Reuters World News Summary

'Mr. No, No, No' - Why Dutch PM Rutte plays role of EU bogeyman As EU negotiations over a coronavirus recovery fund and a new budget for the bloc ran into an impasse, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte was singled out by one leader this weekend as the "man responsible for the whole mess".

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Sun-seekers crowd Barcelona beaches, defying coronavirus stay-at-home advice

People sunbathed and played in the sea along Barcelona's beaches on Sunday, ignoring pleas from Catalan authorities for area residents to stay at home as coronavirus cases continued to rise in one of Spain's worst-hit regions. As police patrolled in masks to ensure social distancing, Barceloneta beach, a favourite with tourists, reached capacity and had to be closed to new bathers on Sunday afternoon. People were queueing to access the beach. Chile eyes gradual reopening after coronavirus infections slow in some areas

Chilean government officials presented a plan on Sunday to gradually relax lockdown restrictions after the coronavirus infection rate improved in some regions of the country. The plan, called "Step by Step," includes five stages that range from total quarantine to advanced opening and will be applied according to epidemiological criteria, the capacity of the healthcare system and the ability to trace cases, officials said. Syria goes to the polls as new sanctions hit war-ravaged economy

Syria held a parliamentary election on Sunday, gripped by a collapsing economy and new U.S. sanctions after President Bashar al-Assad clawed back control of most of the country. People voted across government territory at more than 7,000 polling stations, including for the first time in former rebel bastions that the army has recaptured over the last two years. French police free man questioned over Nantes cathedral fire

French police cleared a 39-year-old Rwandan refugee of all suspicion on Sunday and released him after questioning the man about a fire at the 15th-century cathedral in the French city of Nantes. "He is not implicated. The inconsistencies that came up have been clarified," Nantes prosecutor Pierre Sennes told Reuters. EU grapples with 'mission impossible' at deadlocked recovery summit

EU leaders stood at an impasse on Sunday after three days of haggling over a plan to revive economies throttled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chairman of their near-record-length summit urged them to make one last push on "mission impossible". Charles Michel reminded the 27 leaders of the European Union over dinner in Brussels that more than 600,000 people had now died as a result of the coronavirus around the world, and said it was up to them to stand together in the face of an unprecedented crisis. Canada foreign minister confirms black boxes of downed Ukrainian airliner arrive in Paris: tweet

Canadian foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne confirmed on Sunday in a tweet https://bit.ly/30uHtB1 that black boxes of a downed Ukrainian airliner that killed all 176 people on board in January have arrived in Paris. The black boxes of the airliner are expected to be brought to France's air accident agency BEA on Monday, he added. Hagia Sophia mosaics will be covered with curtains during prayers: Turkish presidential spokesman

Mosaics depicting Christian figures in Istanbul's ancient Hagia Sophia will be covered with curtains during Muslim prayers, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Sunday, as work to prepare the building for use as a mosque continues. Authorities had said last week that the mosaics would be concealed with either curtains or lasers when the first prayers are held next Friday. UK poised to suspend Hong Kong extradition treaty: British newspapers

Britain will on Monday suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in a further escalation of its dispute with China over the introduction of a security law in the former colony, British newspapers reported. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who on Sunday accused China of "gross" human rights violations, will announce the suspension of the treaty in parliament, the Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers said, citing sources. Leaky border: Tourists and quarantine cheats threaten Canada amid U.S. COVID-19 surge

For 67 days, tiny Prince Edward Island went without a single new case of COVID-19. That changed earlier this month when Canada's smallest province, best known as the home of fiction's Anne of Green Gables, announced a cluster of new cases linked to a foreign student who entered Canada from the United States. The man, who did not immediately self-isolate upon arrival in Canada as required by law, infected at least one person, who then infected at least four more. 'Mr. No, No, No' - Why Dutch PM Rutte plays role of EU bogeyman

As EU negotiations over a coronavirus recovery fund and a new budget for the bloc ran into an impasse, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte was singled out by one leader this weekend as the "man responsible for the whole mess". Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused him of that, while Spanish and Italian diplomats have taken to calling him "Mr. No No No!".