on suspicion of forming a tax evasion crime ring in Germany, European prosecutors said on Thursday, adding 23 million euros worth of assets had been seized. "The main suspects organised a so-called value added tax carousel, which involved the repeated circulation of platinum coins through the same companies," the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Luxembourg said in a statement.

Top Hong Kong court rules against government bid to expand riot prosecutions

Hong Kong's top court on Thursday quashed attempts by the city's government to prosecute people for rioting or illegal assembly even without being present at the scene - a ruling lawyers described as a landmark. The five-judge panel in Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal, headed by Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, unanimously rejected an earlier ruling by a lower appeal court that people, such as supporters, could be criminally liable without being actually present under the common law doctrine of "joint enterprise".

Iran's Raisi vows no retreat in nuclear talks with major powers

Iran will not back down "in any way" in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday, a day after all sides announced the resumption of nuclear talks between Tehran and major powers on Nov 29. Washington said it hoped the talks would see Iran willing to negotiate in good faith on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, while Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said the talks would cover the removal of "unlawful and inhumane sanctions".

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