Reuters World News Summary

In a post on its website, the Southern Command said the USS Nitze, a missile destroyer, sailed in an area outside Venezuela's territorial waters - which extend some 12 nautical miles from its coasts - but within an area the Venezuelan government "falsely claims to have control over." EU countries may bar U.S. travelers because of coronavirus failures: NY Times European Union countries eager to revive their economies are prepared to bar entry to Americans because the United States has failed to control the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reported from Brussels on Tuesday, citing draft lists of acceptable travelers.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. U.S. navy ship navigates near Venezuelan coast after Iranian cargo ship arrives

A U.S. Navy ship navigated near the Venezuelan coast on Tuesday in what the U.S. military's Southern Command called a "freedom of navigation operation," a day after a cargo ship from U.S. foe Iran docked at a port of the South American country. In a post on its website, the Southern Command said the USS Nitze, a missile destroyer, sailed in an area outside Venezuela's territorial waters - which extend some 12 nautical miles from its coasts - but within an area the Venezuelan government "falsely claims to have control over." EU countries may bar U.S. travelers because of coronavirus failures: NY Times

European Union countries eager to revive their economies are prepared to bar entry to Americans because the United States has failed to control the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reported from Brussels on Tuesday, citing draft lists of acceptable travelers. The United States, which has the most coronavirus cases in the world and is experiencing a surge in new infections, would be in the same category as No.2 hotspot Brazil and Russia, according to the Times, citing the proposal. North Korea suspends military action plans against South Korea: KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has presided over a meeting of the ruling party's Central Military Commission and decided to suspend military action plans against South Korea, the official KCNA news agency reported on Wednesday. The video conference meeting on Tuesday also discussed documents outlining measures for "further bolstering the war deterrent of the country," KCNA reported. Gabon lawmakers vote to decriminalise homosexuality

Lawmakers in Gabon's lower house of parliament on Tuesday voted to decriminalise homosexuality, becoming one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to reverse a law that punishes sexual relations between people of the same sex. Forty-eight members of parliament backed the proposed initiative by the government to revise an article of the 2019 law that criminalised homosexuality. Twenty-four voted against, while 25 others abstained. Syrian army says Israel hits several bases across country

The Syrian army responded to Israeli strikes on southern, central and eastern Syria in which two soldiers were killed, the army said on Tuesday in what military defectors and intelligence sources said was a wave of raids that targeted Iranian bases. The army said Israeli jets hit an army outpost in Salamiya and another in Sabura towns in Hama province only hours after missiles struck other military installations in Deir al Zor province along the border with Iraq and in southern Syria near the border with Jordan. Families separated by new Trump visa order frantic for answers

In early March, Poorva Dixit rushed to buy a ticket to India from the United States, her home for more than a decade, after she learned her 72-year-old mother had fallen from her bed and was in critical condition. She decided to leave her two young children and husband in California because of the risks of the novel coronavirus spreading around the world. Dixit and her husband are both Indian nationals while their children are U.S. citizens. Pubs, restaurants and hotels to reopen as England eases social distancing

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday pubs, restaurants and hotels could reopen in England early next month, easing the coronavirus lockdown that has all but shut the economy. In other signs of a gradual return to normal life, hairdressers will open again along with tourist attractions like theme parks, but nightclubs, indoor gyms and swimming pools will stay closed. Major quake hits southern Mexico, at least five killed

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck southern Mexico's Pacific coast on Tuesday, killing at least five people and cutting off isolated villages, as well as causing damage to buildings hundreds of miles away in Mexico City. The fatalities were near the quake's epicenter in Oaxaca, a mountainous state known for its coffee, mescal and Spanish colonial architecture. International Criminal Court members defend it in face of U.S. sanctions

Over half the member states of the International Criminal Court defended the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal on Tuesday in a diplomatic response to a U.S. threat of sanctions against its employees earlier this month. A joint statement drafted by Costa Rica and Switzerland was backed by 67 out of 123 of the ICC's members, the first effort to show a united front among members from all continents. Saudi Cabinet denounces attacks by Yemen's Houthis on Saudi Arabia: SPA

Saudi Arabia's Cabinet on Tuesday denounced Yemen's Houthis for targeting the Saudi Arabia with eight armed drones and three ballistic missiles, state news agency (SPA) said in a statement. The statement called the attacks terroristic acts that target civilians and threaten the lives of hundreds of people.