Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Explosion heard in Syria's city of Aleppo: Syrian state TV

An explosion was heard in Syria's city of Aleppo early on Saturday, Syrian state TV said. No further details were immediately available. Residents of Bogota slum facing eviction despite quarantine

Hundreds of people expected to be evicted from their hillside homes in a slum of Colombia's capital Bogota on Friday, despite having nowhere to go during the country's coronavirus lockdown. The informal houses have been declared illegal by local authorities and will be knocked down as part of the evictions. Residents accuse police accompanying the eviction process of excessive force. Brutal Afghan attacks highlight limitations of U.S.-Taliban deal

Two brutal attacks this week laid bare major weaknesses of the U.S.-Taliban troop withdrawal pact: nothing in it obliges the Taliban to prevent such massacres and the Afghan government's ability to thwart them will only wane as U.S. troops pull out. The pact is ultimately supposed to promote peace between the Afghan government and the Taliban, which denied carrying out a Kabul attack in which three gunmen disguised as police killed 24 people, including two babies, at a Kabul maternity ward https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attacks-hospital-insight/maternity-ward-massacre-shakes-afghanistan-and-its-peace-process-idUSKBN22P2F5 and a suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan that killed 32. Deadly Rio police raid brings crowds into streets of quarantined favela

A deadly police raid in Rio de Janeiro on suspected drug traffickers on Friday morning drew crowds into the streets of a neighborhood under quarantine, provoking criticism from residents and activists. According to a Reuters witness and media reports, heavily armed police entered Rio's "favela" shantytown known as Complexo do Alemao and killed at least 10 people. Police said they came under grenade and gunfire attack, a common occurrence in areas controlled by drug gangs. Georgian president pardons two opposition politicians

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Friday pardoned two opposition politicians, a former mayor of the capital and an ex-defence minister, in a move to reduce political tension ahead of a parliamentary election this autumn. The release of former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava and ex-defence minister Irakli Okruashvili was a part of a political agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition parties reached on March 8. UK, EU demand each other give ground in trade talks or risk no deal

Britain and the European Union both demanded that the other side give ground in talks on a new post-Brexit trade deal or risk severe damage in tetchy exchanges after the latest bout of bargaining ended with scant progress on Friday. The United Kingdom left the EU on Jan.31 but the main terms of its membership remain in place for a transition period until the end of this year, giving it time to negotiate a new free trade deal with the bloc. Exclusive: Review contradicts Boris Johnson on claims he ordered early lockdown at UK care homes

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Britain's parliament on Wednesday that his government moved swiftly to protect the country's vulnerable care homes. Under increasing pressure to defend his record on fighting Covid-19, he said: "We brought in the lockdown in care homes ahead of the general lockdown." An examination by Reuters of the guidance issued to care homes, as well as interviews with three care home providers, has provided no evidence that any such early lockdown was ordered. As Guayaquil stabilizes, Ecuador's capital braces for virus wave

As the coronavirus outbreak in Ecuador's largest city of Guayaquil begins to stabilize, the government is bracing for worsening spread in the highland capital Quito, where at least six people have died in the streets in the past month. Guayaquil was at the center of one of Latin America's worst outbreaks of the novel coronavirus in March and April. Cemeteries ran out of space and families stored relatives' dead bodies in their homes or on the streets as the virus strained the health system's capacity to collect them. Drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan continuing: Pentagon

The United States is continuing its drawdown of troops from Afghanistan and is expected to meet a timeline that had been agreed upon with the Taliban earlier this year, the Pentagon said on Friday. "That is still going forward. We expect to meet that within the timeline laid out under the agreement with the Taliban," Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said during a press briefing. Special Report: Caught in Trump-China feud, WHO leader under siege

When the head of the World Health Organization returned from a whirlwind trip to Beijing in late January, he wanted to praise China’s leadership publicly for its initial response to the new coronavirus. Several advisers suggested he tone the message down, according to a person familiar with the discussions. After meetings with President Xi Jinping and Chinese ministers, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was impressed by their knowledge of the new flu-like virus and their efforts to contain the disease, which by then had killed scores in China and started to spread to other countries.