World News Roundup: IAEA head Grossi vouches for safety of water release at wrecked Fukushima plant; Inside Ukraine's tech push to counter Russian 'suicide' drone threat and more

U.S. officials say they expect "candid" discussions during Yellen's July 6-9 trip, after Beijing's abrupt announcement on Monday of controls on exports of some gallium and germanium products widely used in semiconductors, as well as a new counterespionage law, both seen as potentially harmful to U.S. firms. Israeli troops withdraw in West Bank, Gaza rockets fired Militants from the Gaza Strip fired rockets on Wednesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the Palestinian city of Jenin on Tuesday, following one of their biggest military operations in the occupied West Bank for years.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

IAEA head Grossi vouches for safety of water release at wrecked Fukushima plant

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi, after surveying the site of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday and meeting with locals, vouched for the safety of Japan's plan to release treated radioactive water from the power plant into the ocean. In a major milestone for the decommissioning of the power plant, destroyed in a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, the IAEA said on Tuesday that a two-year review showed Japan's plans for the water release would have a negligible impact on the environment.

Inside Ukraine's tech push to counter Russian 'suicide' drone threat

In a basement in downtown Kyiv late last month, away from prying eyes, hundreds of engineers and innovators met senior military officials to brainstorm ways to better neutralise the cheap Russian suicide drones that still devastate Ukrainian cities. It was a rare, close-up glimpse into Ukraine's technology arms race with Russia that draws on private sector innovation seeded with state venture capital, and which is pumping out thousands of combat drones in a booming wartime industry.

Iran must stop executions of protesters, says UN fact-finding mission

A fact-finding mission mandated by the U.N. urged Iranian authorities on Wednesday to stop executing people who were sentenced to death for taking part in anti-government protests that rocked the country last year. The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022 while in the custody of the country's morality police unleashed a wave of mass protests across Iran, marking the biggest challenge to its clerical leaders in decades.

Beaten female Russian journalist moved to Moscow hospital

A Russian investigative journalist and a lawyer who were beaten in the southern republic of Chechnya have been moved to a hospital in Moscow, one of the country's most prominent journalists said on Wednesday. Yelena Milashina, a well-known journalist for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was travelling to the Chechen capital Grozny from the local airport with Alexander Nemov, a lawyer, when they were attacked a day earlier.

Argentina election race narrows as libertarian Milei loses ground - pollsters

Argentina's election race is narrowing into a two-horse race, polling ahead of the Aug. 13 primary vote shows, with the ruling Peronist coalition's choice of a centrist candidate defusing some of the threat from far-right libertarian Javier Milei. Pollsters have the main conservative opposition bloc's top two candidates, ex-Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Larreta, just ahead of the ruling coalition runner, Economy Minister Sergio Massa.

Australia PM says Hong Kong bounty on overseas activists 'unacceptable'

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday it was "unacceptable" that Hong Kong has put bounties on two Australian residents who are among eight overseas democracy activists wanted under a national security law. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said on Tuesday eight overseas-based Hong Kong activists who were issued with arrest warrants for alleged national security offences would be "pursued for life".

French police arrest 16 overnight as rioting subsides

French police arrested 16 people overnight in connection with urban violence, the interior ministry said on Wednesday, indicating a further decrease in the scale of unrest that swept through poor French suburbs after a fatal police shooting last week. The death on June 27 of Nahel M., a teenager of North African descent, after he was shot by a police officer in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, caused an outpouring of rage that led to nights of nationwide rioting and a muscular police crackdown.

Palestinians turn anger on own leadership after Israel's Jenin raid

Angry crowds in Jenin confronted senior Palestinian Authority officials at a funeral on Wednesday as fury boiled over at the weakness of their response to one of the largest Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank in years. The two-day operation, which the Israeli military said targeted infrastructure and weapons depots of militant factions in the Jenin refugee camp, left a trail of wrecked streets and burned-out cars and sparked fury across the Arab world.

Yellen's China visit aims at 'new normal' with Beijing

Janet Yellen's first trip to China as U.S. Treasury Secretary will focus on recalibrating ties between the world's two largest economies as military communications remain frozen and Beijing's new restrictions on exports of some metals spark fresh tensions. U.S. officials say they expect "candid" discussions during Yellen's July 6-9 trip, after Beijing's abrupt announcement on Monday of controls on exports of some gallium and germanium products widely used in semiconductors, as well as a new counterespionage law, both seen as potentially harmful to U.S. firms.

Israeli troops withdraw in West Bank, Gaza rockets fired

Militants from the Gaza Strip fired rockets on Wednesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the Palestinian city of Jenin on Tuesday, following one of their biggest military operations in the occupied West Bank for years. Israeli jets hit an underground weapons manufacturing facility in response, the military said, but it was not immediately clear whether there would be any further escalation.