Briefly

KIRIBATI

Voters head to polls for parliamentary election

Voters in Kiribati went to the polls on Wednesday for the first round of parliamentary elections in the Pacific Island country. A total of 114 candidates are vying for 44 parliamentary seats, with a second round of voting scheduled for Aug 19. In the first round, a candidate is elected if they receive more than 50 percent of the votes cast. If all seats are not filled, a second round of voting will be held. The new parliament will then nominate up to four presidential candidates among its members. The national presidential election is expected to take place in September or October.

EUROPE

Germany seeks suspect in Nord Stream probe

German prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man over the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, German media reported on Wednesday. A European Arrest Warrant was requested in June for the man, whose last known address is in Poland, according to the ARD broadcaster and newspapers Die Zeit and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Poland's national public prosecutor's office confirmed on Wednesday that such a warrant had been received, adding the suspect was not arrested in Poland because he left its territory for Ukraine in early July. German investigators believe the Ukrainian was one of the divers who planted explosive devices on the Nord Stream pipelines, the reports said.

UNITED KINGDOM

More than 1,000 held following unrest: Police

British authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people following days of social unrest involving violence, arson and looting, a policing body said on Tuesday. The unrest, which followed the killings of three young girls in the northern English town of Southport, began after the July 29 attack was wrongly blamed on an Islamist migrant based on online misinformation. There have been fewer instances of unrest since last week after efforts to identify those involved were ramped up. The National Police Chiefs' Council said in its latest update that 1,024 had been arrested and 575 charged across the United Kingdom.

Agencies - Xinhua