Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. UK PM Johnson resists calls to sack Cummings over 400 km lockdown drive

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls on Saturday from opposition parties to sack adviser Dominic Cummings after he traveled 400 km (250 miles) while his wife showed COVID-19 symptoms so that their son could be looked after by his family. Cummings, who masterminded the 2016 campaign to leave the European Union during the Brexit referendum, traveled to Durham in northern England in late March, when a strict lockdown was already in place. South America a new COVID epicenter, Africa reaches 100,000 cases

South America has become a new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic with Brazil hardest-hit, while cases are rising in some African countries that so far have a relatively low death toll, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. "The COVID-19 pandemic today reached a milestone in Africa, with more than 100,000 confirmed cases. The virus has now spread to every country in the continent since the first case was confirmed in the region 14 weeks ago," the WHO said in a statement, noting there were 3,100 confirmed deaths on the vast continent. Spain to reopen to international tourism from July: PM Sanchez

Spain will reopen to international tourism from July, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday. The country is emerging from one of Europe's strictest lockdowns, implemented on March 14. Exclusive: U.S. accuses China of blocking U.S. flights, demands action

The U.S. government late on Friday accused the Chinese government of making it impossible for U.S. airlines to resume service to China and ordered four Chinese air carriers to file flight schedules with the U.S. government. The administration of President Donald Trump stopped short of imposing restrictions on Chinese air carriers but said talks with China had failed to produce an agreement. Criticising 'meddling', Beijing says HK security laws won't harm investors

China's foreign ministry branch in Hong Kong hit back on Saturday at "meddling" countries and said proposed national security laws would not harm the interests of foreign investors in the city. The security legislation, which could see Chinese intelligence agencies set up bases in Hong Kong, has sent chills through the business and diplomatic communities. China's Wuhan says conducted 1,470,950 COVID-19 tests on Friday

The city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China, conducted 1,470,950 nucleic acid tests for the virus on Friday, the local health authority said on Saturday, compared with 1,000,729 tests the previous day. Wuhan kicked off a campaign on May 14 to look for asymptomatic carriers - infected people who show no outward sign of illness - after confirming on May 9-10 its first cluster of COVID-19 infections since its lockdown was lifted on April 8. China reports no new coronavirus cases for first time since pandemic began

China recorded no new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland for May 22, the first time it had seen no daily rise in the number of cases since the pandemic began in the central city of Wuhan late last year. The National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement on Saturday that this compared to four new cases on the previous day. It said, however, there were two new suspected cases: an imported one in Shanghai and locally transmitted case in the northeastern province of Jilin. Russia reports 9,434 new coronavirus infections

Russia said on Saturday that 9,434 new cases of the novel coronavirus had been reported in the last 24 hours, pushing its nationwide tally to 335,882. The country's coronavirus crisis response centre reported 139 new fatalities after a record of 150 deaths the day before, bringing the death toll to 3,388. Hong Kongers fret over Beijing's planned new security laws

Newspaper vendor Man, 60, was speechless when she saw the headline that Beijing plans to impose national security laws on Hong Kong, and worried what the future holds for youth in the Chinese-ruled city. Communist Party rulers in Beijing on Friday unveiled details of the legislation that critics see as a turning point for the former British colony, which enjoys many freedoms, including an independent legal system and right to protest, not allowed on the mainland. Death toll from Pakistan airliner crash 97, black box found

The flight data recorder from the Pakistani airliner that crashed into a residential neighbourhood of Karachi has been found, an official said on Saturday, as the death toll rose to 97. There were two survivors from onboard the aircraft, while no fatalities were reported in the densely populated area of the city where the aircraft crash-landed on Friday.