World News Roundup: On Kyiv visit, Blinken, Austin pledge return of U.S. diplomats, more security aid; Six dead in Poland's second mining disaster in a week says PM and more

Authorities in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, late on Sunday ordered residents and those who work there to be tested three times this week as Beijing warned the virus had "stealthily" spread in the city for about a week before being detected. U.S. says Moscow has 'failed' in war aims, pledges more military aid to Ukraine The United States will reopen its embassy in Ukraine soon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday after he and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv, promising more military aid and hailing the fight against Russia's invasion.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

On Kyiv visit, Blinken, Austin pledge return of U.S. diplomats, more security aid

Washington's top diplomat and its defense secretary visited Kyiv on Sunday, using the first official U.S. visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded two months ago to announce a gradual return of U.S. diplomats and the nomination of a new ambassador. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Poland on Saturday and took a train the following day into Ukraine, where they met President Volodomyr Zelenskiy and other top Ukrainian officials.

Six dead in Poland's second mining disaster in a week says PM

The death toll in Poland's second mining disaster in the space of a week rose to six on Monday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said, as he promised to investigate safety standards at the pits in question. A tremor shook the Borynia-Zofiowka mine in southern Poland on Saturday morning, just days after methane explosions killed five people in the nearby Pniowek coal mine. Both pits belong to state-owned mining company JSW.

Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club suspends top Asian human rights awards

Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) has suspended its annual Human Rights Press Awards so as not to "unintentionally" violate any laws, according to a statement from the club president on Monday. The cancellation of the awards, run for more than a quarter of a century and are among the most prestigious in Asia, is the latest blow to media freedoms following the introduction of national security law in 2020 to bring the former British colony into line with the rest of China.

No respite for re-elected Macron as parliamentary elections loom

French President Emmanuel Macron enjoyed no respite from his political opponents on Monday as, hours after he won re-election by defeating the far-right's Marine Le Pen, radical parties called on voters to deny him a parliamentary majority. Macron, who pledged to work harder as a unifying force in a divided country, said his second mandate would be different after his sometimes high-handed manner alienated many voters during his first term in office.

U.S. asset freezes worsen Afghan women's suffering - U.N. experts

The United States, as well as the Taliban authorities, is contributing to the suffering of women in Afghanistan through asset freezes, U.N. independent experts said on Monday. The United Nations and foreign governments, including Washington, have condemned moves by the Taliban to backtrack on women's rights commitments such as on girls' education in the months following their takeover in Aug. 2021.

Face-off with Russia over Ukraine lifts military spending in 2021, think tank says

Military spending in Europe and Russia surged in the run-up to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine despite the subduing effects of the pandemic on economic growth, data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed on Monday. The war in Ukraine, which Russia calls a "special military operation", has forced a rapid rethink in Europe over defense strategies and led a string of countries to promise large increases in military budgets.

Beijing shoppers throng stores as district starts mass testing

Beijing residents snapped up food and other supplies as the city's biggest district began mass COVID-19 testing of all residents on Monday, prompting fears of a Shanghai-style lockdown after dozens of cases in the capital in recent days. Authorities in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, late on Sunday ordered residents and those who work there to be tested three times this week as Beijing warned the virus had "stealthily" spread in the city for about a week before being detected.

U.S. says Moscow has 'failed' in war aims, pledges more military aid to Ukraine

The United States will reopen its embassy in Ukraine soon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday after he and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv, promising more military aid and hailing the fight against Russia's invasion. Both men said the fact they were able to come to Kyiv was proof of Ukraine's tenacity in forcing Moscow to abandon an assault on the capital last month.

Green activists block tanker from delivering Russian oil to Norway

Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion campaigners blocked a tanker from delivering Russian oil to Norway on Monday, chaining one of their boats to the giant vessel in a protest against the war in Ukraine, Greenpeace said. The Ust Luga product tanker is anchored outside Exxon Mobil's Slagen oil terminal about 70 km (43 miles) south of the capital Oslo, according to vessel tracker Marine Traffic.

Unrepentant Schroeder exposes German coalition rift over Ukraine

The co-leader of Germany's Social Democrats called on former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to quit the party after he defended his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, exposing a rift at the heart of government in Berlin over the Ukraine crisis. Schroeder has refused, despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to step down from the posts with Russian energy companies from which he has earned millions of euros since leaving office in 2004.