World News Roundup: EU's Tusk comments on Trump; drones and dogs used in Albania quake rescue operations and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

EU's Tusk: Trump is 'perhaps the most difficult challenge' for Europe

U.S. President Donald Trump poses one of the biggest challenges for the European Union because he is "praying" for the breakup of the bloc, European Council President Donald Tusk said. Trump has welcomed Britain's decision to leave the EU, labeling Europe a trade "foe" and questioning the value of the transantlantic defense alliance NATO.

Rescuers use drones and dogs to search for Albanian quake victims

Emergency crews found five more bodies on Wednesday as they used drones, dogs and heavy machinery to search through the wreckage after Albania's worst earthquake in decades, bringing the death toll to at least 26. In the town of Thumane, close to the center of Tuesday's quake, a woman stood in front of a collapsed building calling out for rescuers to find her niece.

With tears and white roses, Vietnam receives first bodies found in British truck

With tears in their eyes and white roses in their hands, friends and relatives of the 39 Vietnamese people who were found dead in the back of a British truck last month sobbed as the first bodies to be repatriated arrived in rural Vietnam on Wednesday. The bodies of 16 victims arrived in the Southeast Asian country in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Vietnam's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Hong Kong authorities appeal for calm as major highway reopens

One of Hong Kong's main highway links, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, reopened early on Wednesday as a lockdown of the nearby Polytechnic University appeared to be drawing to a close with teams still combing the campus for remaining protesters. Hong Kong authorities hope that a lull in clashes over the weekend during local elections, where pro-democracy candidates grabbed a landslide victory, can translate into more calm after nearly six months of turmoil.

French farmers clog highways to protest at 'agri-bashing'

French farmers angered by government policies that they say threaten their livelihoods drove convoys of tractors into Paris on Wednesday, obstructing commuter traffic and adding to the social unrest facing President Emmanuel Macron. Up to a thousand tractors rolled into the city from the north and south, at times blocking motorways and the inner ring-road, honking horns and flying the flags of the two main farm unions staging the protest.

Malta ex-chief of staff under arrest, faces further questions in murder probe

The Maltese government's former chief of staff has been arrested and faced a second day of questioning on Wednesday as part of an investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, police sources said. Keith Schembri, a close friend of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, resigned on Tuesday after he was named by businessman Yorgen Fenech as a "person of interest" in the investigation, the sources said.

Uzbekistan decides against charges over mayor's threats against journalists

The Uzbek Prosecutor General's office has decided not to press charges against the mayor of the capital city Tashkent over his threats to journalists but reprimanded both sides in a row that drew Western diplomatic attention. The United States and Britain expressed concern over reports this month that Mayor Jahongir Artikhojayev told critical local reporters that he could make them disappear or frame them as homosexuals.

Modi's loss in state election raises questions about bullet train

India's richest state is set to be ruled by parties opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, jeopardizing a Japanese-backed bullet-train project opposed by farmers. The BJP's inability to pull together voters in the westerly state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is capital, has meant that three parties, including a former BJP ally, will form the government. That is a major setback for Modi after his landslide victory in general elections this year.

Four dead and 16 missing after failed Mediterranean crossing

Four migrants have died and up to 16 more are missing after trying to cross into Europe from North Africa on a small raft, Spain's coastguard said on Wednesday. Rescuers saved 58 people from the raft, which was found drifting around 37 miles off the coast of Morocco on Tuesday night. Three bodies were recovered from the water and another migrant died after being taken to shore, a spokeswoman for the coastguard said.

Labour's Corbyn accuses Johnson of offering up UK health service in U.S. talks

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn offered on Wednesday what he described as evidence that access to Britain's health service was being discussed in trade talks with the United States, handing reporters hundreds of pages of documents. Johnson has repeatedly denied that Britain's National Health Service is on the table in such talks, but Corbyn said he had copies of leaked documents from UK-US Trade and Investment working groups that proved otherwise.