Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

China will never renounce right to use force over Taiwan, Xi says

It is up to the Chinese people to resolve the Taiwan issue and China will never renounce the right to use force but will strive for a peaceful resolution, President Xi Jinping said on Sunday at the opening of a major party meeting. Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, responded that it will not back down on its sovereignty or compromise on freedom and democracy.

Reactions to Xi’s speech opening China’s Communist Party Congress

Here are some initial reactions to President Xi Jinping’s speech on Sunday opening the 20th congress of China’s ruling Communist Party, a week-long event where he is widely expected to win a third leadership term and cement his place as the country’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. JOHN DELURY, PROFESSOR OF CHINESE STUDIES, YONSEI UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, SEOUL

Gunmen kill 11 at Russian army base in new blow to Moscow’s Ukraine campaign

Russia has opened a criminal investigation after gunmen shot dead 11 people at a military training ground near the Ukrainian border, authorities said on Sunday, as fighting raged in eastern and southern Ukraine. Russia’s RIA news agency, citing the defence ministry, said two gunmen had opened fire during a firearms training exercise on Saturday, targeting a group who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine. The “terrorists” themselves were shot dead, it said.

UK finance minister Hunt vows to win back financial market trust

New finance minister Jeremy Hunt promised to win back Britain’s economic credibility by accounting for every penny of the government’s tax and spending plans, while insisting that his boss Prime Minister Liz Truss remained in overall charge.

Truss appointed Hunt on Friday in an attempt to rescue her leadership as confidence in her ability to run the country drained away within both her own Conservative Party and international financial markets.

Biden knocks Truss economic plan, says not concerned about dollar strength

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday criticized British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s original economic plan as a mistake and said he was not concerned about the strength of the soaring U.S. dollar. Truss on Friday fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and scrapped parts of their economic package after it sparked financial market turmoil, including a steep dive in the value of the pound.

Iran prison fire kills four, injures 61 as protests persist

A fire at Iran’s Evin prison late on Saturday killed four detainees and injured 61, state media reported, as anti-government protests sparked by a woman’s death in police custody continued on Sunday, including at several universities. Iranian authorities said on Saturday that a prison workshop had been set on fire “after a fight among a number of prisoners convicted of financial crimes and theft”. Evin holds many detainees facing security charges, including Iranians with dual nationality.

Typhoon submerges villages, farmlands in northern Philippines

A tropical storm that made landfall early on Sunday in the northern Philippines has intensified into a typhoon, the weather bureau said, bringing moderate to heavy rains that submerged villages and farmlands. Nearly a thousand people were preemptively evacuated to safer ground, according to the disaster monitoring agency.

Belarus says to host just under 9,000 Russian troops

The defence ministry in Minsk on Sunday said just under 9,000 Russian troops would be stationed in Belarus as part of a “regional grouping” of forces to protect its borders. “The first troop trains with Russian servicemen who are part of the (regional grouping) began to arrive in Belarus,” Valeriy Revenko, head of the defence ministry’s international military cooperation department, wrote on Twitter. “The relocation will take several days.

China’s Xi talks up security, reiterates COVID stance as congress opens

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for accelerating the building of a world-class military while touting the fight against COVID-19 as he kicked off a Communist Party Congress by focussing on security and reiterating policy priorities. Xi, 69, is widely expected to win a third leadership term at the conclusion of the week-long congress that began on Sunday morning, cementing his place as China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.

Nigeria’s Zamfara state orders media to close for covering political rally

Zamfara state in northwestern Nigeria ordered five media outlets to close on Sunday after they covered a political rally for the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which took place in violation of a state ban on political activities. The order to close came after Governor Bello Muhammad, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, banned political activities, including meetings at individuals’ homes, on October 13 due to the security situation in the state.

(With inputs from agencies.)