HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) -- China on Tuesday accused “disturbing elements” of illegally entering its consulate in Manchester, following an incident on Sunday in which a Hong Kong protester was seen being pulled into the mission’s grounds and beaten up. British police are investigating the incident, which occurred during a demonstration against Chinese President Xi Jinping. Officers entered the consulate grounds to rescue a man who they said “was dragged” inside and assaulted by several men. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin commented on the incident during a regular news conference in Beijing. “Disturbing elements illegally entered the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester and endangered the security of Chinese diplomatic premises,” he said in response to a question. “Diplomatic institutions of any country have the right to take the necessary measures to safeguard the peace and dignity of their premises,” he added.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) -- An India-Russia joint venture that makes nuclear capable supersonic cruise missiles hopes to bag orders worth $5 billion by 2025, its chairman said on Tuesday, having signed its first export deal of $375 million this year with the Philippines. BrahMos Aerospace is in discussions with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam for new orders, chairman Atul D Rane told Reuters partner ANI on Tuesday. The joint venture, with a 50.5% Indian and 49.5% Russian partnership, fits into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship make-in-India program. India has made Russian MiG fighter planes and Su-30 jets under license and the two have collaborated to make BrahMos missiles in India. Russia has also traditionally been India’s main arms supplier. In April last year, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said the two countries were discussing “additional” production of Russian military equipment in India. India, which has not explicitly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has also emerged as Moscow’s second-largest oil customer after China as Indian refiners snap up discounted Russian oil shunned by some Western buyers.

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LONDON (Reuters) -- A road in the centre of London’s government district, near Downing Street where Prime Minister Liz Truss’s office and residence is, was closed on Tuesday due to a suspicious package, a policeman at the scene said. A government official said some of the government buildings along Whitehall were being emptied. A Reuters reporter said hundreds of people were gathered at Horse Guards Parade, behind Downing Street.

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WARSAW (Reuters) -- Poland is not afraid of losing European Union (EU) funds, Polish Prime Minister said on Tuesday, a day after the European Commission warned it could forfeit most development money unless the court system is fixed. “I do not think that the funds from the EU - the cohesion funds, the agricultural funds, and the funds for innovations and others - are at risk,” Mateusz Morawiecki said during a press conference.

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ROME (Reuters) -- Italy’s next cabinet is taking shape after rightist leader Giorgia Meloni, set to be appointed prime minister, defused tensions with her coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi over key ministerial posts. Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party led a right-wing alliance including Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s League to victory in last month’s election, promising political stability in the country after years of short-lived governments. However, tensions have been running high in the alliance after most Forza Italia senators refused last week to back the election of Ignazio La Russa from Brothers of Italy as Senate speaker. Political sources said Berlusconi was furious with Meloni due to her reluctance to accept some of his demands on cabinet positions, but the two leaders appeared to have settled their differences at a meeting on Monday.

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TUNIS (Reuters) - A southern Tunisian coastal town was paralyzed by protests on Tuesday amid growing anger over the fate of people who drowned in a migrant shipwreck last month, with some buried in unmarked graves. The powerful UGTT labor union called a general strike in Zarzis on Tuesday, bringing to a head days of smaller protests to demand authorities do more to find missing bodies and improve living conditions. Images showed the streets of Zarzis packed with protesters chanting anti-authority slogans with shops and government institutions closed. As the economy has lagged and public finances run into crisis amid political upheaval, many Tunisians have taken to often rickety boats to join the illegal migration route to Europe. Dozens have died this year in shipwrecks as boats attempted the journey from Tunisia’s eastern coast to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

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ADDIS ABABA (AFP) -- Tigrayan rebels said Tuesday that Ethiopian and Eritrean forces had seized a key Tigrayan city, a move coinciding with UN warnings of a spiraling conflict and an “utterly staggering” toll on civilians. The Tigray Central Command said in a statement that the rebels were in a “life or death” struggle. It said the joint forces had entered Shire, a strategic city of about 100,000 people which lies about 300 kilometers (180 miles) by road northwest of the Tigrayan capital Mekele, on Monday. “The enemies are massacring our people with heavy weaponry/armaments in the areas it invades,” the statement said. It is not possible to verify battlefield claims as Tigray is under a communications blackout and access to northern Ethiopia is restricted for journalists. The conflict began in November 2020, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray after accusing the region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of attacking federal army camps.