Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

As UK’s Truss fights for job, new finance minister warns of tough decisions ahead

Britain’s new finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday some taxes would go up and tough spending decisions were needed, signalling further reversals from Prime Minister Liz Truss as she battles to keep her job just over a month into her term. In an attempt to appease financial markets that have been in turmoil for three weeks, Truss fired Kwasi Kwarteng as her chancellor of the exchequer on Friday and scrapped parts of their controversial economic package.

Pakistan summons US ambassador over Biden’s nuclear remarks

Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Saturday he had summoned the U.S. ambassador after President Joe Biden questioned the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear programme. In a speech on Thursday, Biden said Pakistan is “maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.

Putin says Ukraine mobilisation should be finished in two weeks

Russia should be finished calling up reservists in two weeks, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, promising an end to a divisive mobilization that has seen hundreds of thousands of men summoned to fight in Ukraine and huge numbers flee the country. Putin also said Russia had no plans “for now” for more massive air strikes like those it carried out this week, in which it fired more than 100 long range missiles at targets across Ukraine.

China says it reserves right to use force over Taiwan

China reserves the right to use force over Taiwan as a last resort in compelling circumstances, though peaceful reunification is its first choice, a Communist Party spokesman said on Saturday. Reunification of China and Taiwan meets the interests of all, including Taiwan compatriots, Sun Yeli told a news conference in Beijing.

Thousands from rival Tunisian parties protest against president

Two rival Tunisian opposition groups staged one of the biggest days of protest so far against President Kais Saied on Saturday, denouncing his moves to consolidate political power as public anger grows over fuel and food shortages. Thousands of supporters from the Islamist Ennahda party and the Free Constitutional Party held parallel rallies in adjacent areas of the capital, Tunis, accusing Saied of economic mismanagement and of an anti-democratic coup.

Khamenei warns Islamic Republic is a ‘mighty tree’ that cannot be uprooted

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday said that no one should dare think they can uproot the Islamic Republic, in his toughest warning to protesters since Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody ignited nationwide unrest now in its fourth week. Demonstrations by people from all walks of life, after the Iranian Kurdish woman’s death following her arrest for “inappropriate attire”, have evolved into widespread calls for the downfall of Khamenei and the Islamic Republic.

Explainer-Australia floods: why the country is battling weather again

Floods caused by torrential rain are hitting large swathes of southeast Australia, inundating hundreds of homes and forcing authorities to urge thousands of people to evacuate. Areas of three southeastern states – Victoria, New South Wales and the island state of Tasmania – are under emergency flood warnings after an intense weather system this week brought more than a month’s worth of rain to the southeast.

BTS holds free concert to support S.Korea’s bid to host World Expo

K-pop boy band BTS reunited on Saturday for a concert in Busan in support of South Korea’s bid to host the World Expo 2030 in the southern port city. The free concert — Titled ‘BTS in BUSAN’ — drew an audience of about 52,000 people to a stadium, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

Turkish mine blast death toll rises to 41 – Erdogan

The death toll after an explosion in a coal mine in Turkey’s northern Bartin province on Friday has reached 41, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Earlier, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 58 of the 110 people working in the mine when the blast occurred were rescued by the teams or got out by themselves.

Events in Iran since Mahsa Amini’s arrest and death in custody

Iran’s clerical rulers have faced the biggest protests in years since Mahsa Amini died last month in the custody of the morality police who enforce the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. Following is a timeline of events since her arrest:

(With inputs from agencies.)