World News Roundup: Uganda accuses US envoy of subversion for trying; Iraq tightens security along flashpoint and more

Biden intelligence pick to call for tough scrutiny of China, source says Avril Haines, a former White House and CIA official whom President-elect Joe Biden chose for the top U.S. intelligence job, will tell Congress on Tuesday that she will continue tough U.S. scrutiny of China and press spy agencies to help resolve the COVID-19 crisis, a Biden transition official said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Uganda accuses U.S. envoy of subversion for trying to visit candidate

Uganda accused the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday of seeking to subvert last week's presidential election by trying to visit the main opposition candidate at his home, which has been surrounded by security forces since the vote. Troops prevented pop star-turned-legislator Bobi Wine from leaving his house shortly after he returned from voting in Thursday's presidential election, in which he ran against incumbent Yoweri Museveni. On Tuesday Wine said he and his wife had run out of food, and milk for her 18-month-old niece.

Iraq tightens security along flashpoint Syria frontier, military says

Iraq is tightening security along its 600 km (400 mile) border with Syria to curb the movement of Islamic State militants, drug smuggling and other illegal activities. Iraqi commanders on Monday toured the remote desert frontier controlled by various different forces, including the Iraqi military, Iran-aligned militias, the Syrian army, anti-Damascus rebels, and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

Lawyers for UK's Meghan seek to stop privacy case going to trial

Lawyers for Meghan, Britain's Duchess of Sussex, asked a London judge on Tuesday to rule in her favour in a privacy case against a tabloid newspaper without a trial, arguing the publication has no prospect of winning. Meghan, 39, the wife of Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry, is suing Associated Newspapers after its Mail on Sunday printed extracts of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018.

Biden intelligence pick to call for tough scrutiny of China, source says

Avril Haines, a former White House and CIA official whom President-elect Joe Biden chose for the top U.S. intelligence job, will tell Congress on Tuesday that she will continue tough U.S. scrutiny of China and press spy agencies to help resolve the COVID-19 crisis, a Biden transition official said. In testimony before a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing, Haines, Biden's nominee for Director of National Intelligence, will declare that U.S. agencies must continue to collect intelligence to "support long-term bipartisan efforts to out-compete China — gaining and sharing insight into China’s intentions and capabilities, while also supporting more immediate efforts to counter Beijing’s unfair, illegal, aggressive and coercive actions, as well as its human rights violations," the transition official said.

Iraq delays general election to Oct. 10 - state media

Iraq's cabinet decided on Tuesday to postpone the general election to Oct. 10 from June, the state news agency INA said. The elections been brought forward to June 6, roughly a year early, following a proposal by Iraq's Independent High Election Commission (IHEC), which wanted more time to organise the polls.

Love thy neighbour and get a COVID jab, says Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, received a COVID-19 vaccine and urged people across the world to accept the jab, saying that getting vaccinated was part of the Christian commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. The leader of the Anglican Communion, which includes 85 million people in about 165 countries, tweeted a picture of himself receiving the shot and described the rapid development of vaccines against the new coronavirus as an answer to prayer.

Biden to block Trump's plan to lift COVID-19 European travel restrictions

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to quickly extend travel restrictions barring travel by most people who have recently been in much of Europe and Brazil soon after President Donald Trump lifted those requirements effective Jan. 26, a spokeswoman for Biden said. Trump signed an order Monday lifting the restrictions he imposed early last year in response to the pandemic - a decision first reported Monday by Reuters - after winning support from coronavirus task force members and public health officials.

Taiwan cancels major festival as domestic COVID-19 cases rise

Taiwan on Tuesday cancelled a major festival during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday as the island reported four locally transmitted cases of COVID-19, the biggest daily rise in local infections in nearly 11 months. Taiwan, which has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention methods, has been unnerved by new domestic transmissions, first in December and now in a hospital in the northern city of Taoyuan.

Analysis: Saudi overtures to wary Biden team driven by worries over Iran, economy

After months out of the global spotlight, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has swept back to centre stage with eye-catching diplomatic and economic moves aimed at showing the new U.S. president he is a valuable partner who can get things done. Within the span of a few weeks, the kingdom announced an Arab deal to reconcile with Qatar, voluntary cuts to Saudi crude output to help stabilise markets and new momentum on an economic diversification plan that stumbled due to political controversy, low oil prices and COVID-19.

Italy PM Conte looks to cling to power in crucial Senate vote

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte addressed the Italian Senate on Tuesday, hoping to win over enough opposition and unaligned lawmakers to keep him in office after a junior partner quit his coalition. Conte gave almost the same speech to the upper house as he had delivered on Monday to the Chamber of Deputies, where he won by a wider than expected margin of 321 votes to 259, securing an absolute majority.