World News Roundup: PM Johnson sows confusion as UK tightens COVID curbs; Pompeo urges Greece and Turkey to press on with talks and more

Coronavirus deaths rise above a million in 'agonizing' global milestone The global coronavirus death toll rose past a million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, a grim statistic in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and changed the way people live.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

PM Johnson sows confusion as UK tightens COVID curbs

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson corrected himself on Tuesday after appearing uncertain about basic social distancing rules that will apply in a large swathe of England. The government announced on Monday a tightening of restrictions on socialising in northeast England from Wednesday, in response to high and increasing COVID-19 infection rates in the region - the latest in a series of local measures.

Pompeo urges Greece and Turkey to press on with talks

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged NATO allies Greece and Turkey on Tuesday to continue talks on a maritime boundaries dispute as soon as possible. Greece and Turkey, at loggerheads on a range of issues, have agreed to resume exploratory talks over contested maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean following weeks of tensions but have not announced a date for the talks.

Coronavirus deaths rise above a million in 'agonizing' global milestone

The global coronavirus death toll rose past a million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, a grim statistic in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and changed the way people live. The number of deaths from the novel coronavirus this year is now double the number of people who die annually from malaria - and the death rate has increased in recent weeks as infections surge in several countries.

Iran rejects Saudi accusation it trained a terrorist cell

Iran rejected on Tuesday an accusation by Saudi Arabia that it had trained a terrorist cell, which Riyadh said it had taken down. Saudi Arabia said on Monday it had arrested 10 people earlier this month and seized weapons and explosives from a terrorist cell that had received training from Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

BBC staff whose tweets break impartiality rules could be axed: Director General

BBC Director General Tim Davie said on Tuesday he would discipline presenters and journalists who broke the broadcaster's impartiality rules by airing their own views on social media, and could fire them for the most serious breaches. The boss of the British broadcaster, which is mainly funded by a licence fee paid by all TV-watching households, said he would set out new guidelines on the use of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook in the coming weeks.

Fighting continues in Nagorno-Karabakh: Azeri defence ministry

Fighting has continued overnight between Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azeri defence ministry said on Tuesday, in the fiercest round of the decades-old conflict in more than a quarter of a century. The ministry said in a statement that the opposing forces attempted to recover lost ground by launching counterattacks in the directions of Fuzuli, Cebrayil, Agdere and Terter.

One million COVID-19 deaths 'a very sad milestone', but virus suppressable: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that one million deaths from COVID-19 was "a very sad milestone", after many victims suffered "a terribly difficult and lonely death" and their families were unable to say goodbye. The global coronavirus death toll rose past a million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, a grim statistic in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and changed the way people live.

Macron meets exiled Belarus opposition leader, promises help

French President Emmanuel Macron became on Tuesday the highest-profile Western leader to visit the exiled opposition leader of Belarus, pledging European support for the country's people. Belarus has seen weeks of mass demonstrations since veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the landslide winner of an Aug. 9 presidential election that his opponents say was rigged. The authorities have arrested thousands of people, and all major opposition leaders are now jailed or in exile.

Europe is 'screwed' if its parliament sits only in Brussels, says Macron

Europe is "screwed" if the European Parliament ceases sitting in the French city of Strasbourg once a month and convenes only in Brussels, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. "At the moment I'm fighting tooth and nail for the idea that the European Parliament should convene in Strasbourg," Macron told university students in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

Paris knife attacker wanted to set Charlie Hebdo offices on fire, says prosecutor

The Pakistani man who wounded two people with a knife in front of the former offices of Charlie Hebdo last week did not know that the satirical magazine had moved and wanted to set its offices on fire, the Paris prosecutor said on Tuesday. Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told a news conference the man carried three bottles of the flammable paint thinner White Spirit. He also said the man had operated under a false identity and that a photo of his passport on his phone showed that he was 25 years old, not 18 as he first said.