Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S. to Iran: Grant inspectors access to workshop or face action at IAEA

Iran must stop denying the U.N. nuclear watchdog access to a workshop making centrifuge parts as agreed two weeks ago or face diplomatic retaliation at the agency’s Board of Governors within days, the United States said on Monday. The workshop at the TESA Karaj complex makes components for centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, and was hit by apparent sabotage in June in which one of four International Atomic Energy Agency cameras there was destroyed. Iran removed them and the destroyed camera’s footage is missing https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iaea-pressures-iran-fate-talks-nuclear-deal-hangs-balance-2021-09-07.

China says Canada should ‘draw lessons’ from Huawei exec case

The release of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou shows China’s strength and Canada should “draw lessons,” China’s foreign ministry said on Monday, after state media called it an opportunity for a reboot of bilateral relations. Meng landed in Huawei’s home city of Shenzhen aboard a government-chartered plane on Saturday to much fanfare, ending her near three-year U.S. extradition fight, the same day two Canadians detained by Beijing shortly after Meng’s 2018 detention returned home.

NATO increases patrols near Kosovo-Serbia border blockage

NATO troops stepped up patrols in Kosovo on Monday near border crossings which have been blocked by local Serbs angered by a ban on cars with Serbian licence plates entering the country in a mounting confrontation. Video footage showed NATO armoured vehicles moving close to the barricades made of trucks and other vehicles on the Kosovo-Serbia frontier, as Serbian government jets flew overheard.

Pledging stability, German SPD seeks three-way alliance to succeed Merkel

German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz vowed on Monday to strengthen the European Union and keep up the transatlantic partnership in a three-way coalition government he hopes to form by Christmas to take over from Angela Merkel’s conservatives. Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) came first in Sunday’s national election, just ahead of the conservatives, and aim to lead a government for the first time since 2005 in a coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).

Junior Japanese lawmakers emerge as force in wide-open PM race

A group of junior lawmakers has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in Japan’s ruling party leadership contest, facing off with party barons in the wide-open race for votes on Wednesday, which will also determine the premiership. Many of the 90-strong members of the grouping, who rode into power on the coat-tails of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, fear losses in a general election within months of the leadership race, and chafe at party customs, including the weakening but still present grip of old guard factions.

Indian farmers stage nationwide protests against reforms

Indian farmers opposed to reforms they say threaten their livelihoods renewed their push against the changes with nationwide protests on Monday, a year after laws on the liberalisation of the sector were introduced. For 10 months, tens of thousands of farmers have camped out on major highways around the capital, New Delhi, to oppose the laws in the longest-running growers’ protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Belarus leader warns on NATO troops in Ukraine, migrant ‘catastrophe’

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned on Monday of a joint response with Russia to military exercises involving troops from NATO member countries in neighbouring Ukraine. Lukashenko, who gave no details of the response, also blamed the West for what he said was a looming humanitarian catastrophe this winter after migrants were left stranded and freezing on the Belarusian-Polish border.

Protests in Yemen’s third-largest city against crumbling currency

Security forces fired shots in the air to disperse hundreds of protesters in Yemen’s third-largest city of Taiz on Monday as unrest over poverty spread in areas held by the Saudi-backed government. Dozens of people blocked a street and entrances to several districts in the disputed southwestern city with rocks and burning tires, witnesses said, before the crowd swelled to hundreds protesting sharp drops in the currency that has stoked inflation.

Probe into Beirut blast frozen over judge impartiality suit, source says

A probe into the catastrophic explosion at Beirut port was frozen on Monday when a former minister wanted for questioning as a suspect filed a case questioning the lead investigator’s neutrality, a judicial source said. The Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port blast killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed swathes of Beirut. It was caused by a large quantity of explosive chemicals stored at a warehouse unsafely for years.

Quake wrecks old buildings in Crete, killing one person

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 shook Greece’s largest island, Crete, on Monday morning, killing one person and injuring several, authorities said. The tremor sent people fleeing out of homes, schools and public buildings across the island. Damage was reported to many old buildings close to the epicentre, in the east of the island.

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