World News Roundup: China mystery virus claims the sixth victim; Huawei CFO's legal team to contest U.S. extradition and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

In forest monastery, Buddhist abbot faces bushfire with a smile

Buddhist monk Phra Mana helped build his bush monastery with his bare hands three decades ago, but when Australia's worst wildfires in generations threatened to destroy it he stood up to fate with a smile. An inferno ripped through the forest surrounding the Sunnataram Monastery in New South Wales two weeks ago and, after being evacuated, he and his fellow monks could do nothing but pray. 

Prince Harry arrives in Canada to prepare for non-royal life

Britain's Prince Harry has arrived in Canada to join his wife Meghan as the couple prepares for a new life after agreeing to stop using their royal titles as part of a deal to end a crisis in the Windsor family. Harry was shown arriving on Vancouver Island by Sky News, just days after reaching an arrangement with Queen Elizabeth and senior royals that will see him and his wife Meghan leave behind their royal roles to seek an independent future.

Huawei CFO's legal team to contest U.S. extradition in day 2 of Canada hearing

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is set to return to a Vancouver court on Tuesday, where her lawyers will build on their arguments against the U.S. extradition request that they say is based on a sanctions violation and not bank fraud. Meng, 47, arrived in a Vancouver courtroom on Monday for the first phase of a hearing that will last at least four days, during which her legal team argued that "double criminality" was at the heart of the case, as China repeated its call for Canada to release her.

Protester killed as Iraq police struggle to stem unrest

Iraqi police fought running street battles with anti-government demonstrators on Tuesday, firing tear and rubber bullets to try to disperse stone-throwing youths pressing for an overhaul of a political system they see as deeply corrupt. One protester was killed in Baghdad while another succumbed to a bullet wound sustained on Monday in Baquba city, medical sources said, adding at least 50 demonstrators were wounded.

Swiss uncovered suspected Davos spy plot by Russian 'plumbers': paper

Swiss officials foiled an apparent spying operation by Russians posing as plumbers in Davos, site of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, but police did not confirm key details of the account. The report in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper said the two Russians were checked by Swiss police in August last year in the ski resort, which is hosting the WEF gathering of the global business and political elite this week. The pair presented diplomatic passports and left the country, the paper said.

North Korea says won't be bound by the nuclear testing pledge

North Korea on Tuesday said that as the United States had ignored its year-end deadline for nuclear talks, it no longer felt bound by commitments, which included a halt to its nuclear testing and the firing of inter-continental ballistic missiles. "We found no reason to be unilaterally bound any longer by the commitment that the other party fails to honor"," Ju Yong Chol, a counselor at North Korea's mission to the United Nations in Geneva, told the U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament.

South Korea to deploy an anti-piracy unit to the Strait of Hormuz

South Korea's military said on Tuesday it plans to expand the deployment of an anti-piracy unit now operating off the coast of Africa to the area around the Strait of Hormuz after the United States pressed for help to guard oil tankers. Attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran last year prompted U.S. officials to call for allies to join a planned maritime security mission.

Iran seeks help reading downed plane's black boxes in a new standoff

Iran said it had asked the U.S. and French authorities for equipment to download information from black boxes on a downed Ukrainian airliner, potentially angering countries that want the recorders analyzed abroad. Canada, 57 of whose citizens were among the 176 people killed in the crash, has said France should handle the flight data and voice recorders as one of the few nations with the capability. Kyiv wants the recorders sent to Ukraine.

Political row flares as Lebanon struggles to form a government

Tensions between Hezbollah's two main Christian allies flared on Tuesday when one said the other's "greed" was to blame for holding up the formation of a new Lebanese government that is urgently needed to address a major economic crisis. The comments by Suleiman Frangieh about Gebran Bassil, head of the political party founded by President Michel Aoun, point to deepening complications in the drive to form the government even as Lebanon's financial emergency deepens.

China mystery virus claims the sixth victim as holiday travel stokes risk

The death toll from a mysterious flu-like virus in China climbed to six on Tuesday as new cases surged beyond 300 and authorities fretted about the added risk from millions of Chinese traveling for the Lunar New Year holiday. Round the world, airports tightened the screening of travelers from China as officials confirmed the coronavirus strain is contagious between humans.

(With inputs from agencies.)