Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. England tiptoes out of full lockdown as economy plunges

England tentatively began easing its coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday, with some people who cannot do their jobs at home urged to return to work, as stark economic data showed the disastrous impact of the pandemic. The worst-hit country in Europe with more than 40,000 deaths from COVID-19 according to official data, Britain has been in extensive lockdown since March 23. As of Wednesday morning, people in manufacturing and certain other sectors were being asked to return to work if they could. Russia suspends use of ventilator type sent to U.S. after fatal fires

Russia on Wednesday suspended the use of some Russian-made medical ventilators after two fatal hospital fires reported to involve the machines, a setback in its fight against the novel coronavirus. The ventilators' safety was called into question a day earlier after a fire at Saint George's Hospital in St Petersburg in which five people died. That followed another fire at a hospital in Moscow which killed one person on Saturday. Pompeo lauds Israel over coronavirus cooperation, raps China

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Israel on Wednesday for sharing information during global efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and took another swipe at China over what he said was its lack of transparency. U.S. President Donald Trump and his senior officials have engaged in a war of words with China, where the new coronavirus first emerged, saying it failed to inform the world fast enough about the dangers it posed and muzzled those who raised the alarm. Beijing strongly denies the charges. Czech PM Babis says borders with Austria, Slovakia could reopen in June

The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria could open their mutual borders as soon as June 8, allowing residents of the three countries to travel between them, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Wednesday. Babis said the neighbours were thinking about how to open their borders at the start of the summer tourist season after making similar progress in controlling the coronavirus pandemic. Measures to stop the virus spreading have stalled economic activity worldwide. China's Wuhan kicks off mass testing campaign for new coronavirus

Authorities in the Chinese city where the novel coronavirus emerged launched an ambitious campaign on Wednesday to test all of its 11 million residents, after a cluster of new cases raised fears of a second wave of infections. At least two of the city's main districts have delivered notices of the campaign door-to-door and sent out online questionnaires through community workers seeking information about tests people have had, and if they belong to what are deemed high-risk groups, residents said. France's bookstores fight for survival after coronavirus lockdown

Neighbourhood bookstores in France survived the television and later the advent of online shopping. Then came the coronavirus lockdown, an eight-week-long hiatus that has weighed heavily on profit margins and threatens the survival of some stores. France's bookstores were allowed to reopen on Monday for the first time since March 17 as the government tries to balance the need to resuscitate a crashing economy with the risk that the spread of the new coronavirus accelerates once more. Ignoring social distancing, protesters mock Hong Kong leader Lam on her birthday

Hundreds of protesters gathered in shopping malls across Hong Kong on Wednesday, flouting coronavirus-related social distancing rules to mock unpopular Chief Executive Carrie Lam on her birthday. It was the latest sign social unrest was resurfacing in Hong Kong as the city has proven relatively successful at tackling the coronavirus, having recorded 1,051 cases and four deaths. Canada-U.S. border travel limits to remain through June: report

The Canada-U.S. border is expected to stay closed to non-essential travel until June 21 amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday. Canada and the United States had agreed on April 18 to extend border restrictions for another 30 days as cases of the disease continue to rise in both nations and leaders weigh how and when to allow all businesses to reopen. Slowly but steadily, China strives to make widespread virus testing the new normal

Beijing resident Wang Yukun was happy to comply in April when the construction firm he works for told him he'd need to take a test for the novel coronavirus before he could come back to work, even though he was at low risk of having the disease. "My company arranged it and covered the test fee. The process was less time-consuming than I imagined," he said, recalling how he got his negative result the next day. "I think everyone should be tested as a matter of personal health." Exclusive: As COVID-19 cases in Yemen surge, some sources see undercounting

Yemen has more suspected coronavirus cases and deaths than the authorities have so far reported, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the United Nations warned the virus is spreading in the war-ravaged country. The Saudi-backed government based in the south and the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement headquartered in the north have so far publicly announced a total of 67 cases with 11 deaths. Only two of those infections and one of the deaths was reported by the Houthi authorities, both in the capital Sanaa.