Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Japan may free more regions from emergency as new virus cases drop: Asahi

Japan may lift its state of emergency in more regions this week as new coronavirus infections drop, the Asahi newspaper said on Tuesday, moving to resume sorely needed activity in the world's third-largest economy, battered by containment measures. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe freed 39 of Japan's 47 prefectures last week from a blanket state of emergency, while urging people to adopt a "new lifestyle" of social distancing and guard against a possible spike. England reports far fewer COVID-19 deaths in care homes than European states

England has reported the lowest level of deaths in nursing homes as a share of total COVID-19 fatalities compared to other European nations, a document from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) showed on Tuesday. The EU report compared figures made available by national authorities in European countries. It did not explain why the number of deaths in facilities for elderly largely varied across Europe but stressed under-reporting of COVID-19 cases in care homes "has been a common feature" throughout the pandemic. Rwandan genocide fugitive Kabuga due before French court

Rwandan genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga is due to appear before a Paris court on Tuesday, three days after French police swooped on his hideout in a Paris suburb, ending a 26-year manhunt. The 84-year-old is accused of funding militias that massacred around 800,000 people. He was indicted in 1997 on seven criminal counts including genocide, all in relation to the 1994 Rwanda genocide. U.S. praises Taiwan's coronavirus response, hails 'shared vision'

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday congratulated Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-Wen on her re-election, praised the country's coronavirus response and called it a reliable partner, in a statement that sharply contrasted with recent U.S. criticism of China, which claims Taiwan as a province. "We have a shared vision for the region - one that includes rule of law, transparency, prosperity, and security for all, Pompeo said in a statement. "The recent COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for the international community to see why Taiwan’s pandemic-response model is worthy of emulation." EU resolution on pandemic adopted at WHO assembly: official

A resolution on the need to investigate the global response to the coronavirus pandemic won endorsement at the World Health Organisation's annual ministerial meeting on Tuesday. None of the WHO's 194 member states - which include the United States - raised objections to the resolution brought by the European Union on behalf of more than 100 countries including Australia, China and Japan. A bridge too close: Cairo flyover angers residents

If Osama Fayez reaches out from his balcony he can touch a flyover that is cutting a swathe through a densely populated area of Giza, across the Nile from central Cairo. The proximity of the bridge to residential apartments has sparked anger and ridicule on social media and among inhabitants who say they were misled. Russia says many coronavirus patients died of other causes. Some disagree

Before she died in a Moscow hospital earlier this month, Liubov Kashaeva, 74, twice tested positive for the new coronavirus. Her death was not attributed to the virus, however. It was put down to the cancer she had been suffering from. "The medical death certificate ... said she died of a malignant tumour," Kashaeva's daughter-in-law, Daria Kornilova, said. "Coronavirus was not mentioned anywhere." Iran's judiciary sentences couple to death over money laundering and gold hoard

An Iranian couple has been sentenced to death for having smuggled hard currency and laundering $200 million of money, as well as having been found with a stash of gold at their home, the judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday. Gholamhossein Esmaili spoke about Vahid Behzadi and his wife Najva Lasheidai, both in their early 40s but whose case had not previously been given a high profile, in a televised news conference. Lesotho PM, named as suspect in murder case, bows to pressure to quit

Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane bowed to pressure to resign on Tuesday, three months after police named him and his current wife as suspects in the murder of his former wife in a case that has transfixed the southern African nation. Thabane's departure marks the end of one of Lesotho's longest political careers, one marked by exile, intrigue, tensions with the military and a political crisis that deepened when police named him as a murder suspect in February. After WHO setback, Taiwan president to press for global participation

Taiwan will strive to actively participate in global bodies despite its failure to attend this week's key World Health Organization (WHO) meeting, and will not accept being belittled by China, President Tsai Ing-wen will say on Wednesday. Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party won January's presidential and parliamentary elections by a landslide, vowing to stand up to China, which claims Taiwan as its own, to be brought under Beijing's control by force if needed.