Reuters World News Summary

Tens of thousands of protesters have crowded together in Europe's big cities in recent days to demonstrate against racism after the killing in the United States of George Floyd while in police custody. Mexicans took to the streets of Mexico City and Guadalajara last week to protest police brutality following similar demonstrations in the United States.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Crowds of shoppers head to Brazil malls reopening in big cities at heart of pandemic

Brazilian shoppers lined up for hours and crowded into malls as they reopened on Thursday in the country's two largest cities, epicenter of a still surging coronavirus epidemic in the South American nation. Traffic jams formed in streets crowded with pedestrians outside shopping malls in Sao Paulo, where business resumed at 4 p.m. for four hours after 83 days of closed doors. Mexican president eyes regulatory changes, critics decry power grab

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday backed a proposal to merge three regulatory bodies into one in a move the opposition criticized as a power grab that could jeopardize oversight. The senate leader of Lopez Obrador's National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), Ricardo Monreal, on Wednesday presented the plan to combine energy regulator CRE, antitrust watchdog the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE), and telecoms regulator IFT. UK courts prepare fast-track prosecutions for Black Lives Matter protests: The Times

British courts are preparing to fast-track prosecutions for the Black Lives Matter protests, as justice secretary Robert Buckland has told magistrates to model the process along the lines of the response to rioting in London in 2011, The Times newspaper reported. The plans made by Buckland and Interior Minister Priti Patel will lead to offenders being jailed within 24 hours of arrest to defuse disorder if they are found causing vandalism, criminal damage or assault on police officers, the report said. Earlier coronavirus second wave feared in Europe after mass protests

Europe could face a surge of COVID-19 infections in the coming weeks caused by mass protests in the continent over the last days, politicians, European Union officials and experts said on Thursday. Tens of thousands of protesters have crowded together in Europe's big cities in recent days to demonstrate against racism after the killing in the United States of George Floyd while in police custody. Trump authorizes sanctions over ICC Afghanistan war crimes case

President Donald Trump on Thursday authorized U.S. economic and travel sanctions against International Criminal Court employees involved in an investigation into whether American forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan. In announcing the president's executive order, Trump administration officials said the Hague-based tribunal threatens to infringe on U.S. national sovereignty and accused Russia of manipulating it to serve Moscow's ends. Mexico's human rights commission calls for investigation into police custody death

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) on Thursday called for an investigation into the death of a man who they said died in police custody in the southeastern state of Veracruz last month. Mexicans took to the streets of Mexico City and Guadalajara last week to protest police brutality following similar demonstrations in the United States. They called for authorities to be held accountable for police custody deaths in Mexico. Coronavirus crisis could see number of extreme poor rise to 1.1 billion worldwide: researchers

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could plunge an extra 395 million people into extreme poverty and swell the total number of those living on less than $1.90 a day worldwide to more than 1 billion, researchers said in a report on Friday. The report - published by UNU-WIDER, part of the United Nations University - played through a number of scenarios, taking into account the World Bank’s various poverty lines - from extreme poverty, defined as living on $1.90 a day or less, to higher poverty lines of living on less than $5.50 a day. North Korea suggests U.N. chief pretending to act like a drunk

North Korea suggested on Thursday that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres might be pretending to act like a drunk as the country slammed comments by his spokesman on Pyongyang's decision to sever hotlines with South Korea. Guterres regretted North Korea's announcement on the hotlines, warning that such channels "are necessary to avoid misunderstandings or miscalculations," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday. U.S. is 'trouble maker' in China-Canada relationship, Chinese envoy to Canada says

The United States is using the case of a senior Chinese telecoms executive who was arrested in Vancouver on a U.S. warrant 18 months ago to create friction between China and Canada, China's envoy to Canada said on Thursday. "The U.S. has been taking advantage of Canada, and the U.S. is the trouble maker of China-Canada relations," the Chinese envoy to Ottawa, Cong Peiwu, told Reuters in a telephone interview. North Korea says sees no improvement in relations to be made by maintaining Kim-Trump ties: KCNA

North Korea on Friday said it sees no improvement in relations to be made by maintaining a relationship between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, the state news agency KCNA reported. The U.S. policy proves Washington remains a long-term threat to North Korean people and that the North will build up more reliable force to confront the U.S. military threats, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon said on KCNA.