Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

El Salvador women march against abortion laws amid planned Latin America-wide protests

Scores of people in El Salvador waved green flags and marched through the capital San Salvador en route to Congress to demand loosening of the country’s “strict” abortion laws, with similar protests planned across Latin American cities. Holding up banners saying “it’s our right to decide” and “legal abortion, safe and free,” the mostly-women protesters met as part of the “International Safe Abortion Day” being marked around the globe.

Japan’s ruling party votes for new leader who will almost certainly be next PM

Japan’s ruling party votes for a new leader on Wednesday who will almost certainly become the next prime minister ahead of a general election due in weeks and with the economy staggering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, his support in tatters ahead of the election, in a surprise move said he would step down after only a year as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader at a scheduled Sept. 29 party vote.

Colombian unions march in support of aid bills for working class and poor

Thousands of Colombian protesters returned to the streets of major cities on Tuesday to once again demand that Congress approve union-backed social policies to benefit the poorest. The marchers – their numbers much reduced from a peak earlier this year – also demonstrated against a nearly $4 billion tax reform approved this month by Congress and passed into law. Unions say it does not do enough for the working class.

Canada’s Trudeau says cabinet coming next month; finance minister to stay

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday he will swear in his new cabinet next month, with Chrystia Freeland returning as his finance minister and deputy, after his Liberals were re-elected https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-trudeau-may-cling-power-election-looks-unlikely-secure-majority-2021-09-20 for the third time. Trudeau, speaking with reporters in Ottawa at his first full news conference since the Sept. 20 election, also said lawmakers would be back in parliament this fall – without giving a date – and that putting previously announced vaccine mandates in place would be a priority.

Nine days after eruption, lava from La Palma volcano reaches ocean

Red hot lava from a volcano that devastated the Spanish island of La Palma reached the Atlantic Ocean late on Tuesday evening, nine days after it started to flow down the mountain, wrecking buildings and destroying crops. Big clouds of white steam billowed up from the Playa Nueva area as the lava made contact with the ocean, according to Reuters images. Photographs shared on social media showed the lava piling up near a cliff.

Germany’s SPD wants to start coalition talks this week

Germany’s Social Democrats, who narrowly won Sunday’s national election ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, said on Tuesday they hoped to talk to the Greens and Free Democrats later this week about forming a three-way government. The Greens and the liberal FDP, who are far apart on many issues Blending chalk and cheese: assembling a government for Germany, have said they will first consult with one other about possible areas of compromise before starting negotiations with either the Social Democrats (SPD) or the conservatives.

Afghan army collapse ‘took us all by surprise,’ U.S. defense secretary says

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress on Tuesday that the Afghan army’s sudden collapse caught the Pentagon “by surprise,” as military leaders confronted a contentious Senate hearing about how and why America lost its longest war. Republican lawmakers accused President Joe Biden of lying about recommendations from his military that some troops should be kept in Afghanistan. Even Biden’s Democrats expressed frustration with a chaotic withdrawal that left U.S. troops dead and American citizens behind.

Need substance to any future France-Australia talks, says French presidential official

France is preparing itself for a substantial conversation with Australia when the time comes after Canberra ditched a defence accord with Paris for a partnership with Britain and the United States, a French presidential official said on Tuesday. France has accused its allies of stabbing it in the back when Australia opted for nuclear-powered submarines to be built with U.S. and British technology instead of a multi-billion dollar French submarine programme.

Hundreds of migrants in southern Mexico scramble for asylum applications

Around 1,000 migrants flocked to a sports stadium in southern Mexico on Tuesday to claim appointments for requesting asylum in the country as the national refugee agency grapples with surging demand that has overwhelmed capacity. Thousands of other migrants have amassed in the city of Tapachula bordering Guatemala, often waiting months for responses to their asylum applications, a limbo that many migrants without jobs or money find intolerable.

WHO employees took part in Congo sex abuse during Ebola crisis, report says

More than 80 aid workers including some employed by the World Health Organization (WHO) were involved in sexual abuse and exploitation during an Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an independent commission said on Tuesday. The probe was prompted by an investigation last year by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The New Humanitarian in which more than 50 women accused aid workers https://www.reuters.com/article/congo-ebola-sexcrimes-idINL5N2GK4EE from the WHO and other charities of demanding sex in exchange for jobs between 2018-2020.

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