Reuters World News Summary

Since China began war games and military drills near Taiwan earlier this month after the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Chinese-claimed island, the government in Taipei has reported repeated flights by drones on islets it controls close to the Chinese coast. Sri Lanka president to present first budget with hopes for IMF loan Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will on Tuesday slash defence and other expenditures in a bid to win International Monetary Fund (IMF) support as he presents his first budget since taking over as leader of his crisis-hit country.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

China dismisses Taiwan complaints on drone harassment

China on Monday dismissed complaints from Taiwan about repeated harassment by Chinese drones very close to Taiwanese-controlled islands as not anything "to make a fuss about", prompting Taipei to label Beijing as nothing more than thieves. Since China began war games and military drills near Taiwan earlier this month after the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Chinese-claimed island, the government in Taipei has reported repeated flights by drones on islets it controls close to the Chinese coast.

Sri Lanka president to present first budget with hopes for IMF loan

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will on Tuesday slash defence and other expenditures in a bid to win International Monetary Fund (IMF) support as he presents his first budget since taking over as leader of his crisis-hit country. Officials hope the interim budget for the rest of the year will be followed by a staff-level agreement on extending much-needed IMF help for Sri Lanka to tackle its worst economic turmoil since independence from Britain in 1948.

Deadly clashes rage in Baghdad in Shi'ite power struggle

Heavy clashes erupted in Baghdad, killing almost 20 people on Monday, after powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he would quit politics, prompting his loyalists to storm a government palace and fight with rival groups. As night fell, machine-gun fire and explosions rang out, with tracer fire rising into the sky above the Green Zone that houses government headquarters and foreign embassies, in the worst fighting the Iraqi capital has seen in years.

Biden plans to ask Congress to approve $1.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan- Politico

The Biden administration plans to ask the U.S. Congress to approve an estimated $1.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, including 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles, Politico reported on Monday, citing sources, amid heightened tensions with China. China carried out its largest war games around the democratically governed island after a visit this month by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Beijing has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.

Ukraine says fresh southern offensive is breaking through Russian defences

Ukraine said it broke through enemy lines in several places near the southern city of Kherson as it pressed a new campaign to retake territory while Moscow said Kyiv's counter-offensive had failed as Russia shelled the port city of Mykolaiv. Kyiv's move came after several weeks of relative stalemate in a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities and caused a global energy and food crisis amid unprecedented economic sanctions.

Last handful of fish: Crisis pushes more Sri Lankans into poverty

In her outstretched palms, 49-year-old Nilanthi Gunasekera holds her family's last remaining handful of dried fish – a reminder of Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis in decades. She is just one of the millions of Sri Lankans battling a calamitous decline in living standards, as they find themselves forced to skip meals, ration out medicines and turn to firewood in place of cooking gas.

Angola's governing party wins divisive election extending long rule

Angola's electoral commission on Monday declared the ruling MPLA, in power for nearly five decades since independence, the winner of last week's national election, handing President Joao Lourenco a second term amid concerns about possible fraud. The commission gave the ex-Marxist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) a 51.17% majority after all votes were counted. Its longtime opponent, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, got 43.95%, its best result ever.

U.N. aid chief pushes for restart of Afghanistan development aid

Countries should restart some development aid for impoverished Afghanistan that was halted a year ago when the Taliban seized power, the U.N. aid chief said on Monday, as the United States told Russia and China to "put your money where your mouth is." Afghanistan has long relied heavily on development aid, which was cut as the international community demanded the Taliban respect human rights, particularly girls and women whose access to work and school has been limited by the Islamists.

'It felt like my insides were crying': China COVID curbs hit youth mental health

Zhang Meng had a breakdown last December. The 20-year-old found herself sobbing on the stairs of her dorm, driven to despair by repeated COVID lockdowns of her university campus in Beijing. The lockdowns had meant she was mostly confined to her room and unable to meet up with friends. There were also strict curbs on when she could visit the canteen or take a shower. Describing herself as someone who craves in-person social interaction, Zhang said the restrictions had "removed the safety net that was holding me up and I felt like my whole being was falling down".

Exclusive-Iran steps up underground uranium enrichment, IAEA report says

Iran is pressing ahead with its rollout of an upgrade to its advanced uranium enrichment programme, a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog seen by Reuters on Monday showed, even as the West awaits Iran's response on salvaging its 2015 nuclear deal. The first of three cascades, or clusters, of advanced IR-6 centrifuges recently installed at the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz is now enriching, the report said, the latest underground site at which the advanced machines have come onstream.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)