Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

On Europe trip, Taiwan foreign minister calls for collaboration in facing China

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu urged “freedom-loving countries” on Friday to work together against China, during a rare trip to Europe that is taking place amid heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own and has not ruled out taking by force, does not have formal diplomatic relations with any European countries apart from Vatican City. But it is keen to deepen ties with European Union democracies.

U.N. urges Mali to end hereditary slavery

U.N. human rights experts on Friday called on Mali to crack down on hereditary slavery after a series of violent attacks against people born into servitude. Slavery was officially abolished in colonial Mali in 1905, but a system persists in which people are still forced to work without pay for families that enslaved their ancestors, the United Nations group of experts said in a statement.

Biden has unusually long meeting with pope as abortion debate flares at home

U.S. President Joe Biden held an unusually long meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday as a debate raged back home about the Catholic president’s support for abortion rights. The Vatican said the private meeting lasted one hour and 15 minutes and then about another 15 minutes were spent for picture taking and the exchange of gifts in the presence of other members of the delegation, such as Biden’s wife, Jill.

Pope, Pacific Islands urge action as rich nations sound climate alarm

Leaders of the 20 richest countries will acknowledge the existential threat of climate change, a draft communique seen by Reuters shows, as Pope Francis said on Friday the COP26 summit must deliver “concrete hope” by matching words with deeds. The Group of 20, whose leaders gather on Saturday and Sunday in Rome before heading to Glasgow, Scotland, for the United Nations gathering, will pledge to take urgent steps to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Iran, nuclear deal partners seeking date for Vienna talks, EU says

Iran and world powers seeking to revive a 2015 nuclear deal are trying to agree a date for the resumption of talks in Vienna as soon as possible, a European Union spokesperson said on Friday. Iran’s top negotiator said after talks in Brussels this week that negotiations in Vienna will resume by the end of November.

U.S. imposes sanctions on two Lebanese businessmen and MP

The U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on two top Lebanese contractors and a lawmaker close to the Hezbollah movement over alleged large-scale corruption that undermined the rule of law in Lebanon. Businessmen Jihad al-Arab and Dany Khoury, close to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and Christian politician Gebran Bassil respectively, were sanctioned on Thursday for alleged corruption related to state contracts.

France, Britain locked in fishing standoff as Brexit tensions mount

Britain threatened on Friday to board French fishing boats and France stood by a plan to impose sanctions on British vessels in a deepening row over post-Brexit fishing rights. The long-running dispute flared this week after France listed measures that would be taken against Britain if London did not allow more French trawlers to fish in UK waters and then seized a British boat in French territorial waters.

Exclusive: U.S. preparing new sanctions in response to Nicaragua’s Nov. 7 election -officials

The Biden administration is working with international partners to prepare new sanctions that could be levied in response to Nicaragua’s Nov. 7 election, which Washington has denounced as a sham organized by President Daniel Ortega, U.S. officials say. The U.S. government has also begun a review of Nicaragua’s participation in a Central America free trade agreement and have already halted support for any “trade capacity building” activities seen as benefiting Ortega’s government, a senior State Department official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

UN’s Guterres says G20 must do more on climate, address mistrust

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that the world was “careening towards climate catastrophe” and said leaders of the Group of 20 wealthy nations must do more in many areas to help poorer countries. Speaking on the eve of a summit of G20 leaders, Guterres told reporters there were “dangerous levels of mistrust” between major powers. He said he hoped the forthcoming two-day meeting would help overcome that.

Japan’s ruling party is set for likely bruising in weekend election

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and prime minister Fumio Kishida are likely to take a bruising at the weekend’s lower house election, though the coalition government should safely retain power, opinion polls on Friday showed. The Sunday election is set to be a test for the LDP, whose image was battered by its perceived mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, and hanging on to its single-party majority in the powerful lower house could be difficult, the polls suggested.

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