BEIJING (Reuters) -- China’s longest-serving ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, announced on Tuesday that he will be leaving his post after eight years, departing at a time of strained relations between the world’s two largest economies. Cui, who is 68 and past the retirement age of 65 for senior Chinese diplomats, was known for keeping his cool during the often heated disagreements between Beijing and the administration of former President Donald Trump. Sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters that Qin Gang, 55, a foreign ministry vice minister and trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, is expected to take over as ambassador to Washington. Asked at a press conference in February about China’s so-called “wolf warrior” diplomacy - an assertive and often abrasive style adopted by many Chinese diplomats in recent years - Qin defended China’s right to reject the “baseless smears” and called the people who made these accusations “evil wolves”.

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BAMAKO (Dispatches) -- A bomber in a car attacked a French reconnaissance mission in central Mali on Monday, wounding six of the soldiers and four residents, the French army said. The state of the injured was not immediately clear. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. “The detonation was so loud it blew out the windows of some houses,” said Moussa Ag Almouner, the mayor of the town of Gossi, near where the attack took place. “We still hear shots, planes flying over the place.” The attack comes as France winds down its 5,100-strong Barkhane military mission that has operated in West Africa’s Sahel for years but failed to uproot violent groups. About 55 French soldiers have died in the region since Paris intervened in 2013 to drive back militants that had seized cities and towns in northern Mali a year earlier. Mali is in the middle of a political crisis. Malian army Colonel Assimi Goita this month took power following his overthrow of a second president in nine months.

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LIMA (Reuters) -- A Peruvian judge declined a prosecutor’s request to return presidential election candidate Keiko Fujimori to remand prison for allegedly failing to comply with her bail conditions over charges of money laundering and corruption she faces. Fujimori, the eldest daughter of the imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori, is facing trial over claims she received $1.2 million from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht to fund previous presidential campaigns in 2011 and 2016. Prosecutor José Domingo Pérez told Judge Víctor Zúñiga on Monday Fujimori breached bail restrictions by having contact with a witness in the case. Fujimori faced socialist Pedro Castillo in the second round of the presidential vote on June 6. Castillo has declared himself the winner after emerging with 44,058 more votes with all ballots tallied. However, Fujimori has refused to admit defeat and has sought the disqualification of up to 200,000 votes on the grounds of fraud, a claim for which she has provided no public evidence.

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BENGALURU (Reuters) -- India reported on Tuesday 42,640 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed. The South Asian country’s total COVID-19 case load now stands at 29.98 million, while total fatalities are at 389,302, the data showed. India’s coronavirus-related deaths rose by 1,167 overnight.

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for a federal investigation into a spate of deadly gun violence in the border city of Reynosa over the weekend, calling the victims “innocent people.” Lopez Obrador, speaking at a regular news conference, said he would direct the attorney general’s office to investigate the string of shootings that killed more than a dozen people. Armed gunmen fired from cars during multiple attacks in several neighborhoods of Reynosa on Saturday, said state security forces, which includes the police and military. Lopez Obrador said 14 people were among the victims, though state security forces said later on Monday that 15 civilians were killed, including one who died in the hospital. Four other people believed to be from a criminal group were killed in clashes with police.

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NAYPYITAW (Reuters) -- Myanmar security forces backed by armored vehicles clashed on Tuesday with a newly formed militia group in the second-biggest city of Mandalay resulting in at least two casualties, according to members of the group and media reports. Since the army seized power on Feb. 1 and removed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the security forces have put down protests opposing military rule. In response, groups of opponents of the coup known as people’s defense forces have sprung up across Myanmar. Up to now, fighting involving lightly armed militias has been mainly confined to small towns and rural areas, but a group claiming to be Mandalay’s new People’s Defense Force said its members responded after the army raided one of its bases. “The fight has started. There will be more fights,” a member of the militia identified as Captain Tun Tauk Naing said by telephone.