World News Roundup: Turkey, Russia discuss joint patrols in Idlib ; Johnson says looking forward to meeting Trump and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Turkey, Russia discuss joint patrols option in Syria's Idlib: official

Turkey and Russia are discussing possible joint patrols as one way to reach a deal to halt fighting and stem an exodus of civilians in Syria's Idlib region, a Turkish official said on Thursday, a day after Ankara threatened military action to push back Syrian government forces. Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in the nine-year-old conflict, have failed to reach an agreement after two rounds of talks in the last two weeks.

UK PM Johnson says looking forward to meeting Trump in June

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking forward to meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in June, Johnson's office said after reports that an expected meeting between the two leaders in early 2020 had been postponed. Relations between London and Washington have been strained by Britain's decision to allow the Chinese telecoms company Huawei a limited role in its mobile network, a proposed British digital services tax and the Iran nuclear deal.

Coronavirus fears create ghost town in South Korea after church 'super-spreader'

The streets of South Korea's fourth-largest city were abandoned on Thursday, with residents holed up indoors after dozens of people caught the new coronavirus in what authorities described as a "super-spreading event" at a church. The deserted shopping malls and cinemas of Daegu, a city of 2.5 million people, became one of the most striking images outside China of an outbreak that international authorities are trying stop from becoming a global pandemic.

Trade unions back on streets but French pension fight shifts to parliament

France's hard-left unions on Thursday brought workers back onto the streets in protest against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, but numbers were low as the fight to derail the project shifted to parliament. Lawmakers began debating the biggest overhaul to the pension system since World War Two this week in the National Assembly, where 41,000 amendments to the draft bill have been filed, more than half of them by the far-left France Insoumise party.

Suspected shisha bar gunman published racist manifesto: German prosecutor

A man suspected of shooting dead nine people in shisha bars in a German town before killing himself and his mother had posted a manifesto online including conspiracy theories and deeply racist views, prosecutors said on Thursday. The presumed attacker - a 43-year-old German man identified as Tobias R. - was found dead close to a gun soon after the shootings late on Wednesday in Hanau, near Frankfurt, authorities said.

Extraditing Assange would hit press freedom, rights advocate tells UK

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States because it would have a chilling effect on press freedom, a European human rights chief said on Thursday. Assange, 48, is in prison in London, where an extradition hearing begins next week. The U.S. authorities want to try him on 18 counts including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law.

Man arrested after prayer leader stabbed inside London mosque

A prayer leader in his 70s was stabbed in a London mosque on Thursday and the assailant was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police and mosque officials said. "The attacker was apprehended by the worshippers until the police arrived and arrested him," the London Central Mosque Trust said in a statement.

Disillusionment among women, youth seen dampening Iran election turnout

Middle-aged men have been plastered on campaign posters and online adverts this week ahead of Iran's parliamentary election, even though women and young people make up the majority of voters. Roughly a third of Iran's electorate is between 18 and 30 and 49.9% of voters are women, according to official figures. Both groups have, in the past, been strong supporters of candidates they believed might ease restrictions on social life.

Mexican authorities discovered 24 bodies in western state hit by drug-fueled violence

Mexican authorities on Thursday said they found 24 bodies in the western state of Michoacan as drug-related violence escalates across the country. The victims, ranging between 20 and 40 years old and including five women, were discovered on a property under construction where excavations began last Friday, state prosecutor Adrian Lopez told reporters.

Man convicted of killing British backpacker jailed for minimum 17 years

A 28-year-old New Zealand man who murdered a British woman backpacker was handed life imprisonment with a minimum of 17 years behind bars by the Auckland High Court on Friday. Grace Millane, 22, went missing in Auckland on Dec. 1, 2018, while traveling after finishing university. The man, whose name has been suppressed by the court, was convicted for the murder by a jury on Nov. 22 last year but his sentence had been deferred.

(With inputs from agencies.)