World News Roundup: Beijing tests food and parcel couriers as coronavirus checks widen;India, China accuse each other of violating de facto border and more

China unveils details of national security law for Hong Kong amid backlash Beijing unveiled details of its new national security law for Hong Kong on Saturday, paving the way for the most profound change to the city's way of life since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Beijing tests food and parcel couriers as coronavirus checks widen

Officials in Beijing are carrying out tests to detect traces of coronavirus on all food and parcel delivery workers in an effort to rein in a new outbreak, state-backed media reported on Saturday. Officials in the Chinese capital have been expanding nucleic acid testing across the city of 20 million since a cluster of infections linked to a food wholesale market erupted just over a week ago.

India, China accuse each other of violating de facto border

India and China on Saturday each traded accusations that the other had violated their shared de facto border, an area that this week became the site of the deadliest clash in half a century between the two nuclear-armed giants. A day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to downplay Monday's clash, which killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and injured more than 70, his government blamed the Chinese side for seeking to erect structures "just across the Line of Actual Control," as the demarcation is known, and refusing India's request to stop.

Nine years of war. Nine portraits of kids who dream of home

Four-month-old Abdul Rahman, propped up on pillows on a blue blanket in his family's tent. Two-year-old Walid, striking a boxer's pose in the center of the mat. Nine-year-old Ranim, who has never known peace, her bare feet poking out from beneath an embroidered red dress.

China unveils details of national security law for Hong Kong amid backlash

Beijing unveiled details of its new national security law for Hong Kong on Saturday, paving the way for the most profound change to the city's way of life since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The much-anticipated legislation, which has provoked deep concerns in Washington and Europe, includes a national security office for Hong Kong to collect intelligence and handle crimes against national security, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Paris crowds gather to protest against racism, police violence

Crowds gathered in Paris on Saturday to protest against racism and allegations of police violence against members of the Black community and ethnic minorities. Hundreds of demonstrators started to congregate in the capital's Place de la Republique. One carried a placard with the message "Justice For Ibo", referring to the 2019 death of Ibrahima Bah, a Black Frenchman, in a police operation.

Iran's Rouhani raises prospect of compulsory wearing of face masks in public

Iran is considering making it mandatory within days to wear masks in public places and covered spaces, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, as the tally of confirmed coronavirus cases continued to rise above 200,000. "Mainly for crowded and covered areas...we may make (masks) compulsory in a week, more or less. But first plenty of inexpensive masks should be made available for the people," Rouhani said in remarks broadcast by state television.

UK's Sunak sees 'enormous difference' after social distance review

British finance minister Rishi Sunak signaled that the government is poised to relax its two-meter social distancing rule for England which businesses have said in its current form would slow their recovery from the coronavirus lockdown. A review of the two-meter rule would be concluded next week, Sunak told BBC television on Saturday, adding: "Obviously that is something that will make an enormous difference, I think, to many businesses who are keen to see a change."

Pope, in first post-lockdown audience, thanks Italian doctors

Pope Francis on Saturday held his first audience for a group of people since Italy lifted its coronavirus lockdown, granting it to health workers from the Italian region most affected by the pandemic. "You were one of the supporting pillars of the entire country," he told doctors and nurses from the Lombardy region gathered in the Vatican's frescoed Clementine Hall, which had not been used for months because of the crisis.

U.N. calls for calm, dialogue amid huge Mali protests

The United Nations' Secretary-General has called for calm and dialogue in Mali after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital Bamako on Friday demanding President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita step down. Keita was re-elected in 2018 for a second five-year term, but has struggled with a years-long security crisis, an outbreak of the new coronavirus, a strike by teachers, and political tensions arising from disputed local elections in March.

North Korea prepares anti-South leaflets amid heightened tensions

North Korea is gearing up to send propaganda leaflets over its southern border, denouncing North Korean defectors and South Korea, its state media said on Saturday, the latest retaliation for leaflets from the South as bilateral tensions rise. Enraged North Korean people across the country "are actively pushing forward with the preparations for launching a large-scale distribution of leaflets," which are piled as high as a mountain, said state news agency KCNA.

(With inputs from agencies.)