Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Pentagon warns on risk of Chinese submarines in Arctic

Deepening Chinese activities in the Arctic region could also pave the way for a strengthened military presence, including the deployment of submarines to act as deterrents against nuclear attack, the Pentagon said in a report released on Thursday. The assessment is included in the U.S. military's annual report to Congress on China's armed forces and follows Beijing's publication of its first official Arctic policy white paper in June. U.S. rejects interference by non-Arctic countries in polar region: official

The United States rejects attempts by countries, like China, that are not members of the eight-nation Arctic Council, to claim a role in crafting policies governing the polar region, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday before a meeting of the group in Finland next week. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend the meeting of the eight-nation Arctic Council in Rovaniemi, Finland, starting on Monday, which comes amid concerns over China's increased commercial interests in the Arctic. Russia, Syrian army step up attacks on rebel-held northwestern Syria: residents, medics

Russian and Syrian forces intensified air strikes and shelling in rebel-held northwestern Syria overnight, the heaviest assault since the area was declared a demilitarised zone under a Russian-Turkish deal, residents and medics said on Thursday. The targeted villages and towns in northern Hama and southern Idlib fall within a buffer zone agreed last September between Russia and Turkey as part of a deal which averted a major offensive on the area. Scientology cruise ship quarantined in St. Lucia gets measles vaccine

Health officials for the Caribbean island of St. Lucia furnished 100 free doses of measles vaccine to a Church of Scientology cruise ship placed under quarantine in port after the highly contagious disease was diagnosed on board, the island's chief medical officer said on Thursday. St. Lucia health officials have confirmed one case of measles aboard the ship that has been docked in a port near the island nation's capital Castries since Tuesday, Dr. Merlene Frederick-James said in a video statement. Venezuela's Maduro seeks to display military loyalty in political crisis

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and key military figures made a show of unity in a television broadcast on Thursday, seeking to reject claims by the United States and the opposition that the armed forces high command was prepared to turn on him. Flanked by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and military operations chief Remigio Ceballos, Maduro said in a dawn national address posted first to social media that the armed forces were "united, cohesive and subordinate to their constitutional mandate," just two days after opposition leader Juan Guaido urged the military to join him to oust Maduro. Huge crowds join sit-in outside Sudan's defense ministry: witness

Hundreds of thousands of protesters joined a sit-in outside Sudan's defense ministry on Thursday to press the ruling military council to hand over to a civilian government. An alliance of activists and opposition groups called the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces had called for a mass march in the capital. As assault grinds on, Tripoli lawmakers reject offensive by UAE ally

Lawmakers loyal to Libya's U.N.-backed government on Thursday denounced an attack on Tripoli by an ally of the United Arab Emirates and defended their record in fighting terrorism, after the Gulf state said "extremist militias" ruled the capital. The lawmakers spoke at a meeting deliberately staged in the beleaguered city to challenge the official parliament based in Libya's east, a body aligned to UAE ally Khalifa Haftar, in a move that further cements divisions in the oil-producing nation. Russian, U.S. top diplomats to meet on May 6 in Finland: RIA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov may meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 6 in Finland, RIA news agency reported on Thursday citing a Russian official. Sergei Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, said Lavrov may meet Pompeo in the city of Rovaniemi, which would host Arctic Council ministerial meeting, RIA reported. I've protected many, Assange tells UK court as he fights U.S. extradition warrant

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a London court on Thursday his work had protected "many people" and refused to agree to be extradited to the United States to face trial for one of the largest compromises of classified information in history. The United States has requested the extradition of Assange, who was dragged from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London on April 11, and has charged him with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion which carries a maximum penalty of five years. Kushner says Middle East peace plan will be 'good starting point'

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said on Thursday the Middle East peace proposal he is working on would be a "good starting point" to address the Israel-Palestinian conflict and a business plan to help the two sides have a better life. "What we will be able to put together is a solution that we believe is a good starting point for the political issues and then an outline for what can be done to help these people start living a better life," Kusher told the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.