Reuters World News Summary

Shoe shopping and dog grooming: French town flouts lockdown rules Some small shops and services, including a dog grooming salon, remained open on Saturday in a small town outside Paris with support from their local mayor, amid signs of sporadic pushback against a new coronavirus lockdown in France.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. UK's Johnson considering new national lockdown for England: media

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering imposing a new month-long national lockdown in England next week after scientists warned the coronavirus was spreading faster than their worst predictions, local media reported. The pandemic is spreading in most parts of Britain, where the official death toll of 46,299 is the highest in Europe. Mother, children rescued from Turkey quake rubble; death toll at 37

A mother and three of her children were pulled to safety on Saturday after being trapped for almost 18 hours under a building in the western Turkish city of Izmir that was flattened in a powerful earthquake. One of the children succumbed to his injuries later in hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters in Izmir. The child was one of 37 people killed in Friday's quake: 35 in Turkey and two on the Greek island of Samos. Greek Orthodox priest shot and wounded at church in France

A Greek Orthodox priest was shot and badly wounded on Saturday at a church in the French city of Lyon by an assailant who then fled, a police source and witnesses said. There was no clear indication of a motive in the hours after the attack, and officials gave no indication that it was terrorism-related. Police and judicial sources said anti-terrorism prosecutors had not been brought in. Merkel's party set to decide on her successor in January

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) will choose a new leader in mid-January, the party's general secretary said on Saturday after a Dec. 4 party congress was postponed due to the resurgent coronavirus pandemic. The decision on Monday to postpone the choice of a new leader had stoked internal divisions in the party, with one candidate - Friedrich Merz - accusing some in the CDU establishment of opposing him for the job. Portugal reimposes partial lockdown in most of the country

Portugal's government on Saturday announced new lockdown restrictions from Nov. 4 for most of the country, telling people to stay at home except for outings for work, school or shopping, and ordering companies to switch to remote working. A day after daily coronavirus infections hit a record high, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the measures would cover 121 municipalities, including the key regions of Lisbon and Porto. The affected areas are home to about 70% of Portugal's population of roughly 10 million. Israel hails news Dominican Republic may move embassy to Jerusalem

Israel on Saturday welcomed a declaration by the Dominican Republic that the Caribbean country may consider moving its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The Dominican Republic's foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday it was evaluating the step at the request of the local Jewish community, noting that its embassy in Israel had been in Jerusalem until 1980. France's Macron to Muslims: I hear your anger, but won't accept violence

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he respected Muslims who were shocked by cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad but that was no excuse for violence, as his officials ramped up security after a knife attack in a French church that killed three people this week. An assailant shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in Nice on Thursday, in France's second deadly knife attack in two weeks with a suspected Islamist motive. U.S. special forces rescue American held in Nigeria: officials

U.S. special forces rescued an American citizen who had been kidnapped by armed men in an operation on Saturday in northern Nigeria that is believed to have killed several of his captors, U.S. officials said. Forces including Navy SEALs rescued 27-year-old Philip Walton, who had been abducted on Tuesday from his home in neighboring southern Niger, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity, adding that no U.S. troops were hurt. Shoe shopping and dog grooming: French town flouts lockdown rules

Some small shops and services, including a dog grooming salon, remained open on Saturday in a small town outside Paris with support from their local mayor, amid signs of sporadic pushback against a new coronavirus lockdown in France. In Paris, mayor Anne Hidalgo also joined a growing wave of support for independent booksellers, saying in an interview published on Sunday that she would bring in local authorisations for them to remain open. Protesters against COVID-19 restrictions clash with police in Spanish cities

Spain's prime minister on Saturday condemned a series of violent protests in cities across the country against restrictions imposed to curb the surge of COVID-19 after a six-month state of emergency came into action this week. Protesters pelted police with rocks and other projectiles in Barcelona in a second night of disturbances in Spain's second-largest city.