Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Libya's Haftar seeks to rouse forces against Turkey

Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar called on his forces on Saturday to rally against Turkey, which has helped his Tripoli-based rivals turn the tide of a military conflict around the capital. Recent advances by forces aligned with the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), including the seizure of a key air base, have thrown a year-long offensive on Tripoli by Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) into jeopardy. UK PM Johnson resists calls to sack Cummings over 400 km drive

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls on Saturday from opposition parties to sack senior adviser Dominic Cummings after he travelled 400 km (250 miles) to northern England while his wife showed COVID-19 symptoms. Cummings, who masterminded the 2016 campaign to leave the European Union during the Brexit referendum, travelled to Durham in late March, when a strict lockdown was already in place. Brazil registers 965 new coronavirus deaths, confirmed cases hit 347,398

Brazil registered 965 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, taking the total number of fatalities to 22,013, the Health Ministry said. The country now has 347,398 confirmed cases, according to the ministry, up 16,508 from Friday, when it surpassed Russia to become the world's virus hot spot behind the United States. China's new Hong Kong laws a 'flagrant breach' of agreement, foreign officials say

Nearly 200 political figures from around the world on Saturday decried Beijing's proposed national security laws for Hong Kong, including 17 U.S. Congress members, as international tensions grow over the proposal to set up Chinese government intelligence bases in the territory. In a joint statement organized by former Hong Kong Governor Christopher Patten and former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, 186 law and policy leaders said the proposed laws are a "comprehensive assault on the city's autonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms" and a "flagrant breach" of the Sino-British Joint Declaration that returned Hong Kong to China in 1997. Beijing says new HK laws won't harm investors, urges countries to stop 'meddling'

China's foreign ministry branch in Hong Kong dismissed concerns that its proposed national security laws for the city would harm foreign investors, hitting back at "meddling" countries as Beijing's ties with Washington soured further. The security legislation, which could see Chinese intelligence agencies set up bases in Hong Kong, has sent chills through the business and diplomatic communities, spooked financial markets and escalated geopolitical tensions. More than 40 diagnosed with COVID-19 after Frankfurt church service

More than 40 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus following a church service in Frankfurt, Germany's financial center, earlier this month, the head of the city's health department told a news agency on Saturday. "Most of them are not seriously ill. As far as we know only one person has been admitted to hospital," Rene Gottschalk told the dpa agency. Italy's daily coronavirus death toll dips, new cases steady

Italy recorded 119 new deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic on Saturday against 130 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases rose marginally to 669 from 652 on Friday. The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 32,735, the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain. North Korea's Kim vows to further bolster nuclear war deterrence: KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted a military meeting to discuss new policies to bolster the country's nuclear capabilities, state media KCNA said on Sunday. "Set forth at the meeting were new policies for further increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on a high alert operation," KCNA said. French COVID-19 cases slow and patient tallies continue to fall

Coronavirus infection rates in France have slowed further and the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital and intensive care continued to fall, health ministry figures showed, a sign that social distancing is keeping contagion in check for now. Nearly two weeks after lockdown ended, health ministry data on Saturday showed the number of confirmed cases rose by 250 to 144,806 over 24 hours, an increase of 0.2%, below the average 0.3% increase of the past seven days and well below the average 0.8% increase seen in the last week of lockdown. 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.

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